Four brands competing for the same budget, inside one CRM.
An auto group running four franchise brands plus used cars and a savings-plan product across eighteen dealerships. Each product has a different buyer, and a lead only counts once it becomes a booked appointment at the right store.
The business context
In automotive, CPL on its own misleads. A R$90 lead that never shows up costs more than a R$200 lead that closes. The plan is built from cost per sale, and CPL sits in it as a routing indicator rather than the target.
There is no single audience for the group
A family SUV, a work pickup, a premium sedan and a used car carry different profiles, tickets and decision cycles. They do not mix.
The lead has to land at the right store
Eighteen locations with overlapping catchment areas. Bad routing produces leads worked twice and a sales floor that stops trusting the channel.
The contact window is short
A lead called back within five minutes books an appointment almost three times more often than one contacted after half an hour.
Stage-level feedback to the platform
The CRM sends back contact made, appointment booked and sale. Campaigns optimize toward booked appointments instead of form-fill volume.
Budget follows inventory, not fairness
A model with a full lot gets more budget; a model out of stock comes down within 24 hours. Inventory is read weekly and comes from the sales team.
Media plan
Goal for the month: 9,200 leads at up to R$152, producing 1,156 completed visits and 301 attributed sales. The forecast starts from the historical rate at each stage, measured by brand and by region.
| Channel | Role | Spend | Share | Leads | CPL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Search | Captures demand by model, trim and dealership | R$588,000 | 42% | 4,983 | R$118 |
| Builds demand by use case and current offer | R$462,000 | 33% | 3,277 | R$141 | |
| Demand Gen | Discovery of a new model and test drive booking | R$182,000 | 13% | 508 | R$358 |
| YouTube | Launch and brand support ahead of the search auction | R$168,000 | 12% | 418 | R$402 |
| Month total | R$1,400,000 | 100% | 9,186 | R$152 | |
| Scenario | Assumption that changes | Leads | Visits | Sales | Cost per sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Contact rate drops to 58% with the sales team at current volume | 9,200 | 986 | 256 | R$5,469 |
| Base case | Six-month historical rates, with stage feedback live in the CRM | 9,200 | 1,156 | 301 | R$4,651 |
| Optimistic | Five-minute response at every store, with weekend coverage | 9,200 | 1,352 | 352 | R$3,977 |
All three scenarios use the same lead volume. What changes is what happens after the form, which is why response speed enters the media plan as a variable rather than a footnote.
Creative brief
One asset per product line, carrying the current offer and the rule that pulls the ad when inventory runs out.
- Audience
- Families aged 30 to 49, within 25 km of a store, upper-middle declared income
- Format
- 4:5 video, 20s, plus a static offer asset
- Specs
- 1080×1350, offer badge editable without rebuilding the asset
- Pull rule
- Pulled within 24h if inventory of the advertised trim falls below 8 units
The seven-seat SUV that fits the garage and the monthly payment.
Low down payment and first service included. Book a test drive at your nearest store.
- Audience
- Searches for model, trim and mid-size pickup comparisons
- Format
- Responsive search ad, 15 headlines and 4 descriptions
- Specs
- Location extensions per store and call extensions with staffed hours
- Pull rule
- Any headline under 4% CTR after 3K impressions is replaced
4x4 pickup with a 5-year warranty · Same-day test drive
Financing approved in 20 minutes · 18 stores statewide
- Audience
- Searches for used model, year and price range
- Format
- Search plus a vehicle catalog with dynamic pricing
- Specs
- Feed carrying year, mileage, inspection report and the store holding the car
- Pull rule
- A sold vehicle leaves the feed within 2 hours through the inventory integration
Used cars with a full inspection report and an engine and transmission warranty.
See the exact car on the lot, with its mileage and location.
- Audience
- In-market car shoppers who have not visited any store yet
- Format
- 9:16 video, 10s, with a native booking form
- Specs
- 1080×1920, store and time fields prefilled by location
- Pull rule
- Cost per booking above R$320 for 3 consecutive days
Saturday morning, full tank, keys in your hand.
Pick the store and the time. The test drive takes 40 minutes.
Delivery dashboard
Day 21 of 30. The dashboard opens on cost per sale, the number the sales leadership uses, and only then drops into CPL and campaign detail.
| Campaign | Channel | Spend | Leads | CPL | Visits | Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand A — models and trims | Search | R$214,000 | 1,986 | R$107.75 | 268 | 71 |
| Used cars — lot catalog | Search | R$118,000 | 1,204 | R$98.01 | 176 | 52 |
| Brand B launch | R$186,000 | 1,312 | R$141.77 | 148 | 33 | |
| Conquest against competitors | Search | R$100,000 | 847 | R$118.06 | 82 | 15 |
| Savings plan — awarded quotas | R$96,000 | 743 | R$129.21 | 61 | 14 | |
| Weekend test drive | Demand Gen | R$140,000 | 508 | R$275.59 | 66 | 18 |
| Brand C brand campaign | YouTube | R$128,000 | 318 | R$402.52 | 42 | 11 |
| Running total through day 21 | R$982,000 | 6,918 | R$141.95 | 843 | 214 | |
The read this week
- CPL fell 10% and visits did not follow. The conquest campaign delivers cheap leads that do not show up: 847 leads and 82 visits, a 9.7% rate against the 13.5% account average. Cheap is turning out expensive here.
- Used cars is the most efficient line in the group. R$98 CPL and 52 sales on 12% of the budget. The bottleneck is now lot inventory rather than media.
- YouTube does not pay for itself as a direct generator and should not be judged that way. At R$402 CPL, its role is to support branded search, which is up 22% since the campaign launched.
- Decision taken to the client: cut the conquest campaign by 30% and move that budget to used cars and Brand A, holding the monthly CPL ceiling. Inventory review with the sales team on Monday.