254 qualified phone calls turned into real sales for a used car dealership in rio de janeiro.
254qualified phone calls30 sec+ only
$1.72cost per qualified call
~20cars sold
$438total ad spend
~$254kestimated revenue
70xROAS (gross profit)
the client
a used car dealership in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, selling pre-owned vehicles in the mid-range segment ($10,900 – $14,500 per vehicle). the business depends on a steady flow of qualified buyers (people actively in the market for a car, not casual browsers).
the problem
the used car market in Rio de Janeiro is intensely competitive. the dealership had no structured Google Ads presence, no conversion tracking, and was relying entirely on third-party marketplace platforms for leads: low-quality price shoppers comparing dozens of options.
every marketing decision was a guess. there was no way to know what was working.
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what I did
1. campaign strategy: targeting intent, not just interest
the campaign structure was designed around the buyer's decision stage:
bottom-of-funnel campaigns (ready to buy): people searching for specific vehicles, models, or buying-intent terms. queries like "[specific model] for sale [city]," "buy used [model] Rio de Janeiro." these searchers have already decided what they want. they're looking for where to buy it.
mid-funnel campaigns (interested but not decided): people in the market but not committed to a specific model. queries like "best used cars under [price]," "used car dealership near me." the ad copy focused on selection, reliability, and consultation rather than specific vehicles.
this two-tier structure captures demand at two stages. bottom-funnel generates immediate sales. mid-funnel builds a pipeline of future buyers.
2. tracking setup: counting what matters
I implemented call tracking with a critical filter: only calls lasting 30 seconds or longer were counted as conversions.
in automotive sales, short calls are almost always unqualified: wrong numbers, quick price checks with no intent, or robocalls. a 30-second threshold filters the noise and counts only conversations where a real exchange happened.
an agency counting all calls would report inflated numbers. by tracking only 30-second-plus calls, every conversion in this data represents a genuinely interested buyer who engaged in a meaningful conversation.
3. keyword strategy and negative keywords
targeted keywords:
model-specific terms with purchase intent
location-modified queries (Rio de Janeiro, specific neighborhoods)
this negative keyword strategy is what kept the cost per lead at $1.72. without it, the same budget would have been diluted across hundreds of irrelevant clicks.
4. ad copy and landing page alignment
bottom-funnel ads: specific model mentions, price signals, immediate availability, test drive CTA
landing pages optimized for the phone call: prominent number, click-to-call on mobile, key vehicle info visible immediately, trust signals
5. sales alignment
the best campaign is worthless if the phone rings and nobody answers.
calls answered promptly during business hours
salespeople understood Google leads carry higher intent than marketplace leads
basic follow-up process for callers who didn't convert immediately
owner tracked sales outcomes to connect ad spend to actual vehicles sold
this feedback loop (ad spend → qualified call → sales outcome → campaign optimization) is what separates a campaign that improves from one that stagnates.
the results
Google Ads campaign dashboard, used car dealership, Rio de Janeiro
campaign performance
metric
result
total ad spend
$438
qualified calls (30 sec+)
254
cost per qualified call
$1.72
$1.72 per qualified phone call. in the automotive industry, where cost per lead typically ranges from $15 to $50+ in competitive markets, this is very low.
254 qualified calls means the dealership was receiving a consistent flow of buyer calls from Google. for a small to mid-size used car lot, this kind of volume fundamentally changes the business.
sales outcomes
metric
result
qualified calls
254
call-to-sale conversion rate
8%
estimated vehicles sold
~20
average vehicle price
~$12,700
estimated total revenue
~$254,000
estimated gross profit (12%)
~$30,480
cost per vehicle sold
~$22
ROAS (revenue)
~580x
ROAS (gross profit)
~70x
$22 to sell a $12,700 car. even measuring purely against the estimated gross profit margin of ~$1,524 per vehicle, the dealership earned approximately $1,500 in profit for every $22 spent on advertising. that's a 70-to-1 return on gross profit.
the 8% conversion rate from qualified call to completed sale was confirmed directly by the dealership owner and sales team. this indicates the calls were genuinely qualified (the 30-second filter worked) and the sales team was effective at converting interest into transactions.
20 cars sold from Google Ads represents a meaningful portion of a small dealership's sales. this was a net-new channel: buyers who found the dealership through Google Search, not through marketplace listings, drive-by traffic, or word of mouth. every one of these 20 sales was incremental revenue.
why these numbers happened in rio de janeiro
context matters for understanding these results:
digital advertising gap: many independent lots in Rio still rely primarily on marketplace listings and physical signage. lower competition in Google Ads auctions means lower CPCs.
high mobile usage and call culture: Brazilian consumers, particularly in automotive, prefer phone calls over form submissions. click-to-call behavior is strong.
geographic concentration: Rio de Janeiro is a dense metro area where millions of potential buyers search within a defined radius. location-targeted campaigns are highly efficient.
in other markets, cost per lead would likely be higher. the principles remain the same: precise targeting, qualified-call tracking, negative keyword discipline, and sales alignment.
the takeaways
1. track qualified actions, not vanity metrics
the 30-second filter ensured every conversion was a real buyer conversation. define what a qualified lead actually looks like for your business, and track only that.
separating bottom-funnel from mid-funnel campaigns allowed different messaging, different landing experiences, and different bid strategies. higher relevance at every stage.
3. negative keywords are as important as positive keywords
in the used car market, irrelevant searches can consume an entire budget. the aggressive negative keyword strategy kept cost per lead at $1.72 instead of $15+.
4. the phone is the conversion point
for businesses where the sale starts with a phone call, every element of the campaign should generate that call, and the sales team must be aligned to convert it.
5. small budgets can produce outsized results
$438 in total ad spend. 20 cars sold. ~$254,000 in revenue. the budget was small, but the system was precise.
all performance data (ad spend, calls, cost per lead) is sourced directly from Google Ads dashboards. sales conversion data (8% close rate, vehicles sold) was provided by the dealership owner. revenue and profit estimates use the vehicle price range ($10,900–$14,500) and an estimated 12% gross margin. the client's business name has been anonymized. these results do not represent a promise or guarantee of similar outcomes.
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