This webinar, originally presented by C-4 Analytics on the DrivingSales platform, provides a critical checklist for dealers evaluating their digital advertising partners. On the surface, most agencies appear similar, but you must look beyond the shiny presentations to determine if their goals are truly aligned with yours: increasing sales, market share, and lowering your Cost Per Acquired Customer (CPA).
The following 10 tough questions—answered by C-4 Analytics’ Rob Stoesser and Nat Vigneau—will help you identify the core issues that matter most to your dealership’s bottom line.
1. What are your goals for my account?
The Right Answer: Increase Sales, Increase Market Share, and Lower advertising costs / Lower the Cost-per-Acquired Customer. Anything focused primarily on vanity metrics like VDP views is insufficient.
2. How do you use OEM reports to improve my campaign performance?
The Rationale: If your agency has never asked you for a Pump-In report , they are shooting in the dark. They must use OEM sales data to improve campaign performance.
3. Do you use Google Analytics as the primary analytics tool?
The Rationale: Google Analytics is mandatory. It is the best and free analytics package on earth. Be suspicious of proprietary "dashboards".
4. Will you work with my direct competitors?
The Only Acceptable Answer: No!. An agency serving two on-brand rivals (e.g., two Honda dealers) cannot prioritize your sales growth.
5. Will you share with us the data sources that you use to better target the “In-Market” buyers?
The Rationale: The days of "proprietary data" are over. They must be transparent about the data used for targeting. Any agency that won’t share either doesn’t have any, or realizes how inferior their data really is.
6. Do you connect Google Ads (AdWords) to Google Analytics?
The Rationale: Connecting them is mandatory. This is crucial for transparent and accurate performance measurement.
7. Do I pay the Advertising Networks directly?
The Rationale: Paying the Ad Networks (Google, Bing, Facebook, etc.) directly is mandatory. This is essential for financial transparency and accurately measuring ad spend.
8. Tell me about my account manager—what is their workload and background?
The Rationale: An ideal account manager is Google certified in multiple disciplines , manages 10 rooftops or less , and is part of an experienced account team.
9. What do we cover in our weekly meeting?
The Rationale: Weekly meetings should cover business goals, not just metrics. Discussion should include: units out the door, tracking to goal, solving market issues (e.g., "Pump-in issue on F-150"), site/analytics review, and budget proposals for upcoming months.
10. Do you have access to the Google Beta programs?
The Rationale: Yes! Agencies with access to Google Beta programs learn faster and lead the market.
For a deeper dive into these topics and to hear directly from Rob Stoesser, watch the full webinar below.