Auto Trader has launched a new advertising report that allows its trade customers to calculate their return on investment on adverts placed with Autotrader.co.uk.
The sales report, called ‘MATCH’, is designed to increase transparency and demonstrate value for money for dealers placing adverts with Autotrader.co.uk from the lead generation stage right through to lead conversion or ‘buying’ phase of the sales cycle.
The MATCH report is currently being trialled by a number of dealers up and down the country. Whilst the official roll-out is 21st October, over 350 dealers are already using the report, with many now using it every month to help achieve sales targets.
By capturing monthly dealer sales information Auto Trader is able to “match” this data with consumer activity that has taken place on its website and mobile platforms to reveal the number of sales generated by the Auto Trader advertising.
Tim Peake, commercial director at Trader Media comments: “We are constantly striving to demonstrate to dealers the true value of advertising on Autotrader.co.uk. Our new MATCH sales report takes this level of transparency one step further by allowing dealers to directly correlate how many cars were actually sold based on their Auto Trader advertising spend and hence provide the return on investment of each and every car they place for sale with Auto Trader.
“In addition, by working with dealers using our MATCH report we can help them improve individual dealer performance by understanding how they can optimise spend through focusing on those products and vehicles that generate the best response”.
To accurately match cars sold via Auto Trader, the data required is simple to gain. All that a dealer needs to provide is the date of sale, the VRM, make and model and the buyer’s postcode.
Peake continues: “Being able to calculate the exact worth of advertising overcomes the age old adage of ‘Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half”. This new tool also enables our sales teams to accurately interpret dealer data and in turn advise on how to achieve the highest possible ROI. This tool is the first of a series of developments which is focused on helping our dealers maximise their advertising spend to maximise their car sales and hence profitability’.
www.autotrader.co.uk
