By Bob Lanham, Head of Automotive Retail, Facebook

Digital marketing campaigns can be difficult to manage – especially during the busy year-end auto sales season. With so many social media platforms and advertising options available, you need to know where and how to best spend your marketing dollars to effectively reach your customers and move cars off your dealership lot.

Since you won’t be the only auto dealership promoting the perfect holiday gift, you need to get creative with how you’re connecting with potential customers.

We want to help you differentiate your dealership by using Instagram and Facebook Stories. As a gift to the dealer community, we’re offering you GifMyRide, a free custom-made Sticker Kit. Starting now, you can add GifMyRide stickers to your Stories to elevate your connections with customers.

Keep reading to learn how your dealership can stand out and drive more business this holiday season with the GifMyRide Sticker Kit and Stories.

Instagram and Facebook Stories 101

Stories are a fast-growing feature on Instagram and Facebook that allow users to take advantage of a full-screen, immersive photo or video with fewer distractions. Using text and sticker overlay, you can personalize your message and connect with customers in a fun and engaging way.

Using Stories to Reach Potential Auto Customers

The easiest way to reach your customers and encourage them to buy a car is to communicate with them on the platforms they already use. One billion Stories are shared across the Facebook family of apps every day(1). Facebook reported that three million advertisers now use Stories ads each month(2), proving that more and more businesses are taking advantage of Stories to bring their brands to life and connect with their customers.

63 percent of U.S. car buyers reported they discovered new vehicles online(3). This stat is no surprise knowing that the majority of 18-34-year-olds prefer using social media apps like Instagram and Facebook first before opening a web browser on their mobile devices(4).

Facebook conducted a study focused on Stories across the Facebook family of apps. Findings showed that Stories inspire interest and action throughout the consumer journey with 62 percent of people stating they became more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories(5).

Getting Started with Facebook and Instagram Stories

We’ve created a free GifMyRide Sticker Kit to help you create unique and immersive Stories for your customers. Here are a few steps to help you start using the GifMyRide Sticker Kit:

1) Take a photo or video or upload existing media when creating a Story.

2) Click on the Sticker icon.

3) In the search field, type “gifmyride” to access the Dealer Sticker Kit.

4) Select your GIF(s). Drag and size it to fit where you’d like it on your Story.

For additional help, you can also watch our step-by-step training video on creating Stories.  

Stories is an immersive and creative tool that can help with driving your primary goal: selling cars. Explore the GifMyRide Sticker Kit today and stand out from the dealership crowd this year-end.

Learn more about other foundational best practices that can enhance your dealership’s marketing strategy by downloading our Facebook Dealer Playbook.

Sources:
(1) Facebook earnings call, January 2019.
(2) Facebook earnings call, April 2019.
(3) “Understanding the Auto-Buying Journey of the Connected Consumer.” Facebook IQ, Dec. 2018.
(4) “2018 State of Social Video: Results For The US Study.” VidMob.
(5) “Why Stories is a Format that Can Help Marketers Promote Brands.” Facebook IQ, 31 Oct. 2018.

About the Author

Bob Lanham joined Facebook in 2015 as an Automotive Retail Lead and has since become Facebook’s Head of Automotive Retail. Bob manages a small team that is responsible for the top 10 Dealer Groups in the U.S., working with Independent Dealers through the manufacturers and partnerships with key DMS, CRM, and equity mining platforms. Previously, Bob was a sales director at Hulu where he opened the Detroit territory back in 2009 when Hulu was just getting off the ground. Prior to Hulu, Bob spent four years at Yahoo! and three years at Microsoft. Bob started his automotive career at Toyota of Sarasota selling cars as a commission-only sales representative before becoming the internet sales manager and F&I manager. He’s a graduate of Elon University.