Autofox celebrated 5 years on market, became leader in Central Europe

This argument rests on two pillars. The first is website statistics of Autofox.cz. “We decided to permanently publish current information about the traffic on a monthly basis to strengthen our transparency and to approach other potential advertisers,” Marek Balla explained. The box under the banner position Skyscraper 1 automatically takes data from Google Analytics, like the box with the currency rates.

The second pillar is the portfolio and the structure of our subscribers including the entities of all relevant segments of the automotive industry and industries affecting it. “Autofox has become part of the work of most professionals working at carmakers, suppliers, importers, dealers, leasing companies, insurance companies, as wells as development, expert or consulting firms,” Marek Balla mentioned.

The number of subscribers of the information service has increased from a few dozens in the first year (2009) to a few hundreds in 2014. Regarding the structure, 50% are manufacturers of automotive components, 14% car dealers, 13 % finance companies, 8% carmakers and 15% other companies. "The focus on the broader context in Central Europe is valued not only by companies from the Czech Republic but also from Slovakia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, France and Great Britain,” Marek Balla pointed out.

Autofox currently sends out its newsletter to 1,900 email addresses. Roughly 10,000 further readers has Autofox.cz among its favourite websites or they can access it through Internet browsers. Therefore, the overall structure of readers will be slightly different from the structure of subscribers.

Web traffic has also been growing dynamically. “While in 2010 there were about 4,000 unique visitors per month, in 2011 traffic exceeded the limit of 6,000 real users (RU), in 2013 10,000 RU, and the data for February 2014 indicate a shift to 12,000 RU per month,” Marek Balla outlined.

Growing web traffic has resulted in higher demand for banner advertising. “At the moment we have banners booked for 69 weeks in 2014, which is historically the most, and the year is just beginning. Publishing the statistics on the website traffic, introduction of the new banner position Skyscraper 2, change in the structure of price list and the new Media Kit have started showing positive responses,” Marek Balla said further.

As for the content, Autofox has so far been focused on quality and unique information. “Currently, we publish around 70 messages per month. One of the priorities for 2014 will be to strengthen the quantity and increase the complexity of our information services, but also to introduce new forms of information presentation,” Marek Balla outlined.

Autofox has become a respected source of information complementing similar reputable services established in Western Europe for many years. “They provide quality information service, but they do not have such a detailed scope of the region of Central Europe and CEE just like Autofox. Publishing simultaneously in two languages (Czech, English) and our emphasis on objectivity and independence help to strengthen our position in Central Europe,” emphasized Marek Balla and added that the ratio of revenue from subscriptions and advertising is 90%/10%.

There is still the continuing recession in Europe and companies continue to significantly reduce costs, but at the same time they realize the necessity of quality information resources for their work. “The new trend of recent years is that some former clients come back to us. They might eventually realize that even though they must economize, the quality information service has become an essential part of their business and they need to have it every season,” Marek Balla concluded.