Meet The New Dealers United Facebook Ads Dashboard (+6 Reporting Features Dealers Love)

by Brooke Jensen | Mar 24, 2021 | Customer Hub, Digital Marketing, Social Media

Meet The New Dealers United Facebook Ads Dashboard (+6 Reporting Features Dealers Love)

If you’ve ever logged into Facebook Ads Manager to see how your dealership’s Facebook Ads are performing, you know how daunting it can be.

Even if you rely on Google Analytics or 3rd party reports instead of Ads Manager, it’s still a hassle to understand if your ads are truly leading to unit sales.

What’s worse, some Facebook vendors set up dashboards that skew results, hide certain data points, or even make the data more difficult to understand. Yikes.

If you’re investing in Facebook ads as an auto dealer, the new Dealers United Dashboard is crucial to helping you prove if your dealership’s Facebook Ads are working (or not!).

🎉 Introducing the new Dealers United Dashboard for Facebook Ads

At Dealers United, we knew we could make understanding Facebook Ads results for car dealers a LOT simpler.

Most importantly, we knew we could make the data dealers really care about (your Marketing Cost Per Unit Sold and total Return on Ad Spend) crystal-clear.

By syncing directly with Facebook’s API, the Dealers United Dashboard brings you accurate, real-time reports, that are EASY to understand.

Here are 6 reporting features our dealers love inside the Dealers United Dashboard:

6 Reporting Features Our Dealer-Partners Love

1. The Facebook Ads Report & Funnel

The first thing you’ll notice in our Facebook Ads Report is the infamous Dealers United “Facebook Ads Funnel,” which makes it effortless for dealers to identify how their Facebook Ads are performing; from top-of-funnel to bottom!

Our Facebook Advertising Funnel includes stats like Prospects, Shoppers, Leads and – most importantly – Attributed Sales.

With a quick glance at this funnel, you can understand your Cost Per Lead, Conversion Rate, and even Marketing Cost Per Unit Sold from your total Facebook ad spend.

Our reports help dealers see the full picture of how Facebook is working for their business. While most vendors only show Cost Per Lead (CPL) based on Lead Campaign ad spend alone, we use the Funnel to show how your entire Monthly Ad Spend turned into Leads.

But the KPIs don’t stop there.

You can also use the Facebook Ads Report to compare important metrics, like Spend vs. Leads over time, and you’ll see a simple breakdown of other key numbers like Cost Per Lead, Reach, etc.

Ready to see the Dealers United Dashboard first hand? Click here to schedule a demo.

2. Sales Attribution with Offline Events Uploader

Are you curious how many vehicles you sold are attributed directly to your dealership’s Facebook ads?

Do you want to know your Marketing Cost Per Unit Sold once and for all? Simply upload Offline Events (aka your Sold Report)!

Previously, our team would take your monthly sold report, upload it to Facebook’s Offline Events, and identify how many users who clicked or saw an ad on Facebook ended up purchasing a vehicle. This however created a lot of back-and-forth, and caused unnecessary delays.

Now with the Dealers United Dashboard, you can simply upload your sold report yourself and view the results in seconds!

Did you know? Our Offline Events Uploader Tool will also help auto-format your sold report file based on your CRM so that you have the highest match rate possible!

When you upload your Offline Events, the dashboard will generate a performance report that includes:

Total # of Offline Purchase Events
The # of times a user Viewed an Ad (and did not click), or Viewed and Clicked on an ad (within the window of 1 day, 7 days, and 28 days)
The # of events attributed to Facebook ads
And the cost $$$ per event

What better way to determine your dealership’s ROI than by seeing how many vehicle sales match back to your Facebook ads?!

Click here to check out our latest Dealer Success Story, and see how Healey Brothers Automotive matched 193 Sales to Facebook in 1 month!

3. Marketplace Reporting

Unfortunately, Facebook Business Manager doesn’t have a “reporting dashboard” for dealerships’ Marketplace listings.

But with a little elbow grease from our Dev + Product Team, Dealers United customers can now access Marketplace Reporting in our dashboard!

Like the Facebook Ads funnel, our Marketplace Reporting Funnel helps dealers track their success on Facebook Marketplace, from the # of Listing Views to Initial Marketplace Messages.

Our dashboard also generates 5 Facebook Marketplace Stats to give you key insights on:

The # of times people viewed the details page of your Marketplace Listing
The # of times people clicked the call button on your Marketplace Listing
The # of first-time messages received from buyers about your listing on Marketplace
The % of initial Marketplace Messages that you sent an initial response within 24 hours through Facebook Messenger
The average time it took you to send an initial response to an initial Marketplace message through Facebook Messenger

4. Leads

We understand how crucial it is to track leads.

In addition to sending all leads driven by Facebook to your CRM in ADF/XML format, we also log all leads driven from Facebook into a single area in the Dealers United Dashboard.

This includes Leads submitted directly on Facebook forms and Twilio Call Tracking recordings, complete with important details like the Lead’s first and last name, phone number, email, and the vehicle the lead is associated with.

5. Inventory Health

Do you know why the inventory you’re using for Automotive Inventory Ads (AIA) or Marketplace Listings on Facebook is inaccurate, or not displaying?

With the Dealer’s United Dashboard, we’ve made it easy to identify your Inventory Health.

You can identify:

# of Vehicles in Feed and Total Vehicles in Dashboard
Vehicles Sent to Marketplace
Vehicles Confirmed in Marketplace
Sent to AIA (Inventory Ads) Catalog
Rejected Vehicles (Reasons by Field)
Marketplace Filtered Vehicle Reasons
Issues Detected Affecting all Vehicles

…all in REAL-TIME. If there’s an issue with your Inventory, you’ll see it in your dashboard, and can take the appropriate steps necessary to resolve it.

6. Automated Reports

Our Automated Reports are a summary of all the key performance reports in the Dealers United Dashboard, brought together in a simple PDF format.

These are automatically generated and delivered to your email every single month to help you understand your performance, even if you haven’t had a chance to dive into the Dashboard recently.
Inside the report, you’ll find snapshots into 4 main areas of your Facebook Ad performance:

Facebook Advertising
Marketplace
Inventory Health
Vehicle Performance

But Wait, There’s More…

These 6 reporting features in the Dealers United Dashboard are game changers for auto dealers investing in Facebook Ads.

But the dashboard is jam-packed with hundreds of other features, such as easier-than-ever Onboarding, Instant Ad Previews, Budget Pacing, and Account Monitoring that help Dealers United customers maximize their ad dollars from start to finish.

And we’re only just getting started.

If you want to finally make sense of Facebook Ads for your dealership with clear and accurate reporting, it’s time to make the switch to Dealers United. Schedule your demo HERE.

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.

See the Dealers United Dashboard first-hand. Schedule your demo now!

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“Attack On Dealerships” : How Dealers Can Combat Vroom and Carvana’s Messaging

by Brooke Jensen | Feb 19, 2021 | Digital Marketing, Identity and Branding, Social Media

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“Attack On Dealerships” : How Dealers Can Combat Vroom and Carvana’s Messaging

If you watched the Super Bowl this year, you probably caught Vroom’s commercial that rubbed a lot of us in the dealer community the wrong way.

Carvana has also been taking an anti-dealer message in some of their latest ads and marketing. As dealers, there is plenty enough to stress about without worrying about large-scale messaging disparaging your efforts and adding to the misconception that working with a dealership is a bad experience.

Many dealers aren’t happy, and are fighting back.

Dealers Respond to Vroom and Carvana Through Video

Here are 3 examples of dealers who have taken things into their own hands, and shot simple videos that combat the Vroom and Carvana messaging.

Tips to Create Your Own Anti-Vroom Video

Not every dealer has the ability to drop a highly produced and expensive TV spot at the drop of hat. And even if you could, would it be the most effective?

Facebook and Instagram have become the go-to solution for businesses to reach their markets with a much more targeted and cost-effective strategy than traditional media.
And with Facebook and Instagram, there isn’t always a need to use over-produced media to grab auto shopper’s attention.

Some of the most successful videos that we are seeing from dealers are “native content,” meaning that they just look like a simple selfie video or something that you might “natively” see on your timeline; no need for all $$$ equipment.

Take a look at this example from Thonton Automotive Dover:

This video was simple to create, simple to edit, and reached over 58,000 shoppers in the dealer’s PMA.

With the average American spending 58 minutes per day scrolling through Facebook and Instagram, your dealership can create simple videos, get in front of your target audience, and combat the messages of companies like Vroom and Carvana to get auto shoppers back into your dealership.

Get Our Dealership Secrets to Shooting Powerful and Cost-Effective Videos In-House

Get The Secrets!

Blog Author - Brooke Jensen

941-366-6760

8 Resources To Jumpstart Your Dealership’s 2021 Sales Strategy

by Brooke Jensen | Jan 27, 2021 | Digital Marketing, Social Media

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8 Resources To Jumpstart Your Dealership’s 2021 Sales Strategy

With the beginning of every new year, there is a renewed sense of hope that everyone feels. This will be my year.

After 2020, that feeling is stronger than ever.

But we can’t hope our way to a better year. Hopes and dreams need goals and plans.

To help jumpstart 2021 and ensure you’re on track to reach your sales goals, here are some free resources to help:

1. Secure more top model line inventory

If your desirable inventory is lacking, get the message out to top model line owners that your dealership is looking for trade-ins or will outright purchase their vehicles. Check out our Buy Back Playbook here to see some ads that your dealership can use to stock back up on some much needed inventory!

2. See what’s working for other dealerships right now

Whether you’re looking to get into better conversions, get better leads, or increase unit sales, we have dealers who have done it already using Facebook and Instagram. Check out their success stories and take a peek at their strategies. You can view them here!

3. Give On-Facebook Destination for AIA a try

On-FB Automotive Inventory Ads are getting dealership’s live inventory in front of in-market shoppers without the distraction of running them off Facebook. Testing is complete and results are in – it works. Check out more info about OFB-AIA here.

4. Get inspired from your competition by hacking their ads!

Do you know what kind of ads your competition is running on Facebook? Do you know what kind of ads you’re running on Facebook? Click here to request an “ad hack” and we’ll walk through all of your ads and the ads of your 3 biggest competitors.

5. Get the “2021 Essential Guide For Dealership Facebook Ads”

Our CEO presented this previously live session at Digital Dealer NOW and you can get access to the recording and slides free of charge. This session is packed with information about the future of Facebook ads and what has proven to work specifically for car dealers. Click here to request the slides.

6. Get deeper insights on the shoppers in your market

Do you know how many in-market auto shoppers are in your PMA? How about how many of them you can reach on Facebook and Instagram? If not, you can find out now using our Market Intelligence Report. This game-changing tool will give you your market’s:

Total Facebook Users
Total In-Market Shoppers
User Demographics
User Credit Scores

Click here to run your Market Intelligence Report and start strategizing to reach these shoppers.

7. Start getting rock solid attribution on your marketing efforts

Have you ever tried to track where a lead came from but to no avail? Every source wants attribution and it’s leaving a lot of dealers in the dark. Facebook’s newest attribution tool is giving dealers a clear picture of where their prospects are actually converting – whether it’s organic or paid, Facebook or another source. Click here to request the slides from our Digital Dealer presentation on the tool.

8. Become a Facebook Automotive Ad Specialist

We’ve teamed up with the folks at Driving Sales to present a Master Certification course to help make Facebook a predictable source of revenue for your dealership. This course will arm you with all of the knowledge you will need to be a Facebook pro in the automotive space. Click here to learn more about the course.

We know that these resources will help you get your dealership off on the right foot in 2021! If you need a little more inspiration or want some strategy ideas, you can subscribe to our newsletter here, or connect with us on a strategy call to start solving your business challenges here.

Happy 2021!

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.

Samoa Motors Lands Facebook Business Published Success Story

by Brooke Jensen | Nov 20, 2020 | Digital Marketing, Industry News, Social Media

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Samoa Motors Lands Facebook Business Published Success Story

Congratulations to Alby and the Samoa Motors team on a well-earned Success Story that’s been a long time coming!

Samoa Motors, a Ford dealership and Dealers United partner located on the Pacific island of American Samoa, was featured by Facebook Business for their successes driving record leads and sales using Facebook Ads.

View Samoa Motor’s published story live on Facebook Business here.

Samoa Motors: Connecting An Island With Facebook

Due to their remote location, advertising options for Samoa Motors were previously limited in to radio, event sponsorship, and word of mouth.

As their need to drive more website traffic and generate more leads became more prevalent, the dealership began the search for a new, innovative way to get their inventory in front of in-market auto shoppers.

That’s when they partnered with Dealers United, and we worked together to get the dealership’s live inventory and offers out in front of their community using Facebook and Instagram.
Using Facebook’s Broad Audience Targeting and their own custom audiences of users who were most likely to be in-market for a new or used vehicle, Samoa Motors reached over 26,000 shoppers on their island in just two months!

After driving so much traffic to their site, Samoa Motors also launched a retargeting strategy. They used Facebook to deliver exact vehicles viewed (plus similar models in the same price range), to shoppers until they either purchased or converted on a lead form.

These retargeted shoppers were also given the option to submit their information as a lead without ever having to leave the Facebook platform.

Then leads were immediately placed into the dealership’s CRM, showing the VIN of the vehicle they were interested in and whether they were interested in financing, availability, more information, or a test drive.

Want to learn more about Facebook Automotive Inventory Ads? Click here to watch a free instant demo.

One Month To Record Leads And Sales

After only one month advertising on Facebook to their local community, the dealership began generating more leads than ever before, and had sold so many units, they actually broke the record for the most units sold on their entire island.

“It’s mind blowing how our traffic increased from 40 leads a week to a 100 in 2 days. We sold 50 units this month and it never happened on this island…We just set a new record.”

— Alby Lee, Marketing Manager, Samoa Motors

As their campaigns and audiences continued to scale based on Facebook’s learning algorithm, they only continued to drive success on the platform.

The store captured 97 On-Facebook Leads for a rock-bottom price of $1.76 Cost Per Lead, supplemented by another 53 leads submitted on their site!

This higher volume of interested, low-funnel leads allowed the dealership to sell more units, ultimately attributing 30 unit sales to Facebook campaigns, achieving an unbelievable 25X return on ad spend!

To read more about Samoa Motors incredible success, click here to read the story on Facebook Business.

Watch our On-Demand Demos to learn more about our solutions.

Click Here

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.

PODCAST: Digital Marketing Tips For Aftermarket Shops with Pete Petersen

by Brooke Jensen | Sep 2, 2020 | Digital Marketing, Identity and Branding, Social Media, Uncategorized

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PODCAST: Digital Marketing Tips For Aftermarket Shops with Pete Petersen

We’ve realized that for almost all small businesses, trying to do it all in terms of marketing actually results in almost no traction!

In order to ensure your efforts are achieving results, our CEO Pete Petersen offered professional insight, featured on TheSHOP’s latest podcast.

WATCH: https://theshopmag.com/podcast/ep-5-how-to-grow-your-aftermarket-business-with-digital-marketing/

In Gear with THE SHOP · Ep. 5 – How to Grow Your Aftermarket Business with Digital Marketing

7 Key Digital Marketing Strategies For Your Shop

There are so many options when it comes to marketing your shop digitally, follow along to make sure that your actions are effective.

1. Identify Your Customers

Before you do ANY marketing, be sure to ask yourself:

Who are your customers currently?
Who should your customers be, are there any up-and-coming segments?
Where do your customers hangout, online and offline?
Where are they navigating to get information?

2. Be Easily Found and Post Relevant Content Organically

Ask your current customers which platforms they are on daily, weekly, monthly… Then ask them where they learn about new products and services so you can reach them and people similar.

Google and Social:

You’ll want to create a Google My Business account to provide your current and prospective customers with an easy way to find your shop and its information.

Generate a strong presence on social media so that when your target market finds you, they engage with relevant content. Only do so using a few platforms, we understand there’s a lot of factors to consider with each, so we have a guide for you here!

Blog Content:

Brainstorm what type of information is significant to your audience. People want to know the Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How.

Why did your business take on the project, what products did you use, how long did it take, and who is the owner and where are they from?

3. Encourage And Leverage Positive Reviews

The first thing that prospective customers do when they are not familiar with you is search your brand + “reviews” before giving you their business!

Google My Business:

Display your positive reviews and download an App for your phone to respond to reviews, create offers, post events, and update your business info!

Facebook Reviews:

Broadcast all of the good things said about your shop on your Facebook business page. Anyone who lands on your page will be able to see the positive comments from other active users!

3rd Party Seller Sites:

Your shop can also use 3rd party seller sites to host this complimentary feedback in the attempt to have an immediate impact on their decision and influence customer conversion.

4. Design for Mobile Optimization

Mobile is the new source for information consumption. Facebook, Snapchat, and TikTok are almost exclusively mobile… So make sure to double check the accessibility and flow of your website on mobile devices, not just desktop.

5. Amplify Your Business With Paid Ads

What phase of the funnel are you wanting to reach your customers at? Both Google Search and Facebook Ads offer paid advertising options for your shop.

Click here for The Ultimate Guide to Social Advertising For Aftermarket Shops!

6. Improve Your Shops Website

Organize your website and make it easy for visitors to find information, be educated, make decisions, and choose you!

For shops, show before and after photos, tell the customers’ story, and why this project was important to them. Include the extra details of what you helped with to make the project custom.

Get a quote from the customer, or ask them to leave a review. Showcase this on your site, add the review to your main homepage for others to see and let them tell the story for you!

7. Add A Tripwire

A tripwire is a low dollar offer to get someone in your business, build a relationship with them, and then upsell.

In dealerships, this has been the oil change/car wash experience. They get them in, get their contact information including email/phone, build positive relationships, reviews and further market to these individuals with new products and services.

Targeting Dealerships

Here are some key elements for aftermarket shops to keep in mind when targeting the dealership market:

Relationships (face-to-face, calling and text messaging)?
Custom web pages (this will also help with SEO and positioning as an expert) and brochures specific to the vehicles they sell:
- Best accessories and upgrades for the Mazda CX-3
- Answer questions like “what is the towing capacity of a Ford F150?” and “how much can a Ford F150 tow?”
Beyond that, email marketing is a great way to keep your prospects and dealerships available

We created an audit template to help your business log your current profiles and ratings.

👉 Click here to access the free template and begin improving in areas where it’s needed.

Watch our On-Demand Demos to learn more about our solutions.

Click Here

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.

The Ultimate Guide To Social Advertising For Aftermarket Shops

by Brooke Jensen | Sep 2, 2020 | Digital Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized

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The Ultimate Guide To Social Advertising For Aftermarket Shops

Are you wondering where to begin advertising on Social Media platforms for your aftermarket shop?

We know it can be overwhelming, but it’s critical to understand that using all social media platforms is not as effective as focusing on just a few.

Before choosing which platforms to use, make sure to ask your current customers which platforms they spend most of their time, and where they go to learn about a new product or service.

You don’t want to waste your time or money on advertising that isn’t going to reach your current and prospective customers… and we don’t want that for you either!

This is why we wrote this blog article, to provide your aftermarket shop some key information about Organic and Paid advertising on social media.

Maximizing Organic Reach and Content For Aftermarket Shops

Google My Business:

Google My Business is so powerful, it’s free and underutilized.

You’ll want to have a Google My Business account to increase exposure and encourage local customer engagement.

Now that you can be found effortlessly, you must stay relevant.

Establish a presence on social media! Once you’ve identified who your customers are, choose which social media platform to use based on where your customers and prospects are.

Facebook:

Over 80% of people in the US are on a Facebook property including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Marketplace, Whats App, and Audience Network. Instagram Stories are on 🔥, so make sure to shoot vertical videos and images.

Facebook has created a solution that reaches the young, old and everyone in between.

Take this opportunity to bring customers inside of your business’s experience and offerings, keeping them up to date with your projects. This simple action will build a more powerful relationship with your customers.

YouTube:

The best way to provide educational content about your products and services for your current and future customers consumption is through YouTube.

YouTube is not only a social media platform with a ton of viewers, but it’s the second largest search engine and utilized by 73% of adults in the U.S.

Keep in mind that staying relevant in today’s day and age involves many working streams, but they don’t all have to be so serious…

Snapchat & TikTok:

Entertain your audience! These social media platforms hit a younger demographic but shouldn’t be overlooked if you’re trying to reach these new customizers.

Depending on who your audience is, you can use these two platforms to show off a different side of your company (company culture, customers, community, and more).

PRO TIP: Make sure all of your social media sites are linked in your footer or bio. Put together a webpage like shop.com/connect that you link to in your shop so people can follow you across all of your platforms. When prospects seek you out you’ll want to have posts that are relevant, so be sure to post at least once per week.

Generate More Aftermarket Opportunities With Paid Ads

Google Search:

For low funnel opportunities, you can advertise with Google Search. Going to google and searching for an item seems to be the move for people who are ready to buy. Although, these ads will cost you more and are weak in opportunities.

Facebook Ads:

Right now, Facebook Ads are generating a lot of value for businesses of all sizes. You don’t have to have a huge budget, especially if you are a local business.

Facebook Ads allow you to target your ideal prospects and customers. Social posting (aka Organic Posting) is great but it only reaches a small number of your followers and you are unable to control the outcome.

With Facebook Ads, you can target people based on things like:

Who owns a current make/model of vehicle
Who own a current body style like Trucks
Your current customers and prospects
People who look like your current customers (one of the best and least expensive ways to get started)
People who have been on your site that have not purchased (another very inexpensive way to stay in front of a hot audience)

But, don’t fall victim of hitting the Boost button… you need to use Facebook Ads Manager to be successful.

Getting started with Facebook Ads in the right way:

Visit business.facebook.com to get started.
Create or connect a Facebook Page.
Connect or create an ad account.
Connect or create a Facebook Pixel. Install this on your website (every page).
Connect or create a Facebook Offline Event. This allows you to track offline data like leads and sales from your offline systems back to Facebook Ads for measurement.
Create the following Custom Audiences.
- All website visitors (up to 180 days)
- All Facebook Engaged (up to 365 days)
- All Instagram Engaged (up to 365 days)
- All Shopping Engaged (up to 365 days)
- All Marketplace Engaged (up to 180 days)

Facebooks Ads allow you to reach people just on Instagram as well, you can reach people both on the Instagram Feed and Instagram Stories.

There’s a lot that goes into creating Facebook ad campaigns effective enough to produce positive results… Let us do it for you!

Click here to see how we create Custom Dealership Facebook Ads that maximize your ad spend.

Watch our On-Demand Demos to learn more about our solutions.

Click Here

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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