Best Automotive Marketing Agencies in 2026, Compared

No one automotive marketing agency is right for everyone. The vendors fall into four groups: dealer website platforms that also sell advertising, agencies that work only with dealers, specialists for repair shops, and paid media specialists. A franchise store in an OEM co-op program, an independent used car lot, a repair shop and an auto lender each need something different, so the right pick depends on your type of business.

Before you read on: Clickem wrote this page, and Clickem is on it. We run Google Ads and Meta ads for car dealerships, auto repair shops, body shops and auto lenders, and you can judge Clickem’s automotive marketing agency services for yourself. We have not ranked anyone, ourselves included. Every company is described only from its own website, SEC filings, or press releases from the company or its investors.

In short:

• We read 13 published “best automotive marketing agency” lists, and 8 of the 13 were written by an agency that put itself first or second.
• Of the 15 companies on this page, Clickem included, only Shop Marketing Pros publishes full prices on the pages we checked. Dealers United publishes how it charges (a flat monthly fee, never a percentage of ad spend) but not the amounts.
• Dealer.com is owned by Cox Automotive, Dealer Inspire by the Cars.com parent and Autoshop Solutions by Vehlo, which shapes what their ads plug into.
• Franchise dealers who depend on co-op money should shortlist their OEM’s certified providers first; Kia, for example, says its certified vendors are eligible for 100% DAS use.
• On the pages we reviewed, none of the dealer or repair specialists markets lead generation ads to auto lenders.

How did we pick these companies?

We started from what was already published. In October 2026 we read 13 ranking pages: ten on dealers and general automotive (Web Tonic, Dealers United, Automotive Digital Marketing, Demand Local, two from INSIDEA, Influencer Marketing Hub, The AI Journal, inBeat and Socially Powerful) and three on auto repair (theStacc, Tycoon Story and Gitnux). Eight of the 13 came from an agency that ranked itself first or second. So “number one on a best agencies list” tells you very little.

We then counted how often each company appeared on the 10 dealer and general lists.

What this means for you: two different crowds fill these lists. Lists written by dealer vendors name dealer specialists. Lists written by general agencies lean toward brand and creative firms such as Green Line, Omni and TEAM LEWIS. We did not check that second group’s dealer services in enough depth to describe them fairly, so we left them out rather than guess. On the repair lists, Autoshop Solutions, Kukui and Shop Marketing Pros each appeared twice, as did Element DMA, which we did not check. We added Net Driven, which was on none, because it is a large tire and service shop specialist.

Our rules: facts come only from the company’s own site, an SEC filing, or a press release from the company or its investor. Performance claims are labeled as the company’s own. “Not published” means we did not find it, not that it does not exist. There are no review scores and no ranking, and prices were checked on October 9, 2026.

Which type of vendor fits your business?

What this means for you: decide which row you are in before the first sales call. Every rep will tell you their model is the right one.

The comparison at a glance

Every row uses only what each company publishes about itself.

What this means for you: you will compare private quotes, not price lists. Get the fee, contract length and exit terms in writing from every vendor.

Paid media specialist

Clickem: paid media specialist for dealers, shops and lenders

Clickem is a paid media agency (Clickem d.o.o., Sarajevo) that runs Google Ads, Meta ads, landing pages and conversion tracking. In automotive, we run Google Ads and Meta ads for car dealerships, auto repair shops, body shops and auto lenders. We do not sell a dealer website platform, a CRM, a data platform or TV and radio. The scope is narrow on purpose: search, vehicle ads, Meta, the landing pages behind them, and the tracking that ties spend to sold cars, repair orders or funded loans. The details are on our automotive marketing page.

Our one published automotive result is a UK auto finance lender. We cut 64 campaigns and 1,662 keywords to 8 campaigns and 190 keywords. Cost per lead fell from £27.53 to £16.14, 41% lower, and conversions rose 72% while spend rose less than 1%. Before the rebuild, conversions reached Google only through offline uploads, so Smart Bidding could not learn in real time. Read the UK auto finance lender case study.

• Best for: dealers, shops and lenders who are content with their website and want Google and Meta spend judged by sold units, repair orders or funded loans.
• Not for you if: you want one vendor for website, ads and CRM; you need an OEM certified provider for co-op, since Clickem does not list certified status; or you want TV, radio or direct mail planned with digital.
• Worth knowing: we have no published dealer or repair shop case study yet. Pricing is not published and is quoted after an account review.

Dealer platforms that also run your ads

These companies sell software, usually the website, and sell advertising on top. You get one vendor and data that already connects. The cost is dependence: changing ads vendor may mean changing more than ads.

Dealer.com

Dealer.com sells dealer websites, OEM program packages, managed SEO, content and social, and advertising across search, display, video and social. Its paid search uses vAuto inventory data (Market Day Supply, vRank, Price to Market) to choose which vehicles to push, and pulls Xtime service pricing into service ads. It says it offers certified relationships with over 30 automotive brands.

• Best for: franchise dealers already on Cox Automotive software (vAuto, Xtime, VinSolutions) who want website, ads and OEM packages from one vendor.
• Worth knowing: Dealertrack completed its acquisition of Dealer.com in March 2014, per an SEC exhibit, and Cox Automotive completed its acquisition of Dealertrack on October 1, 2015. Pricing is not published.

Dealer Inspire

Dealer Inspire sells websites, digital retailing, chat, SEO, paid media and creative, and says it “started as an SEO company.” Its paid media pitch rests on the “exclusive Cars.com audience”, and it calls itself a certified provider for “nearly every OEM program”. Its pages now sit on the Cars Commerce site.

• Best for: franchise dealers who want a website platform tied to the Cars.com marketplace audience.
• Worth knowing: Cars.com’s acquisition of Dealer Inspire closed February 21, 2018, per its SEC filing. Pricing is by custom proposal.

DealerOn

DealerOn sells websites, SEO, a generative search service called OnPrompt GEO, digital advertising, digital retailing and consent and accessibility tools to franchise and independent dealers. It lists 33 brands in its OEM menu and says it has “750+ employees and 7000+ dealerships and dealer groups.” It has a strategic alliance with Stream Companies.

• Best for: franchise or independent dealers who want website, SEO and paid search on one platform.
• Worth knowing: Ali and Amir Amirrezvani founded it in 2004. A January 2020 press release from private equity firm NexPhase Capital announced an investment, terms not disclosed. Pricing is not published.

PureCars

PureCars is software plus managed advertising, not a website company. It sells a customer data platform, an AI assistant called Rylie, reporting and media buying across “paid search to social, OTT/CTV, display, streaming audio, direct mail, email, and SMS.” It says it partners with “25+ OEM programs” and cites over 18 years of service. It appeared on 7 of the 10 dealer lists, more than anyone else.

• Best for: dealers and groups who want ad buying driven by their own customer data across many channels, including service and retention.
• Worth knowing: its OEM page says “Products, packaging, and pricing vary by program.”

Agencies that work only with dealers

These firms sell managed advertising to dealers, and most hold OEM certified status for several brands.

C-4 Analytics

Founded in 2009 by Michael Weiss and Justin Cook and based in Wakefield, Massachusetts, C-4 Analytics runs paid search, paid social, display, video, SEO, AI search, creative, conquest and specials management for dealers and groups. Its clearest stance is on websites: “We’re vendor-neutral to ensure our campaigns aren’t restricted by templates. Keep your website, and we’ll manage it for and with you.” It lists 11 OEM programs, including FordDirect AdVantage, GM Dealer Digital Solution and Stellantis Digital Certified.

• Best for: franchise dealers and groups who want an ads agency separate from their website provider that also runs OEM co-op programs.
• Worth knowing: pricing and contract terms are not published.

Force Marketing

Force Marketing, in Atlanta, pairs a dealer agency with its own data. It sells streaming video ads “across Peacock, NBC, and Amazon Garage”, a data platform called Audience iQ, remarketing, fixed ops and retention campaigns, email and direct mail. Its OEM page covers 14 brand groups and promises “Zero wasted co-op spend.” It says it is “Backed by 1200+ rooftops.”

• Best for: franchise dealers who want sales and service campaigns, including streaming TV, from one OEM-aligned partner.
• Worth knowing: its site mentions “our family of brands” without naming a parent company. Pricing is not published.

Team Velocity

Team Velocity’s website blocked our requests, so this entry relies on its press releases. According to its press releases, its Apollo Customer Experience Platform is “a suite of integrated applications” from first engagement to transaction. Its 2023 announcements say it was named a Genesis certified website provider and a website provider in Toyota’s Digital Solutions program.

• Best for: franchise dealers who want one platform vendor for their website and marketing. Confirm exactly which products are included.
• Worth knowing: we could not check headcount, client counts or pricing on its site, so ask for them directly.

Stream Companies

Stream Companies, founded in 1996 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, is a full-service agency that plans traditional and digital media together across several industries. It says it “partners with over 25 manufacturers” and runs co-op and compliance management and fixed ops marketing. Its “Retail Ready” products are “powered by fullthrottle.ai”.

• Best for: dealers and groups who want TV and radio planned with digital, plus co-op compliance handled.
• Worth knowing: it has a strategic alliance with DealerOn for websites. Pricing is not published.

Dealers United

Dealers United started in paid social and now sells full-service work: “Meta, TikTok, Snap, Pinterest, Reddit”, SEO and VIN-level inventory ads. It says it built automotive inventory ads “directly with Facebook’s product team” and built BuyerBridge, software it says hundreds of agencies license. Matt Buchanan, managing partner of Sarasota Ford, and Jesse Biter founded it in 2010, and it is based in Sarasota, Florida.

• Best for: franchise dealers, and independents with 100 or more vehicles, who want paid social and inventory ads on a flat fee.
• Worth knowing: it publishes its fee model, “A flat monthly management fee, never a percentage of ad spend … No markup,” but not the amounts.

PCG Digital

PCG Digital calls itself “a full-service digital marketing agency serving the automotive industry and beyond.” Brian Pasch founded it in 2005 as an SEO agency, it took its first dealer client in 2006, and it reported “over 150 dealerships” in 2023. It is based in Brielle, New Jersey.

• Best for: dealers who want a smaller agency with a dedicated account manager.
• Worth knowing: pricing is not published.

Specialists for repair, body and tire shops

Several shop specialists connect marketing to the shop’s point of sale system, so you see repair orders, not just calls. Read our guide to auto repair shop marketing before you take these calls.

Autoshop Solutions

Autoshop Solutions has served independent shops “since 1998”, and its founder once ran a repair shop. It sells websites, PPC, SEO and GEO and AI call coaching to repair, body, fleet, tire and transmission shops, with call tracking and recording in its “RPM” packages.

• Best for: independent shops that want one marketing vendor, especially shops already on Vehlo software.
• Worth knowing: it says it is “part of Vehlo”, an aftermarket software provider. Pricing is by custom quote.

Kukui

Kukui pairs software with marketing services: website, SEO, paid ads, customer marketing, scheduling, call tracking and reviews. Its main difference is “a custom marketing platform that integrates with each organization’s Point of Sale (POS) system”, so reports can show new customers and retention from shop data.

• Best for: independent shops that want marketing tied to repair orders in their shop system.
• Worth knowing: pricing comes after a demo. Ownership is not stated on its site.

Shop Marketing Pros

Shop Marketing Pros, run by self-described “former shop owners”, sells SEO, Google Ads, Local Services Ads, Facebook ads, social and websites to independent repair shops. It is the only company here with full public prices: packages from $1,598 a month to $5,295 a month (invitation only), lower after 18 months.

• Best for: independent shops that want to see prices and terms before a sales call.
• Worth knowing: websites carry an 18-month agreement; marketing services start with three months, then month to month. Ad spend is extra, with minimums of $2,000 a month for search ads, $600 for Facebook ads and $1,200 for Local Services Ads.

Net Driven

Net Driven calls itself “the unified digital growth platform for independent tire, service, and auto aftermarket shops,” combining website, marketing, quoting, scheduling and reputation tools. A third-generation tire dealer founded it, and it says it has been “trusted by more than 5,000 shops since 2007.”

• Best for: independent tire dealers and tire plus service shops.
• Worth knowing: pricing is not published.

What about auto lenders?

Lenders are the gap. None of the specialists above markets lead generation advertising to auto lenders on the pages we reviewed. Lender ads also carry their own rules: in the US and Canada, Google’s consumer finance policy bars targeting car loan ads by age, gender, parental status, marital status or ZIP code. Our guide to auto finance marketing covers the setup.

Questions to ask any of them

The list gets you to a shortlist. Three questions get you most of the way to a decision:

1. Will my Google Ads, Meta, Analytics and Merchant Center accounts be in my name, with me as admin?
2. Exactly how is your fee calculated, and what do I keep if I leave?
3. Will your report show cost per sold vehicle, repair order or funded loan, and how do those sales get back into Google Ads?

The full set of 15, with good answers and red flags, is in how to choose an automotive marketing agency. Our Google Ads playbook for car dealerships shows how a well-run account is built, and our automotive Google Ads benchmarks show what clicks and leads cost by segment.

Common questions

How much does an automotive marketing agency cost?

Most do not publish prices. On this page, only Shop Marketing Pros does, with repair shop packages from $1,598 to $5,295 a month plus ad spend. Dealers United publishes its flat fee model but not amounts. For scale, NADA says the average franchised dealership spent $586,246 on advertising in 2025, $123,698 of it on search engine marketing.

Are “best automotive agency” lists biased?

Many are written by an agency in the market. Of the 13 lists we read, 8 came from an agency that ranked itself first or second. Directories have their own model too: Clutch’s automotive page says “We may earn a fee for some placements.”

Do I need an OEM certified provider?

If co-op money matters to your budget, usually yes. Kia’s digital program, for example, says certified vendors are “eligible for 100% DAS utilization.” Rules vary by brand; our guide to Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 advertising explains how co-op works.

Should my website provider also run my ads?

It works well if you use the rest of that company’s software, because inventory and CRM data connect without extra work. The trade-off is that switching ad vendors later may mean switching websites too. If only your ads disappoint, an agency that works on any website lets you fix the ads alone.

Why is Clickem on a list Clickem wrote?

Because we sell this service, and hiding that would be worse. We listed ourselves as a paid media specialist, said who should not hire us, and ranked no one. Every competitor fact traces to that company’s own site, SEC filings or press releases.

Want a second opinion before you sign with anyone here? Send us read-only access to your Google Ads account and we will tell you what we would keep, cut and measure. Start with our automotive marketing agency page or contact us.