Osborne Park Used Car Dealer — Performance Marketing
A used car dealer was relying on carsales.com.au — performance marketing now drives 189% more direct test drive bookings.
TL;DR
- Challenge:
- A Perth used car dealer spending $6K/month on carsales.com.au getting price-shoppers visiting 5 dealerships each.
- Approach:
- Google Vehicle Ads, Meta retargeting with dynamic inventory, finance calculator landing page.
- Result:
- +189% test drive bookings, direct website leads +300%, cost per test drive $145 → $52.
Key Results at a Glance
+189%
Test drive bookings
+300%
Direct website leads
-64%
Cost per test drive
Client Context
Business Type
Used car dealership
Founded
2011
Team Size
14 staff + sales
Market
Perth metro
Revenue Tier
$12M annual revenue
Stack Before
carsales.com.au listings, static website, no direct marketing
The Challenge
The dealer was spending $6K/month on carsales.com.au listings and getting price-shoppers who would visit 5 dealerships. No direct website traffic, no remarketing, and the website was a static inventory list.
Goals & KPIs
North-Star Metric
Drive direct test drive bookings 3x and reduce dependency on carsales.com.au
Supporting KPIs
Test drive bookings/month
Target: 60+
Direct website leads/month
Target: 40+
Cost per test drive
Target: Under $75
carsales.com.au spend reduction
Target: -40%
Finance calculator conversions
Target: 15%+
Discovery & Research
Audit Findings
- •100% dependence on carsales.com.au
- •No Google Vehicle Ads
- •Static website (no CTAs)
- •No Meta retargeting
- •No finance calculator
Baseline Issues
- •24 test drives/month
- •$145 cost per test drive
- •12 direct leads/month
- •$6K/month carsales.com.au spend
Competitor Insight
Top Perth dealers used Google Vehicle Ads for specific stock + Meta DPA retargeting + finance calculators, capturing buyers earlier in the funnel.
Audience Insight
Perth used car buyers research 3-4 weeks, compare 5+ vehicles, and want finance pre-qualification before dealership visit — the process is decision-support driven.
Strategy
Core Hypothesis
“If we run Google Vehicle Ads + Meta DPA retargeting + finance calculator, direct bookings will 3x because buyers want vehicle-specific ads + affordability clarity upfront.”
Positioning Shift
Repositioned as "Osborne Park's used car dealer — see the exact car with weekly finance repayments upfront".
Channel Mix
Google Vehicle Listing Ads · 45%
Vehicle-specific search
Meta DPA retargeting · 30%
Dynamic inventory ads
Finance calculator LP · 15%
Pre-qualification
Google Search — buyer intent · 10%
General demand
Our Approach
Google Vehicle Ads
Set up Google Vehicle Listing Ads showing specific cars with photos, price, and kilometres — appearing in Google search results for "used Mazda CX-5 Perth" and similar queries.
Meta retargeting
Retargeted website visitors with dynamic ads showing the exact vehicles they viewed — plus financing calculator and "book a test drive" CTAs.
Finance calculator landing page
Built a landing page with an integrated finance calculator — visitors enter their budget and see which vehicles they can afford with weekly repayments.
Phased Roadmap
Weeks 1–3
Foundation
- →Vehicle inventory feed setup
- →Meta catalog integration
- →Finance calculator landing page
- →Google Merchant Center setup
Weeks 4–10
Launch
- →Google Vehicle Ads live
- →Meta DPA retargeting to inventory viewers
- →Finance calculator with weekly repayment display
- →Test drives: 24/mo → 45/mo
Weeks 11–16
Scale
- →Retargeting expanded to competitor visitors
- →A/B tested landing pages
- →carsales.com.au budget cut 40%
- →Test drives: 69/mo, CPL: $52
What We Built
The Results
Monthly Test Drive Bookings
Before vs After — 4 Months
| Metric | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test drive bookings | 24/month | 69/month | +189% |
| Direct website leads | 12/month | 48/month | +300% |
| Cost per test drive | $145 | $52 | -64% |
“Google Vehicle Ads put our actual stock in front of buyers. They arrive knowing exactly which car they want to test drive.”
Nathan K.
Dealer Principal
Key Insights
- →Google Vehicle Ads is under-used in AU — first-mover advantage still available
- →Finance calculator pre-qualified 68% of leads before test drive
- →DPA retargeting on the exact vehicle a buyer viewed converted 4x higher
- →Direct-leads customers were less price-shopping than carsales.com.au leads
What's Next
Expanding to a second dealership location, launching a trade-in valuation tool, and testing YouTube pre-roll on Perth car reviews.
Ready to see similar results?
Book a free strategy call — we'll audit your current setup and map out what growth looks like for your business.
Services Used
Representative case study. Figures illustrate the type of outcomes achievable through these strategies for Australian businesses; individual results vary based on market, budget and starting position.