IMOS Consulting

What IMOS Consulting does

IMOS Consulting is a privately held, family-owned, women-led digital marketing services firm headquartered in Santa Cruz, California, focused exclusively on the United States automotive dealership and dealership-group market. Founded in 2003 by Frank Balistreri (former Apple employee #142) as Automotive Consulting Group, the firm rebranded to IMOS Consulting (Internet Marketing Optimization Systems) in 2010 when Frank's daughters Lauren and Gianna joined, and now operates with roughly 13-14 full-time employees as of 2022 under a bootstrapped, no-external-capital ownership structure.

The firm's offering is a tightly defined bundle of subscription/recurring digital marketing services for franchised auto dealers, with monthly retainer billing. Its five core packages are: (1) Consulting & Reporting, providing dealership-specific performance reporting across website, paid search, and third-party syndicate vendors with monthly strategy sessions; (2) Website Management & Technical Services, providing up to 12 hours per month of technical support covering third-party tool installations, Google Tag Manager updates, lead routing troubleshooting, and compliance updates; (3) On-site Marketing & Promotions and an Advanced Promotions add-on, handling sales-event creative, email blasts, CRM templates, and video production; (4) SEO, covering Google Business Profile, site audits, model-specific content, and Search Console monitoring; and (5) Social Driver, the signature 2020-launched paid social product applying big-brand Facebook campaign tactics to dealer budgets using advanced ad-platform targeting. A companion CRM Driver product, also launched in 2020, automates lead follow-up. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; everything is delivered virtually from a single US office.

IMOS goes to market through an enterprise direct-sales motion with a "Schedule a Demo" call-to-action, targeting single rooftop dealerships and growing dealership groups. Named enterprise customers include Stockton Honda (client since 2010), Keating Automotive Group (grown from 7 stores to 34+ stores during the IMOS relationship), and Future Automotive Group (client since 2010, including the #1 Nissan and #1 Ford stores in Northern California). The company reported $3.46M in revenue for 2022, representing 265% three-year growth, and was ranked #2,211 on the Inc. 5000. Leadership across the founder generation (Frank Balistreri, CEO/Founder; Michael Balistreri, VP of Services), the next generation (Lauren Balistreri, President; Gianna Swails, Director of Business Development), and a content/account-management team shows a deliberate family succession and operational continuity that the firm cites as a differentiator versus higher-turnover generalist digital agencies.

Name

IMOS Consulting

Legal name

IMOS Consulting

Website

https://imosconsulting.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

IMOS Consulting is a private, family-owned US digital marketing agency in Santa Cruz, California that provides subscription-based social media advertising, website management, SEO, and reporting services exclusively to automotive dealerships and dealer groups.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Automotive Digital Marketing Services

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (541810), Marketing Consulting Services (541613)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAHACAG

Customer, Marketing & Sales Consulting

Business & Public Services/Professional Services (Legal, Accounting, Consulting)/Management Consulting

SECONDARYBPAFAFAA

CRM Strategy & Consulting

Business & Public Services/Marketing, Advertising & PR Services/Marketing Technology & CRM Services

SECONDARYHDAEAFAB

Marketing Automation & Campaign Management CRM

Hardware, Technology & Telecom/Enterprise Platforms & Databases/Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Platforms

Keywords

• Automotive digital marketing
• Dealership marketing services
• Automotive SEO services
• Social media management automotive
• Automotive CRM services

Headquarters

HQ city

Sprockhövel

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Consulting & Reporting Services: Ongoing consulting services including homepage/SRP/VDP redesign, navigation audits, monthly strategy meetings, website and vendor performance reviews, and Google Analytics maintenance. Delivered through dedicated consultant partnership.
2. Website Management & Technical Services: Monthly technical support package providing up to 12 hours of dedicated support for third-party tool installations, Google Tag Manager updates, lead routing troubleshooting, and compliance updates.
3. Promotions Package: Full-year marketing calendar with sales event creation, countdown clocks, pencil banners, custom messaging, vehicle specials design, service and parts offers, seasonal content, and holiday page updates.
4. Advanced Promotions: Premium promotional services including high-impact email blasts, CRM templates with sales event banners, and new vehicle specials videos.
5. SEO Services: Search engine optimization including Google Business Profile maintenance, advanced keyword research, site audits, model-specific content pages, and Google Search Console monitoring.
6. Social Driver (Social Media Advertising): Social media advertising services for dealerships using advanced targeting technology and proven strategies to attribute vehicle sales to social media efforts.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

IMOS Consulting provides digital marketing services tailored specifically for automotive dealerships, encompassing social media management (Social Driver), CRM integration and management (CRM Driver), SEO, promotional campaigns, website management, and consulting & reporting. The firm combines strategic consulting with hands-on execution to help dealers improve their online visibility, customer engagement, and lead conversion.

Product overview

IMOS Consulting offers a unified digital marketing platform specifically designed for automotive dealerships. The core offering includes Social Driver (their signature social media advertising product), combined with Consulting & Reporting, Website Management & Technical Services, Promotions, Advanced Promotions, and SEO services. Social Driver serves as the flagship product leveraging advanced targeting technology for social media campaigns, while the other services support dealership digital presence through reporting, website maintenance, promotional content creation, and search optimization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Social Driver: Signature social media advertising product for dealerships, applying big-brand strategy to create time-sensitive, high-impact campaigns on Facebook and other social platforms with advanced targeting technology.
• CRM Driver

Products and services

• Social Driver Signature social media management service designed to build and maintain dealerships' social media presence and audience engagement.
• CRM Driver CRM integration and management service that supports dealerships in managing customer relationships and lead pipelines.
• Consulting & Reporting Strategic digital marketing consulting and performance reporting service for automotive dealerships.
• Website Management & Technical Services Ongoing website management and technical services for automotive dealer websites, covering maintenance, updates, and technical support.
• Promotions Standard promotional campaign service for automotive dealerships.
• Advanced Promotions Enhanced, more sophisticated promotional campaigns for automotive dealerships, extending the standard Promotions offering with deeper customization.
• SEO Search engine optimization service focused on improving organic search visibility and traffic for automotive dealership websites.

Quantifiable outcome

• Up to 40% of vehicle sales can be attributed to social media efforts when the Social Driver strategy is properly executed
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Digital Air Strike: Provides social media, reputation management, and lead engagement solutions for automotive dealerships. Directly competes with IMOS's Social Driver and Consulting & Reporting offerings for the same dealership buyer.
• VinSolutions: A Cox Automotive company that provides CRM and digital marketing tools to dealerships. Competes with IMOS's CRM Driver, email/CRM template services, and broader marketing automation offerings.
• Team Velocity: A marketing technology and services provider focused on the automotive industry, offering paid media, SEO, and digital marketing for dealer groups. Competes head-on with IMOS across paid search, social, and SEO.
• Dealer.com: A Cox Automotive company that provides digital marketing, website design, and advertising services to automotive dealerships. Like IMOS, Dealer.com is a direct competitor targeting the same automotive-dealer vertical with overlapping digital marketing offerings.
• DealerSocket: Provides CRM, marketing, and dealer management software for automotive retailers. Overlaps with IMOS on the CRM-driven marketing automation front and competes for the same mid-market dealership buyer.
• PureCars: Provides digital advertising, marketing analytics, and attribution solutions specifically for automotive dealerships. Directly comparable to IMOS's Social Driver and Consulting & Reporting capabilities, with similar performance-attribution claims.
• AutoAlert: An automotive customer data platform and marketing automation vendor that helps dealerships mine their CRM for sales opportunities. Competes with IMOS's CRM Driver and customer-retention-focused offerings.

Broad incumbents

• Cars.com: A leading automotive marketplace that also offers dealer marketing and digital advertising solutions at scale. Larger and broader than IMOS, but competes for the same dealership marketing budget, often acting as a substitute vendor.

Emerging players

• Adpear: A digital advertising platform purpose-built for automotive dealerships offering paid search, social, and display campaigns. An emerging digital-only competitor to IMOS's Social Driver and broader ad management offerings.
• Dealer Tire: While primarily a tire distributor, Dealer Tire has expanded into dealership marketing and customer retention services. Adjacent to IMOS's automotive dealer marketing focus and an emerging competitor in retention marketing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about IMOS Consulting