Google for RV Dealerships
This is a recipe, not a guarantee. How well any ad campaign performs depends on things no recipe can control: your budget, how crowded and expensive your industry's auctions are, the products you sell and what you charge for them, how well your website actually converts visitors, the quality of your customer support, your reviews and reputation, your creative, and plain timing. A perfect recipe on top of a weak offer or a broken website will still lose money — ads amplify what's already there, good or bad.
The budgets shown are suggestions only — yours could and should vary with your available funds and your goals. Follow this recipe with caution: make sure every step lines up with your budget and your business, and edit where necessary. We explain why each step exists, but nothing here is one-size-fits-all. Before you spend a dollar, be blunt with yourself about the list above — get your house in order, then use the recipe to learn and test. That's what it's for.
Check the rules that govern your industry before you run anything. Plenty of businesses carry advertising obligations that have nothing to do with the ad platforms: licensing boards, professional advertising standards, rules about what you may claim and how you must substantiate it, age restrictions, and consent laws covering email, texting, and calling. Those rules are yours to know, they vary by state and country, and they override any step in this recipe.
If you work in a licensed or regulated field — health and medical, legal, financial and lending, insurance, real estate, alcohol, firearms, cannabis, childcare, education, anything with a board or a license behind it — confirm what applies to you before you spend a dollar, and ask your attorney or your licensing body if you are not certain. Nothing on this site is legal advice.
This recipe uses Google Search as the single platform, building in the order that protects a modest budget: conversion tracking first, a tightly targeted Search campaign second, and automated campaigns only after real purchase signals exist. RV buyers research heavily on Google before ever stepping on a lot — “Class A motorhome for sale near me” is a search with a buyer behind it, and that’s exactly where this budget needs to land.
This is for independent or franchise RV dealerships with little or no paid-search history, a modest daily budget, and a website that still needs to prove it converts. The core problem is that RV purchases are high-consideration and high-ticket, so every wasted click to an unqualified visitor hurts. The recipe prioritizes intent signals over volume, and is honest about what the settings alone cannot fix: if your pricing is uncompetitive, your inventory pages are thin, or your lead form has four too many fields, no campaign structure saves you.
What can you afford to pay for a customer?
Advertising can only cost what's left after everything else. Put in what a typical order looks like and this works out the rest.
These are your numbers as you've typed them. Connect your store and we'll work this out from your actual orders instead — including the costs most people forget.
Tracking & Foundation
Install Google Tag Manager (GTM) on every page of the site. Fire a Google Ads Conversion Action for each of these events: (1) lead form submission — set as Primary conversion, value $0 or an estimated lead value if you have historical close-rate data; (2) phone call from website (Google forwarding number, 60-second minimum duration) — Primary; (3) "Get Directions" or map click — Secondary (signals, not bidding). Set Attribution Model to Data-Driven (default); keep it. Link Google Ads to Google Analytics 4 and import GA4 goals as a sanity check. Verify tags fire in GTM Preview before launching any campaign.
Regulatory note: RV financing ads and any payment/rate claims may trigger FTC truth-in-lending disclosure requirements and state dealer advertising regulations — verify your state's dealer board rules and any applicable TILA/Reg Z obligations before running any ad that mentions rates, payments, or financing terms, as these vary by state and override anything in this recipe.
Before spending a dollar on ads, make sure Google can actually see when someone fills out a form or calls you. Set up two main conversion actions — form leads and phone calls — so the system knows what a win looks like. Skip this step and you're flying blind: Google will spend your budget optimizing for nothing.
New to "funnel" talk? What top, middle, and bottom mean
Think of every person who could ever buy from you as water moving through a funnel. Top of funnel is strangers — people who've never heard of the business. Campaigns here buy attention and first visits, not sales, so expect cheap clicks and few purchases. Middle of funnel is people who've shown interest — they visited, engaged, or are comparing options. Campaigns here re-engage and build the case. Bottom of funnel is people ready to buy right now — searching for exactly what you sell or abandoning a cart. Campaigns here convert; the clicks cost the most because the intent is worth the most. Full funnel means automated campaigns that work every stage at once. One thing that surprises people: recipes usually start at the bottom — capture the demand that already exists before spending money creating new demand at the top.
Keyword Research & Campaign Architecture
Create one Search campaign segmented into three tightly themed ad groups:
- Ad Group 1 — New RVs: new motorhome, new travel trailer, new fifth wheel (by class/type)
- Ad Group 2 — Used RVs: used RV, pre-owned motorhome, used camper for sale
- Ad Group 3 — Brand/Dealership: RV dealer near [city], RV dealership [city], buy RV [city]
Use phrase match and exact match only — no bare broad match at this budget. Add 8–12 negative keywords at the campaign level immediately (see keywords field). Set bids to Maximize Clicks with a max CPC cap of $7 to control early spend while you have no Quality Score history. Switch to Maximize Conversions after you have 20+ conversions recorded.
Reminder: budget figures are suggestions — scale to your funds and goals.
Search captures people actively typing buying-intent queries — these are the closest-to-purchase visitors available, which is why they get the first dollar at a modest budget.
- In Google Ads, click + New Campaign → choose goal: Leads.
- Select Search as campaign type → continue.
- Under Bidding, choose Maximize Clicks; check 'Set a maximum CPC bid limit' and enter $7.
- Set daily budget to your chosen amount ($40–$80/day); set location to a 50–75 mile radius around your dealership (adjust to your realistic drive market).
- Under Networks, UNCHECK 'Google Search Partners' and UNCHECK 'Display Network' — keep this pure Search only at launch.
- Create Ad Group 1 (New RVs): enter keywords in phrase match ("new Class A motorhome for sale") and exact match ([new RV for sale near me]) format only — no bare broad match terms.
- Create Ad Group 2 (Used RVs) and Ad Group 3 (Local Dealer) with their respective keyword themes, same match-type discipline.
- Write 3 Responsive Search Ads per ad group: pin Headline 1 to the ad group's main theme (e.g., 'New RVs in [City]'), include price/inventory callouts in descriptions.
- Add all negative keywords from the list below at the campaign level before enabling.
- Add Sitelink extensions (Inventory, Financing, Trade-In, Contact Us), Callout extensions (No-Haggle Pricing, Family-Owned, etc.), and Call extensions with your dealership phone number.
"RV dealer near me"
[RV dealership near me]
"buy RV near [city]"
[RV for sale [city]]
"new motorhome for sale"
[new Class A motorhome for sale]
"new travel trailer for sale near me"
[fifth wheel for sale near me]
"used RV for sale near me"
[used motorhome for sale]
"pre-owned RV dealer"
[used travel trailer for sale [city]]
"Class C motorhome for sale"
[toy hauler for sale near me]
"RV dealer [city]"
[camper dealer near me]
"new fifth wheel for sale"
[Class B motorhome for sale near me]
rental
rent
repair
parts
service only
how to
DIY
jobs
career
free
wholesale
manufacturer direct
Group your keywords by what the buyer is shopping for — new rigs, used rigs, or just looking for a local dealer — so you can write ads that match each intent. Use only phrase and exact match so you don't burn budget on searches like 'RV repair jobs' or 'how to winterize my RV.' Cap your click cost early because you have no history and Google will overspend without a guardrail.
Signal Seeding — Landing Page & Offer Audit
Before scaling spend, diagnose conversion readiness. Check each inventory landing page against this list:
- Load time: under 3 seconds on mobile (use PageSpeed Insights). RV shoppers browse on phones from campgrounds and RV shows.
- Lead form: 4 fields max — name, phone, email, message. Every additional field cuts submission rate.
- Phone number: click-to-call visible above the fold on mobile.
- Inventory depth: each listing needs real photos (10+), MSRP or asking price, and key specs. Thin listings kill conversions silently.
- Reviews/trust: Google rating widget or review count visible without scrolling.
This phase costs nothing in ad spend. Fixing a slow load or a buried phone number will do more for your CPL than any bidding tweak. Record a baseline: form submissions and calls per week from organic/direct before ads go live.
Before you pour more money in, make sure the bucket isn't leaking. Walk through your site like a first-time buyer on a phone: Can you find the phone number instantly? Does the page load fast? Is the price visible? Fixing these issues is free and often doubles lead volume without touching bids. Results depend heavily on the quality of your site — no campaign setting overcomes a broken contact form or 20-second load time.
Expanding with Performance Max (After Data Exists)
Once the Search campaign has accumulated 30+ primary conversions (form fills + calls combined) over any rolling 30-day period, add a Performance Max campaign alongside it — do not replace Search.
Performance Max will use your conversion history to find additional buyers across Google's full inventory (YouTube, Display, Discover, Gmail, Maps). Without that conversion history, PMax has nothing to optimize against and will burn budget on cheap, unqualified clicks.
Setup specifics:
- Budget: start at 30–40% of total daily budget, keep Search at 60–70%.
- Asset groups: create one asset group per RV category (new motorhomes, used RVs, towables) with dedicated headlines, descriptions, images, and one landscape/square lifestyle video (even a 15-second slideshow video from Google's built-in tool).
- Audience signals: upload your existing customer list (even 50 past buyers helps) and add in-market segments: Recreational Vehicles, RVs & Motorhomes.
- Final URL expansion: OFF at launch — you don't want PMax sending traffic to your service page or careers page.
- Bidding: Maximize Conversions; add a Target CPA after another 30 conversions.
Reminder: budget figures are suggestions — scale to your funds and goals.
Performance Max spans top to bottom — it finds new audiences at the top and re-engages past site visitors at the bottom — which is why it requires existing conversion data before it can do either job well.
- In Google Ads, click + New Campaign → goal: Leads → Performance Max.
- Set daily budget to 30–40% of total daily budget (e.g., $15–$30 if total is $50/day).
- Under Campaign settings, set location to same radius as Search campaign; set language to English.
- Turn Final URL expansion OFF under 'Campaign URL options.'
- Create Asset Group 1 (New Motorhomes): upload 3–5 landscape images (RV exterior/interior shots, 1.91:1 ratio), 3–5 square images (1:1), at least 1 logo, and 1 video (15–30 sec); write 5 headlines (30 chars max) and 5 descriptions (90 chars max).
- Repeat asset group creation for Used RVs and Towables/Travel Trailers.
- Under Audience Signals, add: your uploaded customer list, Google's in-market segment 'Recreational Vehicles,' and in-market 'RVs & Motorhomes.'
- Set bidding to Maximize Conversions (no Target CPA yet — add it after 30 more PMax conversions).
- Link to the same conversion actions set up in Phase 1; confirm primary conversions are selected.
- After 2 weeks, review the Insights tab for search themes and asset performance ratings; pause 'Low' rated assets and replace them.
Think of Performance Max as Google's autopilot — it can reach buyers on YouTube, Gmail, and Maps automatically, but only once it has enough 'what does a real lead look like' data to work with. Launch it too early and it wastes money chasing cheap clicks. Launch it after 30 real leads and it has something to aim at. Keep your Search campaign running — PMax doesn't replace the high-intent search traffic, it adds to it.
Measurement & Scaling Discipline
Review these metrics weekly, not daily — daily fluctuation in a low-volume account creates false panic and bad decisions:
- CPL (Cost Per Lead): form fills + calls ÷ total spend. Track by campaign and ad group.
- Search Impression Share (Search IS): if below 50%, you're losing auctions you should win — consider a modest budget increase before tweaking bids.
- Search Lost IS (Budget): if this is above 20%, your budget is the constraint, not your bids or Quality Score.
- Quality Score: check at keyword level monthly. Below 5 means your ad or landing page relevance is the problem.
- Conversion lag: RV leads often take 2–6 weeks to close. Pull a conversion lag report (Tools → Attribution → Conversion Lag) to avoid optimizing against incomplete data.
Retargeting unlock: once your Search + PMax campaigns are generating 500+ monthly site visitors, add a remarketing audience to PMax's audience signals. At under 500 visitors/month, remarketing audiences are too small to matter and fragmenting budget into a standalone retargeting campaign wastes money — fold it into PMax signals instead, which is the default behavior anyway.
Scaling rule: increase budget by no more than 15–20% per week. Larger jumps reset Smart Bidding's learning period.
Reminder: budget figures are suggestions — scale to your funds and goals.
Check numbers once a week, not every morning. The two most useful metrics are your cost per lead (what each inquiry actually costs you) and whether you're losing auctions because of budget versus because your ads aren't good enough — those have different fixes. RV buyers take weeks to decide, so don't panic if conversions look slow in week one. Raise budgets slowly — big jumps make Google's system forget everything it learned.
The recipe card
- Before anything else: confirm the advertising rules for your own industry and location — licensing board requirements, professional advertising standards, what you may claim, age restrictions, and consent rules for email, texting, and calling. They override every step below.
- Start with conversion tracking — form fills and calls — before spending a single dollar on clicks.
- Use phrase and exact match keywords only; no bare broad match at modest budgets.
- Fix your site's mobile speed and lead form before scaling spend — settings can't save a broken landing page.
- Add Performance Max only after 30+ real conversions; launching it cold wastes budget.
- Raise budgets in 15–20% weekly increments to avoid resetting Smart Bidding's learning period.
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Talk to Gorilla PublicRecipes on this site are educational, not legal advice, and not a guarantee of results. You are responsible for each platform's ad policies and for any laws, licensing rules, or consent requirements that apply to your industry and location.