Overview
Non-branded search research and a microcontent governance model for a Norwegian automotive importer's digital marketing, spanning multiple car brands and dealership content.
Who This Is For
Automotive importers and dealer groups, typically 500 to 10,000 employees, publishing content across many car brands. This case is most useful if:
- each brand team builds model and campaign pages its own way
- content priorities are set by brand rather than buyer demand
- you do not know what buyers search for beyond brand names
- editors need a repeatable guide, not a one-off brief
The Challenge
The importer's editors managed content across a wide portfolio of car brands and models. They needed a shared, repeatable way to build relevant, high-converting model and campaign pages, instead of each brand team working its own way.
There was also no clear picture of what buyers searched for beyond established brand names, so content investment risked missing real demand.
Our Approach
The team now behind ECM.DEV combined search research with an editorial system.
- Non-branded search research: roughly 250,000 monthly non-branded searches across the Norwegian car market, analysed by acquisition method, engine type, body style and location rather than by brand or model.
- Findings: electric was the dominant engine-type search (74%), SUV the leading organic body-style search, and Oslo and Bergen the largest location-based markets.
- Microcontent strategy and governance: repeatable page elements, content mapping and customer-journey-aligned content needs across the brand portfolio.
- An editors' guide: a practical guide the client's own editors could apply.
Impact
Demand-led, not brand-led. Content priorities set by what buyers searched for, not by which brand was loudest internally.
A repeatable system for editors. One microcontent governance model applied across many brands and campaigns.
Evidence at scale. Findings grounded in a quarter of a million monthly searches, not a handful of anecdotes.
Buyers often decide on electric or SUV before they decide on a brand. Content built around brand names arrives after the decision has started.
Delivered while employed at Making Waves (later NoA Ignite), as part of the content strategy and SEO team on the client's account. Any public information referenced here is used for identification and does not imply endorsement.
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