It's the first question every dealer principal asks and the one most agencies dodge. Here's a straight way to think about it.
Start from the value of a sale, not a magic percentage
Forget generic "spend 8% of revenue" rules written for shops selling coffee. Work backwards instead: what's your average margin per unit, and how many extra units a month would make a budget obviously worth it? If your marketing generates leads at a sensible cost and your team converts them, the budget pays for itself and the maths stays simple.
Where the money should go
Content first. Video of your actual stock is the engine. Everything else, ads included, performs better when it's built on real content from your forecourt rather than stock photos.
Paid ads second. This is your throttle. Quiet month, more stock than usual, a sales event coming: you turn spend up. It's the most controllable lever a dealership has.
The foundations always. Reviews, an active social presence and a fast website don't produce instant sales, but they decide whether all your other spend converts or leaks.
The comparison that matters
Whatever number you land on, compare it to the cost of hiring. One full-time in-house marketer costs a salary plus holidays, sick days and software, and still can't cover video, design and ads at once. A specialist agency covering all of it for half that cost changes the sums completely.
If you want a real number for your dealership rather than a theory, book a free call. We'll look at your stock levels and your local market and give you an honest figure, even if the answer is smaller than you expected.