Maximizing ROAS, Part 1: A Car Dealers Guide To Auditing PPC Vendors And Their Digital Advertising Spend

If you’re like most dealers, you probably already know what you’re spending on paid search advertising, or at least you know how to find out pretty quickly. But do you understand how all of that money is actually being spent, and how it feeds (or fails to feed) your sales engine?

In this Digital-First age, retail car dealers tend to invest heavily in a few very popular online advertising platforms to boost traffic and engage shoppers, with average monthly PPC and SEM budgets reaching anywhere between $4000-$25,000 depending on dealership size, market, etc.

One thing that the major ad agencies really don’t like to talk about is how much of that monthly spend (potentially thousands of dollars – even at the low end of the budget spectrum) is completely wasted on poor performing campaigns that provide low ROAS, or worse, top-performing campaigns that look fantastic on paper but do little more than cannibalize and overlap with organic brand-level ranking that your dealership already owns outright.

Your audit and optimization strategy is critical to advertising success.

Regular audits of your digital advertising campaigns can make or break your ability to reach and engage local audiences. Audits help identify areas of waste, ensure alignment with your dealership’s various goals, and provide crucial insights into the effectiveness of your ad agency. Taking a proactive approach allows you to make more informed decisions and maximize your stores overall profitability per customer.

High level areas to focus
your audit strategy

1. Account Ownership and Access: Make sure that your dealership has full ownership and administrative access to ALL of your advertising accounts. As the old saying goes, “trust, but verify”. Transparency is the most vital facet of your ability to monitor performance and make necessary adjustments.
   
   
2. Performance Metrics: Regularly review your KPI’s (key performance indicators) such as impression share, cost per VDP view, engagement and conversion rates. These metrics track how your target audience is interacting with your messaging.
   
   
3. Creative & Asset Management: Essentially, you want to A/B test everything you can with regard to creative. From the images to the copy and CTA’s you’re using. Regular testing can greatly improve engagement and conversion rates.
   
   
4. Inventory & Data Accuracy: Your inventory needs to be up-to-date and accurately reflected in your ads. Vehicle photos and corresponding data should be accurate so you don’t lose sales opportunities over a mislabeled unit.
   
   
5. Geotargeting & Audience Segmentation: Review your geotargeting settings to make sure your ads are only reaching your intended audience within the PMA (primary marketing area). Be wary of conquest campaigns that target shoppers who are too far away from your location.

Auditing your PPC and digital advertising spend is not only about cutting your costs- it’s about maximizing efficiency and ensuring that every dollar spent is contributing to your dealership’s KPI’s and success metrics. By taking a more proactive approach to managing your ad agency partner, you’ll drive better results.

Be sure to check out our next article in this series, where we cover the platform-based advertising checklist every dealer needs to audit their performance on various popular ad platforms, as well as the primary questions that every dealer should be asking their digital advertising partners.

If you’d like to schedule a consultation and PPC Audit (at no charge) with one of our digital marketing experts, please Click, Call 800-410-7354, or email sales@autofusion.com.