Worksheet Pack Access: use these editable-style worksheets with the 2026 Automotive Digital Marketing Buyer’s Guide before vendor calls, RFPs, budget planning, renewal decisions and first-90-day implementation reviews.
Start here: download the companion PDF, then copy the worksheet tables below into your internal planning document or spreadsheet.
Vendor Selection Scorecard
| Criterion | Weight | Score 1–5 | Evidence to request | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dealer specialization | 12% | Dealer-specific examples, sample roadmap, rooftop case scenario. | ||
| Data / account ownership | 15% | Written ownership map and exit checklist. | ||
| Integration depth | 13% | Integration diagram and field-level mapping. | ||
| Reporting quality | 13% | Sample executive report and definitions glossary. | ||
| Inventory awareness | 10% | Feed audit report and sample inventory campaign structure. | ||
| CRM alignment | 10% | CRM source mapping and first-90-day CRM plan. | ||
| Compliance / governance | 10% | Compliance workflow and escalation policy. | ||
| First-90-day execution | 9% | Week-by-week implementation plan. | ||
| Contract / exit terms | 8% | Exit clause, export sample and transition SLA. |
RFP Checklist
| Category | Question | Vendor answer | Risk notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company fit | What dealership problems do you solve better than a general marketing provider? | ||
| Ownership | Who owns ad accounts, analytics, tags, call tracking, creative, landing pages, reports and customer data? | ||
| Reporting | Can you show a sample report tied to business outcomes? | ||
| Integrations | Which CRM, inventory, website, call tracking, chat, CDP and analytics integrations are native? | ||
| Compliance | How are pricing claims, rebates, disclaimers and offer pages reviewed? | ||
| AI / data | What data does your AI use, and can we audit transcripts and outputs? |
Budget Planner
| Channel | Current monthly spend | Proposed monthly spend | Bottleneck addressed | Expected KPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Website / CRO | ||||
| Dealer SEO | ||||
| Paid search | ||||
| Inventory ads | ||||
| Social / video / CTV | ||||
| CRM / email / SMS | ||||
| CDP / first-party data | ||||
| AI chat / AI marketing | ||||
| Attribution / reporting |
First 90-Day Rollout Planner
| Period | Goal | Vendor actions | Dealer inputs | Output |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Days 1–15 | Establish access and baseline. | Collect account access and audit website, CRM, feeds, GBP, analytics, tags, ads, reporting and contracts. | Goals, vendor list, rooftops, CRM exports, inventory priorities, compliance rules. | Baseline audit and risk list. |
| Days 16–30 | Fix measurement and obvious friction. | Validate tracking, source mapping, call tracking, forms, feed errors, GBP access and landing paths. | Approval process, compliance review, lead-handling notes, store-level priorities. | Measurement cleanup plan and first fixes. |
| Days 31–60 | Rebuild priority execution. | Adjust campaigns, fix landing pages, improve SEO pages, segment inventory and refine CRM workflows. | Inventory priorities, sales feedback, fixed-ops priorities, creative approvals. | Channel execution roadmap and early signals. |
| Days 61–90 | Review quality and decide next quarter. | Analyze lead quality, calls, appointments, show rate, sold outcomes, service contribution and reporting gaps. | CRM outcome feedback, appointment data, sold data, service data where available. | 90-day performance review and next-quarter plan. |
Monthly Executive Report Template
| Metric | This month | Previous month | Change | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total spend | ||||
| Qualified opportunities | ||||
| Appointments set | ||||
| Appointment show rate | ||||
| Sold units by source | ||||
| Service appointments | ||||
| Cost per qualified opportunity | ||||
| Cost per sold unit |
AI Governance Checklist
| Control area | Requirement | Owner | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approved use cases | Document approved AI use cases for chat, email, routing, content, scoring or lifecycle marketing. | ||
| Prohibited topics | Define topics that require human escalation, including price, payment, legal and sensitive customer issues. | ||
| Data usage | Document customer data used for training, prompting, matching and personalization. | ||
| Human handoff | Define when and how AI transfers to BDC, sales, service or management. | ||
| Transcript audit | Review AI transcripts for accuracy, tone, compliance and escalation quality. | ||
| CRM writeback | Control what AI writes back into the CRM and which fields are updated. | ||
| Exit rights | Confirm export rights for prompts, workflows, templates, logs and data history. |