Kia Motors’ previous success in optimizing its mobile website for high-end smartphones led the company to create a dynamic mobile site specifically for tablet users. Mobile is a competitive tool among automotive brands, but Kia distinguished itself from other brands by giving consumers an experience to build and price vehicles, find local dealers, click-to-call dealers, and more from their handheld devices. An advanced analytics platform delivered critical capabilities and insights, while a cross-channel media campaign drove consumers to Kia’s mobile sites.
Kia focused on redesigning the mobile experience from the ground up in order to optimize its site for mobile. The goal was to use mobile site features as awareness builders, engagement drivers, and purchase intent stimulators.
Optimizing the site for high-end smartphones allowed users to tap, swipe, and pinch their way through rich graphic and video content. A new “Build & Price” feature allowed users to build their own dream Kia and share it via Facebook, Twitter, or email. Users could also locate a dealer, request a quick quote, or click to call a dealer directly. More importantly, Kia expanded its footprint to all digital touch points and pushed beyond industry standard analytics by integrating the site with an advanced analytics platform. Doing this gave Kia the ability to optimize media, creative, and post-click content based on metrics such as user consumption patterns among purchase intenders, as well as determine operating-system-based behavioral and content preferences, and post-click site end actions.
After the success of the new mobile site launch, Kia saw an opportunity to create an even bigger buzz with a site customized for tablets. In 2011, only a handful of brands had tablet sites. Analysis of behaviors between mobile and tablet visitors to the Kia site revealed that, while the top content types accessed by tablet users mirrored phone usage, time spent and navigation trends mirrored the PC. This insight prompted Kia to design a tablet experience that served as a bridge between the engagement of the PC and the action-oriented behaviors of smartphones.
In designing the tablet site, Kia fully embraced the “mobile first” design trend. Taking a progressive enhancement approach based on mobile site user experiences ensured it was efficiently using every pixel in the tablet canvas to focus around the end actions it wanted to motivate.
To enhance the experience for tablets, the homepage was redesigned as a virtual car showroom, with Kia models taking turns driving on and off the stage. Users interacted by dragging cars on and off screen. Sales tools were enhanced by adding dynamically loading content and multi-tasking windows. As an example, the tablet site’s “Build & Price” feature created a real-time preview of the user’s custom car and dynamically updated pricing, without the page having to reload, as users selected exterior and interior colors, packages, and features.
The tablet-optimized site outperformed the high standards set by Kia’s mobile site. Since the tablet site launched, mobile visits increased by 50 percent and unique visitors increased by another 40 percent. Overall, mobile traffic grew 119 percent since the launch of the redesign. Tablet users are incredibly engaged. They:
The tablet site contributed an astounding 250 percent growth to the already popular “Build Your Kia” tool.
