Strategy Spotlight: Dahl Ford’s SEO + SEM + Social Ads Lift Leads & Traffic

Strategy Spotlight: Dahl Ford’s SEO + SEM + Social Ads Lift Leads & Traffic

Dealership Full-Service Digital Case Study

Strategy Spotlight: Dahl Ford’s SEO + SEM + Social Ads Lift Leads & Traffic 

Solutions: SEO, SEM, and Social Ads

Dealer Testimonial

Dan Medberry | Director of Information & Technology

“We’ve been a partner of Dealers United for several years now, so when they came to us to be first on their new search solutions, we were ready to go. In 30 days, we saw a boost in traffic. In 90 days, it feels like our leads have tripled and our cost is way down. I couldn’t be happier.”

 

Automotive Full-Service Digital Strategy: SEO + SEM + Social Ads

Part 1

Automotive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategy

The CHALLENGE

Dahl Ford Davenport struggled to improve their organic search rankings despite trying various SEO vendors and tactics. As competitors continued outranking them on search engine results pages (SERPs), Dahl Ford realized they needed to revamp their search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.

The SOLUTION

With Dealers United’s automotive SEO solutions, Dahl Ford dominated their local market by optimizing for geo-targeted keywords like “Cedar Rapids car dealerships,” “Quad Cities car dealers,” and “Davenport used cars.” This boosted their visibility on SERPs for these high-value, location-specific searches.

SEO Results (90 days)

Total Keywords Added / Removed

%

Increase in Organic Traffic

Up 50 positions for “ford escape near me”

(From November 2023 – January 2024)

Part 2

Automotive Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Strategy

 The Challenge

Dahl Ford Davenport struggled to generate more leads from Google Search while maintaining efficiency goals. Their objective was to optimize for high-intent automotive keywords like “Ford truck near me” and “Davenport car dealerships,” to broaden their online reach and drive qualified traffic for increased conversions.

The Solution

Dealers United revamped Dahl Ford’s digital ads via advanced targeting, creative automation, and AI bidding to deliver the most efficient cost per lead (CPL). Tactics included keyword optimization, dynamic bidding with AI, and advanced audiences based on previous shopping activity.

(From November 2023 – January 2024)

SEM Results (90 days)

Total Leads

Average Cost Per Lead

%

Average Conversion Rate

Cost Per Lead

Part 3

Automotive Social Ad Strategy: A “Market Disruptor” on Meta and TikTok

(Q1 – Q4 2023 Results)

The Challenge

Dahl Ford aimed to differentiate its local dealership from competitors by leveraging popular channels to promote exclusive deals for Cedar Rapids, Quad Cities, and Davenport car shoppers. Offering unbeatable pricing and value through high-traffic websites, social media, and search engines allowed Dahl Ford to capture motivated buyers seeking unmatched local offers.

The Solution

In addition to running general brand awareness and Automotive Inventory Ads, Dealers United introduced two new campaigns: The “Market Disruptor” campaign aligned with their brand promise of lowest market prices and the “Inventory Push” campaign focused budget on specific models Dahl wanted to move faster.

 
 
 

Meta (Facebook & Instagram) Ad Results:

  • 2,295 Leads
  • $26.57 Cost Per Lead
  • 384 Matched Unit Sales
  • $158.78 Cost Per Unit Sold
     
     
    TikTok

    TikTok Ad Results:

    • 12,990 Clicks
    • $0.92 Cost Per Click
    • 30 second Average Watch Time Per Person
    • 2.1 Million Video Views
     

    We Help Dealers USE seo + sem + social ADS TO Sell More Cars.

    As Seen In:

    [WATCH VIDEO] Healey Brothers Automotive Invests In People & Technology To Drive Growth

    [WATCH VIDEO] Healey Brothers Automotive Invests In People & Technology To Drive Growth

    WATCH VIDEO:

    Healey brothers invests in people and technology to drive GROWTH

    How Healey Brothers Collaborated With Dealers United To Enhance Their People-First, Tech-Driven Approach

    Enhancing Customer Experience From Online To On The Road

    Healey Brothers, the largest auto group in Hudson Valley, NY, emphasizes the importance of a strong digital presence to connect with modern consumers. Healey’s digital-first approach, including a podcast, aims to humanize their brand by showcasing their personality and values. Rather than solely promoting inventory, Dealers United helps them advertise their service, reviews, entertaining content, and their commitment to finding the right vehicle for each customer. 

    USING THE POWER OF Social Ads To Promote More Than CARS

    Healey isn’t afraid to be innovative in order to help their local shoppers, like how they use social media to educate on special programs including Pre-paid Maintenance or around affordability. To support this, Dealers United created custom social ads on top platforms like Meta, Pinterest, Snapchat and TikTok to share how this streamlines the car buying process- and the campaigns have taken off! “We are seeing great traffic. I’d think we’ve got about twenty chats in about a week.”

    Interested in learning more about enhancing your dealership’s online to offline experience? Book a call here.

     

    We can help you build an end-to-end Ad strategy like the Healey Brothers.

    We Help Dealers USE SOCIAL ads and search TO Sell More Cars.

    As Seen In:

    The Most Powerful TikTok Strategies For Car Dealers – Webinar Recording

    The Most Powerful TikTok Strategies For Car Dealers – Webinar Recording

    WATCH WEBINAR RECORDING:

    The Most Powerful AUTOMOTIVE TikTok StrategieS (CO-HOSTED WITH TIKTOK)

    WATCH WEBINAR RECORDING:

    The Most Powerful AUTOMOTIVE TikTok StrategieS | CO-HOSTED WITH TIKTOK

    The Most Powerful TikTok Strategies For Car Dealers

    WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

    In this webinar, Julianna Wanner, Agency Partner Manager at TikTok, and Justin Friend, Senior Vice President of Dealers United, dive into:

    📈 How to maximize views on TikTok
    7️⃣ Most powerful TikTok automotive strategies in 2024
    🔓 Beta tests for car dealers that you can unlock
    🚀 What success on TikTok looks like with real dealer results
    ✅ + Bonus TikTok ideas, video examples & resources!

     

    Demo our TikTok Ad solutions for car dealers:

    Demo our TikTok Ad solutions for car dealers:

    The Most Powerful TikTok Strategies For Car Dealers

    WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

    In this webinar, Julianna Wanner, Agency Partner Manager at TikTok, and Justin Friend, Senior Vice President of Dealers United, dive into:

    📈 How to maximize views on TikTok
    7️⃣ Most powerful TikTok automotive strategies in 2024
    🔓 Beta tests for car dealers that you can unlock
    🚀 What success on TikTok looks like with real dealer results
    ✅ + Bonus TikTok ideas, video examples & resources!

     

    We Help Dealers USE SOCIAL ADS TO Sell More Cars.

    As Seen In:

    Strategy Spotlight: Power Ford’s 365-Day Results — Quick Lane, Social Ads, and Cohesive Campaigns

    Strategy Spotlight: Power Ford’s 365-Day Results — Quick Lane, Social Ads, and Cohesive Campaigns

    Dealership OMNICHANNEL Ads Case Study

    Strategy Spotlight: Power Ford’s 365-Day Results | Quick Lane, Social Ads, and Cohesive Campaigns

    2023 Annual Results

    Unit Sales Matched

    Cost Per Unit Sold

    Leads

    Cost Per Lead

    Social Ad Strategy In Action:
    Maximizing Service with Quick Lane Campaign

    The Challenge

    When Ford co-op prioritized a new Quick Lane service initiative to boost customer satisfaction, Power Ford was tasked with getting ahead of the curve on local adoption. Power Ford needed to rapidly promote and integrate Quick Lane’s services and specials to set the standard in their region.

    The Solution

    Leaning into this priority shift, Dealers United supported Power Ford’s goals by using their expanded budget to run Traffic Campaigns and Web Lead Optimization Campaigns that targeted their audience of Ford car owners across Facebook, Pinterest, and Snapchat to dominate the entire Albuquerque area with the best Quick Lane offers.

     

    Audience Strategy:

    • Tire Shoppers
    • Frequent Auto Repair Customers
    • Professional Automotive Repair
    • Auto Service and Repair
    • Frequent Spenders
    • Quick Lane Sales 2023 customer lists
    • In-market Ford car owners

    Ad Placements & Formats:

    • Meta Instant Experience Collection Ads
    • Pinterest Awareness Ads
    • Snapchat Dynamic Inventory Ads

    Results:

    • Web Lead Campaign: 369 Leads, $16.78 Cost Per Lead
    • Traffic Campaign: 443 Leads, $50.27 Cost Per Lead, 11,044 Landing Page Views
     
     

    Dealer Testimonial

    Matt Sneed, Director of Ops |  Power Ford

    “When other dealerships ask us what we’re doing to generate the success that we do on social media, our answer is simple: Dealers United. In today’s digital landscape, succeeding goes far beyond just sponsoring a few posts on social media, or hoping that you reach the right user at the right time…You need a trusted, proven, strategic partner like Dealers United to help you dominate your local market.”

     

    A Full-Funnel Ad Strategy
    (Q1 – Q4 2023 Results)

    Awareness

    Pushing Power Ford to the Top of Mind with Awareness Ads

    The Awareness stage was crucial for introducing and reinforcing the Power Ford brand across all social ad channels. By laser-focusing on what their dealership offers in each ad, Dealers United familiarized key in-market audiences with what makes Power Ford the go-to Ford dealer. Their ad campaign focused on messaging around their customer-first approach and convenient service options with creative headlines like “Proudly Supporting Our Community” and “Here For You.”

    Snapchat Automotive Inventory Ads Audience Insights

    1,893,478

    In-Market Shoppers Reached

    24,264,423

    Impressions

    $8.85 CPM

    CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions)

     
     

    Consideration

    Accelerating Decisions with Interactive Inventory Content

    Once the Power Ford brand had top-of-mind presence, their focus shifted to encourage the consideration of new models through activating Instant Experience Collection ads on Meta. We leveraged Ford’s OEM footage and combined Power Ford branding with dynamic model showrooms. Shoppers could digitally explore attention-grabbing model footage and matched inventory suited to their needs in one scrollable ad. To pursue shoppers no matter where they were spending time, Power Ford also advertised their inventory and offers across Pinterest and Snapchat.

    Snapchat Automotive Inventory Ads Audience Insights

    340,896

    Clicks

    $0.63

    Cost Per Click (CPC)

    170,479

    Landing Page Views (*Meta & Pinterest only)

     

    Conversion

    Incentivizing Purchase with Hyper-Personalized Retargeting Ads

    To give shoppers the motivation they need to confidently convert with Power Ford, Dealers United helped activate personalized ads that reached already engaged audiences. Power Ford retargeted prospects with model lines they have shown interest in alongside dynamic inventory ads showcasing VDP vehicles browsed, plus matching models. Additional ads deployed promoted Quick Lane specials and on-site coupons to add extra value. This combination of ads provided the last push for high-potential prospects to finalize their purchase with Power Ford.

    Snapchat Automotive Inventory Ads Audience Insights

    6,787

    Leads

    $31.64

    Cost Per Lead (CPL)

    46%

    Sales Matched to Ads (*Meta only)

     

    2023 Annual Results

    Unit Sales Matched

    Cost Per Unit Sold

    Leads

    Cost Per Lead

    We Help Dealers USE SOCIAL ADS TO Sell More Cars.

    As Seen In:

    Webinar Recording: 14-Point Digital Inspection For Car Dealers

    Webinar Recording: 14-Point Digital Inspection For Car Dealers

    WATCH WEBINAR RECORDING:

    14-Point DIGITAL INSPECTION FOR CAR DEALERSHIPS

    The 14-Point Digital Inspection every dealer needs to optimize their SEO, SEM, and Social Ads

    WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

    SEO: Understand what really matters to top search engines, and how to jump to the #1 organic result for your desired keywords…

    SEM: Find out how to cast a PPC net big enough to increase leads while also niche enough to profit.

    Social Ads: Determine whether your dealership is using a full-funnel strategy, or if you’re potentially losing your consumer during the buyer journey.

    Competitor Analysis: Learn how to evaluate your competitor’s online presence to gain insights on their social and search strategy with tactics to out-perform them.

    Pick a day + time to book your 15 minute discovery call and get your 14-Point Digital Inspection started!

    Pick a day + time to book your 15 minute discovery call and get your 14-Point Digital Inspection started!

    The 14-Point Digital Inspection every dealer needs to optimize their SEO, SEM, and Social strategies

    WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

    SEO: Understand what really matters to top search engines, and how to jump to the #1 organic result for your desired keywords…

    SEM: Find out how to cast a PPC net big enough to increase leads while also niche enough to profit.

    Social Ads: Determine whether your dealership is using a full-funnel strategy, or if you’re potentially losing your consumer during the buyer journey.

    Competitor Analysis: Learn how to evaluate your competitor’s online presence to gain insights on their social and search strategy with tactics to out-perform them.

    We Help Dealers USE SOCIAL ADS TO Sell More Cars.

    As Seen In:

    Register for the webinar, “The 3 Biggest Facebook Mistakes Even Advanced Dealer Marketers Are Making”!

    ×