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GrooveCar Online Engagement Increases for Partner Credit Unions

Reaching members with analytics that’s driving business and engagement
 
GrooveCar, the nation’s leading auto buying resource for credit unions, has released performance analytics for its online auto buying platform. The newly compiled numbers demonstrate a rise in online engagement and participation year-over-year (YoY), by members. GrooveCar now reaches over 4.3 million members, this is an increase of 58 percent over the previous year. “These numbers are important as they tell a story of growth among the credit union community. The shift to online car buying is happening before our eyes. Members depend on the information provided by their trusted credit union to make important financial decisions,” states Eric Budzinski, AVP, GrooveCar.

The GrooveCar Direct program has signed over 250 credit unions of all sizes since 2016. The platform is an affordable online destination for vehicle research and shopping. Most credit unions consider an ROI-friendly platform a prerequisite to compete for auto loans among their members.

Analytics have become an important tool for credit unions to measure their efforts. Traffic to the auto buying resource is one of the more important metrics to look at. In the category of credit unions under 5,000 members, traffic grew by 62 percent over the previous year. For credit unions over 5,000 and under 100,000 members traffic increased by 61 percent over the previous year, and for larger credit unions of over 100,000 members, traffic increased by 92 percent.

The more time spent on promoting the resource had a direct effect on the engagement and traffic metrics. “We found that the larger CUs, with members of 100,000 or more, spent additional time on getting the word out to members. However, when the collateral marketing materials were used by all the credit unions, engagement increased dramatically, as the traffic metrics demonstrate,” explains Budzinski.

Other important engagement metrics include KPI (Key Performance Indicator) data categories. These data categories support how members are using GrooveCar for their research needs when visiting pages of interest, how long they stayed researching and how quickly they left. GrooveCar discovered that the average number of pages visited by each user increased by 6.8 percent, and the average length of time for each website visit also increased by 4.5 percent. Finally, the number of single page visits decreased by 7.4 percent.

In total, engagement rose over 74 percent YoY, the results demonstrate members are interested in the entire process, not just rate. While rate is important, how it impacts the member’s payment and budget goals ranks high with members, a payment calculator on the site services this need. The popular tools members use when visiting include: The Price Advisor Tool, Refinance Calculator, Build-a-car, Free Carfax and Incentive Offers.

The GrooveCar program utilizes analytics to help credit unions understand what’s working and where attention needs to go. “We can view performance of campaigns and work to understand how to reach members more effectively,” states Budzinski. Auto loans are not an instant transaction, however with an auto buying platform, members are helped along in the decision-making process, with everything they need at their fingertips.

The analytics construct an authentic picture of how the resource is helping to engage members while pointing out where improvements should be made. The program comes with all the tools, marketing collateral and support for credit unions to supply important auto buying resources for members, in a turn-key fashion.