Increasing Sales Revenue & Volume for an Automotive Dealership
A Colorado Automotive Dealer Group faced shrinking profit and operating margins and pressure from OEMs to meet retail sales effectiveness standards. The group had 10 advertising vendors and growing advertising budgets at their disposal but needed more ability to measure the results of their marketing efforts.
- Analyze business KPIs
- Harness first, second, and third-party data
- Effectively isolate myriad audience segments
- Deploy and optimize digital media and content to drive consumer sentiment
- Incorporate indicative analysis and lookalike audience extension techniques
The Strategy
To help our client achieve more significant ROI and combat the obstacles of marketing fatigue and margin compression in the marketplace, we created a holistic marketing plan across paid, native and organic channels. After analyzing key performance indicators, we began defining and capturing valuable first-party data that was then utilized to develop lookalike audiences and retargeting campaigns for individuals in-market or with intent to purchase in the next 3 to 6 months.
In addition, we employed affinity-based, whitelist, and geo-targeting techniques to drive the sentiment of those most likely to engage with our client. Custom landing pages were built, tested, and optimized, and tailored ads and content were deployed for various personas in-market for specific auto makes and models. Over time, we continued analyzing and determining more direct user journey segments that allowed our client to increase lead and call flow data into the dealership.
The Results
Within the first year of deploying our solution, our client achieved a 26% increase in year-over-year sales and revenue increases of 17.4%, all while similar dealerships were down 6-15% in sales volume and 12-19% in revenue. Simultaneously, we reduced overall advertising expenditures and eliminated multiple vendors. Cost savings included eliminating cable TV, newspaper, and paid lead source spends, lowering the client’s overall spend-per-vehicle by over 28%.