Client session

Cerritos Auto Square

Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at 5:00 PM

Duration (min)

Notes

### Media Mix & Reach Concerns

- Core problem: budget spread too thin across too many channels -> not hitting minimum effective frequency (3x)
- Current mix: local news/weather, broadcast sports, national sports playoffs, CTV entertainment, social (13%), billboards (20%), unpaid search (8%), no audio budget
- Choke point has shifted from creative to media — new creative is more targeted and differentiated, but results still flat
- Small but steady organic traffic lift since messaging/website refresh; not a home run yet

### Audience Behavior & Channel Observations

- Nick's media habits as a proxy for shifting consumer behavior:
  - YouTube TV as cable replacement; skips all recorded content ads
  - Watches Dodgers via MLB TV app (no ads currently — Spectrum/MLB server sync glitch)
  - Instagram ads most effective for impulse purchases; podcast host reads also drive purchases
  - Tunes out web display/banners almost entirely; retargeting has marginal effect
  - Billboards still register occasionally; DoorDash bag inserts get attention
- 30-40% of population only reachable via social (no TV or ad-free streaming)
- Social gets ~1/3 of impressions at 13% of budget due to cheaper CPMs
- Netflix and Amazon Prime ads are non-skippable — reach is uncertain but guaranteed attention when served
- Local news audience skewing 60+; most people getting news on phones

### YouTube Campaign Analysis

- Tested broad audience vs. car shopper audience (TV and mobile breakouts)
- Car shopper audience: 50% higher cost per conversion, but budgets were unequal (~3x more on car shopper)
  - Conclusion: unequal budgets make the test inconclusive — broad may still outperform
  - Pattern consistent with Meta: broad audiences often match or beat targeted ones
- TV-only awareness campaign favored TV placements because mobile inventory is more competitive (other advertisers bidding for action-oriented goals)
- Exclusion lists not applied to all campaigns — only carried over when campaigns were duplicated from one that had them
  - Account-level content suitability settings partially configured (Apple app categories excluded, Google Play categories not)

### Search Campaign Issues

- Non-brand search campaign in poor shape: cost per conversion spiked, click prices roughly tripled after copy update
  - New copy ("test drive before you buy") may have misaligned with keyword intent
  - Descriptions updated but headlines were not — ads running with mismatched messaging
- Conversion tracking: ~25% of conversions are phone calls, ~75% get directions
  - Phone calls considered higher-quality signal; get directions may include bots
  - Considering weighting phone calls higher via conversion value to shift bidding toward better signals
- PMax concern: most conversions attributed to branded search; unclear if cross-channel attribution is real or Google capturing existing demand

### Next Steps

- Tom

- Equalize YouTube audience test budgets (both to $100/day) and rerun broad vs. car shopper comparison
  - Apply exclusion lists to all campaigns missing them
  - Add Google Play app category exclusions in content suitability settings
  - Update search campaign headlines to match new messaging; add sitelinks to improve ad strength
  - Evaluate weighting phone call conversions higher than get directions (review next week)
  - Consider pausing or resetting underperforming search campaign before killing it outright
  - Explore cutting local news budget to heavy up on YouTube, social, podcasts, and playoffs

- Nick

- Check MLB TV app tonight to see if Spectrum ad sync issue has been resolved
  - Continue monitoring Dodgers viewing experience for ad inventory insights to share with Tom

- Both

- Meet again next Wednesday at 10:00 AM

Action items