Case Study

The storm of hype and interest swirling around the activities of the Tesla car company and the antics of its owner, Elon Musk, is unparalleled in the current market. The deceptively straightforward automotive business has attracted a rabid fandom rarely seen in consumer business. So what’s their secret?

In this case study, we’ll deep dive into Tesla’s marketing strategy and explain what you can learn from their model. Using a few distinctive ads and online features, we’ll explore what marketing decisions set Tesla apart from its contemporaries.

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Tesla Marketing Strategy - Intro

As you may know, Tesla is a manufacturer of high-end electric cars.

As you may also know, Tesla has an incredibly powerful brand presence, to the point where both the business and its owner have become household names.

This level of recognition is on par with Apple and Steve Jobs, or Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg.

But what makes Tesla unique is that it did not enter the public consciousness by providing some exciting new software or gadget.

Instead, it innovated a century-old market: the American automotive industry. Ultimately, cars are something everyone knows and has seen before, and Tesla separated itself from the pack through shrewd viral marketing.

The ads and internet spots reviewed below cover the marketing gamut Tesla occupies: from traditional magazine-style car ads, up to viral social media marketing.

The first two graphics discuss content Tesla was aiming at a general audience, while the second two graphics are related to Tesla’s marketing via social media.

Read on for more.

MASS MARKET AD #1

The first and most obvious way to sell cars is to appeal to people who know a lot about cars.

The layperson may have never even heard of the drag coefficient of a car, but those in the know will be able to recognize that Tesla is willing to communicate some technical details because of their confidence in their product.

In addition to impressing hobbyists, Tesla presents the fact in a way that makes it hard to compare to other competing brands of cars.

But who cares? If they have the lowest drag, what more do you need to know? It’s simple, no one will likely be bothered to argue it, and it sounds impressive.

Aside from the trivial factoid, the spread above emphasizes the sleekness of the car in case the fact wasn’t enough to get it across.

TAKEAWAYS

If you have any stats to brag about regarding your product, phrase them as concisely and powerfully as possible.
Match the graphical style with the meaning of the text.
The use of simple colours and empty space can put the focus more on your product.
- All the more useful when your product is a luxury item, as Tesla’s are marketed as.

In a way, the first lesson you can learn from Tesla is to target a large, established market with very unambiguous marketing.

MASS MARKET AD #2

Image Source: Tesla.com (as of Sept. 2022)

If you were an established luxury car brand, how would you design your website?

Similar to Mass Market Ad #1, Tesla chose a minimalist approach to their website.

The names of the different vehicle models are listed at the top.

If the user scrolls down the page, pictures of those same vehicles will appear in sequence, accompanied only by buttons to take you to pages where you can begin to inquire about a purchase.

The website is not interested in teaching you about the car but is rather a very fancy online marketplace.

Most brands do not have the privilege of assuming customers already know about your product before they visit your website.

That’s part of why so many sites include blogs full of guides, articles, and content related to their product: so that visitors can learn something instead of only being expected to purchase immediately.

TAKEAWAYS

Minimalism and graphical focus are valuable when showcasing a desirable product.
The fewer distractions or options your retail website has, the better.
Use large pictures that contrast the product with the background.

A business website can be expressive, but in the end, it needs to intrigue customers about your product.

SOCIAL MEDIA #1

The user interface of Facebook may not look like Tesla’s main website, but you’ll notice the pictures they chose are very similar to all pictures above.

Large, high-quality, high-contrast pictures with their product front and in focus, contrasting with the neutrally coloured unfocused background.

Social media acts as an introduction to your brand that reaches the specific user base of that social media. Knowing your target demographic is important in choosing what social media to target and what type of advertising to create.

Having a presence on Facebook is not that remarkable, but Tesla and its owner gave interviews, provided candid thoughts on Twitter, and engaged with and supported fan content across YouTube and Facebook, leading to a level of digital engagement that no other car company has been able to achieve.

TAKEAWAYS

Social media is essential to expanding your audience, as well as expanding to the right audience.
Make sure your social media pages match the style on all your other pages, and especially that of your main website.

Consistency in branding is key for any business with a strong online presence.

SOCIAL MEDIA #2

The stock success of Tesla over the past few years has consistently made business headline news.

Elon Musk has over 105 million followers on Twitter. Videos focusing on Tesla products, such as the Cybertruck above, have millions and millions of views.

The online success of Tesla comes down to two things: Community Engagement and Exciting Products.

Community Engagement: The constant candid social media activity of Elon Musk allowed customers to relate to him as if he were a social media personality instead of an inaccessible businessman.

This by extension created a fondness for his brand, leading to an emotional connection between Tesla’s products and its buyers.

Exciting Products: Tesla has been consistent in showing off technology that is both easy to understand and well-implemented, such as the self-driving feature of its cars.

Anyone who’s driven a car can appreciate the possibilities when a company announces that its vehicles are self-driving.

Additionally, Tesla did not start bragging about this feature until they knew it was significantly more robust than what any other car company could offer.

The combination of the two factors above has resulted in a brand that gets mountains of media attention and excites consumers to the point where they will create their own online content to discuss it, essentially generating advertising for Tesla for free.

TAKEAWAYS

Community engagement has the potential to elevate your brand to explosive levels.
Many influencers will accept brand deals to promote your product.
Focus on what you do better than your competitors to get people excited about your product.

Don’t underestimate the power of the internet as a 21st-century company.