2022 Dealers United Wrap Up

2022 Dealers United Wrap Up

2022 Dealers United Wrap Up

Wow, what a year.

It’s safe to say a lot happened in 2022. The days seemed to fly by as fast as minutes, and I think we are all asking the same question: “Where has the time gone?”

The biggest lesson from the year is also a great reminder for 2023: Stay 👏 Resilient👏.

As the automotive industry evolves and customer behavior changes, so do our processes and strategies. In the words of Friends’ Ross Gellar, “PIVOT!” 🤣

However, there is a ton to celebrate!

At Dealers United, this Annual Wrap Up blog is one of our favorite end-of-year traditions. Thank you for being a part of our year, and enjoy seeing how our team spent 2022!

January

    • We officially launched Omnichannel Advertising so that our dealers can advertise on ALL available channels: Meta (Facebook & Instagram), Pinterest, Snapchat, and TikTok. 🚀

    • We started a monthly wine club, where our team sips and streams for a virtual Tasting Room. 🍷

    • Our team onboarded 2 new members to help our dealer-partners grow! MJ Belada and Aleena Bowman both joined the DU Customer Experience Team!

February

    • Launched a brand-new format of Partner Updates! Instead of a live webinar, we now offer a short video + blog! Watch or read, your choice: See “What’s New At DU” here.

    • We welcomed Mitch Lucky to the DU Customer Experience Team! 👋

    • Eric Lichon, Operations Specialist, welcomed baby girl, Claire Elizabeth, into the world! 
    • What an HONOR it was to be recognized by #GrowFL as one of “Top 50 Companies To Watch!”

March

    • While in Las Vegas, DU sponsored a GROW! Women’s Leadership Luncheon. 💃🍴 

    • Our entire team flew down to Sarasota, FL for a 3-day company retreat, where we held team-building exercises, workshops, outdoor activities, and more! 🤩 🌴

April

    • Andrew Rogers, Director of Customer Experience, officially passed his Meta Blueprint recertification! Great job AR – way to #learnandlead
    • We released our 30th Dealer Success Story 🤯 with Nelson Auto Center! Check it out here!

    • An eggciting spring tradition: egg painting competition! Each team member painted an egg and we voted on the best…Social Media Designer Samantha’s “Mon-egg Lisa” took 1st place! 🥚🖼

May

    • Justin Friend, DU’s VP & GM, co-hosted a breakout session at Digital Dealer Tampa with Allison McConeghy, Senior Partner Manager, from Pinterest: “How to Sell Where Your Customers Are Shopping with Dealer Inventory Feeds on Pinterest.”

    • The morning of our Digital Dealer session, we learned Healey’s Shopping Ads Pinterest Case Study was featured by Adweek!

June

July

August

    • Our Director of Ad Operations, Phil M, tied the knot and took on another role as “husband!” 🔔
    • We welcomed Carrie Zaydel to the Customer Experience team!

    • Awesome press highlighting Healey Brothers Automotive’s success with Pinterest in Auto Dealer Today!

    • We published our *First* Omnichannel Success Story 🏆🔥 South County Dodge Chrysler Jeep Ram leveraged Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat to drive some impressive Q2 results. Download your copy here!

September

    • Hurricane Ian hit South Florida, the hub of Dealers United’s team…thankfully the non-Floridian team-members embodied our “Jump In” core value to help the team with tasks where needed…everyone stayed safe and even made the best of it!
    • Performance Manager Alix Knox became a proud homeowner! I mean… could the house (and the couple) be any more adorable?

October

    • What a month for leveling up our skills! Aleena Bowman, Mitch Lucky and Bryan Moore passed the Meta Blueprint certification! 😱 🥳
    • Huge shoutout to Allison McConeghy from Pinterest and Jay Healey of Healey Brothers Auto Group for joining Justin Friend on the Digital Dealer keynote stage! Their session focused on how to diversify messaging and ad strategy on Pinterest: “Yes, Pinterest Can Sell Cars…But That’s Not All!”

    • The DU Culture Club hosted a virtual Murder Mystery Party! The crew dressed to impress for the Speakeasy theme, and had a blast acting out their characters.

November

      • DU proudly sponsored the University of South Florida’s “Brunch on the Bay” that raised funds for the construction of a planned Nursing/STEM building.

      • Our VP of Marketing, Brooke J, got ENGAGED to her Man! 💍
      • We launched the annual State of Automotive event in a big way! Justin Friend and Molly Dennehy produced 12 on-demand interviews with some of the biggest thought leaders in the Automotive and Digital Marketing industries. PLUS produced over 35 actionable resources to help auto dealers go into 2023 strong.

December

        • To celebrate the holidays, the entire team joined in on a virtual White Elephant gift exchange.
        • The Annual Gingerbread Contest was a HIT! And wow do we have some talented, creative people on our team…but Meg Hughes-Ritter’s “Hagrid’s Hut” took first prize! 🥇

        • While we enjoy being a remote company, it’s always a treat to meet up in person! Justin Friend had the opportunity to visit with our partners at Zeigler Automotive Group (check out that studio!), and join Ali Fawaz with our partners at Pinterest!

And that’s a wrap!

We are so lucky to work with the best team and coolest clients. Thank you for being along for the ride!

(Not yet part of the DU community yet? Find your solution today, help us grow by reviewing us or referring a friend, or check out our available careers!)

Blog Author - Molly Dennehy

Written By Molly Dennehy
Molly Dennehy is a marketing expert who has evidenced effective digital marketing strategies across six different industries. Now, she brings her diverse experience and creativity to automotive dealers. From audience targeting, campaign set-up, and content creation, Molly is passionate about sharing new and innovative ways to drive results.

What’s New At DU: Dealership Culture In The Age Of Social Media

What’s New At DU: Dealership Culture In The Age Of Social Media

What’s New At DU: Dealership Culture In The Age Of Social Media

What impact does social media have on your culture? 🤔

 Check out the video above to hear from Justin Friend, VP & General Manager, and Molly Dennehy, Brand Manager, or skim the highlights listed below.

 💡 Pro tip: You can jump to different sections in the video by using the video navigation tools or by clicking any “(Watch at #)” linked below.

 Agenda:

  • Social Media & Dealership Culture
  • Customer Spotlight: Zeigler Auto Group 👏
  • TikTok Best Practices

Social Media & Dealership Culture (Watch at 0:35)

With social media platforms capturing attention at an increasing rate, it definitely has an impact on our culture. Dealerships who embrace social media and incorporate it into their culture both internally and externally are seeing remarkable results.

Getting your staff involved not only is a great way to create content for your brand and share what the culture is like at your dealership, but also a method of team building!

The Top Reasons People Visit Your Social Media (Watch at 1:20)

We recently learned that the top reasons a user visits your social media pages are: 1) to read reviews and 2) to check out your culture. People want to learn about your customer experience and meet the people they would be interacting with.

Start A Team Content Contest (Watch at 2:07)

Creating a social media content contest can jump start your efforts to improve your social media footprint on your dealership culture. Here is how to do it:

  • Determine the prizes. We suggest prizes for most engagement + most votes for creativity. Get the community involved with voting! (Google Forms is great for this.)
  • Set the topics or categories. Think about what’s trending & sharing your culture. Do they have to say a buzzword or phrase? Use a prop or sound? Show off the team or inventory?
  • Set the duration. For each category, set the time to measure results. We suggest 1 week per video.
  • Have regular check-ins. Hold brainstorming and training sessions before, during and after! Share the winning video across channels.

If you hold a contest, we want to help! Share your videos and accounts with us, and we will help promote your content! Email: [email protected]

Customer Spotlight: Zeigler Auto Group (Watch at 3:59)

Our Customer Spotlight of the month is Zeigler Auto Group! We chose Zeigler to be our spotlight because they truly are embracing social media into their culture, and have put together some unique programs to promote content creation amongst their team.

This group spans 24 brands in 4 states with over 35 rooftops.

Lindsay Latsko is the Director of Internet and Marketing Operations for several of their locations, and she is a member of our Customer Advisory Board. In this month’s meeting she shared that they have created an internal program called “Driving Social”.

Their team meets once a month to brainstorm and inspire each other on creating content by sharing ideas, tips, and training on the platforms. By adding some friendly competition, it is truly ‘driving’ some great content and camaraderie!

TikTok Best Practices (Watch at 6:20)

We recently hosted a webinar on the #1 most downloaded social platform in the world- TikTok. If you are interested in learning best practices for creating content for your dealership, you will want to catch the replay! We have also put together some resource guides that you can download to help you get started or optimize your current strategies.

Click here to watch the replay! https://www.dealersunited.com/resource/webinar-taking-on-tiktok
Click here to download the TikTok Organic Guide! http://www.dealersunited.com/wp-content/uploads/TikTok-Organic-Guide-Dealers-United.pdf  
See some of our favorite TikTok examples: https://www.dealersunited.com/resource/tiktok-examples-car-dealers/  

Blog Author - Molly Dennehy

Written By Molly Dennehy
Molly Dennehy is a marketing expert who has evidenced effective digital marketing strategies across six different industries. Now, she brings her diverse experience and creativity to automotive dealers. From audience targeting, campaign set-up, and content creation, Molly is passionate about sharing new and innovative ways to drive results.

What’s New At DU: Pinterest Check-in & NEW Webinar

What’s New At DU: Pinterest Check-in & NEW Webinar

What’s New At DU: Pinterest Check-in & NEW Webinar

Wrapping up Q1 on a high note 🎶

Welcome back to the new format for Dealers United Partner Updates! Check out this month’s info in two ways: print or video.

💡 Pro tip: You can jump to different sections in the video by using the video navigation tools or by clicking any “(Watch at #)” linked below.

Agenda:

  • NADA Recap
  • NADA Workshop Webinar!
  • Customer Spotlight – Dahl Ford  👏
  • Pinterest Check-in
  • Dealers United Team Updates 😎

NADA Recap (Watch at 0:19)

This year’s NADA Show 2022 was a blast! The event took place March 10th-13th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It was great to be in person once again to reconnect and celebrate our industry. 

The theme of the show was centered on the future of our industry, with a focus on Electric Vehicles. The show’s content emphasized the importance of educating and informing auto shoppers to help guide them through upcoming industry changes and trends.

NADA Workshop Webinar (Watch at 1:19)

Pete Petersen, CEO of Dealers United, hosted a workshop, “7 Undercover Direct-to-Consumer Platforms You Need In 2022,” on Sunday, March 13th. 🔥

After the session, there were so many questions from the audience that we went overtime (NADA literally had to cut us off). 😅

So, we decided to host this virtual session to answer ALL of your questions about advertising on social media.

Discover the direct-to-consumer channels that will help your store engage, influence and close buyers. 🔑 Three key takeaways:

▶️ Explore 7 social platforms that are helping other dealers reach more auto buyers: Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok & Instagram.

▶️ Understand how to use data to target your ideal audience and in-market auto shoppers, and what sources you can leverage now – including some that you already own!

▶️ Identify the right messages (with examples!) to leapfrog your business ahead of the competition and increase market share.

Can’t make the live event? No worries – register anyway and we’ll send you the recording!

Customer High-Five (Watch at 1:49)

🖐️  Dahl Ford is our Customer Spotlight of the month!

We are excited to celebrate 1 year of working with the team in Davenport, IA, who leverage Facebook + Instagram and Snapchat for a full funnel Omnichannel strategy. 

From February 2021 to February 2022,  their campaigns had an average match rate of 24.8% with 344 sales attributed at a $107.57 CPUS. Their average CPL was $22.12 with 48,550 total landing page views. Absolutely incredible!

Pinterest Check-in (Watch at 3:42)

On Pinterest, positivity is the key to success! Pinners come with a positive mindset and expect the same from your content.

When your brand delivers positive, authentic content, you benefit from higher engagement with your followers.

📌  Three Pin Tips:

  • Create content that supports your audience’s personal style, judgment-free.
  • Encourage your followers’ aspirations by introducing them to new ideas.
  • Help your audience take the next step with actionable suggestions.

Pinterest is a highly personal experience, where individuals come to be inspired, plan their next life event, and discover new ideas. By building a presence on Pinterest, your auto dealership can become a part of their lives and help them find the perfect vehicle for their lifestyle.

Dealers United Updates 😎 (Watch at 6:02)

It has been a BIG month for #TeamDU! At the start of the month, we brought all our crew together in Sarasota, FL for some team building, bonding.

It was an action packed few days filled with games, gratitude and giving back to our community.

We are a fully remote company, and while that has its perks, it was so amazing to bring people from 19 different states together to celebrate each other and nurture our culture.

However, one person who couldn’t join us in Florida was Customer Success Manager Mike Miller, because he was welcoming his son, Lando, into the world!

Congratulations to Mike and his growing family, who officially wins the cutest new Zoom background when baby Lando makes an appearance. 👶

Are we in the right lane? 🚘 (Watch at 7:02)

Hopefully you can tell how proud we are of #TeamDU, and we are just as honored to have this partnership with you. We truly strive to build a relationship with our members so that it feels as if our team is an extension of your team.

Thank you those who have recently written reviews on Facebook or Google or texted us feedback, because it is so valuable. We want to know if we are driving in the right lane with you, and if there is anything we can do to improve or enhance our partnership.

It would mean so much if you could take 30 seconds to leave us a review on Facebook or Google.

Thank you for tuning to this month’s updates! ✌️

 Questions? Compliments? Ready to maximize your success? 

 Reach out to us at [email protected] or schedule a 15min consultation.

Blog Author - Molly Dennehy

Written By Molly Dennehy
Molly Dennehy is a marketing expert who has evidenced effective digital marketing strategies across six different industries. Now, she brings her diverse experience and creativity to automotive dealers. From audience targeting, campaign set-up, and content creation, Molly is passionate about sharing new and innovative ways to drive results.

What’s New At DU: Top Automotive Ad Campaigns & NADA

What’s New At DU: Top Automotive Ad Campaigns & NADA

What’s New At DU: Top Automotive Ad Campaigns & NADA

New Updates Coming In Hot 🔥

Welcome to the new format for Dealers United Partner Updates! We have provided this month’s information in two ways: print or video. 

Prefer to watch? Check out the video above to hear from Justin Friend, VP & General Manager, and Molly Dennehy, Brand Manager, or skim the highlights listed below.

💡 Pro tip: You can jump to different sections in the video by using the video navigation tools or by clicking any “(Watch at #)” linked below.

Agenda:

  • Omnichannel Check-In – Trending Results 📊
  • Suggested Playbooks
  • Customer Spotlight – South County DCJR  👏
  • NADA Show 2022 – RSVP for our D2C workshop!
  • Dealers United Team Updates 😎

Omnichannel Check-in – Trending Results (Watch at 0:54)

The biggest buzzword right now in digital advertising is Omnichannel.

At its core, an Omnichannel strategy puts the customer at the center of everything by serving full-funnel automotive ad campaigns across multiple social media platforms.

To execute this strategy, advertisers leverage user data signals with sophisticated API integrations to present the next logical ad message to the ideal target audience, creating a frictionless online customer journey and optimized ad spend budget.  🤓

In Q3 2021, Dealers United led the way in the automotive industry by providing auto dealers the ability to tap into this powerful strategy, and the trending results of the Omnichannel automotive ad campaigns are amazing!  *chef’s kiss* 🤌💋

Here are the month-over-month KPI results from December ‘21 to January ‘22 for the automotive ad campaigns on Snapchat, Pinterest, Facebook+Instagram, and TikTok:

Snapchat (Watch at 1:57)

  • CPM ⬇️ by 31%
  • CPC ⬇️ by 43%

Pinterest (Watch at 2:55 + Bonus $1000 Media Credit! 🎁✨)

  • CPM ⬇️ by 35%
  • CPC ⬇️ by 39%

Facebook & Instagram (Watch at 3:59

  • CPM ⬇️ by 24%
  • CPC ⬇️ by 21%

TikTok (Watch at 4:44)

  • CPM ⬇️ by 45%
  • CPC ⬇️ by 44%

Blended Omnichannel Metrics (Watch at 5:24)

  • CPM ⬇️ by 32%
  • CPC ⬇️ by 40%

As you can see, the results from Omnichannel automotive ad campaigns are more than just industry buzz, but driving some awesome returns. So…what results can your dealership expect in your market? 

The updated Dealers United MarketAnalyzer can not only provide audience size and demographics, but also calculate a suggested budget and return on investment. 

Check it out at https://app.dealersunited.com/analyzer#/


Yes, we geek out on data and targeting. (I mean, the MarketAnalyzer predicts conversion rate and expected sales!) But, it’s what we do with it that really counts…

Each month, our Ad Operations team analyzes the best-of-the-best performing automotive ad campaigns to create Dealer Ad Playbooks. 💪

Recommended Playbooks (Watch at 6:25)

Playbooks are proven sets of ready-to-deploy ads built to help solve business challenges–  preset with audience targeting, ad creative, copy, AND campaign strategy. They are specially crafted to reach consumers that can take action and drive leads to your CRM.

These playbooks are recommended based on what’s working right now across our network.

Now Available:

  • 2022 Vehicle Acquisition & BuyBack 
  • 2022 Custom Order (OEM specific: CDJR, Ford, Chevrolet)
  • 2022 Tax Season Playbook
  • 2022 Generic Hiring Ads 

New Model Line Playbooks

These playbooks are designed to meet co-op needs and reach your local market with specific model lines. Each model line contains videos, carousels, and images to help promote, inform, educate, and excite consumers on a specific model line.

We recommend these playbooks go to Model Line SRP pages or landing pages specific to the promoted model.

Just Released:

  • 2022 Dodge Durango
  • 2022 Dodge Challenger
  • 2022 VW ID.4
  • 2021 Jeep Renegade
  • 2022 Hyundai IONIQ 5
  • 2022 Hyundai Elantra
  • 2022 Ford F-150
  • 2022 Ford Escape
  • 2022 Jeep Grand Cherokee
  • 2022 Chevrolet Blazer
  • 2022 Subaru Crosstrek

Dealers United Partners can browse all available playbooks & ad creative by logging in to the dashboard and navigating to “Playbooks.”

Are we missing a playbook? Let us know and we’ll add it shortly!

Customer High-Five (Watch at 10:35)

🖐️  South County DCJR is leveraging Pinterest, Facebook + Instagram, and Snapchat ads going full funnel Omnichannel, resulting in 511 leads with a CPC of $0.90 and CPL of $13.98.

We’re hosting a workshop at NADA 2022! (Watch at 12:10)

Heading to Las Vegas in March? Pete Petersen, CEO of Dealers United, is hosting a workshop, “7 Undercover Direct-to-Consumer Platforms You Need In 2022,” on Sunday, March 13th at 10:30am. 🔥

Pete says, “As a dealer, you have a HUGE competitive advantage over the national providers. They need to reach and engage shoppers in over 40,000 zip codes… you only need to master your Primary Area of Responsibility.

 You now have the ability to reach and direct ALL automotive shoppers to your dealership’s website during their path to purchase.”

 Register for the slides and RSVP for the session at: bit.ly/NADA2022

Welcome to #TeamDU (Watch at 12:34)

We are excited to welcome three new Customer Support Managers to the team! Please say hello to Aleena Bowman, MJ Belada, and Mitch Lucky! Happy to have you on board!  🥳  

All-Hands Company Retreat!

Dealers United is investing in bringing our entire team, from across the country, together to celebrate, connect and align on Wednesday, March 2nd, and Thursday, March 3rd, in sunny Sarasota, FL. 🌴☀️

Our teams will have all partners’ March templates built out and ready to deploy, but please let our team know of any early content or rebudgeting needs as soon as possible.

 That’s all folks!

Thanks for checking out what’s new with DU. Did you like this new format? Ready for Justin & Molly’s blooper reel? (Oh yea, best believe we have got that on deck.) 😜✌️

 Questions? Compliments? Ready to maximize your success? 

 Reach out to us at [email protected] or schedule a 15min consultation.

Blog Author - Molly Dennehy

Written By Molly Dennehy
Molly Dennehy is a marketing expert who has evidenced effective digital marketing strategies across six different industries. Now, she brings her diverse experience and creativity to automotive dealers. From audience targeting, campaign set-up, and content creation, Molly is passionate about sharing new and innovative ways to drive results.

The 2021 Dealers United Wrap-Up

The 2021 Dealers United Wrap-Up

The 2021 Dealers United Wrap-Up

Whoa… 2021 has come to a close! We don’t know about you, but it’s exciting and almost unbelievable at the same time. What we CAN believe, however, is that it was one of our most innovative years yet: we forayed into omnichannel advertising, doubled-down on remote work, and strategized around our industry’s low inventory challenges.

Check out some of the major accomplishments we’ve had over the last 12 months in our 2021 Wrap-Up.

January

  • Chris S., Partnership Manager, and Stefanie B., Executive Assistant, joined the team!
  • We launched the 2021 Tax Season Playbook with 20 different assets.
  • Dealer-Partner South County CDJR had their first DU Success Story published, detailing how they switched Facebook Ad partners and matched 164 vehicle sales to their new campaigns in just 92 days!
  • Our first blog of the year, “8 Resources To Jumpstart Your Dealership’s 2021 Sales Strategy,” hit the presses!
  • Shea earned the top performer and Sales Manager of the Month honors!
  • We launched our Offline Event Uploader so our dealer-partners could upload their own Offline Events and match their vehicle sales to Facebook Ads. 
  • We put the finishing touches on our “2021 Essential Guide to Dealership Facebook Ads” resource that was presented at Digital Dealer Now.

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  Gullo Ford’s retargeting specials campaigns crushed it in January at $0.43 cost per Landing Page View!

February

  • We welcomed Sandra S., Facebook Specialist, Bryan M., Performance Manager, and Craig A., Project Manager, to the team. As of February 28th, we earned the milestone of having our employees #WorkingFromWherever in 15 states! 
  • The Ad Ops team churned out tons of new playbooks, including campaigns for Honda Zero Percent Event, Ford Truck Month, Nissan Service, and Toyota Certified Pre-Owned.
  • Rachel B. got Facebook Blueprint Certified!
  • DELLA Mazda was featured for their latest Success Story around their model line and branding campaigns.
  • The Marketing team showed dealers how to combat Vroom and Carvana’s brutal superbowl ads.
  • We love our Ford Dealers! We added a new page on our website showcasing how our Ford Facebook and Instagram strategy works.
  • Many of our dealer-partners were caught showing off some DU swag!

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  In February, Briarwood Ford matched 34.6% of their total vehicle sales to their Facebook and Instagram Ads!

March

  • Jeff C., Sales Development, Melissa B., Performance Manager, Phil M., Head of Ad Operations, and Molly D., Brand Manager, joined the ranks!
  • Wow – what a month for our employee certifications! Kristen H., Shea P., and Sarah B. became Facebook Blueprint Certified, and Sandra S. and Chris S. received their Customer Value Optimization badge! 
  • To be more in-line with Facebook’s Best Practice guidelines, the Ad Ops team began creating new video ratio sizes for all accounts!
  • The Creative Team wrapped Q2 with a whopping 110 Model Line Playbooks added to their arsenal! 
  • We released a new Success Story featuring How Healey Brothers Automotive Matched 193 Sales To Facebook In 1 Month!
  • Love shiny objects? We do, too, which is why we couldn’t help but show off our dealer-partners’ shiny new dashboard (+ 6 features they love) in this blog.
  • We published our secret sauce behind our Mazda dealers’ Facebook Ad strategies!
  • In March, we first began sharing our vision for “Omnichannel” social advertising, where shoppers’ actions are monitored and targeted across more than one or two platforms. (Wait to see how this vision came to life in upcoming months!)
  • Katelyn M. closed on her 1st house, and we all competed in a very competitive Egg Decoration contest…(Shoutout to Samantha K. for taking home the win with her rendition of Egg Starry Night!) 

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  3-in-1! Harry Green Chev/Nissan matched 38% and Motorworld matched 53% of their total sales in March to Facebook, while Jim Baier doubled their sales MoM!

April

  • We quickly bolstered all of our technology and client accounts in preparation for iOS 14 changes to ensure they mitigated as many changes to their ad performance as possible, including helping dealers ensure their domain was verified ASAP. (Huge shout out to the entire DU Team for tackling this head-on!)
  • Katelyn M. finally got hitched after her wedding was postponed last year!
  • With inventory at an all time low, the Creative Team launched a new Buyback Playbook, full of 13 assets. Catch the ad previews here.
  • Cody L. was awarded “PM of the Month”!
  • One of our long-time team members, Miranda, welcomed a baby girl into the world!!! 👶 
  • The Marketing and Sales teams gave dealers a look behind-the-curtain into how our Full Suite Advertising package works throughout the Auto Buyer Journey. Watch now! 

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  Serra Ford Rochester Hills decreased their Cost Per Lead month-over-month by 38%!

May

  • The DU Sales Team attended a 3-day Sales Summit to sharpen their skills.
  • Andrew R. was promoted to Manager of Customer Experience. Well-deserved!
  • Bryan M. closed on his 1st home!
  • In our first dive into Omnichannel, we activated ALL U.S. dealer-partners on MSN Autos Marketplace!
  • In April, our dealer-partners’ ad spend growth was Up 117% YoY.
  • The Creative Team updated the Buyback Playbook to deliver “cash offer” and “buy back event” messaging and released a new version with exclusive creative for our Canadian dealers.
  • 4 dealers were featured in our Buy Back Success Story: Nelson Auto Center, Zeigler Cadillac, Paoli Ford, and Dahl Ford! Catch their results here! 
  • We unlocked our “Got Buy Back Ads?” resource to help any dealer overcome their inventory challenges.

Customer High-Five:

🖐️   Westlie Ford matched 41% of their total vehicle sales in May to their Facebook campaigns, and achieved a Cost Per Unit Sale of $86/unit!

June

  • Chaz S., Support Analyst, joined the team and immediately hit the ground running!
  • We hosted our first of many Customer Advisory Board meetings with some of our most innovative partners! 
  • Lorenz D. bought his 1st house and Nathan P. got engaged!
  • 100% of the Client Services Team (Facebook, Creative, Performance, and Partner Teams) got their Snapchat Essentials Certification!
  • Bob Boast VW snagged their very own Success Story detailing their 66% YoY climb!
  • We helped 3 of our dealer-partners present their “Best Idea” at their 20 Group Meetings.
  • The Marketing Team uncovered “Everything Your Dealership Needs To KNow About Snapchat.”
  • Did you know Snapchat has an Auto Playbook, just like Facebook?! Check it out here.
  • What the heck IS Omnichannel? We put together this Omnichannel website page to explain our new vision and help dealers join our alpha and beta tests.
  • What’s better than one Digital Dealer presentation during Digital Dealer Tampa in June? Three! Check out the two speaker sessions we hosted below:
  • 27 Questions You Need To Ask About Your Facebook Strategy (Live w/ Pete Petersen)
  • Boosting? Marketplace? Ads? How To Choose The Right Facebook Path (Virtual w/ Molly Dennehy)

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  Dahl Ford had a RECORD BREAKING MONTH in the dealership’s history in May, despite having the lowest amount of inventory they have ever had.

July

  • Our education breakout, “7 Undercover Direct-to-Consumer Platforms You Need In 2022” was accepted to be presented at NADA 2022! 
  • Sanjay M. bought his 1st home and Danny W. completed construction of his new home!
  • It was a HUGE month for education! Cody L. earned his Customer Value Optimization badge and Lauren B. snagged her Copywriting Specialist badge; Melissa B. became Blueprint Certified; Kristen H., Sarah B., Jordon S., Andrew R., Sandra S. and many more finished their Snapchat Ads Manager & TikTok Ads Academy courses.
  • Our CAB (Customer Advisory Board) dealers went LIVE with their Snapchat Ad  beta tests, and we began alpha-testing TikTok and Pinterest ads.
  • Our remote team was getting stuck in the “noise” of emails, Slacks, and meetings, so we set up an internal 4 hour time block on Wednesdays to help our teams be more productive, where internal communication goes COMPLETELY quiet. (It’s been a huge success!)
  • Molly D. hosted our 1st of many external “Learn it Live! sessions where we dive into the Facebook Automotive Playbook for Dealers! 
  • Healey Brothers snagged their SECOND Success Story about their incredible Buy Back results…20.6% of their units that were “bought back” were attributed to their Facebook campaigns!
  • We restructured our Performance (PM) Team into Pods to increase the amount of attention placed on our dealer-partners accounts.
  • One of our dealer-partners, Power Ford, was featured in AdAge for their success on Facebook! Congratulations Power Ford Team!

Customer High-Fives:

🖐️ Harry Green Chevrolet Nissan matched 102 unit sales to their Facebook campaigns in July!

August

  • We welcomed Liz H. to the team as a Partner Specialist!
  • Chaz S. became Facebook Blueprint Certified; Samantha K. became Community Management certified while Joshua C., Melissa B. and Sanjay M. earned their Copywriting specialist badges; Phil M., Miranda K., and Rachel B. finished their Snapchat Ads Manager courses!
  • Molly D. established DU’s “First Friday” Newsletter, which recaps the top industry news, DU updates, and more each month.
  • Jeff C. made the cross-country move to San Diego, CA!
  • We hosted two “Learn it Live!’s” around “Maximizing Fixed Ops”, one of which was joined by Casey Jenkins at Jenkins & Wynne Ford, Honda & Lincoln.

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  Ray Skillman Ford matched 20% of their total used vehicle sales in July to their Facebook campaigns, and achieved a Cost Per Unit Sale of $81.47/unit!

September

  • On September 13th, Facebook removed the ability to post inventory automatically to Facebook Marketplace. Here’s what we did to help our auto dealers navigate this massive change.
  • Both CEO Pete and Brooke J. closed on their new homes: Pete’s in New Jersey, Brooke’s in the middle of nowhere!
  • Brand new pilot campaigns were launched on TikTok & Pinterest, and we added more A/B tests to our Snapchat campaigns.
  • Shout out to the Ad Ops team, who willingly jumped in and aligned under a new team structure, and quickly organized around a new direction! 
  • Samantha K., Chaz S., Jeff C., and Liz H. all received DigitalMarketer certifications ranging from Data Analytics to Email Marketing specialties, while Jordon S. and Chaz S. got Facebook Blueprint Certified!
  • Pete and Molly hosted one of our favorite Learn it Live!’s about the importance of an Omnichannel strategy. Watch it again here.
  • WOW! Gearing up for the new year, the Creative and Ad Ops team added 31 new Model Line playbooks, and created 73 templates for 2022 Model Lines! 
  • Leadership team met in New York for our quarterly retreat for the first time since the pandemic! 
  • Two more dealer Success Stories got the spotlight in September: Paoli Ford and Jim Baier, Inc. were both recognized for increasing unit sales and profits.
  • We launched 3 new product pages on the DU website to educate our dealers on Snapchat, TikTok, and Pinterest! 
  • The Development and Product teams finalized Omnichannel reporting and onboarding in the Dealers United Dashboard, helping auto dealers easily visualize their results across multiple platforms.

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  2-in-1! Westlie Ford matched 53%, Fast Lane Auto matched 52%, and Fulkon CDJR matched 48% of their total sales in September to Facebook!

October

  • We unveiled the most powerful tool in the auto industry: the “MarketAnalyzer,” which helps auto dealers determine what channels they should be on, how much to spend on each, and even expected ROI!
  • Alix Y. earned her Customer Value Optimization certification, Rachel B. received her Service Software certification for Hubspot, and Bryan M. got Facebook Blueprint Certified!
  • We hosted two “Learn it Lives!”: Know Your Audience and The Importance of Team Culture.
  • Cody L., Shea P., and Sanjay M. went to Chicago and helped Zeigler present their dynamic and innovative ad strategies to the rest of their auto group..
  • We began alpha testing ad campaigns on Pinterest, initiated “Buy Back” campaign tests on Snapchat, and launched full-funnel Messenger-based Lead Forms on Facebook!
  • Shea P. had her wedding after needing to postpone it due to the pandemic!
  • One of the most popular campaigns this year, the “Custom Order” playbook, was released!
  • Kristen H., Rachel B. and Sarah B. were represented one of our Core Values, “Jumping In,” always doing much, much more than their typical job duties.
  • Facebook rebranded to “Meta!” Here’s what this means for auto dealers.
  • Our team went to Vegas for Digital Dealer and DrivingSales, where we met up with some of our CAB dealers, presented two speaker sessions, and gave away $1,500 in free ads to attendees!

November

  • Our VP of Marketing, Brooke J., was selected for the SRQ Magazine’s 35 Under 35 Competition, which recognizes young professionals who have distinguished themselves with their leadership in the field. Congratulations, Brooke! 🏆
  • Bilal M., Frontend Developer, joined the team!
  • CarFive presented Dealers United at their 20 Group and won best presentation!
  • Our Leadership Team, Directors and Managers all completed a Gitlab + Coursera course on “How to Manage a Remote Team” to help us be better leaders in a remote world.
  • Shea earned Sales Manager of the Month, for back-to-back months!
  • In honor of one of our Core Values, “Learn and Lead,” many team members set up massive Google Classroom training courses to help our team cross-train and level up!
  • We hosted our “Seasonal Mixology” culture event, where we brought in one of Sarasota’s favorite bartenders to teach our team how to make 3 fun drinks, virtually over Zoom! 🥃
  • The Ad Ops Team developed new, highly-engaging Black Friday ad creative and campaigns.
  • Dealers United sponsored University of South Florida’s, “Brunch on The Bay” event to invest in our young leaders! 

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  Elko Motors matched 27.78% of their total vehicle sales to Facebook, and saw a $45.83 cost per unit sold!

December

    • We hosted a Leadership, Director and Manager Retreat in Sarasota, Florida, where we did the Spaghetti Tower Challenge, were inspired by Steve Stauning’s “Ridiculously Simple Leadership” principles, and made huge strides in team building, objective alignment, and amplifying our vision!

  • The Marketing team organized one of the biggest events of the year, State of Automotive, “5 Days of Omni-Social,” which gave agencies and vendors access to exclusive interviews with Pinterest, Facebook (Meta), Snapchat, and TikTok, plus over 23 FREE, brand-new resources. Catch the FULL recap here! 
  • We hosted a local nutritionist in as a team-wide virtual event to help us understand the nuances of all things “nutrition!”
  • To celebrate the holidays, the entire team joined in on a virtual White Elephant gift exchange, where some of the gifts included a Burrito Blanket, Baby Yoda NFT, and a Portable Campfire!
  • We also hosted a Gingerbread House contest, where the only limit was our imagination…kudos to Justin for taking the “cake” with his New England Sugary Seaside creation! (#1 on the collage below)
  • As a gift to all our team members for their hard work this year, we decided to close down our office on the final week of December to give everyone a chance to reset, relax, and be with their family and friends.

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  Magic City Ford reported a $77 cost per unit sold after only a few months using Facebook and Instagram to advertise their store.

That’s A Wrap!

We are so lucky to work with the best team and coolest clients. Thank you for being along for the ride!

(Not yet part of the DU community yet? Find your solution today, help us grow by reviewing us or referring a friend, or check out our available careers!)

Blog Author - Brooke Jensen

Written By Brooke Jensen
Brooke handles all of Dealers United’s digital marketing. In addition to her love for design and copy, Brooke also adores her two dog-like kittens, playing the electric violin, and walking barefoot around the office.

The 2020 Dealers United Wrap-Up

The 2020 Dealers United Wrap-Up

The 2020 Dealers United Wrap-Up

2020 was a year unlike any other. In spite of the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 was a year of growth for #TeamDU. We transitioned to a remote workspace and hired 18 new team members. We introduced new solutions and perfected existing ones. Although this year challenged us, it made us stronger as a team and as an organization, and we are truly appreciative to belong in such a resilient industry and to work with such incredible employees and dealer-partners.

Check out some of the major accomplishments we’ve had over the last 12 month in our 2020 Wrap-Up.

January

  • We highlighted the newest resource for automotive dealers from Facebook, “Zero Friction Future: How To Eliminate Friction & Stop Car Shoppers From Abandoning Ship.” Check out the article here.
  • To kick off the new year, we added more educational incentives to support our core value of “Learn & Lead,” including credits for relevant training programs like Facebook’s F8 Conference and Facebook Blueprint Certification.
  • We welcomed a new Performance Manager, Eric Lichon (aptly nicknamed “Crusher” because his dealers’ immediately started crushing their results).
  • Facebook Ad Specialist, Jordon Stone, joined the Client Services team – Fun fact: he lives in a landlocked lighthouse in Downtown Sarasota.

February

  • One of our direct sales team members, Mike Cornish, tied the knot.
  • “Drop the text!” Our A/B tests revealed that Facebook ad graphics without text were performing 2x better for dealers.
  • Power Ford and Dealers United were recognized by Facebook for their work with creating a “Zero Friction Future” using a seamless Facebook Ad strategy.

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  Granger Chevrolet partnered with DU and increased their sales by 127 units in 9 months! Check it out here

🖐️  Rob Sight Ford used Facebook to supercharge their store’s video strategy, resulting in almost 12k landing page views and 135 first party leads in only 31 days! See the story here.

March

  • Due to the pandemic, Dealers United Leadership Team made the call for the team to go 100% remote to ensure the safety of our team.
  • We dropped the COVID-19 Sales Playbook, a full collection of ready-to-run ads designed to help dealers get through the hardships brought on by coronavirus.
  • Performance Manager team lead, Andrew Rogers, bought his first home! 
  • Best friend duo, Corey and Derek, got married to their respective loved ones just a few days apart from each other.
  • We hosted a State of Automotive 2020 webinar, presented by 5 automotive dealers, Facebook Automotive, and IHS Markit to discuss the current state of the industry and what dealers were doing to combat the economic effects of COVID-19. You can get a recording of the webinar here.

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  Tynan’s Nissan returned as a partner after testing another agency and attributed 67 unit sales to Facebook ads! Check it out here.

April

  • We spread the word about Facebook’s Small Business Grant Program so dealers could apply and get some extra cash to help them through the pandemic.
  • We dropped the Unlock the Demand Playbook, designed to get auto shoppers into your dealership and capitalizing on never before seen OEM incentives and stimulus checks.
  • Dealers United and dealer-partners Power Ford and Rob Sight Ford were featured in DEALER Magazine for successes with the Facebook platform. Read the blog here.

May

  • We released the COVID-19 Service Playbook to help dealers get their safe and sanitary service messaging out and more appointments in their dealerships.
  • We hired Co-Op pro Murry Holyfield, who is actually related to the great Evander Holyfield.
  • Dev teammate Ben got Facebook Blueprint Certified, further helping our tech to integrate seamlessly with Facebook.
  • In a remote work environment, we made sure we got together for team culture and shared some pretty embarrassing baby pictures.

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  D’ELLA Honda in New York was able to get out some safety messaging on Facebook and attribute 31 unit sales in only 47 days! Read more here.

June

  • The #1 biggest issue we were hearing from our dealers is that inventory was SCARCE, so we released the Buyback Playbook, designed to help dealers reach owners of desirable model lines and get them to trade-in, trade-up, or outright sell their vehicles. 
  • We hosted another State of Automotive webinar to inform dealers what some of their peers were seeing coming out of the initial wave of COVID chaos. You can catch the recording here.
  • The 2020 Digital Dealer conference was forced to go virtual with “Digital Dealer NOW” and Pete presented a session, “The 2020 Essential Guide For Dealership Facebook Ads.” 
  • The Creative Team got supercharged with the addition of awesome graphic designer, Joshua.
  • Our Direct sales guru Matt proposed (she said yes).
  • Luke, our Technical Support Specialist, got re-certified for Facebook Blueprint. 
  • Our dealer-partner Power Ford was featured in Automotive News for the incredible success they achieved with Facebook advertising. Read the story here!

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  Middletown Honda was able to gather leads AND SELL CARS while their dealership doors were closed to customers with some help from Facebook ads. Check out their story here.

July

  • We released a new powerful resource for dealers, the Market Intelligence Report, where dealers can uncover a ton of insights into their local market like total Facebook users, # of in-market shoppers, demographics and more! 
  • Rob Sight had a video interview with CBT and talked about some of the success he is seeing with Facebook and their strategy behind it. You can watch here.
  • Eric “Crusher” bought a house!
  • We added Lauren “Wrecking Ball” Blackwell to the marketing team and Phoenix-raised Lorenz Delaney to the channel sales team.
  • Facebook published our dealer-partner Generation Kia for a “Resilient Business” success story, making this the 5th dealer of ours to be featured by Facebook Business for their success with the platform! You can see the story here.
  • Our resident electric guitarist and friendly face Eugene was brought on to help with the Performance Team.

Customer High-Fives:

🖐️  Cavalier Ford boosted their sales 26% while the rest of their market was in a downturn. Get their story here.
🖐️  Generation Kia adapted their messaging around COVID-19 and attributed 42 sales to Facebook ads in 61 days AND got the attention of Facebook Business to get their story featured. Click here to get their story.

August

  • The Dealers United dashboard went LIVE for all DU customers, helping dealers see their Facebook Ad performance, upload sales matchbacks, and monitor inventory health in real-time!
  • We launched the newest ad tech for automotive dealers, “On-Facebook Destination for Automotive Inventory Ads.” These future-proof ads are reducing friction in the auto buyer’s journey and driving more cost effective leads and conversions. 
  • We released a blog talking about shifts in buyer motivations from before and after the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Read it here.
  • The Creative Team overhauled their entire creative library into a new platform to help them generate OEM monthly specials faster than ever.
  • Snake-wranglin’ Texan, Travis Garner, joined the Channel Team.
  • The man in black, Jack Rogers, bought his first home!

September

  • We launched the new Ad Previews tool in our dealer dashboard, where dealers can go to see all of the ads in their account without having to go through the monotony of clicking through a ton of preview links.
  • Corey, our most tenured Performance Manager, got Facebook Blueprint Certified.

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  DeNooyer Chevrolet drove 116 at a ridiculous $1.59 per lead! Read their story here.

October

  • The team got together for the first time since March for a socially-distant breakfast meetup! 
  • We hosted a webinar with the Facebook product team and some of our dealer-partners to go over their new On-Facebook Destination for AIA solution – you can watch the recording here!
  • Samoa Motors CRUSHED their island’s sales record after starting Facebook advertising with DU, and Facebook Business published their story! This marked the 6th Success Story of a Dealers United partner to be featured by the tech giant.
  • Sales teammates Dylan and Shea were both married (not to each other).
  • 4 new team members joined DU! Chicago Cubs superfan, Mike Miller (not the pro basketball player), roller derby bruiser Sarah Bikos, Star Wars buff Rachel Randall, and one mean cocktail craftin’ Cody Link.
  • One of the absolute highlights of our whole year here at DU was when our Performance Manager, Rachel, BEAT CANCER!!! Her strength and positivity during this time inspired our entire team and we are beyond proud of her.

November

  • We released our OEM-specific Holiday Playbooks, packed with killer strategy and made to help dealers gain more traction on Facebook during the harder-to-advertise-in holiday season.
  • 2 new team members joined DU! The sales team welcomed Sean Pukajlo, who makes a great Buddy the Elf (see below), and Kyle Logue usurped Eugene as the tallest team member (at 6 feet 9 inches!) when he joined the Dev Team!
  • We teamed up with Driving Sales to present an in-depth Master Certification course at Driving Sales Executive Summit to help dealer marketers become Facebook ads specialists.   

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  Tom’s Ford switched to DU from another agency and attributed 91 unit sales to Facebook campaigns in 2 months! Click here to read more!

December

  • We ran a Q&A session with Aimee Rogers, Marketing Manager for Brad Deery Motors in Iowa, giving us some real insight into the impact that we’ve had on their dealership. You can read it here!
  • We gained 4 more team members! New York Knicks lover Sanjay and photography enthusiast Alix to help the Performance team, Samantha to help our Creative Team, and Tiffany to give our Facebook Team a boost.
  • DU held a virtual Secret Santa and passed out gifts, highlighted by our CEO looking like Captain Ahab and our newest sales member busting out the Buddy The Elf suit.

Customer High-Five:

🖐️  Weld County Garage Buick GMC drove almost 3,000 leads in the first 3 months after upgrading to our Full Suite Solution! Click here to see the story.

That’s A Wrap!

This year has been tough, but we’re thankful to have our team, dealer-partners, channel partners, family and health. 

It’s been our pleasure to navigate these unknown waters together and we look forward to conquering what’s next! 

(Not yet part of the DU community yet? Find your solution today, help us grow by reviewing us or referring a friend, or check out our available careers!)

Blog Author - Drew Detweiler

Written By Drew Detweiler
Drew manages inbound and outbound marketing for Dealers United. When he’s not at work, he’s probably enjoying the outdoors, fishing, or eating.

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