Metrics to Track for Auto Dealership Marketing (with Benchmarks)
You already know that marketing is essential for increasing the number of automobiles sold and services provided. However, are you aware of the effectiveness of your dealership’s marketing?
You must understand what to measure and how your metrics compare in order to receive a clear response to that question. Only after that can you really see what’s working and what could require some tweaking.
Measurement Metrics
Depending on the approach or tactics you’ve chosen, you’ll utilize different metrics to obtain insight into your marketing performance. For example, if you aren’t running a social media campaign, social engagement metrics won’t likely provide you with anything.
In light of this, we’ve compiled the top 8 metrics you ought to be tracking (along with some benchmarks). You’ll be able to confidently respond that your auto dealership marketing is performing at its best the next time someone inquires.
Metrics for Social Engagement
It’s simple to track and analyze a variety of indicators on social media to see how well your campaign is doing. Even though metrics like clicks, shares, comments, and likes won’t reveal how many new clients a social media campaign finally brought in, they do provide some excellent leading signs to monitor.
A Good Benchmark: We have a clear picture of interaction rates across platforms thanks to Socialinsider, which produced a thorough study on industry-specific standards.
Social Insider graph displaying the social engagement rates for the auto industry on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
Strategies to Improve: Since social media is all about connecting, consider commenting on other people’s posts if you aren’t getting a lot of interaction on your own. Getting recognized in the field will bring people back to you and improve your metrics going forward.
Email Metrics, 2.
Email marketing offers a smorgasbord of measurement options, much like social media: deliveries, opens, and click-throughs. It’s a metric utopia that will provide you with important information on the precise audience for your campaign and any further actions they may be taking.
The typical standards (across industries), according to Campaign Monitor, look somewhat like this:
* Open: 18%*
Clickthrough rate: 2.6%
* Clickthrough rate: 14.1%
* Unsubscriber rate: 0.1%
*Take note that open rate benchmarks are expected to change dramatically in the near future and might no longer be a reliable email measure to track due to some changes in how Apple devices process email.
Techniques for Improvement: If you’re not getting the desired results, check your email list. You may be setting yourself up for failure if you haven’t recently cleansed your list, deleting any out-of-date or incorrect information. In addition, let your measurements highlight your areas for development:
inadequate open rates? Test the subject lines you use.
insufficient click-through or click-to-open rates? Make sure your email contains useful information for the reader and that your calls to action are obvious.
High rate of unsubscribes? Make sure you aren’t adding people to your email lists who shouldn’t be, that you aren’t sending out too many emails and that your audience is actually getting something of value from your emails.
3. Search Positions
Ranking on the first page of Google search results for a search query doesn’t only happen because you updated the material on your website. You’ll need to be persistent about producing the correct kind of content that responds to your target audience’s search queries if you want to rank for your target keywords.
A Good Benchmark: Although not a precise benchmark, a BrightEdge study discovered that 53% of all website traffic comes from organic searches. Therefore, a fantastic place to start evaluating the success of your SEO efforts is by tracking any spikes in traffic and looking into the sources of that traffic using software like Google Analytics.
Other than conducting keyword research, there are a few simple and quick ways to optimize your content for higher SEO rankings:
Make sure your website runs quickly and is simple to navigate, especially on mobile devices.
Include your keyword in the H1, H2, and H3 headings that are descriptive (but be careful not to just repeat the phrase throughout your article).
Images, graphs, charts, and other visuals should all have alternative text.
Make sure the information on your website is factual, worthwhile for the reader, and completely addresses the key phrase or search word you want to rank for.
4. CPL (Cost Per Lead)
With the level of segmentation available, sponsored advertisements on websites like Google and Facebook can be a terrific way to reach new, targeted people. These advertisements are served to a group of people who are most interested in the services your car dealership offers. Paid advertisements, however, can also be a huge financial mistake. The number of leads will help you assess whether the advantages (benefits) actually outweigh the costs.
A Good Benchmark: According to research by Lion Tree Group, the cost-per-lead for the car sector was just around $200.
Strategies for Improving: If you’re seeing a higher CPL than you’re comfortable with, it may be time to try optimizing your advertisements. Change your ad wording and graphics, or you might even attempt a whole other offer. Whatever it is, it might hold the secret to cutting expenses and generating more leads.
5. Website traffic (total visits versus unique visits)
Your marketing outreach techniques will unquestionably show you how many people are actually clicking on your site by measuring the traffic that comes to it. However, be cautious because it’s possible for one individual to visit your site several times and inflate your report. For this reason, it’s crucial to track both total and unique visits.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a reliable baseline for this measure because it varies greatly from one dealer to the next depending on your dealership’s size, the size of the area you serve, and a number of other factors. The best course of action is to monitor variations in your traffic over time, particularly ones that correlate with adjustments to your marketing strategies.
There isn’t just one way to increase website traffic, which makes it a reliable measure of the overall success of your marketing initiatives. Even with a strong marketing strategy, if you’re still having trouble increasing website traffic, check that your URL is simple to remember and type, that you’re adhering to fundamental SEO best practices, that you’ve claimed and updated your Google My Business listing, and that your dealership is listed in any pertinent local business directories.
Site Conversion Rate, number six
Your conversion rate is calculated by dividing the total number of website visitors by the number of prospects who converted into new sales. This should demonstrate how well your website works to promote your dealership and bring in new clients.
A good benchmark is that the average conversion rate for the automobile sector is 0.4%, as per ContentSquare research.
The final push of any marketing campaign, and possibly the most crucial, is turning leads into sales. It can resemble dropping the ball at the five-yard line if your website isn’t doing well.
How can you get better? Start your A/B tests. You may pinpoint the exact issue without having to undertake a comprehensive website redesign by defining and evaluating how particular elements of your site work.
7. Retention/Attrition
One of your most significant assets is customer loyalty, so keeping them as customers should be the major goal of every marketing effort.
A Good Benchmark: According to Statista, the average retention rate for the transportation and automotive industries is 83%.
Strategies for Improving: Working with a company like SimpSocial that offers renewable advantages gives clients a reason to stick with your business and keep returning for services, no matter how big or small. In fact, 84% of respondents in our most recent poll said that SimpSocial advantages increase their likelihood of getting their next oil change at their dealership.
8. Overall Expense
The dollars and cents come last. How much money have you invested overall? Have you gone over your budget? Was the performance satisfactory enough to raise your budget for the following quarter or the following year?
How much did you invest, and how would you assess your return?
A Good Benchmark: In 2020, the average dealership spent $450,094—or roughly 8% of their total sales—on advertising, according to the NADA Data 2020 report.
Strategies for Improvement: Are you overspending but not getting the outcomes you were hoping for? Examine your marketing plan carefully, paying close attention to the channels and content.
Channels: Because costs might vary greatly between them, it’s critical to pay attention to whether one channel outperforms another.
Not all forms of content are appropriate for all distribution channels. Find out what kind of content the channel’s viewers find more interesting and relevant, and make adjustments from there.
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