If you're like most dealerships, Facebook is a big part of your marketing strategy. And for good reason – Facebook ads are still some of the most effective ways to reach potential customers. In this blog post, we'll take a look at some of the most important things to keep in mind when creating Facebook ads for your dealership. So whether you're just starting out or you're looking to optimize your current campaigns, read on!
1. Follow the Funnel
We're starting with the large one first.
The sales funnel model isn't limited to sales pitches. Every campaign we've ever conducted at DealerNerds has been deliberately positioned at the top, middle, or bottom part of the funnel.It’s hard to overstate how important this alignment is — not only for your Facebook ads, but also for all aspects of your inbound marketing.
Decide which area of your sales funnel the ad will target before you start generating one.
How will this campaign help buyers take their journey and show ROI? Choose which campaign objectives, audiences, formats, placements, and content to use based on these questions.
2. Match Your Inventory to Pre-Acquired Data
Why not learn a little bit about your customers instead of just relying on generic complimenters?
You'd be surprised how much valuable information is out there. When you know who your target audience is, what they like and don't like, you can speak to them directly with your Facebook ad copy and image choices.
“The best marketing doesn't feel like marketing.”
For example, if you're selling a luxury vehicle, you might want to target an audience that's more interested in style and status. On the other hand, if you're selling a family-friendly vehicle, you'll want to target an audience that's interested in safety and practicality.
It's important to remember that not everyone is in the market for a new car. That's why it's also important to match your inventory to known demographics.
You already know all there is to know about your product, so why not devote some time to learning more about the people who purchase it?
Facebook provides a plethora of targeting tools to help you reach the right people at the correct time. You'll notice an increase in relevance indicators, click-through rate (CTR), and cost per click (CPC) if you show the appropriate cars to the proper individuals at the right moment. In our free Performance Benchmarks Report, we go over the average relevance score for each objective so you can see where your ads fall.
3.Make the most of your CRM data
Facebook advertising isn't only used to attract new customers. Leads and previous purchasers in your CRM are more likely to be receptive to your dealership's message than a stranger, since they have previously shown interest in you!
For example consider targeting a custom audience of past GMC truck purchasers with your campaign. You may use these users as a basis for creating a Custom Ads Audience to expand the reach of your Facebook ad. From here, you may extend your Facebook ad reach by building a Special Ads Audience based on these previous customers. There are numerous more methods to connect your dealership with customers that have already shown an inclination to do business with you.
4. Throw Hyper-Targeting into the Mix.
While adding custom and special ads audiences to your targeting (see previous tip) is a good idea, you may want to go even farther by hyper-targeting some advertising to individuals in more precise situations.
What if, for example, you created a blog article about the finest vehicles for new parents and linked it to a Facebook ad that was only seen by new parents? What if you tried the same with dog owners?
You may also use these ideas to improve the relevance of your advertising and minimize your CPC, resulting in more clicks for less money.
Of course, your dealership's marketing staff probably doesn't have time to produce hyper-specific blog postings for each market sector's category of people, but it isn't a bad idea to start with one or two of your well-known high-value groups.
5. Prevent Unnecessary Clicks
That person who just bought a car from your company last week isn't likely to be in the market for another vehicle anytime soon. So, why would they want to see your ad? (Answer: because they don't!)
Upload your past sales lists into Facebook offline events to get rid of this customer (and others like it). You may now exclude this audience from your Facebook advertising from here.
Many buyers have made the mistake of spending hundreds of dollars on clicks to their websites that were not even connected with potential customers. This would help you save money and focus your funds where they may do the most good.
Facebook has some excellent pointers on how to adjust your audience by omitting certain criteria. This lowers both your CPC and the money spent on irrelevant clicks, allowing you to reach out to a larger number of people who are more likely to be interested in your ad.
7. Be Different
Insights are crucial in digital marketing. Our team constantly split-tests Facebook advertising to see which variation performs better. For example, our team discovered that including no call-to-action (CTA) button on a carousel ad increases clicks over using one of the built-in CTA buttons (such as "Shop Now" or "Learn More"
We've also discovered that dealership photographs receive considerably more interaction than generic pictures from the manufacturer. But testing doesn't stop with the ad itself. After your ad has been clicked, Facebook may observe what people do. Your destination sites, in fact, have an impact on ad performance; so experiment with them to see what works best!
This is just one example of how tiny tests may have a big influence on how you optimize your dealership's campaigns over time.
A/B testing also helps you avoid putting all of your eggs in one basket. You'll still have a horse in the race if one of your advertisements performs poorly (or is rejected by Facebook).
8. Improve Your Reach With Customized Ads
It's true that automotive Facebook ad targeting should always be deliberate, but relying only on interests or demographic information might be tough. You don't want to "wear out" your established audience by constantly using the same targeting.
Your dealership may use Facebook Ads Manager's Special Audiences (SAAs) to reach out to a larger audience of individuals who are more likely to respond to your advertising.
Lookalike Audiences, which cannot be used under the Special Ad Category for Credit (which all auto dealers are now required to do), are very similar to SAA.
Lookalike Audiences can be built using your website traffic or lists that you upload into Ads Manager, just like SAAs.
Use Facebook Ads to Reach Your Core Audience
Those are just a handful of our insider tips for targeting your automotive Facebook ads. We hope you found them useful! If you’re looking for more, dont hesitate to book a call!
Want to dive deep into Facebook advertising for auto dealers? Check out one of our most popular eBooks, Facebook Dealership Blueprint where we take a close look at Facebook ad tips and tricks for dealerships.
If you’re ready to achieve real results with a trusted digital marketing partner, contact us for a custom digital marketing proposal for your dealership. We guarantee that our services will increase your internet conversion rate by at least 25% in the first six months.
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