19 February 2004
The number of unique visitors to the Mazda Australia website has more than tripled since the car manufacturer engaged iFocus to redesign and support their website in April, 2002.
There were 85,000 unique visitors to the Mazda Australia website during January, compared with an average result for the April to June 2002 period of only 26,117 unique visitors to the site per month.
Traditionally, January is a quiet period due to the holidays. Site traffic was boosted by the RX-8 being named Wheels Car of the Year for 2003, as well as the release of a new model, the Mazda3.
The increase in traffic to the site has been steady and sustained: 27,896 unique visitors in June 2002, 44,597 in January 2003, 53,441 in June 2003, and 68,349 in December 2003.
“We’ve made sure that the site is closely aligned, integrated with and supporting all aspects of Mazda’s marketing strategy,” says Martyn Toney, Head, iFocus Solutions and the project manager in charge of Mazda’s site.
One component of the approach has been to release sub sites prior to the launch of a new vehicle model. This strategy has been effective in capturing potential prospects and launching vehicles such as the Mazda2, Mazda3 and the RX-8. The sub site for the RX-8 generated over 5,000 leads.
Mazda’s resurgence and continuing record sales is being reflected in the increased traffic to the site. This is supported by research from RedSherrif, showing that Australian car buyers are increasingly using the Internet as a tool to shop around for cars before they go to a dealership. Of Australians who go online, 23.2% visited automotive-related sites during July, 2003.