Case Studies > Measuring the Impact of Automotive Online Advertising

Measuring the Impact of Automotive Online Advertising

Company Size

1,000+

Region

America

Country

United States

Product

APT Test & Learn

Tech Stack

Proprietary Analytics

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Customer Satisfaction
Productivity Improvements
Revenue Growth

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Applicable Industries

Automotive
Retail

Applicable Functions

Business Operation
Sales & Marketing

Services

Data Science Services
System Integration

About The Customer

The customer in this case study is a leading digital marketing provider that serves automotive dealerships. This company offers a range of online advertising services designed to help dealerships increase their vehicle sales. The digital marketing provider leverages advanced analytics to measure the impact of its services and demonstrate their value to dealership customers. The company operates on a large scale, serving numerous dealerships across the United States, and focuses on helping these dealerships optimize their marketing strategies to achieve better sales outcomes.

The Challenge

The automotive industry faces a significant challenge in accurately attributing car sales to digital marketing investments. Both digital marketing providers and auto manufacturers need to confidently attribute sales to different marketing channels to ensure optimal allocation of advertising budgets. This challenge is compounded by the fact that consumers cannot purchase vehicles online, making it difficult to measure the direct impact of digital marketing efforts on car sales.

The Solution

APT’s Test & Learn software was employed to address the attribution challenge. The software uses proprietary analytics to isolate the cause-and-effect relationship between strategic initiatives and key metrics like vehicle sales. The digital marketing provider used Test & Learn to identify past occurrences where dealerships subscribed to or cancelled their products. By matching these 'test dealerships' to control dealerships with similar financial patterns, the company could clearly quantify the sales impact of adding or cancelling their services. The software also segmented results by various dealership and demographic attributes, enabling a detailed understanding of the impact across different types of dealerships and regions.

Operational Impact

The digital marketing provider was able to accurately measure the impact of its advertising services on dealership car sales.
Dealerships that added the provider's services experienced significant sales lifts, with franchise dealerships seeing a 9.4% increase in overall units and independent dealerships experiencing a 30% lift.
The software enabled the company to break out the sales impact by dealer type and car type, providing detailed insights into the effectiveness of their services.
The company used these findings to assert the value of its services in conversations with customers, driving renewal and cross-sell opportunities.
The Test & Learn capability was institutionalized, allowing the company to apply this approach to various areas of the business, including pricing, marketing, and sales force strategies.

Quantitative Benefit

Dealerships that added the provider's services experienced a 12.5% increase in overall units, or nearly 5 cars per month in the first 6 months.
Franchise dealerships saw a 10.8% increase in new car sales and a 5.4% lift in used car units.
Annual service subscriptions drove a 415% ROI for franchise dealerships, generating a $217,000 net benefit per dealer.
Independent dealerships experienced a 30% lift in sales, with a 985% ROI, translating to an $116,000 annual benefit per dealer.
Dealerships that cancelled their subscriptions experienced a 5.8% decline in monthly units, resulting in a nearly $60,000 net loss per dealer.