AutoGrowl — DealerRefresh Vendor Library

Here is the fully sourced sales brief: --- ## Company Research — AutoGrowl --- ### About AutoGrowl Founded in 2016 by Nicholas Schmidt and Ian Mathews, AutoGrowl has grown from a two-person operation to a nationally recognized marketing agency serving 42 dealerships across 15 states. They are headquartered in Mason, Ohio, and operate as an automotive marketing agency and outsourced CMO. AutoGrowl is a private company with an estimated 11–50 employees. --- ### What They Do They offer a range of services including full-service marketing, digital strategy, video production, and coaching/training to enhance sales and retention. - **Outsourced CMO / Full-Service Digital Marketing:** Each dealership is assigned a team of three AutoGrowl members: Account Manager, Support Specialist, and SEO/SEM Coordinator. - **Video Production:** Tier-1 quality TV commercials, pre-roll, social video stacks, live production, and digital video. - **Automotive SEO & Paid Search:** The company combines expertise in social media advertising, paid search, SEO, and creative services to ensure dealers maximize their reach and return on investment. - **Smart Pixel / Website Identity Tool:** The AutoGrowl Smart Pixel is placed in the header of a dealership's website, allowing it to track all pages and post data in real time to the AutoGrowl Smart Pixel CXP platform. - **Sales & BDC Training:** Sales training, BDC/internet training, profit engineering, and sales coaching. - **Automotive Staffing:** AutoGrowl simplifies staffing in the automotive industry, helping dealerships find top-level candidates while allowing them to focus on running the dealership. - **Target Clients:** Small-medium single-point dealers, dealer groups with too many digital vendors looking to consolidate, or large dealers with a Marketing Director still searching for a vendor that truly cares about the dealership. **Notable Customers/Partnerships:** - Ames Ford Lincoln, which became the #1 dealership in the world for Saleen Motors International vehicles — a result AutoGrowl takes credit for in partnership with the client. - Evans Dealer Group (Jim Evans, President) is a cited client, praising AutoGrowl's "proactive strategies and ability to hold teams accountable." - Day Heights Auto Service (Loveland/Milford, Ohio area) was recently welcomed to the AutoGrowl marketing family. **Recent News:** - AutoGrowl announced a national expansion to help dealerships adapt to rapid changes in automotive digital advertising in 2025. - AutoGrowl was named Best Reviewed Marketing Agency in Mason, Ohio for 2024 by BusinessRate.co. - AutoGrowl was also named Best Automotive Advertising Agency in Ohio of 2024 by Best of Best Review. - A February 2025 editorial highlighted AutoGrowl as a startup reshaping auto dealership marketing and approaching $2 million in revenue, noting that nearly 60% of car buyers are dissatisfied with traditional dealership advertising. --- ### DealerRefresh Audience Fit AutoGrowl sells *to* dealerships, but they are also actively competing in the same ecosystem as the vendors DealerRefresh readers hire. They are a **vendor/agency** actively growing their dealer client roster — and DealerRefresh is exactly where their buyers (GMs, dealer principals, internet directors, marketing directors) live daily. **Why this matters:** - Their target clients are automotive dealerships looking for expert campaign management and vendor oversight to optimize their marketing efforts. DealerRefresh's 3,000+ daily active auto retail pros are precisely that audience. - The minds at AutoGrowl have held dealership positions including sales, finance, management, social media, production, internet BDC, marketing, and eCommerce — meaning they communicate in the same language as DealerRefresh readers and understand why those readers would trust a peer recommendation. - While the industry average client-agency relationship lasts just six months, AutoGrowl's first clients have remained loyal for nearly nine years — a retention story that plays extremely well in a forum context. **Recommended DealerRefresh Products:** | Product | Fit | |---|---| | **Forum Banners** | High fit. Daily visibility to the exact GMs, internet directors, and marketing directors AutoGrowl is trying to sign as clients. Great for ongoing brand awareness as they expand nationally. | | **Retargeting Pixel** | High fit. AutoGrowl already sells retargeting/pixel tech to dealers — they intimately understand the product. Retargeting DealerRefresh visitors on Facebook/Instagram keeps AutoGrowl top-of-mind when those pros are evaluating agency partners. | | **Demo / Review Video** | High fit. Ian Mathews has emphasized video storytelling as a core driver of business success