Full-Funnel Automotive Marketing Case StudyHow Earl Stewart Toyota Hit Record Revenue in 3 Months.
In one of the country’s toughest Toyota markets, Earl Stewart put every channel under one full-service partner, Dealers United. Then, they celebrated the 3 biggest service months in the store’s 50-year history.
8,293 total leads at $7.18 CPL across Search and Social, April through June 2026.
Big Budget, But Unclear Results
Earl Stewart has spent 50 years building a name in one of Florida’s most competitive Toyota markets. But they couldn’t easily define how their marketing dollars were impacting revenue. The largest line item, paid search, kept climbing while used-car volume stayed stuck under 100 a month. The store was spending more every month to buy back attention a 50-year name had already earned. So Dealers United suggested the opposite: cut paid search to a fraction of the old budget, build the organic footprint so the store earned its visibility, and moved the savings into Broadcast, Streaming TV, social, and email.
“We were struggling to sell over 100 used cars, and now we’re closing in on 140, 150 a month with Dealers United. Service has never been busier. One of the things I’m most impressed with is how much less we’re spending on our search engine marketing, but the results are better than our last company. Dealers United turned our budget upside down. We were spending so much more on digital before, on the SEM side, and we cut that into a fraction of what we were spending, investing it instead on TV, Broadcast, and other strategies, and getting better results.”
Josh Stewart, Dealer Principal, Earl Stewart Toyota
Full-Funnel Automotive Marketing Case Study Results: 3 Months In
Dealers United took over every channel in April 2026. Here is what the first three months did to every profit center.
🎉 3 consecutive record service months, while new-car objective averaged 110% every month.
Weekly Website Sessions vs. Competing Dealers, June 2026
65,441
69.3%
1:12
50%
“We’ve been with several marketing companies, and I can say with confidence that the team at Dealers United is the most engaged, and the most aware of what goes on at a dealership in the real world. They’re really focused, and they know how to get people in the door. And they’re responsive even in the middle of the month. When we want to move a particular model, or if there’s a particular segment that we need to get some more eyes on, they can pivot in the middle of the month and really open up the floodgates.”
Josh Stewart, Dealer Principal, Earl Stewart Toyota
The Full-Funnel Strategy That Broke 50 Years of Records
The budget didn’t get bigger. It got smarter. Dealers United ran every channel as one integrated system, building upstream demand and capturing it again bottom-of-funnel.
The work was hands-on across every channel. On SEO, we built new website pages, city pages for North Palm Beach and Lake Worth, plus model and service content, so the store finally ranked on the first page of Google for “Toyota dealer.” On social, custom video and behind-the-scenes service content sold the Earl Stewart experience on Meta and Reddit instead of just flashing a price. And Broadcast, Streaming TV, social, and conquest email created demand for the store’s name across the whole market.
01
SEO: A 50-Year Reputation, Finally on Page 1
The cheapest visibility is the kind you own. We rebuilt Earl Stewart’s organic footprint with new city pages and the model and service content local shoppers search for. In just 90 days, they were finally showing up on page 1 for key Toyota in-market terms.
02
SEM: A Fraction of the Budget, More Qualified Leads
Paid search was optimized to capture demand the moment a car shopper searched for “Toyota dealer near me” or “Tacoma for sale.” Dealers United ran Google Vehicle Listing Ads and Performance Max calibrated to real sales signals instead of clicks, so a smaller budget reached more in-market shoppers and closed leads at a fraction of the industry’s cost per lead.
03
Social Ads: Reach In-Market Shoppers Across Meta and Reddit
Every Toyota store in the market advertises the same cars, so Dealers United built full-funnel social that told the story of the store, not just the metal. Custom video with “why buy here” offers paired with dynamic inventory ads reached in-market car shoppers across Meta and Reddit, moving them from awareness to a lead.
04
InventoryIgnite: Moving the Metal That Won’t Move Itself
Platform algorithms spend on the cars that would sell anyway. InventoryIgnite runs inventory ad campaigns built to move the units Earl Stewart actually needed to move, pushing budget toward aging inventory, used trucks, and specific price bands instead of their souped up Tundras.
05
Broadcast & Streaming TV: Make Every Other Channel Work Harder
You can’t sell a shopper who’s never heard of you. The budget freed up from search funded Broadcast and Streaming, which ran as a performance multiplier that put Earl Stewart in front of the whole market and made every other channel convert better. With demographic and in-market shopper targeting, this was measurable reach tied back to real website visits, not guesswork.
06
Conquest Email: From Inbox to 500+ Matched Vehicle Sales
Conquest email helped reach the in-market shoppers researching a Toyota who weren’t already in Earl Stewart Toyota’s database. Dealers United sent nearly 3 million conquest emails across the market, helping drive interest from inbox to showroom.
Want a Full-Funnel Case Study of Your Own?
Earl Stewart didn’t get a bigger budget. They got the one they had pointed somewhere else.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Full-Funnel Automotive Marketing
What is full-funnel automotive marketing?
Running the channels that create demand and the channels that capture it as one plan, with budget free to move between them. Earl Stewart Toyota ran SEO, paid search, social, VIN-level inventory ads, TV, and conquest email under one roof. A point-solution vendor optimizes its own channel. A full-service partner optimizes your store.
Why does one agency running every channel beat separate vendors?
Because the gains compound, and à la carte marketing can’t compound. SEO and TV made the market know Earl Stewart’s name, and that is why paid search then closed leads at $2 against a $38 industry average. No search vendor produces that number on its own, and no separate vendor would ever cut its own budget to fund the channel that made it possible.
Can a dealership cut SEM spend without losing leads?
Yes, when the money goes somewhere that creates demand instead of disappearing. Earl Stewart cut search to a fraction and still produced 6,652 leads at $2 each, 61% of them store visits. Search gets cheaper once the market knows your name.
How do you market a Toyota dealership when every store sells the same car?
Stop selling the car and sell the store. Broadcast, Streaming TV, social and email built the brand across the whole market while InventoryIgnite put budget behind the vehicle buckets the store needed to move. Used-car volume moved from under 100 a month to 140 and 150, and used-car gross rose 30%.
Does dealership marketing move service revenue, or just car sales?
Both, when the plan includes the service drive. Earl Stewart went from roughly $500K a month to $700K and posted the three highest service-revenue months in the store’s 50-year history, off the same campaigns that lifted vehicle sales.
How long does it take to see results from a new dealership marketing strategy?
Earl Stewart saw movement inside the first month and set service records across the first three. SEO compounds slower. The “Toyota dealer” position took a full quarter to climb from #18 to #3. Expect early movement in weeks and the real picture in 90 days.
What Our Customers Say:
Tristen Oakley | Zeigler Auto Group
“Dealers United is amazing! I love our reps Cody, Meg, & Shea! They always respond quickly, have an amazing positive attitude, help us with whatever we throw at them, and are always there when we need them! The creative they offer & come up with is awesome! We use them for Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat social advertising! We have seen an amazing return on investment & high amount of vehicles purchased from using them as our social media ad agency! I would 10000% recommend!!”
Bobby Sight | Rob Sight Ford
“Have been a Dealers United since fall 2019. We’ve seen incredible improvements in web traffic and ultimately car sales. The whole DU team is amazing starting with our account rep Andrew Rogers and all the way up to the CEO Pete Peterson. This group knows what they’re doing! Social media retargeting is the way to go and these are the guys to do it!”
Jay Healey | Healey Brothers Auto Group
“We are able to get things done on time and make sure our customers are receiving the right messages. Dealers United has been a game changer for us!”
Todd C Comstock | Adams Chevrolet Inc.
“We started using Dealers United in October of 2021. They handle a large portion of our paid digital marketing for us at our dealership. I have always understood the value of having a team working for us and seamlessly handling this rather complex process. Alix & Bryan have been instrumental in managing (and improving) our digital presence all the while being attentive to our specific needs on the dealership level. I highly recommend Dealers United. They have far exceeded our expectations.”
Jenna Popp | Serra Ford Rochester Hills
“In the Automotive space, there are SO many vendors saying they can get you results. Dealers United actually can, and they become a close member of your team just as if they were at the store working with you in house! We have worked with them for both our Ford and Buick GMC stores now. I’m grateful for Alix Knox, Justin, Pete, Molly, Brooke and the whole team!”
Gary Martin | Gator Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram
“I cannot say enough good things about Aleena and Mitch. They are always on top of things, proactive and very detailed. They take care of this account like it was their own money being spent. Also, they are both a joy to deal with.”
Aimee Rogers | Brad Deery Motors
They are a great company to partner with. They really care about your company and keep coming up with great ideas to help you succeed. Aleena and Mitch are fantastic and so on top of things! Super fast responses and great communication! Definitely go above and beyond for their customers. ❤️
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