Automotive Paid Search Conversions: Q1 2019 Benchmark Study
Digital Marketing Agency Publishes Year Over Year Benchmark Study Based Upon Florida Dealer Data
Digital marketing agency Lincoln Digital Group recently published its second retail automotive paid search conversion benchmark report of 2019, this time comparing Q1 2019 vs. 2018 data.
In its year over year comparison, featuring luxury Makes Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Porsche among others, Lincoln Digital Group found that its overall automotive paid search conversion rate rose 16.7 percent year over year (and 24 percent vs. Q1 2017), making its overall 2019 Q1 retail automotive conversion rate 9.06 percent.
Automotive Paid Search Conversion Q1 2019 Study Highlights
Notably, this automotive conversion benchmark data also found that some important trends from full year 2018 continued into the first quarter of 2019:
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Conversion rates 0-15 miles from the rooftop continued to be extraordinary important for the following reasons:
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Its average conversion rate rose 14 precent year over year
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Compared to marketing more than 15 miles from a rooftop, this geographic radius roved to be 69 percent more conversion-effective, and 66 percent more cost-effective
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Luxury Makes continued to be more conversion effective than the mainstream / economy Makes in its study, as the three top performers from Q1 2019 were:
- Mercedes-Benz
- Conversion Rate: 18.04%
- Cost per Conversion: $52.75
- BMW
- Conversion Rate: 9.76%
- Cost per Conversion: $66.41
- Audi
- Conversion Rate: 7.69%
- Cost per Conversion: $76.42
Other Notes: Paid Search Conversion Rate Increase vs. Cost Increase
Lastly, the study also saw cost per conversion rise slightly year over year overall. The historically typical year over year in Google costs (due to greater competition), as well as new competitors added in the same area as its client data set, were the main drivers of this change, as is to be expected in an auction-based cost environment such as paid search.
Overall, the rise in conversion rate substantially out-paced the rise in cost per conversion, indicating that the agency was able to extract incremental increases from its campaigns at a greater rate than the cost increase — which indicates that client budget dollars still went farther compared to the previous year.
See the Q1 2019 automotive conversion benchmark study for yourself.