Automotive

Automotive Lead Platforms: Dealer Insights & Marketing Effectiveness in the U.S.

In today’s competitive U.S. automotive market, dealerships depend heavily on online and offline lead generation platforms to attract car buyers and drive sales. Platforms like Cars.com, TrueCar, Autotrader, CarGurus, and Edmunds have become critical tools, but not all deliver the same value. For dealerships, the challenge lies in knowing where to spend, how to measure ROI, and which platforms actually move the needle on vehicle sales.

To address this, Jasper Colin conducted a targeted research study, leveraging its vetted B2B database of U.S. automotive decision-makers. The goal was to deliver actionable insights into platform usage, ROI measurement, and strategic spend allocation-helping the client refine marketing investments with confidence.

Objectives

The research set out to answer key questions around dealership marketing effectiveness:

Approach

To capture real dealership perspectives, Jasper Colin applied its Speed & Quality research framework:

Targeted Quantitative Research: 500 U.S. dealerships, covering both franchise (single- and multi-brand) and independent dealers.
Respondent Pool: Owners, general managers, sales managers, and heads of marketing with direct authority or strong influence in lead platform decisions.
Recruitment: All respondents were verified through Jasper Colin’s proprietary B2B decision-maker database, ensuring authentic and relevant feedback.

Methodology

Screening & Segmentation

Confirmed dealership type (franchise vs. independent, single-brand vs. multi-brand).
Verified decision-making authority in lead platform selection.
Segmented by level of involvement (final decision-makers, committees, or influential stakeholders).
Included only dealerships actively spending on or using online lead generation platforms.

Survey Design & Execution
Covered areas included:

Platform usage (Cars.com, Autotrader, TrueCar, Edmunds, CarGurus, Google, Facebook, etc.).
Marketing spend allocation per platform and overall budgets.
Sales performance (dollar volume and units sold).
ROI by platform with quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year comparisons.
Ratings of platform features, usability, and pricing models.
Dealer intent to continue, reduce, or stop spend-and why.

Data Integrity Measures

Verified respondents via database pre-screening and cross-checking.
Completion time monitoring to filter low-quality responses.
Checks for straight lining, missing values, and logical consistency.

Target Audience

Impact & Outcomes

The research enabled the client to:

Quantify platform usage, spend, and ROI across leading automotive lead platforms.
Identify high-value platforms that drive the best return and flag underperforming ones.
Gain visibility into dealership decision-making structures, enabling more targeted B2B marketing.
Compare platform features, pricing, and dealer satisfaction to inform future product and marketing strategies.
Make data-driven marketing investment decisions for growth and profitability.

Deliverables included:

A validated dataset (N=500).
Executive summary of dealership insights.
Cross-tabulation analyses by dealership type, size, and role.
Clear recommendations for optimizing spend allocation, improving ROI, and strengthening marketing strategies.

Why It Matters

This study gave the client a 360° view of how U.S. dealerships think about and use automotive lead generation platforms. By understanding dealer pain points, spending patterns, and decision-making authority, the client can align its platform positioning, pricing models, and marketing outreach to dealership needs. The result: more effective partnerships with auto dealers, higher ROI for clients, and stronger positioning in the competitive automotive lead generation landscape.