Did you know Mobile Devices are expected to account for 70% of all USA based Facebook Traffic in 2018? Car Dealerships need a mobile first Facebook Strategy. Learn more in my article.

Why are Mobile Facebook Ads so important to the survival of Car Dealerships? For one, 67% of automotive web traffic in 2017 was mobile and mobile will continue to increase dominance over desktop in 2018. Secondly, mobile bounce rates continue to show significant decline year over year and finally 70% of the people in your market who will buy cars this month are daily Facebook users (Mobile vs Desktop Usage Study). We know they are on Facebook and we know they are on their smartphones. Now, are they really looking at Facebook on their phone and shopping for cars? No, probably not, but there is a way for you to reach them and you can do it by placing sponsored Ads on Facebook.

You will notice sponsored Ads in your Facebook feed. They are targeted directly at you and will be the second post you see after an organic post from one of your Facebook Friends. Not everyone sees the same Ads. Facebook only displays the Ads to the users most likely to click the specific Ad. You will probably notice a lot of Ads for products you have searched for recently or even in the past. These Ads are all placed using Facebook Ads Manager. This is something you can learn and manage on your own, but unless your job is 100% Marketing for the Dealership, it is probably best to hire a person or a company to handle your Facebook Ads so that you can focus on selling cars.

Now that you have decided you want to sell cars on Facebook, it is time to learn how. The key to Facebook Marketing, Social Media Marketing or any Marketing is to understand people. As marketers, we have to use our knowledge of consumer behavior and consider how people are using Social Media to be effective with Advertising on Facebook. Almost everyone is scrolling Facebook on his or her phone. We know that because Facebook is the number one most popular mobile app. When was the last time you sat down at your computer and started browsing Facebook?

If we know the eyeballs are there, how do we connect with the people? Most people are on Facebook keeping up with the activities of their Family and Friends, no one thinks “lets scroll Facebook and buy a car”. This is why it is even better when a person from Facebook clicks one of your Ads and becomes a Lead because most of the time, you are the only Dealership they will be talking to. But, first you have to catch their attention and get them to click on your Ad.

Eye-catching pictures and video of appealing cars, SUVs or Trucks is the key to gaining attention with Facebook Ads. You only have a split second to catch their attention and get them to stop scrolling to look at a vehicle. Then, once they click the Ad, what happens? How do you convert? Conversion is the key; all the clicks in the world don’t matter if the person doesn’t give you their contact information.

There are several options to help your Dealership with Conversion after they click the Ad…

You can send them to Facebook Messenger, which is great if you have someone monitoring 24/7 ready to answer. If not, this is probably not the best option for you.

You can send them to your website, but you lose almost everyone when you do that. There are two reasons this happens – because most websites take too long to load, and they want to get back on Facebook or because they don’t find what they are looking for after they land on your website. When you send someone from Facebook to your website, you are basically asking them to convert twice. If you want to convert more, don’t put obstacles between people and your dealership.

You can use your Ad Agency or another third party. There are several who will manage your Ads and Leads for you. Placing Ads is easy enough once you understand they understand your goals, but do you feel comfortable with third parties also working your Leads?

One method that is working very well for many Dealerships is to setup a VDP microsite of the vehicle in the Ad that instantly loads inside Facebook. This is where human behavior and data come together to convert Leads. This method gives the person the information they are seeking about the vehicle and it gives them the ability to submit their contact information, all without leaving Facebook.

Facebook Lead Generation Ads can even populate the person’s contact information automatically, but many of these Leads come with bogus information or people who didn’t understand what they were doing and only clicked because it was so easy for them to click. Another factor is that many people are savvy enough to change their contact information after verification or they give Facebook a seldom-used email to avoid unwanted communications.

Is using Facebook’s pre-populated contact information for Lead Generation Ads the best practice for Dealerships? Maybe, but it depends on your Dealership. The easier you make it for people to click through, the more Leads you get. Sounds great, right? Well, maybe. Again, it depends on your Dealership. Do you have the manpower to sift through 250 Leads to find the 40-50 people who can actually buy?

Most Dealerships do not, but they can easily handle 40-50 people who are real, potential buyers every month. Do you want to know how to eliminate those 200 people who are going to waste your time because you’ve made it so easy for them to click through?

You make them fill in their own name, email and phone number. That’s right. We know the serious potential buyers will give you this information if they are truly interested in the vehicle they saw in your Facebook Ad. If they aren’t interested, then they bounce, and you don’t waste anytime following up with Leads with no purchase intent.

Once the person submits their information, your Internet Sales Process takes over after the Lead is pushed into your CRM. Now your team is working 40-50 additional high quality Leads every month without having to learn new software or a new process. This is a Facebook Marketing strategy that you can implement almost immediately at your Dealership with minimal effort and investment on your part.

If you have questions about your current Facebook Marketing strategy, need more information about how your Dealership can more effectively use Facebook or if would like to receive my free report “10 Things Every Salesperson Must Do to Sell Cars on Facebook” please reach out to me on LinkedIn, Facebook or email me [email protected].

About the Author

Introducing the latest and greatest technologies to the retail automotive space for almost 20 years as a Vendor, Joe Thistle is constantly learning how to help Dealers sell cars and increase their Fixed Ops business. Joe currently works with several strategic partners to provide Dealerships with complete Digital Marketing Strategies and Solutions. An avid fan of Sports, Movies and Gourmet Foods, Joe is a graduate of the University of Central Florida School of Business Administration and resides in Ormond Beach, FL.