[Case Study] 9 Clouds Strategy Boosts Dealer’s Facebook Sales by 40% Without Increasing Budget

When it comes to spending money on Facebook ads, the question isn’t always about how much to spend, but rather on which campaigns to spend it.

Our custom digital marketing strategies often involve a comprehensive group of Facebook ad campaigns. These campaigns allow dealerships to cover several segments of their inventory in ads, both reaching new traffic as well as using dynamic retargeting on Facebook and Instagram. 

Every month, our digital strategists evaluate the performance of every campaign and also provide recommendations for ad spend increases, decreases or reallocations for the next month.

In this case, our monthly strategy recommendations involved a modest budget reallocation. That change made bold results for Willis Automotive.

The Challenge

Our strategy for Willis Automotive in Des Moines involved a slate of campaigns focused on several subsegments of their used vehicles. These campaigns showcased vehicles that had been on the lot for longer, vehicles priced at $18,000 or less, and used SUVs. 

Using our Cumulus software, our team was able to effectively sort these vehicles into their respective Facebook catalog product groups and create campaigns for each. 

As these campaigns ran throughout several months (and, in some cases, years), we noticed that the inventory levels often fluctuated, and if a certain campaign had a relatively low number of showcased vehicles, the cost per click (CPC) and click volume would suffer. 

The challenge was to form a strategy that effectively maximized the number of clicks, leads and sales which could be attributed to Facebook ads for this family of dealerships.

The Solution

During our monthly client strategy meeting, our team of digital strategists noticed that the average monthly cost per link click (CPLC) in the used SUVs campaign for Willis Automotive had normalized at around 6 cents. While that doesn’t sound like much, the difference of just one penny per link click could bring hundreds more visitors to their website. 

Our team wanted to capitalize on the success of the used SUVs campaign by expanding its reach. To do this, we reallocated $200 from another campaign that featured a shrinking subsegment of budget used vehicles.

The Results

The impact of this reallocation was immediate. 

In the first month after the budget adjustment, the used SUVs campaign yielded 60% more visits from the 20% increase in budget. 

Additionally, the campaign featuring budget used vehicles campaign had 13% more users with only 3% less traffic from the 33% decrease in budget. 

But the impact didn’t stop on the website.

We attributed 35% more leads and 50% more sales to the used SUV campaign. Over on the campaign featuring used vehicles for less than $18,000 — where we spent 20% less than the previous month — we attributed 220% more leads and 33% more sales. 

This success reflected on all of the Facebook campaigns. Overall, Willis saw a 40% increase in sales attributed to their Facebook ads in just one month. 

9 Clouds used Facebook Offline Events to measure this, counting the number of leads and sales who saw or clicked on a Facebook ad before converting at the dealership. 

The gross profit of these Facebook-attributed sales also increased by more than $12,000 in just one month. For every dollar spent on Facebook ads, the dealership received $11.95 in return — a net increase of $3.42 per dollar spent in just one month.

Want Results for Your Dealership? 

9 Clouds crafts strategies to suit your business’s specific needs. We have the experience to help you achieve your dealership’s goals — whether you’re a new car dealership or one who’s been around for years.

Let’s get started with a conversation about your goals. Need ideas for marketing your small automotive dealership? Want to streamline your digital marketing for your automotive group? We’re here to help.

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