Google Ads Automotive dealership

How we cut Bill Buckle Subaru's cost per lead 72% and lifted leads 84%

One of Australia's highest-volume Subaru dealers was getting too few leads from AdWords. We rebuilt the account from scratch and, within the first month, leads were up 84% on half the spend.

I Want Results Like This Results in month one
Two Subaru sports cars lit up at night at Bill Buckle Subaru
72%Lower cost per leadMonth one
84%More leadsOn half the spend
247%Conversion rate liftMonth one
01

The problem

Bill Buckle Subaru is one of the highest-volume Subaru dealers in Australia. Volume was not the problem on the showroom floor; it was the problem in their AdWords account, which was returning far fewer leads than a dealer of that size should expect.

The brief to us was specific: get more leads out of AdWords without increasing the existing monthly spend. No bigger budget, just a better account.

What we were up againstLead volume well below what the dealership's size warrantedNo room to increase the monthly budgetExisting account structure not worth salvaging
The Bill Buckle Subaru site: the AdWords account sending traffic here was producing too few leads.
The Bill Buckle Subaru site: the AdWords account sending traffic here was producing too few leads.
02

What we did

After reviewing the existing set-up, we decided the account wasn't worth patching. We rebuilt it from scratch: a new keyword list, a new campaign structure, tighter targeting and fresh ad copy, all designed to squeeze more leads out of the same monthly budget.

1New keywords and campaign structureA brand new keyword list, with campaigns broken out to separate brand and non-brand terms so each could be managed and budgeted on its own.
2Postcode-level location targetingTargeting was set by selected postcodes, with location-based keywords and ad copy so the ads spoke to people in the dealership's actual catchment.
3Better landing pages and bidsDestination URLs were revised so every click landed on the most relevant page, backed by device-specific bids and budget weighted to the days that historically converted.
4Multiple ad variationsSeveral versions of ad copy ran in every ad group to push click-through rates up and earn strong Quality Scores.
03

The results

The new account delivered immediately. Within the first month, leads were up 84%, conversion rate was up 247% and cost per lead had dropped 72%. And that came from only half of the previous month's spend.

That was month one. With ongoing optimisation and management of the account, we're working to improve on these numbers and keep taking the Bill Buckle business from strength to strength.

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