Google Ads Case Study in The Automotive Niche

Service: Google ADS audit, setup and optimization. Google Analytics & Google Tag Manager setup. UX/UI audit and design.
Business area: Hyundai & Isuzu dealerships.
Niche features:

• Tight restrictions from manufacturers (prices, discounts, bonuses, websites, branding at all levels);
• The decision to purchase takes a long time (about 3 months);
• High competition.

GEO: New Zealand.
Monthly ad budget: $5000
Goals: Increase the number of test drives and car sales with Google ADS.
Input data: Gary Cockram came with a request to audit existing advertising campaigns and bring them to the desired result for no more than $50 per lead, namely for the initial contact of a potential client with the dealership.

We were informed that the sale of cars occurs through the following funnel: Attracting customers > Initial contact > Test drive > Offer > Negotiations and purchase.

The main stage in the funnel is a test drive of cars as it is key to leading a potential client to a purchase.

What Was Done Before Working With Our Agency

The Google Ads account was set up with:

• 3 search campaigns with ad groups on common queries;
• 1 local campaign.

The Google Analytics account was set up with:

• A goal to track the number of visits to the Contact Us page;
• A goal to track the number of of visitors who have been on the website for more than 2 minutes;
• A goal to track the number of test drive bookings;
• A goal to track the number of clicks on a phone number;
• A goal to track the number of clicks on an email;
• A goal to track the number of times the brochure is viewed;
• A goal to track the number of subscriptions.

Results Before Working With Our Agency

Results for 1 month (1.05.2021 — 31.05.2021):

What Our Agency Has Done

First of all, we audited the Google Ads account and here’s what we found out:

• Keyword research was carried out superficially. Ads were shown only for general keywords such as hyundai, hyundai cars, hyundai models, hyundai dealership, etc., while in this topic a large number of search queries for different specific car models. This approach results in low conversion rates and high ad costs.
  
• Since the keyword reserch was not deep and keyword clustering was not done, the resulting ads often led users to irrelevant pages. For example, take the keyword hyundai kona. Relevant page for this keyword: https://www.garycockram.co.nz/hyundai/all-new-kona-series-ii . We see that users went to the site for the request hyundai kona, but we have only 2 ads and they lead only to the main page https://www.garycockram.co.nz . When a user lands on an irrelevant page, he may not find what he is looking for and just leave the website.
  
• Missing negative keywords. Users went to the site for inappropriate requests.
  
  
  
• Ads are poorly written. The description in the ads is incomplete. Extensions are practically not used. In addition, the ads led to different websites.
  
• Remarketing is not configured, banner ads are not used.

We audited the installed Google Analytics and found that it does not track all key conversions. The tracking of requests on the contact page, requests for service and used cars was missed.

Using Google Tag Manager (GTM), we created the missing required events and set up goals for them in Google Analytics. In addition to this, we decided to separate the tracking of test drive booking requests and created separate goals for Hyundai and Isuzu.

We conducted a UX/UI analysis of the site and found that the user goes a long way to make a target action, whether it is a call or a request through a form. Contact details could only be found on the contact page, and to send a test drive request you had to spend time and try to find the right form.

So to ease the user’s journey and increase the conversion rate of the website, we added CTA buttons on all key pages and phone numbers in the header to allow for an instant call. This simple solution shortened the user’s journey from the first visit to the target action and achieved significant results.

We conducted a detailed keyword research and grouped keywords by general queries, by type of car, model, service, and competitor. For each group of keywords, we have collected lists of negative keywords to minimize irrelevant traffic and save budget.

We created a separate search campaign for each cluster and further divided it by region. Ads for each campaign were worked out in detail, we added all possible extensions, this allowed us to stand out among competitors and increase CTR (Click-Through Rate).

We launched remarketing on Google Display Network as well as search dynamic remarketing. This helped to increase the number of leads without much increase in the advertising budget.

Results After Working With Our Agency

In 2 and a half years of working with Gary Cockram Limited, we have achieved excellent results. During a site usability audit and Google Ads account, we were able to identify the reasons for the low conversion rate and high cost per lead. Having all the necessary data, we were able to improve the UI, UX design of the site and optimize the client’s path from the first visit to the resource to completing the target action. Google Ads was set up and redesigned from scratch using a hypersegmentation approach, which together gave excellent results in the first month of our agency’s work and we were able to achieve the desired result of no more than $50 per lead.

The results of our agency’s first month of operation compared to the previous month (1.06.2021 — 30.06.2021 compared to 1.05.2021 — 31.05.2021):

• Clicks — 4100 vs 2351;
• Conversion rate — 1.61% vs 1.42%;
• Cost per conversion — $42.33 vs $70.30;
• Conversions - 66 vs 15;

Over the next months of our agency’s work, we optimized and tested new advertising campaigns, which allowed us to increase the conversion rate from 1.42% to 4.04%.

Results for the last month (1.09.2023 — 30.09.2023):

• Clicks — 2718;
• Conversion rate — 4.04%;
• Cost per conversion — $22.72;
• Conversions - 110;

Results for two years and 4 months of working with our agency (1.06.2021 — 1.10.2023):

• Clicks — 151949;
• Conversion rate — 2.18%;
• Cost per conversion — $38.57;
• Conversions - 3310;