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Before 2018 takes off in full-swing, I’m sure your team is asking some important questions, like: “What actually WORKED last year?” We get it. Here’s your dealership’s massive guide to best practices, solutions, and strategies that sold cars in 2017:

We are just a few days in post-2017…and I have a question for you (a few of them actually):

Our team’s been looking back on ways our dealer-members sold more cars last year, and we wanted to share some of our favorites:

1. Getting on top

To kick off 2017, dealers tackled a dip in new-car sales with optimized Craigslist ads that pushed their listings to the TOP of the Search Results.

Then in March, some dealers used our Craigslist Monthly Payments Generator to automatically turn an ad’s list price into bite-sized #s.

(Interested? Tell us you want to learn more about Craigslist.)

2. Packing value

Another DU favorite?

Dealers getting FULL use out of their Google AdWords and PPC programs.

We successfully packed so much value into our PPC program that we made Mary Poppins jealous.

We saw tons of dealers add call tracking, Gmail ads, and even 3 types of YouTube ads into their existing SEM and Display strategies on Google.

(Interested? Tell us you want to learn more about PPC.)

3. Making inventory ads easier

Next, we kept hearing how much of a hassle it was for dealers to simply run vehicle ads on Facebook so…

…drumroll please…

…we made dealerships’ inventory feeds populate Facebook ads automatically, with every ad’s text, price, and image updating in real-time.

This made it so that any Ford dealer could place their total line of Ford Fusion inventory in front of people In-Market for a Ford sedan. Mind. Blown.

And once we added Dynamic VIN Retargeting to the mix…

(You know how Amazon follows you around with the same products you view after you leave? Yeah, that…)

…it was an absolute game-changer.

(Interested? Tell us you want to learn more about Facebook Inventory Ads.)

4. Driving brand awareness

Throughout the year, our dealers showed off their new-car specials + OEM incentives to Facebook’s In-Market Shoppers, too:

Plus, with new-car Lead Ads, dealers pushed thousands of Test Drive and Financing leads directly into their CRMs.

(Interested? Tell us you want to learn more about our New-Car Facebook Ad package.)

And—as usual—dealers got creative with their custom ads and branding campaigns year-round.

While we’re pretty accustomed to running testimonials, reviews, and service drive offers…

…a few of 2017’s more “unorthodox” campaigns included Service Technician hiring ads, Direct Mail lookalikes, and holiday-jumpsuit-sporting Sales Managers!

(Interested? Tell us you want to learn more about our Dealership Branding + Custom Facebook Ads.)

5. Revving up video

Many dealers also added Custom Model Line Videos to their digital advertising strategies.

We even helped some create a 25-part video series to show how their dealership could help everyone in the community, from new homebuyers to local educators.

(Interested? Tell us you want to learn more about our Custom Video Series.)

There you have it: What sold cars for auto dealers in 2017

We had a BUNCH of other product launches and upgrades, but our marketing team has run out of energy drinks…

Let us know if you want to talk shop about ANY of our solutions by writing in to our team here.

Otherwise, we can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together in 2018 and beyond.

Cheers to the New Year, from our team to yours!

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