Digital marketing has become one of the more complicated operational functions in automotive dealership operations. Over the last decade, the number of platforms, data sources, and consumer touchpoints has expanded significantly, while clarity around performance has often moved in the opposite direction. Dealers are regularly presented with detailed reports that highlight activity but stop short of explaining how that activity connects to shopper behavior or vehicle sales.

The goal of this article is to bring structure to that conversation. It outlines the core elements of an effective dealership marketing strategy, considering the tools, channels, and key considerations across the customer buying journey, and explains how marketing performance should be evaluated in practical, actionable terms.

A companion handbook accompanies this piece for those who want a deeper reference. It breaks down common metrics, traffic sources, and performance patterns that frequently create confusion in dealership reporting.

The core elements of a modern marketing strategy

Despite the growth of tools and platforms, effective dealership marketing still rests on a relatively small set of fundamentals.

The dealership website is critical to a dealer’s virtual market presence and remains the central point of conversion. Paid and organic efforts ultimately funnel shoppers there, making site speed, mobile usability, inventory presentation, and clarity of calls to action critical. When the website experience is weak, even well-funded campaigns struggle to produce results.

Search engine optimization continues to play an important and foundational role by capturing high-intent shoppers who are actively researching vehicles or dealers. While SEO requires time to mature, it often becomes one of the most efficient sources of qualified traffic once established.

Paid search advertising provides immediate visibility and is most effective when keywords, budgets, and landing pages align tightly with purchase intent. When mismanaged, however, it can generate high costs without proportional return.

Social media serves a different function. Organic social activity supports credibility and familiarity, while paid social campaigns intend to create awareness and influence consideration rather than direct lead volume. These channels shape perception more than they generate immediate action.

Third-party automotive marketplaces are often grouped together but serve different purposes. Platforms such as CarGurus, AutoTrader, Cars.com, and Carfax focus primarily on lead generation within their environments. Others, including Edmunds, function as redirect platforms, sending shoppers to dealership websites where conversion occurs. Evaluating these providers using the same criteria frequently leads to misinterpretation.

Customer relationship management systems and email marketing remain among the most influential drivers of performance. Response time, follow-up consistency, and message relevance routinely have more impact on outcomes than incremental increases in advertising spend.

More recently, customer data platforms and artificial intelligence tools have been introduced to help consolidate data and identify behavioral patterns across channels. These tools do not replace core strategies, but they can improve decision-making by providing clearer visibility into how shoppers move from exposure to purchase.

How the buying journey has changed

Industry disruptions since 2019 have changed how consumers shop. Most vehicle purchases today begin online. Shoppers spend considerable time researching models and dealership options before visiting a showroom. They move across devices and channels, compare multiple sources, and often show up at a dealership with decisions largely formed. Consumers who are shopping by payment do so by considering their overall options where “What’s my payment” is a key consideration. And that question involves both downpayment and the monthly payments. Consumers have a clear expectation that when a payment is being presented online, that payment should match what a salesperson presents to them in a showroom setting. That expectation, however, is still seldom met. And it clearly does not have to be that way.

Technologies are available that enable a dealer to deliver a consistent experience across channels, platforms, and in person.

Ensuring all tools and systems are aligned 

There are many customer management and marketing systems and technologies that have great attributes. What I often find is that a comprehensive assessment is lacking before a new system tool or technology is added to a dealer’s tech stack to ensure it works in concert with existing tools for the benefit of increased effectiveness, maximized marketing spend ROI and not least that it supports an improved customer buying experience. 

Why marketing metrics are often misread

Marketing effectiveness is no longer measured solely by lead volume. The quality of traffic, depth of engagement, and consistency of messaging across touchpoints have become equally important indicators of performance.

Dealers now have access to more data than at any point in the past, but volume has not translated into clarity. Metrics such as impressions, clicks, sessions, and leads are often reviewed independently, leading to incomplete or misleading conclusions.

High impression counts do not necessarily indicate meaningful reach. Increased traffic does not always reflect increased demand. Lead volume alone does not account for lead quality or closing efficiency. Performance only becomes clear when these metrics are viewed together and evaluated against the intent of each channel.

Evaluating partners and performance

Many dealerships rely on agencies and vendors to manage marketing activity, and many provide real value. Problems arise when recommendations are based on legacy tactics, narrow reporting views, or performance narratives that focus on activity rather than outcomes.

The biggest disconnect I see is when 3rd party manages a dealer’s inventory with a level of decision making that is not dictated by the dealer including the terms and pricing control of specific cars advertised. A dealer must dictate that to safeguard what is being communicated and served up to a consumer match what is being presented in a store, to the dollar.

The most effective operators prioritize consistency, transparency, clearly defined success metrics, and alignment between marketing activity and business results. The ability to interpret performance independently has become an operational advantage.

What all this means for dealers

The issue facing dealerships is not a lack of marketing data, but interpretation of value and relevance. Impressions, traffic, engagement, and leads are only useful when understood in context. Viewed in isolation, they obscure more than they explain. Viewed together, they offer insight into what is influencing results.

Additionally, it is necessary for a dealer to have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of the functional attributes of the individual system tools. A CRM and marketing tools assessment should be performed to eliminate disconnects and misalignment in customer management and communications.

Strong marketing operations are not defined by the number of platforms in use, but by clarity around purpose, accountability, and return. That clarity allows leadership teams to ask better questions, hold partners to meaningful standards dictated and controlled by the dealer, and adjust strategy before inefficiencies compound. 

The accompanying Dealership Marketing Handbook is intended to support what has been discussed above, providing a practical reference for interpreting reports and diagnosing performance over time.

Download handbook

Author: Jon Karasek, VP Innovation, Mach10 Automotive.

Having recently held the position of Regional Director of Digital Strategy and Innovation for the industry’s largest independent auto auction group, Jon’s skills range from mechanical/technical certifications to wholesale and retail sales. Jon was recognized for leadership accomplishments when honored with the 2021 Automotive Remarketing 40 Under 40 Award. He is an accomplished auctioneer with over 20 years of experience in the automotive industry, having served as the GM of one of Southern California’s premier wholesale auto auctions. Today, Jon holds the position as Vice President, Innovation at Mach10 Automotive, an automotive M&A firm offering a full suite of dealer performance optimization services.