Since Facebook Marketplace for auto dealerships has gained popularity over the past few years, Facebook has continued to add new features and enhancements to the platform.

Last year, Facebook introduced built-in Kelley Blue Book Values and CarFax history reports to Marketplace, plus the ability to use chatbots so that dealers can have instant responses to inquiries without immediately needing staff to reply.

But with their latest release, Facebook Marketplace has become an even more powerful tool for car dealers.

Not yet posting your vehicle inventory into Facebook Marketplace? Click here!

Now your dealership can follow up with shoppers who engage with your Marketplace listings. Watch our video below to learn more!

Creating a Custom Audience For Users Who Engaged With Your Dealership’s Marketplace Listings

To start creating a Custom Audience for Marketplace follow up, go to your Ads Manager and select an existing ad set.

Then, select “Create New > Custom Audience > Marketplace Listings.”

Next, choose if you want to target those who have Viewed Products or those who have Messaged About Products in your Marketplace catalog.

TIP: Reaching those who have “Viewed Products” in your catalog will generate a larger audience, but won’t be as low-funnel as the “Messaged About Products users.

Lastly, set the timeline in which you want Facebook to look for engagement. We recommend a longer timeline if you are sending a “Brand Awareness” message, and a shorter timeline if you are sending Inventory Ads or lower-funnel offers.

Building More Custom Audiences with Dealership Facebook Ads

Remember, there are an unlimited amount of Custom Audiences you can create with Facebook Ads.

You can create audiences of emails you’re sending an email campaign or direct mail campaign to….

…a list of recent customers to send them a service offer…

…and even Lookalike Audiences based on your ideal customer lists!

Interested in learning more about creating Custom Audiences with Facebook? Click here to schedule a strategy chat with our team.

Our latest free tool, the Market Intelligence Report builder, helps auto dealers pinpoint how many In-Market Auto Shoppers are in their area, and unlocks key data insights about their market. But once you get your hands on these auto shopper insights, what’s the next step?

Check out these 4 campaign ideas to help you reach the shoppers in your market with the right message.

Haven’t built your own Market Intelligence Report yet? Check out our free builder here.

Facebook and Instagram have rapidly become one of the most powerful and cost effective tools to reach potential customers. But that’s not all. Now, emerging platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat and Pinterest are taking auto shopper attention.

With the average person today using 8 social media accounts, it’s important to adopt an Omnichannel approach.

Here are 4 Omnichannel campaign ideas to start reaching your target audience and sell more cars.

Drive Results With Facebook & Instagram Using These 4 Campaign Ideas

Idea #1: Reach shoppers with Branding.

What was your target audience size across all platforms?

We recommend reaching these audiences with branding ad campaigns to familiarize shoppers with your dealership, telling them why they should buy from your dealership instead of the competition.

We call these “Why Buy” campaigns.

While Reach campaigns are not optimized for traffic or leads, this is the greatest way to get your dealership into plain sight of the auto shoppers in your market.

Idea #2: Introduce Your Latest Makes & Models To Shoppers

Build top model line campaigns across channels and deliver ads showcasing your newest Makes & Models.

Many auto shoppers need to be introduced to the differences in your trims, interiors, and tech features of your vehicles.

Using video and collage ad formats, you can take users on a “virtual tour,” building their affinity toward your brand, and even helping them choose the vehicle that’s going to be best for them when they’re ready to buy.

Idea #3: Show Your Live Used Inventory To In-Market Shoppers To Shoppers Who Are Almost Ready To Buy

What inventory results did your Market Intelligence Report show?

According to Cox Automotive, in 2019, the average time car shoppers spent in-market was 96 days.

Shoppers are also spending more time shopping online, less time in the dealership, and visiting fewer dealerships before making a purchase (and after COVID-19, some aren’t visiting dealerships at all)!

It’s imperative to get your live inventory in front of shoppers who are waiting for the right vehicle and price point to pull the trigger.

Facebook and Instagram Automotive Inventory Ads are one of the most effective tools in a dealer’s pocket, and now can be replicated across Snapchat, TikTok, and Pinterest!

Displaying your live inventory to in-market shoppers allows them to browse through relevant models on your lot without ever having to scroll away from their social feeds.

Idea #4: Reach Custom Audiences and Retarget across channels.

Do you have a list of sold but not serviced?

What about your current customer lists?

You can upload these lists as Custom Audiences and reach these users with the right message, where they’re spending time.

Other Ways To Maximize Your Market Intelligence Report

Discovering your audience is a big piece of the puzzle, but you obviously can’t stop there.

Knowing how to reach your target market effectively can make or break a business.

By using market insights from your Market Intelligence Report and following this blueprint for proven successful campaigns, your dealership can be on the way to using a data driven strategy to reduce wasted ad spend and sell more cars.

What dealer isn’t looking for insights into the auto shoppers in their community?

Knowing your PMA’s demographics, credit scores, and total # of in-market shoppers is an incredible advantage to planning your dealership’s overall strategy.

That’s why we’ve created a tool that unlocks these key shopper data points with just a few simple clicks.

Hard To Find Data, Now At Dealers’ Fingertips

Over the last year, we’ve found that most auto dealerships believe that Facebook Ads can help them reach users in their local market.

But does your dealership know just how many users you can truly reach? Better yet, do you know how many of those users are In-Market Shoppers?

Previously, dealers have had to set up an Ad Account and check out the targeting options within Facebook Ads Manager to find out their max potential reach.

Then, in order to retrieve key automotive insights like purchase windows and credit scores, dealers have to request unique access into Oracle Data Cloud, wait for access, then layer those audience targeting options on top of their geotargeting.

(AKA, it was a pain in the you-know-what.)

That’s why our Dev team has spent countless hours to help dealers unlock all the key audience data that matters — at the touch of a button.

Introducing our newest tool for auto dealerships: The Market Intelligence Report! 🎉

Here’s how easy it is to build your own report and pinpoint how many In-Market Auto Shoppers are in your area:

How To Use The Market Intelligence Report Builder

To start building your Market Intelligence Report, go to https://www.dealersunited.com/resource/market-intelligence-report-auto-dealers/ and request instant access to the free builder.

Then, simply plug in your dealership address, choose your Primary + Secondary markets, and click “Get Results!”

You’ll instantly learn key insights about your dealership’s PMA, like:

• 📲  Total Facebook Users
• 🚘   Total In-Market Auto Shoppers
• 🙋‍♂️  User Demographics (Gender, Age)
• 💳  User Credit Score
• 📅  …and even when users plan to purchase a car!

These data points can help you not only understand your market better, but also help you leapfrog your competition in terms of a data-driven Facebook Ad strategy.

Knowing, identifying and understanding your target market can be some of the most difficult steps in business.

Since the days of the digital marketing revolution have begun, “spray and pray” campaigns have shown to be far less effective than a well targeted approach using a data driven analysis.

After using the Market Intelligence Report, you will have gained insights into your target market to better reach your PMA and sell more cars.

Click here to continue reading and get 4 campaign ideas that will help you maximize your Market Report findings.

Happy Selling!