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In the last part of this series, we’re going to take an in-depth look at 5 dealership fixed ops campaigns—from their targeting to their ad creative—to show you how your dealership can use Facebook to increase fixed ops revenue.

Via Part I, you’ve learned WHY dealerships across the nation are using (and loving) Facebook Advertising. In Part II, I showed you the best and most powerful Facebook ad campaigns for auto dealers.

Now, I want to take that one step further and show you EXACTLY how to grow your fixed ops, service, and aftermarket opportunities through Facebook.

Getting Started: Breaking Down Your Dealership’s Data

With so much data available to you, it’s important to be able to break it down into intelligent, strategic segments.

For our customers, we encourage breaking targeting strategies into 3 parts, or ad sets, in order to reach specific types of prospects:

1. Conquest: finding new prospects or people who have never done business with you
2. Database: catering to existing or previous customers, or reaching a data list you’ve purchased
3. Retargeting: re-reaching people who have engaged with your store online, but didn’t convert

Separating out your ad sets into Conquest / Database / Retargeting segments will help you curate personalized messaging for where each user is in the buying funnel.

Next: Targeting Your Fixed Ops Audience

Now that you have your strategy in place, navigate to Ads Manager under your Facebook Business Page. Create a new campaign and set your objective (“Reach” in this case).

Next, define a new Audience by choosing the location, age range, and gender of who you want to see your ads. This will leave you with a relatively large estimated reach.

Then, you’ll begin layering in additional detailed targeting (the millions of data selects like credit level and buying habits I mentioned in Part I), to narrow down that audience.

Here are 5 key campaigns + targeting strategies we recommend for each segment:

5 Aftermarket Campaign Ideas To Steal NOW

Campaign Idea #1: Conquest – Create a general aftermarket interest campaign

Start by creating a hearty “general interest” funnel that you can use to earn new business.

To reach people interested in “aftermarket” categories, search for the following in Facebook’s Detailed Targeting section:

Once you have built your Audience, create a few different ads to run to these users: a multi-image display showing off your most popular inventory, a customer testimonial, or general brand awareness ads showing off your store’s tagline, recent customers, and helpful team.

Campaign Idea #2: Conquest – Target subscribers to relevant automotive magazines

Facebook may not have exact lists of magazine subscribers, but it does know interest of users who have Liked or showed interest in Pages related to top automotive magazines.

(Remember, Facebook tracks EVERYTHING its users’ do, from their on-site behavior, to their recent photo uploads, to their relationship statuses!)

Here are a few subscriber databases with large potential audiences on Facebook:

In order to craft specific messages to each user, a best practice would be to separate each of these audiences and create ad copy and graphics that speak directly to each one:

i.e., “Do you love Hot Rod Magazine or learning about new ways to customize the body and performance of your vehicle? Visit www.myaftermarketshop.com to browse our latest projects and product inventory!”

Campaign Idea #3: Conquest – Target people with specific vehicle makes and models

On top of general aftermarket categories, Facebook also has access to what model of vehicle its users own.

However, the Vehicle Owner category is considered a Specialized Partner Category, and is only available by request and through partners.

Once you have access to this category, you’ll be able to reach owners of specific makes and models. For instance, by typing in “Owner Targeting,” you’ll see “Make > Nissan”, “Make > Honda”, etc.

Here are a few possible Makes and relative user populations on Facebook:

You can use this data in two ways: draw more attention to model-specific products that aren’t moving off the shelves, or capitalize on an upward trend for a particular vehicle make’s aftermarket parts.

Create as many ad sets as you want under this campaign and then design ultra-specific ads and messaging to each of the “buckets” of vehicle makes.

Showcase your inventory in a multi-image ad, and be sure to call out the word “aftermarket” and the vehicle make you’re targeting in each ad’s copy to make your campaigns more relevant.

Campaign Idea #4: Database – Load your customer list, direct mail, or email list

Do you have a robust customer file, or have you sent a direct mail campaign or email blast to a subscriber list?

As an alternative to narrowing Facebook’s users through data targeting, you can also create your Facebook Audience by uploading your own customer lists or records from your direct mail or email campaigns.

Facebook will cross-match your uploaded data with its own user database and, if records are matched, show those users your ads. This allows you to deliver them the same message on a different platform, ultimately increasing the frequency of your advertising and working toward increasing the net-profit of a customer’s lifetime value.

This strategy is also extremely effective in creating a “We Miss You!” campaign, or simply building an integrated message around your shop’s seasonal sales or special offers.

Campaign Idea #5: Retargeting – Use a coupon to push more conversions

Assuming your store has a website, retargeting is an excellent way to reach users who visited your site but didn’t take action and convert.

Facebook has dynamic “pixel codes” which help you track website visitors and their actions, such as lead conversions like form fills, cart abandonment, and other events.

(Want to learn more about setting up your dealership’s Facebook Pixel? Read this article.)

If these events aren’t achieved, you can trigger a retargeting campaign to these users on Facebook with an incentive to bring them back to your site.

Using an Offer Ad, you can set up a quick coupon offer to entice shoppers to come back to your site and complete their order or bring in a discount code to receive in-store savings.

How Do I Get Started With These Campaigns On Facebook?

Congratulations! You’ve made it through our 3-part series.

And you’re probably wondering—how can your store get started right now?

Due to Facebook’s growing popularity, there are an infinite amount of resources out there that can help you build ad campaigns on Facebook yourself.

But I won’t lie: Facebook Advertising is not a set-it-and-forget-it marketing channel.

To really make Facebook work for your business, your campaigns require strategy, creativity, testing, and time.

That’s why I urge you to consider putting your Facebook ads in the hands of a local agency who can ensure your Facebook ads are set up correctly, targeting the right audiences, and—most importantly—actually working—for your store.

Ready to turn Facebook Advertising into a secret weapon for your dealership?

Call my team at 941-366-6760 or visit www.dealersunited.com/fb to request a Facebook Advertising demo with our team and effortlessly transform these campaign ideas (and everything else you’ve learned in this series!) into a reality.

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