How Linwood GMC Doubled Vehicles Moved and Cut Days on Lot in Half

Linwood GMC sits in Mayfield, Kentucky, where several GMC stores fight over the same rural buyers. To move inventory faster, the dealership turned to the Catalyst IQ team in March 2026. By the end of April, MarketAI-powered digital advertising campaigns were moving 102% more vehicles, cutting days on lot by 51%, and dropping days to move by 16%.

The Challenge: Win a Highly Competitive Rural Market

When Linwood GMC came to Catalyst IQ, they were up against more than the dealers next door. Mayfield sits within two to three hours of Nashville, Memphis, and St. Louis, and Midwest buyers will drive that far to save money on a vehicle.

Linwood had been running social media ads with another vendor and hadn't seen the results they needed. Their GM also felt his old vendor didn't communicate or show the commitment needed to win. He wanted an automotive digital marketing partner to treat his inventory and his market like their #1 priority.

The Strategy: Precision Targeting Built on MarketAI Data

Linwood GMC partnered with a dedicated Dealer Success Manager (DSM) and got direct visibility into their own automotive marketing data through MarketAI, our real-time automotive intelligence engine. 

Our team built a full-funnel automotive digital advertising program across paid social and Google Vehicle Ads, both powered by MarketAI and aimed at the same tightly defined market.

Social Media Advertising. Linwood GMC's DSM narrowed targeting to specific cities using Linwood's sales history and population density, then pushed harder into nearby towns where they had room to grow. They also matched vehicles to markets, leaning into Sierra trucks in some areas and Acadia SUVs in others.

Google Vehicle Ads. The DSM mirrored the social media targeting in VLAs so the campaigns worked together. Social advertising tends to drive Google searches, and because the VLA targeting matched the social targeting, shoppers who searched after seeing a social ad landed on Linwood's own inventory. Running the VLAs through Performance Max kept cost per click low while optimizing targeting across Google's network.

The Results: Double the Vehicles Moved, Half the Days on Lot

Before working with Catalyst IQ, Linwood GMC's inventory movement was at a standstill. After the campaigns ramped up in April, that changed.

The campaigns generated strong performance that drove the increase in inventory movement.

Paid social

• 169 vehicles moved with social ad activity
• 5.5% click-through rate, about 5x the automotive Facebook benchmark of ~1%
• 290 vehicles with ad activity

Google Vehicle Ads

• 152 vehicles moved, led by the Sierra 1500 and the Acadia
• 82.8% impression share on Linwood's Google Vehicle Ads
• 30.2K clicks

Adding Engage: Turning Website Traffic into Verified Leads

Linwood GMC also added Engage, Catalyst IQ’s website engagement solution that re-engages site visitors with personalized offers and email, then captures verified leads through 1-tap technology.

Engage handed Linwood GMC's sales team 80 phone-verified leads in four months, each one a shopper they could call and close.

It also drove measurable engagement and return traffic:

• 84.8% engagement rate, engaging 8,299 of 9,782 site visitors
• 32.9% email visit rate, well above the 1.5% to 3.5% typical of standard email campaigns
• 20% post-engagement return visit rate

Ready to Drive Results Like This? 

As a certified partner in the GM program, Catalyst IQ pairs real-time automotive marketing data with a dedicated Dealer Success Manager to deliver measurable growth, faster. Whether you’re trying to move troubled inventory, win a competitive market, or turn website traffic into verified leads, we can show you exactly where your biggest opportunities are right now.

Schedule a free 15-minute demo to see real-time inventory, turn rate, and competitive market data for your store.