Overall economies of scale through campaign platforms such as Google Ads, Bing Ads, Facebook Ads and others can yield as high as 614% increases in conversion rates and reductions of 71% in cost per lead when implemented with an active, tracked customer database.
Current search conditions do not provide any detailed or accurate sales outcome data or minimum pricing strategies from the search directories used today.
Therefore, this evaluation combines verified conversion data, technical integration with systems, and verified performance by category of 19 different specialized automotive digital marketing agencies.
What to Expect from Top Automotive Digital Marketing Agencies
All performance partners that support dealership operations must be built on data architecture that separates elite partners from basic service providers.
Basic service providers focus on clicks and website visitors, whereas elite performance partners focus on verified showroom visits, deals made, and the ability to accurately engage the vehicle detail pages (VDP) of every vehicle. To survive in the current marketplace, dealerships should expect a high level of technical competence from the performance partners they select to work with.
The primary failure point associated with dealerships generating leads through a CRM system is the lack of connected data between the dealership and its performance partner. When a performance partner measures traffic solely by the number of hits to their site, they are failing to measure the actual sales cycle of the dealership.
Elite performance partners connect their digital campaigns directly with the dealer management systems (DMS). This connection allows the performance partner to upload offline conversion data (the data generated when a customer calls or fills out a form) back to their specific paid search or social media campaign.
By connecting ad spend directly with closed deals, automotive groups can accurately measure and report true ROI of their advertising dollars versus measuring with vanities that show no correlation to a recorded CRM lead.
Search engines utilize AI technology to answer user questions directly on the results page now. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is a new framework for improving your business's visibility locally. To ensure AI Overviews and ChatGPT cite your dealership, you must structure your dealership's frequently asked questions (FAQs), live inventory details, and local entity data so that they can accurately represent your business.
As an agency, if you are not focusing on building your content around traditional blue text links, you are going to quickly lose your market share within your local area. As a result, you need to create your content primarily for machine reading and for directly generating answers.
Best Automotive Digital Marketing Agencies for Local Dealerships
1. PureCars
PureCars specializes in revamping broken pathways to conversion for your local dealerships.
Their efforts for Woodridge Ford Lincoln led to an incredible 132% lift in the conversion rate of that account and a drop in the cost per lead from year to year of 71%. Reducing the cost of acquisitions by more than two-thirds requires aggressive management of the feeds of the dynamic inventory. By ensuring local listing ads are consistent with the actual inventory on the lot, they are eliminating budget waste on inventory that is already sold. This type of approach eliminates guesswork in paid search.
2. SmartSites
SmartSites illustrates the difference between informative search traffic and general internet noise.
In their work with Springfield Hyundai, they had a 34% increase in organic traffic and an extraordinary 614% increase in conversion rate. Statistically, a conversion lift of this magnitude indicates the prior attempts were converting entirely unqualified users. SmartSites have isolated high-intent local search queries, allowing them to link the digital presence of Springfield Hyundai with the actual buyers, rather than only the casual browsers. There can be a lot of volume in search traffic, but if it is not connected to the actual intent of the buyer, the volume of traffic will not be valuable.
3. The Automotive Advertising Agency
The Automotive Advertising Agency has a unique focus on the profitability of inventory.
During a campaign for Blake Fulenwider, pre-owned income percentage increased by 27% at CDJR, while 51% at Ford. Since the margin of pre-owned profits determine the overall health of a lot, a 27% increase in profits would not have occurred without a well-optimized media spend and narrow geographical targeting. Also, these manufacturers were able to keep a year-over-year sales growth rate during the receding economy. Not only do they sell cars but also protect the profit margin of their dealer(s).
4. Dealer Inspire
Dealer Inspire was rated an 8.7 out of 10 for attribution capabilities.
One of their key technical features is the ability to have advanced CRM lead tracking and intelligent routing of calls and forms. Instead of just sending a lead to a generic inbox, their architecture takes the exact origin data of the lead and routes it into the dealer sales team's hands. Because of this, dealers can see which channel produced a test drive. Routing leads properly will eliminate lost sales.
5. AutoWeb
AutoWeb received an 8.4 rating on their dealer-ready new lead funnel management capabilities.
They combine initial search intent, customized conversion landing pages, and aggressive remarketing into one funnel. Many dealerships lose potential buyers between the time of the initial search to the time of viewing the vehicle details page. AutoWeb fixes these leaks in the funnel by ensuring a seamless transition between the search ad and the specific vehicle listing page.
If there is a break in the flow of the funnel, there is money being wasted on every dollar put in at the top.
6. Cars.com Digital Marketing
The digital marketing section of Cars.com has a score of 8.2/10.
The company focuses on developing dealer marketing strategies to reflect only vehicle-specific shopper intent, therefore it does not waste digital marketing budgets on broad search terms such as "car dealer near me". The company has a large internal data network that allows for precise targeting of users that are searching the exact make/model of a vehicle on the dealer's lot. The company uses math to determine which dealers' vehicles will be most likely sold to the target audience through its intentional matching strategy.
7. Cox Automotive and AutoPacific
AutoPacific is part of Cox Automotive and specializes in automotive-specific attribution and performance measurement.
They report on dealer-centric metrics associated with actual leads. Since Cox owns Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book, and other auto-related businesses, they have the most comprehensive data available, providing them with the ability to trace a user from initial research to submitting a form at a local dealership.
The level of visibility provided by this type of reporting allows AutoPacific to determine which type of ads are ineffective.
8. Jives Media
Jives Media received an average score of 4.9 and the founder has been leading the company since 2012.
They have a full-funnel marketing approach, handling SEO, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and emerging GEO search tactics. Many dealers cannot manage all of these channels internally due to the time and effort involved. Jives Media acts as an external department to ensure that messages in Facebook Ads and Google Search ads reflect the intent of users who are searching for specific vehicles.
Having a single message reduces costs of customer acquisition through advertising.
9. Dealer Authority
Dealer Authority has received an average rating of 4.7 from users for providing personalized, boutique marketing strategies.
Many vendors force dealers to use the same generic template and automated bidding scheme, applying them to all of the markets in the same way. The Dealer Authority works with dealers by creating custom SEO and paid media campaigns that are based on the actual competitive environment of the local market. Template-based marketing will fail when competitors begin aggressively to spend money.
Custom marketing strategies protect market share within the local market.
10. PCG Digital
PCG Digital has a 4.6 review score and differentiates itself with a strict data ownership policy.
In today's climate of the industry, a lot of bad automotive digital marketing agencies hold dealers' account data hostage. When a dealer terminates a vendor, the dealer also loses all historical Google Ads account information, pixel-tracking information, and custom audiences. PCG Digital builds all of its assets inside the dealer's account; therefore, the dealer retains all of the historical intelligence indefinitely.
The dealer needs to have ownership of their data.
11. Green Line
Green Line has a 4.5 average review score and is different than other vendors because it was founded by former dealership executives.
When the theoretical marketing is tested in the showroom, it often does not translate to reality. Due to their leadership's experience, all of their paid social, display, and search campaigns are built to produce realistic, attainable leads for the sales desk. They have an understanding of the difference between a qualified buyer and a less-than-qualified internet lead.
12. Action Agency
Action Agency has a 4.4 review score as an embedded marketing agency for multiple-location dealer groups.
Managing ten dealerships requires extensive coordination to ensure that different dealerships are not bidding against each other on Google Ads. Unified local search strategies and multiple regional markets: they offer comprehensive solutions for local search and online paid search marketing on a centralized basis around a company's local brand. Without centrally controlled local search, digital media management, and paid media marketing for multiple locations, groups are losing thousands of dollars in advertising bid wars.
13. Autosweet
Autosweet has created a scoring system for DMS-linked campaigns and provides offline attribution to vehicle sales using sales databases of the dealerships it services.
By linking digital campaigns to sales databases, Autosweet can demonstrate the number of cars sold due directly to a specific Facebook or Google campaign. If the automotive digital marketing agency cannot show a link between its monthly invoice and actual cars sold, then the reporting provided by that vendor is of no value.
14. LocaliQ Boostability
These two companies operate together to offer local businesses visibility in the digital marketplace.
They specialize in targeting local audiences with managed SEO services, creating and maintaining Google Business Profile pages, building local citations, and conducting continuous optimization cycles. To survive, a dealership must appear on local map/search results. If a dealership does not exist in local maps, it would not be considered as a viable option for most modern buyers. By providing continuous citation management, a dealership can reduce the ability of its local competitors to steal local search traffic from them.
Automotive Digital Marketing Agencies for Car Brand Launches and Expensive Vehicles
1. Team Lewis
Team Lewis has the ability to execute massive global strategies to launch brands around the world.
During the launch of Lucid Motors, Team Lewis generated 250,000 event attendance and secured 3,020 articles published globally in just 1 week. Team Lewis produced and managed 130 influencer videos reaching over 1 million views and delivering 78% share of voice.
To successfully launch a new electric vehicle (EV), it requires multidimensional brand exposure and earned media public relations. Local search tactics rely on traditional methods for a business to be able to establish an effective global marketplace overnight. However, this is not possible.
2. Crafted
Crafted is focused on creating demand on a global scale for premium goods or services exceeding availability within their own geographical market area.
When they launched their BMW ActiveE campaign, they were able to create twice the number of qualified applicants versus the amount of vehicles ready for sale within the first nine hours of launching the campaign. Their total inventory was then sold out within two months of launch. To successfully market luxury and limited-production vehicles, marketers must create an environment of artificial scarcity and high exclusivity.
Only then will premium buyers respond to curated advertising messages rather than mass-produced discount coupons and promotions.
3. Omni Advertising
Omni Advertising has earned a 4.4-star total rating by providing a combination of superior in-house experience within the dealership community and outstanding creative execution.
They have recently completed a Honda dealership campaign using their expertise in video merchandising. Omni Advertising achieved 28% increases in completed video views while simultaneously achieving 37% reductions in display cost per click, and 35% reductions in CPM for pre-roll advertisements. The production of professional-grade video merchandising involves a significant investment capital; therefore, ensuring viewers will view your video is a key factor in any video merchandising campaign. Higher-quality creative automatically reduces the cost of acquiring media platforms.
Best Automotive Digital Marketing Agencies for Aftermarket Parts
1. CMB Automotive Marketing
The after-market parts and ecommerce growth sectors are two areas of focus for CMB Automotive Marketing.
CMB specializes in aftermarket parts sales and ecommerce growth. CMB had great success during a 4-month period of time running an ecommerce campaign for PowerStop by generating click-through rates for their landing page that were greater than 15% and click-through rates for emails that were 8% as well. During this period, they also added over 3,500 new qualified social media followers.
When selling aftermarket parts, it is crucial to understand the technical standards (ACES/PIES) and the mechanics of the marketplaces (such as Amazon) as well as the consumer direct channels in order to meet the high-quality product specifications that high intent buyers expect before purchasing.
2. Reevoo
Reevoo received an 8 out of 10 rating because they focus on collecting and moderating verified reviews.
In the aftermarket parts industry, consumer confidence is the most important aspect of converting customers, and Reevoo syndicates verified customer reviews across all dealer locations and product pages. If an ecommerce store does not have authentic user reviews, the rate of shopping cart abandonment is significant.
The presence of verified social proof will raise an ecommerce store's eventual checkout rate considerably.
How Much They Cost and How to Get Started
What Changes the Price
The pricing models for this industry vary greatly based on the precise operational aspects of the customer. Therefore, agencies generally do not charge flat rates because the workload of each agency changes significantly according to the size of the customer's business. Agencies have minimum monthly retainers and project budgets used to calculate the following technical components:
The total volume of vehicle inventory and how often dynamic feeds are updated.
The number of physical dealership locations and the multiple region-specific target areas.
The required media networks, for example, connected TV, streaming audio, etc.
The need for custom video production vs standard manufacturer assets.
What You Need to Start and Track Ads
Campaign success is ultimately determined by the technical components of a campaign. Before spending any money on media budgets, agencies must gain access to the dealership's internal DMS. An expedited onboarding process depends largely on the dealership's ability to supply the agency with up-to-date/clean data. Some of the most common reasons for failure are when agencies are unable to meet these requirements:
Provide the agency read and write access to the dealership's core database.
Provide clean data feeds to the agency for use with Google Merchant Center and Performance Max campaigns.
Have a mapping of an active call tracking system to the dealership's exact digital source medium.
Provide the agency a properly formatted template for offline conversions tracking importation.
Final Thoughts on Choosing an Automotive Digital Marketing Agency
The bottom line of the data is plain: broad-based, generic marketing campaigns no longer work for today's vehicle sales industry.
The agencies that can produce verifiable results, for example, 614% increases in conversion and 71% reductions in cost, achieve these numbers by strictly integrating all technical aspects of their marketing campaigns.
Dealerships should only partner with automotive digital marketing agencies that require access to the DMS and can map every digital click back to the physical showroom visit. Dealerships should not work with vendors selling basic traffic statistics or hiding behind impressions; instead, they must expect accurate offline conversion tracking, accurate category experience, and full ownership of their database assets.
An agency that cannot provide evidence of having sold vehicles is just a cost burden on the dealership.