It seems like everything is always changing these days. It’s hard to keep up — especially for a busy car dealer. If your automotive marketing agency partnership has looked the same for the last few years, it’s worth a second look.
Between new AI tools, an uneasy economy, different ad platforms and an ever-changing buying journey, a “good enough” agency relationship from 2023 may be leaving better performance on the table today.
“Asking questions like these isn’t about not trusting your marketing agency, or catching them doing something wrong. …It’s about making sure your partnership is keeping pace in an industry that is changing faster than many of us would probably like it to.”
Here are seven questions every dealer should be asking their marketing agency this year:
1. How are you using AI in our campaigns, and how are you deliberately not?
AI can be a game changer in efficiency. Streamlining manual processes to get your ads live a day or two earlier, or evaluating ad performance every day to provide valuable insights. Incremental gains can add up to a record-breaking month. There are ways to use AI to actually move the needle, but there are many cases where a human still needs to make the call. Lots of agencies are slapping “AI-powered” on tools and processes to make them sound cool. Is yours? Ask for specifics.
2. How is our budget split across the buying funnel? Does that match how customers actually buy?
No dealer has an unlimited marketing budget. You’ve got to trust that your dollars are going to the right place at the right time, and delivering the right message to the right person. Plus, there’s always a gray line between where Tier 1 and Tier 2 are spending their marketing dollars, and where dealers should come in. Make sure you’re not doubled up in one area, leaving a hole in another.
3. Can you show me attribution beyond last click?
Buying a car isn’t a linear process. Studies show up to 24 touchpoints throughout the journey. If you’re just looking at the last one, you’re not giving credit to the 23 others. Top agencies are using advanced tracking tools to show how different ads touched or influenced sales. Ask whether your agency can show you multi-touch tracking or connect their activity to showroom visits and sales.
4. How are you using my inventory data in real time?
Unfortunately, the days of creating one graphic at the beginning of the month and just letting it run are over. Your inventory changes every day, and your ads should reflect that. Your team pictures and re-prices your vehicles throughout the month. If your agency isn’t utilizing your feed, ask why.
5. How are you using my CRM data in real time?
Your agency’s job is to provide your sales team as many leads as they can handle. But the job doesn’t stop there. In order to provide the best leads for your team, your agency needs to understand lead response time, closing percentages, which third parties are also generating leads. Not using that data is like driving a car with your eyes closed — you’ll run off the road eventually. Your agency should care about the handoff to your team.
6. What does our fixed ops marketing look like?
Service and parts are a huge part of your dealership’s profit. But most agencies heavily outweigh marketing for your sales team. If you ask your agency what they’re doing to market your service department and they say, “not much,” that’s an opportunity for you and for them.
7. What would you do differently if this were your dealership?
Perhaps the most important question, this shows whether your agency thinks like a business partner or like an order taker. It’s different when it’s your own money. You want an agency partner who thinks like an owner, understands marketing’s place in the overall success of the business, and has an opinion, even when it’s not the easy answer.
The Bottom Line
Asking questions like these isn’t about not trusting your dealership’s marketing agency, or catching them doing something wrong. It’s about holding your marketing team accountable in the same way you hold your employees accountable. It’s about making sure your partnership is keeping pace in an industry that is changing faster than many of us would probably like it to.
If you ask these questions and get clear, confident answers, then you’ve got a great partner! If not, that’s useful information too.
Curious how LTD Connect would answer these questions for your dealership? Let’s connect.
