Judge an automotive marketing agency by what it can prove, not by what it promises. Before you sign, get clear answers on five things: who owns the ad accounts, how the fee is worked out, how long the contract runs, whether the agency is certified for your OEM’s co-op program, and whether reports show cost per car sold or repair order rather than clicks. The 15 questions below cover each one.
We are an automotive marketing agency, and we expect to be asked every one of these ourselves. Each question comes with what a good answer sounds like and the red flag to listen for. At the end is a 30 minute check you can run in your own Google Ads account first.
In short:
- Franchised dealers spent $9.96 billion on advertising in 2025, about $586,000 per store and $739 per new vehicle sold (NADA Data 2025).
- Your Google Ads, Meta, Google Analytics and Merchant Center accounts should belong to your business, with you as admin, and the agency should have user access only.
- A percentage of spend fee goes up whenever your budget goes up, whether or not results do; a flat fee does not, so ask which one you are being offered and why.
- Since June 15, 2026, API uploads of offline conversions go through Google’s Data Manager API and are blocked in the Google Ads API, so any agency feeding sold cars back into Google Ads should know that change by name.
- FTC staff say “everyone who has control over the advertising is responsible” for showing the real price, and that includes your agency.
What is at stake when you hire one?
More than most dealers realize. Here is how NADA says the average franchised store split its 2025 ad budget.
| Medium | Spend per dealership, 2025 | Share of budget |
|---|---|---|
| Search engine marketing | $123,698 | 21.1% |
| Third-party listing sites | $117,249 | 20.0% |
| SEO and website optimization | $114,318 | 19.5% |
| Social media | $83,247 | 14.2% |
| TV | $61,556 | 10.5% |
| Radio | $40,451 | 6.9% |
| Direct mail | $32,830 | 5.6% |
| Newspaper | $12,311 | 2.1% |
| Other | $586 | 0.1% |
| Total | $586,246 | 100% |
Source: NADA Data 2025. What this means for you: search and social alone came to $206,945 for the average store, about $17,245 a month (a Clickem calculation from NADA’s figures). That is the money an ads agency will steer. Spending kept rising into 2026, to $791 per new vehicle sold in the first half, according to the NADA midyear report. Our guide to car dealership advertising budgets shows how to set your own number from a sales goal.
Questions about ownership and lock-in
Ask these first. If the answers are wrong, you will not be able to leave cleanly.
1. Who owns the Google Ads, Meta, Google Analytics and Merchant Center accounts?
You should, in every case. Each platform has a top permission level, and that level should belong to someone at your business. In Google Ads, only Admin access “can give account access, change access levels” and unlink manager accounts. In Google Analytics, the Administrator role is the only one that “can manage users”. In Merchant Center, “Admins may add, remove, or edit people.” In Meta, full control of a business portfolio lets a person “claim or remove assets or people from the business portfolio.”
- Good answer: “The accounts sit in your business’s name and your payment method. You hold Admin. We get access as a user or a linked manager account, and you can remove us any day.”
- Red flag: “We set everything up in our account and hand it over if you leave.” The history, audiences and conversion data then live with the agency.
2. If we part ways, what do we keep?
Get it in writing: the ad accounts with full history, the Merchant Center vehicle feed, audiences, conversion actions, landing pages, creative and call tracking numbers.
- Good answer: a specific list, plus who pays to move anything that has to move.
- Red flag: landing pages, feeds or phone numbers that “belong to the platform” and switch off when the contract ends.
3. Do I have to use your website to buy your ads?
Many dealer vendors are website platforms first. That is convenient, because inventory and CRM data already connect, but changing ads vendor later can mean rebuilding your site. Some OEM programs add their own condition: Stellantis, for example, requires a certified website before other program services.
- Good answer: “We work on your current site. If a page holds the ads back, we will show you the problem and you decide.”
- Red flag: “Our ads only perform on our platform,” with no data offered to back it up.
Questions about money and contracts
Agency pricing here is rarely public, and each fee model rewards something different. Know which behavior you are paying for.
| Fee model | How it works | Upside | Trade-off | Published market example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Percent of ad spend | Fee is a share of your monthly media | Work tends to grow with account size | The fee rises whenever spend rises, even if sales do not | None of the vendors we reviewed publishes a rate |
| Flat monthly fee | Fixed fee for a defined scope | No reward for pushing spend up | A thin scope can mean thin work; check what is included | Dealers United: “flat monthly management fee, never a percentage of ad spend” |
| Per vehicle sold or per lead | Fee tied to an outcome | You pay for results, in theory | Disputes over what counts, and pressure to chase cheap leads or claim brand searches | None found among the vendors we reviewed |
| Bundled with website | One price for site plus marketing | One bill, one vendor | Hard to see what the ads cost, and longer terms | Shop Marketing Pros: $1,598 to $5,295 a month for repair shops, 18-month website agreement |
| OEM program package | Pre-set packages through your brand’s digital program | Co-op eligible and billed to your parts statement | Less freedom over keywords and bidding | Kia packages include a “recommended minimum key word list and bidding strategy” |
What this means for you: the model matters more as budgets grow. A made-up example: at $10,000 a month in media, a 15% of spend fee is $1,500. Double the budget to $20,000 and the fee becomes $3,000, though the account may need little extra work. A flat fee stays the same. Neither is wrong, but you should know which one you are buying.
4. Exactly how is your fee calculated?
- Good answer: one number or formula, the scope it covers, and what triggers a change.
- Red flag: setup fees, “technology fees” and per-campaign charges that surface only in the contract.
5. Do I pay Google and Meta directly, or do you bill the media?
If the agency bills your media, you cannot see what Google was actually paid. Dealers United publishes “No markup” as part of its pricing, which is the standard to ask any vendor to put in writing.
- Good answer: “Google and Meta charge your card or invoice your business. Our fee is a separate invoice.”
- Red flag: one combined monthly number with no access to the platform invoices.
6. How long is the contract, and what does it take to leave?
Published terms give you a yardstick. Shop Marketing Pros starts each marketing service on a three-month base agreement, then month to month, with 18 months for websites. Kia’s program lets dealers cancel services with 30 days’ notice. Stellantis program enrollments run month to month, and cancellations follow a cutoff on the 10th of the month.
- Good answer: a short term or month to month, a clear notice period, and no fee to take your accounts back.
- Red flag: a 12 or 24 month lock on ad management with automatic renewal.
Questions about co-op and the advertising tiers
7. Are you a certified provider in my OEM’s digital program, and who files the co-op claims?
For many franchise dealers this decides the shortlist. Reimbursement rules vary by brand: Kia says certified vendors are “eligible for 100% DAS utilization” and claims are filed automatically. Stellantis lists some products as eligible for 1:1 Tier 3 co-op reimbursement. Subaru says “SAF/co-op percentages vary by retailer.” Our guide to Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 automotive advertising explains the mechanics.
- Good answer: “Yes for your brand, here is the program listing, and here is who submits claims.” Or: “No, so here is what you give up in co-op, and here is why it may still be worth it.”
- Red flag: “Co-op always pays 50%.” It varies by OEM, fund and product.
8. How will you coordinate with my Tier 2 association and the other dealers in my market?
Your regional dealer association (Tier 2) and your own store (Tier 3) can end up bidding on the same model searches and raising each other’s prices. Rules on bidding against other dealers of the same brand are tightening too: trade press reported that from October 1, 2026, Stellantis bars bidding on another Stellantis dealer’s business name.
- Good answer: they ask what your association is running, divide the keywords, and know your brand’s bidding rules.
- Red flag: they have never heard of your Tier 2 association.
Questions about measurement
Clicks and leads are easy to report. Sales are not. Push here.
9. What will the monthly report lead with?
The first line should be cost per car sold, or cost per repair order for service and shops. Cost per lead alone can mislead. Two hypothetical accounts show why. Agency A spends $10,000 for 400 leads at $25 each, and 8% buy: 32 cars at $312.50 each. Agency B spends the same for 250 leads at $40 each, and 14% buy: 35 cars at about $286 each. B looks worse on cost per lead and sells more cars for less. For context, WordStream’s 2026 benchmarks put the median cost per lead for car sales search ads at $44.26, and our automotive Google Ads benchmarks break costs down by segment.
- Good answer: “Cost per sold vehicle by campaign, matched against your CRM, with leads and clicks underneath.”
- Red flag: a report that opens with impressions, clicks and click-through rate.
10. How will sold vehicles or repair orders get back into Google Ads?
Smart Bidding learns from what you tell it counts as a conversion. If it only ever sees form fills, it hunts for more form fills. Google now calls classic offline conversion import a “legacy feature” and recommends enhanced conversions for leads through Data Manager, with “Qualified lead” or “Converted lead” as the goal. And starting June 15, 2026, these uploads moved to the Data Manager API and were blocked in the Google Ads API. Google reports a median 10% increase in conversions for advertisers who add first-party data such as emails to their imports.
- Good answer: “Appointments go back as qualified leads and sold deals as converted leads, from your CRM or DMS through Data Manager.” See our guide to offline conversion tracking in Google Ads.
- Red flag: “Google can’t see your sales,” or an upload script nobody has checked since June.
11. How do you track and grade phone calls?
Many dealer and shop leads arrive by phone, and Google changed how calls are counted. In the US and Canada, Google now turns call recording on by default and uses AI to decide which recorded calls count as conversions. Call length is only the fallback. You can check the setting under Admin, Account settings, Call ads. Review call recording consent rules for your state with your own counsel.
- Good answer: they know which calls count, how service calls are kept out of sales campaigns, and that you keep any tracking numbers if you leave.
- Red flag: “Every call over 60 seconds is a lead.” That threshold dates from a 2018 Google announcement.
12. Which conversion actions are set as primary right now, and why?
Primary conversions are the ones Google bids toward. If page views, chat opens or “get directions” clicks are primary, the account is buying those, not buyers.
- Good answer: a short list of real lead and sale actions as primary, everything else secondary.
- Red flag: ten primary actions and a cost per conversion that looks too good to be true.
Questions about compliance and the people doing the work
13. How do you keep my price, finance and lease ads compliant?
This is general information, not legal advice. The FTC sent warning letters to 97 dealership groups on March 13, 2026 saying advertised prices must include all mandatory fees. Its staff FAQs on pricing add that “everyone who has control over the advertising is responsible” for showing the actual price most prominently. Finance and lease ads bring trigger terms under Regulation Z and Regulation M, and Google bars targeting consumer finance ads by age, gender or ZIP code in the US and Canada. Our guide to car dealer advertising rules covers each one.
- Good answer: a written review step before ads go live, a named person who signs off, and the advertised price including every dealer-required fee.
- Red flag: “Compliance is the dealer’s job,” or payment offers in ads with no disclosures.
14. Who will actually work on my account?
- Good answer: the name of the person who builds and changes campaigns, how many accounts they handle, and a direct line to them.
- Red flag: a senior strategist in the pitch and an account coordinator you never meet afterward.
15. What would you change in the first 30 days, and when would you tell me to spend less?
A good agency looks at your account before it answers, and names wasted spend and broken tracking from that review.
- Good answer: specific fixes from your own data, and a plain statement of when more budget would not help.
- Red flag: “We need a bigger budget” before anyone has opened the account.
The 30 minute self-audit you can run before hiring anyone
You do not need an agency to find the worst problems. Log into your own Google Ads account and work through these seven checks. If you cannot find a page, type its name into the search bar at the top of Google Ads.
| Minutes | Where to look | What to check | Red flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Admin, Access and security | Your own email is listed with Admin access | Only agency emails, or you are not listed at all |
| 3 | Billing | The payment profile is in your business’s name | You cannot see Google’s invoices |
| 7 | Goals, Conversions, Summary | Which actions are primary, and when each last recorded a conversion | Page views or chat opens as primary; no qualified or sold lead import |
| 7 | Insights and reports, Search terms (last 30 days, sorted by cost) | The 20 most expensive searches | Jobs, parts, private sales, other cities or other dealers’ names |
| 3 | Search terms, filtered to your dealership’s name | How many conversions come from people already searching for you | Most of them, which means the account is taking credit for demand you already had |
| 3 | Campaign settings, Locations, Location options | Targeting set to people in or regularly in your area | “Presence or interest” on a local store; ZIP targeting on finance ads |
| 4 | Change history (last 90 days) | Who made changes and how often | Weeks with no changes by a person |
What this means for you: if you find two or more red flags, you have a stronger brief for any agency than any pitch deck. Take the findings into every sales call and ask each agency how it would fix them. For a deeper version, use our full Google Ads audit guide, and see our Google Ads playbook for car dealerships for how a clean account is structured.
Repair shops can run the same checks. Swap cost per car sold for cost per repair order, and read our guide to auto repair shop marketing for the shop-specific channels.
Common questions
How much does an automotive marketing agency cost?
Few publish prices. Shop Marketing Pros, a repair shop agency, lists packages from $1,598 to $5,295 a month with ad spend billed separately, and Dealers United publishes a flat monthly fee model without amounts. Most dealer vendors quote privately. Compare quotes on the fee model, the scope and the exit terms, not only the monthly number.
Is a percentage of ad spend fee a bad deal?
Not by itself. It can be fair on large accounts where the work grows with the budget. The risk is that the agency earns more when you spend more, so ask for a cap or a flat fee quote to compare.
Can I switch agencies without losing my account history?
Yes, if the accounts are in your name and you hold Admin. You remove the old agency’s access, add the new one, and the history stays. If the old agency owns the accounts, you may have to start over, which is why question one matters most.
Should I hire an OEM certified provider or an independent agency?
If co-op covers a large share of your digital budget, a certified provider usually comes out ahead, because several OEMs tie reimbursement or automatic claims to certification. If co-op is small or your brand’s packages limit what you can do, an independent agency can be worth the lost reimbursement. Run the numbers both ways.
What should an agency report every month?
Cost per sold vehicle or repair order by campaign, matched against your CRM or shop system, then leads, calls and spend. Clicks and impressions belong at the bottom. Our comparison of the best known automotive marketing agencies compares 15 vendors by type, published pricing and whether they require their own website.
If you would like a second set of eyes on your self-audit, send us read-only access to your Google Ads account. We will go through the same seven checks and tell you what we would fix first, whether or not you hire us. Find out more on our automotive marketing agency page or get in touch.
