A hedge fund needed insight into how established auto dealerships allocate their resources. The client also wanted to understand how much revenue is derived from third-party lead generation websites and other marketing approaches. This information would help them understand how dealers are allocating their advertising budgets for lead generation platforms.

GLG ran a survey of 40 marketing decision makers at U.S. auto dealerships. The survey provided the hedge fund with insight into the way companies currently apply their advertising budgets and which third-party websites the companies use to generate leads.

Seeing the value in the completed survey, the hedge fund decided to re-run it to track changes over time. GLG has now run the survey nine times, resulting in a total of 360 responses. The firm will continue to run the survey on a quarterly basis.

The survey series helped the client measure the return on investment of marketing tools. By conducting the survey quarterly, the hedge fund is able to stay on top of industry trends and get a better understanding of how certain events – like the COVID-19 pandemic – impact both marketing budgets and larger trends in auto sales.