Clover Media Breakdown: 9 Buyers, $421,290 in Car Sales

Two dealers. $11,163 in media. $421,290 in vehicle sales credited to the ads.

Nine people saw a Clover Media ad on their TV, phone or laptop. Then they bought a car. That's the short version. Here's the long one.

The result

• $421,290 in vehicle sales credited to the ads

• 9 cars sold (7 new, 2 certified pre-owned)

• $37.74 in sales for every $1 of media spend

• ~$1,240 media cost per credited sale

• 100% of credited sales were the dealer's own brand

What we did

Clover Media ran these campaigns through the Amazon DSP, a platform that places ads across streaming TV, online video and display, backed by data on who's shopping for what. We put two very different dealers on it and asked one question: does this sell cars?

• A Toyota dealership in San Rafael, CA, in the San Francisco Bay Area market

• A Chevrolet dealership in Lakeville, MN, in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market

Different brands. Different coasts. Different buyers. Each ran several campaigns, each aimed at one goal: sell a car, book a service visit, or build brand awareness. Then we waited for the sales data, not the click data.

How a sale gets credited

Simple rule: if someone saw a dealer's Clover Media ad and bought a car from that dealer within 30 days, the ad gets the credit. Clover matches the ad exposure to real vehicle sales records. No form fills. No "we think it helped." A car left the lot.

The numbers, side by side

Toyota dealership (San Rafael, CA)

• Media spend: $5,977 | Impressions: 491,299

• Credited sales: $197,490 from 5 cars (4 new, 1 CPO)

• Sales per $1 of media: 33.0x

• Media cost per credited sale: $1,195 | Average sale price: $39,498

Chevrolet dealership (Lakeville, MN)

• Media spend: $5,186 | Impressions: 481,816

• Credited sales: $223,800 from 4 cars (3 new, 1 CPO)

• Sales per $1 of media: 43.2x

• Media cost per credited sale: $1,297 | Average sale price: $55,950

Both dealers cleared 33x. The Chevrolet dealership's average sale topped $55,000 because trucks do that.

What worked

Streaming TV with a sales message won at the Chevrolet dealership. One order, "STV_Sales," drove 3 of the dealership's 4 sales: $166,000, or 74% of everything credited. Cost per sale: $683.

The Toyota dealership's cheapest sale came from the most boring campaign. A display campaign promoting service ran on $527 and was credited with 2 vehicle sales worth $77,890. That's $264 per sale. Nobody planned for it. We're going to test it again.

Spanish-language video earned its spot. A Spanish online video campaign at the Toyota dealership sold a Camry Hybrid LE ($29,600) for $459.

The ads sold real inventory, across price points. Chevrolet dealership: a Silverado 1500 High Country ($66,500), a Silverado 3500 LTZ ($66,100), a Traverse RS ($57,800) and a certified pre-owned Equinox Premier ($33,400). Toyota dealership: a Crown Signia Hybrid Limited ($49,090), a RAV4 PHEV GR Sport ($48,500), a RAV4 PHEV SE ($41,500), a Camry Hybrid LE ($29,600) and a certified pre-owned 2017 Prius PHEV ($28,800).

What this means if you don't live in the car business

Most advertising can tell you how many people saw something. Very little can tell you how many people bought. Matching ads to real sales records is how you find out which dollars worked and which ones didn't, then move the second kind to the first. No hoping. No guessing.

Want to see what your ad dollars are actually selling? Talk to Clover.