Is your dealership missing out on advertising to 2 billion people on Facebook and Instagram?
Picture this: Your dealership is running multiple Google Ad campaigns while also working to improve its SEO to land a spot on the first page of the search results to reach Google’s 1.17 billion users. What about the 1 billion people using Facebook and the 1 billion users on Instagram? Are you visible on these social networks? If not, you may be missing out on marketing to a large majority of car buyers online who are searching for their next vehicle.
Watch this short video of Paid Social wizard, Sebastian, as he explains what our Paid Social solution is and how it will improve your dealership’s marketing strategy.
Why should your dealership incorporate Facebook & Instagram ads into its digital marketing strategy?
Because Facebook is one of the world’s most visited websites, closely followed by Instagram. That’s why.
Car shoppers are on Facebook and Instagram more than any other social network. They rely on these platforms during major purchase decisions and spend time on them in the early stages of their car buying journey.
So, is your dealership capturing audience attention with visually compelling and storytelling ads? If the answer is “no”, you may want to keep reading.
Facebook has more users than any other social network. With over 2 billion active monthly users as of July 2018, Facebook accounts for nearly a third of the world’s population.
Instagram, as of January 2019, has 1 billion active users and is one of the fastest growing social media platforms, with its audience growing 5% each quarter. Further, Instagram reported that 60% of people have said that they discover new products and brands on the platform.
That’s a lot of people. It’s a good thing that, of all the digital advertising platforms out there, Facebook & Instagram have some of the most sophisticated targeting capacities. Not to mention (as Seb highlights in the video above) both platforms have endless intelligence and valuable consumer data.
Use Facebook and Instagram’s Targeting Options to Pinpoint Your Perfect Audience
Facebook and Instagram’s massive audiences may seem like an absolute dream to advertisers, but it’s important to remember that, with such a large amount of users, targeting specific groups becomes a tricky task.
Fortunately, Facebook & Instagram’s diverse targeting strategies make it simple for your dealership to pinpoint its ideal car-shopping audience and reach them in their critical decision-making moments. Given that Instagram is owned by Facebook, the targeting options are the same for both platforms. They offer hundreds of different audience customization options and targeting parameters, allowing for super specific ad targeting strategies that get your dealership in front of motivated audience segments.
Tip: Facebook & Instagram’s Lookalike Audiences combine user demographic and interest data to target audiences that share significant similarities with your dealership’s existing audiences. Use this feature to expand your reach and grow your retargeting audience. You can learn more about that here.
Capitalize on the Visual Aspects of Instagram and Facebook
As Seb mentions in the video, one of the most attractive features of social platforms is their visual nature. They have many ad formats so that your dealership can show off its diverse inventory. From Single Image Ads, Carousel Ads, Story Ads to Lead Generation ads, you can capture the attention of car buyers and convert them into leads. Try experimenting with the different ad formats on both platforms to see which works best for your target demographic.
Don’t Forget a Compelling CTA to Make Your Dealership Stand Out
AdEspresso’s recent study of nearly 40,000 Facebook ads found that only 56% include a call-to-action, or a statement eliciting an immediate reaction from a consumer (Book a Test Drive Today! etc.) Make sure your dealership doesn’t fall into the other 44%! Include a compelling call-to-action that invokes positive emotion and details what you want someone to do next.
Utilize Facebook & Instagram’s Mobile Ads
Combining Facebook and Instagram’s ad revenue together, a whopping 90% comes from mobile traffic, so make sure that your dealership’s ads are showing up and optimized on mobile as well. (If your dealership isn’t taking advantage of the mobile sphere, read this blog).
Tip: Use a combination of desktop and mobile to create a hybrid strategy. Use mobile ads to build awareness for your dealership and show your ads to as many people within your target audience as possible. It’s far easier to build awareness for car-shoppers on mobile than it is to drive conversions. Then, use desktop ads to retarget a custom audience of those who’ve shown interest, and close the deal. Learn more about a mobile/desktop hybrid strategy here.
So, Dealerships:
Ensure your ads show up at critical points in the car-buying journey by incorporating Facebook and Instagram ads into your dealership’s digital marketing strategy. They’ll offer an added boost to increase awareness of your dealership, drive more traffic to your website (and to your lot), and help you sell more vehicles.
Tracking your dealership’s ads, managing ad spend, creating targeting strategies (not to mention writing compelling ad copy and designing visually enticing ads) all seems like quite the daunting task. Feeling overwhelmed? At Convertus, we’ll help your dealership develop a killer digital strategy by combining our paid and organic search solutions with an effective social media advertising strategy for both Facebook and Instagram. Together, we can exceed your dealership’s sales and marketing goals. Give us a shout and let’s get the conversation started!
To learn more about the nuances and advantages of advertising on Facebook, check out their tips for automotive advertising here.