Auto dealers are focusing on the wrong screens.
I don’t say that lightly. Having spent years in retail automotive marketing, I’ve seen how dealers allocate their advertising dollars compared with how customers actually behave. The disconnect is glaring. Dealers spend billions annually, roughly $45,000 per store per month, yet the lion’s share of those dollars in OEM digital programs end up at the very bottom of the funnel.
In most cases, 80 to 90 percent of budgets are devoted to paid search, while less than five percent flows into connected TV, streaming audio, and short-form video. In other words, less than five percent is going to the very screens where today’s consumers spend hours each day. That might have made sense in 2015. It doesn’t in 2025.
Why “last click” thinking misleads
Paid search isn’t the villain. It’s essential to closing deals. But equating search with “efficient” marketing is outdated. We’ve confused measurability with effectiveness. Bottom-funnel clicks are easy to count, so we overvalue them. Upper- and mid-funnel video exposures are harder to count and even harder to evaluate, so we undervalue them.
Meanwhile, platforms where buyers actually spend their time these days (TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, streaming TV (Connected TV) apps, podcasts, and live sports streaming) shape purchase preferences long before a shopper types a model name into Google. By the time a shopper searches, the brand battle is largely over.
Dealer websites compound the issue. Too many are designed only for transactions. If your ads inspire interest and emotion but your landing experience is purely transactional, you’ve wasted the influence you paid to create. The solution isn’t complicated. It simply requires intention and a willingness to rebalance.
A smarter blueprint for dealers
A practical blueprint starts with rebalancing the media mix. Too much money remains locked at the bottom of the funnel, so it makes sense to redirect 10 to 30 percent of existing digital budgets toward video across connected TV (CTV), short-form social platforms, and premium digital placements. This doesn’t require more spending, just smarter spending.
One of the most effective steps is to shift traditional television and radio dollars into targeted CTV and streaming audio. Dealers can still reach sports fans and premium audiences, but with far less waste, because those buys are directed toward in-market consumers instead of broad local populations. CTV adoption is now nearly universal, with more than 90% of U.S. households streaming content on connected TVs. Through platforms like The Trade Desk, dealers can target in-market buyers across premium networks with far less waste compared to linear TV.
The next step is to think audience-first rather than platform-first. Instead of buying one-size-fits-all campaigns, dealers should tailor creative to specific groups like first-time buyers, growing families, and empty nesters. Then place those messages on the channels that those groups actually use. Short-form video should become central in this strategy, since Gen Z and Millennials spend much of their time in vertical formats like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. That means creating 10- to 20-second clips designed natively for those platforms, not simply cropping down a 30-second TV ad.
Inventory also needs to come alive. Dynamic ads should incorporate motion, captions, and branding so that individual VINs are showcased in a compelling way. When combined with upgraded landing experiences, including model showcase pages, video walkarounds, and explanatory content, this creates a much stronger bridge from awareness to consideration. For EVs in particular, landing pages should also include charging maps, tax-credit tools, and frequently asked questions to address the barriers that keep shoppers hesitant.
Dealers should not overlook multicultural audiences either. Spanish-language campaigns and creative tailored to diverse communities can dramatically expand reach and relevance. Life-moment targeting is another underused lever. Big purchases often follow personal milestones like having a child, moving to a new home, or starting a new job. Platforms such as Pinterest and TikTok can connect those moments to the vehicles best suited to celebrate them. These platforms are also the preferred search engines for younger buyers.
Finally, success requires measuring the right outcomes. Rather than judging video by the same standards as paid search, dealers should focus on brand lift, search lift, view-through traffic, and sales attribution where possible. As artificial intelligence tools enter the picture, they should be used to scale creative output responsibly by localizing voiceovers, generating multiple ad variants, and lowering production costs. At the same time, OEM assets and intellectual property must be protected. AI should be a multiplier, not a shortcut or, worse yet, a pirate.
In short, the blueprint is not about adding cost but instead about shifting perspective away from the last click and toward the screens and formats where consumers actually spend their time.
How dealers can make the shift
The easy path is to renew the same paid search plan, increase the bid, and call it “optimized.” But every month spent in that comfort zone cedes consideration to competitors already investing in video-first strategies.
Dealers serious about change should start with a clear goal. For example, “Within 90 days, 20 percent of our digital spend will be video across CTV, short-form, and premium placements.” From there, assign outcomes to specialists. Generalists can’t win here. Dealers need video expertise to produce, buy, and connect content effectively. Align websites with media so that the inspiration delivered in ads continues on the landing page. And finally, pilot, learn, and expand. Test one model and one audience. Layer in video, streaming, and dynamic inventory. Measure the lift, then scale.
Why urgency matters now
Consumers already spend three to five hours a day with “new” video: short-form, streaming, and social. Eighty percent of internet traffic is video. Yet dealers continue to pour money into search while ignoring the channels that dominate attention.
The paradox is simple but critical: the screens we ignore are the ones our customers love. Dealers who realign budgets toward those screens, and stop mistaking the last click for the whole journey, will gain the edge. We’ve spent a decade perfecting the bottom of the funnel. It’s time to turn on the faucet at the top.
Tim Copacia is Executive Vice President of Strategic Development for J.D. Power – UnityWorks. UnityWorks is the premier provider of video marketing for the retail automotive industry.
