2022 has been another busy year for Hyundai in the U.K. The brand’s iconic “H” – a logo that also symbolises two people shaking hands, did you know? – has achieved a renewed ubiquity, with Hyundai increasing its total share of the car market by more than 11% YoY (SMMT).
Now also boasting one of the UK’s most popular automotive manufacturer websites – Hyundai.co.uk earns, on average, over one million hits per month – Hyundai is bringing its well-earned reputation for innovation to the challenge of designing the ultimate automotive digital customer journey.
To support that ambition, Hyundai is hosting ten StoryStream galleries across its U.K. website. Comprising a mix of earned media modules (collecting stellar reviews of Hyundai vehicles from the likes of What Car?, Carbuyer, Wired, and Driving Electric) and curated galleries of User-generated Content, the StoryStream modules combine to offer visitors important social proof at crucial points of their research.
Phil Tapkov, Head of Digital Customer Experience at Hyundai U.K.: “Perfecting the digital experience on Hyundai.co.uk is an ongoing journey; and even the most modest of improvements are the result of a lot of time, hard work, patience, analysis, and creative thinking. That’s why it’s important for us to work with partners who understand that ambition and proactively come to us with ideas.”
“The StoryStream platform gives us the flexibility to quickly learn about what content best resonates with our site visitors, and at scale. We’re able to combine content formats from various sources (e.g. earned, user-generated) in crafting moments of social proof that delight our users. Around 80% of the Hyundai owners we engage give us permission to use their self-posted content. We see this as a clear signal that Hyundai customers love sharing their journey with the world – and that they’re happy to have us be the messenger.”
The Story so far…
Since the beginning of 2022, the Hyundai U.K. team has seen a considerable uptick in key site engagement metrics through the use of the StoryStream platform:
- Users that have engaged with a StoryStream gallery typically view an additional two more site pages than users who have not engaged
- Users that have engaged with a StoryStream gallery typically spend an additional three minutes on Hynundai.co.uk – more than double the session duration of visitors who have not engaged
Excitingly, that boost to performance is evidenced further down the funnel too. Hyundai is using StoryStream modules to increase hyundai.co.uk’s goal conversion rate, principally by surfacing third-party expert reviews and news toward the top of its model pages. As a result, they’re seeing a 178% uplift in Goal completions (e.g. “Book a Test Drive”) when a site visitor has engaged with a StoryStream module.
“When we look to optimise conversion rates, we often focus on the most granular of elements – button colours, CTAs, wording and so on. Obviously, these play a pivotal part in driving incremental improvements which ultimately lead to better ROI. However, just as critical is the ability to remain focused holistically – people trust people is a maxim we subscribe to.” says Phil.
“With StoryStream we’re able to boost our site engagement and conversion rates by tapping into the power of that digital Word of Mouth. And by putting the spotlight on expert reviews while championing the experiences of our customers, we’re unlocking some brilliant results. I’m excited to see where we can take it next.”
Where Next?
The pace of innovation at Hyundai shows no sign of slowing, with the recent launches of the IONIQ 6 electrified streamliner and a further two high-performance concept cars (the exciting RN22e and N Vision 74 models) offering another opportunity for StoryStream to support Hyundai’s web engagement objectives in the near future. Watch this space…
You can see the StoryStream galleries live currently on the Hyundai.co.uk homepage, and on the model pages for the IONIQ 5, TUCSON, i20 N and i30 N (look for the galleries under “Explore #MyHyundai”, “What’s everyone saying about…”, or “Social Lounge”).
