Why Your Dealership Cannot Miss Out On Facebook Marketplace For Autos
Have you heard of Facebook Marketplace, a new feature inside of Facebook that’s helping users buy and sell products online? If not, there’s one Marketplace section in particular that’s worth taking a closer look: the autos section. With a larger audience than Craigslist and Autotrader, Marketplace is quickly becoming the hotspot for listing pre-owned vehicles. And the best part? It’s free. Here’s what you need to know about Facebook Marketplace for auto dealers:
Facebook Marketplace For Auto Dealers Explained
There’s a new platform you should be listing your vehicles on, and it’s not AutoTrader, Cars.com, or Craigslist…
It’s called Facebook Marketplace, a new feature within Facebook’s platform that helps connect buyers and sellers (and is already raking in 550MM+ shoppers monthly according to Forbes.com).
Within it, you can find listings for everything from concert tickets to houses.
But the most popular category? Autos.
“We noticed that autos is one of the most popular categories on Marketplace with millions of Americans looking at cars and vehicle listings every day,” said Facebook’s Product Manager, Bowen Pan.
Why Your Dealership Should Take A Closer Look At Marketplace:
Easy Filtering and KBB Integration
Users can search cars for sale near them and narrow listings by body type, mileage, year, price, etc. Plus, Facebook has partnered with Kelley Blue Book to add estimated price and fuel economy to help guide shoppers to the right cars.
High Shopper Volume
While 3rd party listing sites need to spend money to attract shoppers to their sites, Facebook already has the volume: 214 million users in the U.S. to be exact. “Instead of paying for user acquisition, [Facebook] simply adds an icon on its mobile app and suddenly has millions of users [on Marketplace],” said Digital Dealer in a recent article.
Built-In Messenger
Once a shopper is interested, Marketplace helps them start a 1:1 conversation with your dealership on Facebook Messenger. Using Messenger, your team can launch a face-to-face video message or even collect down payments through Messenger’s secure payment feature.
Wide User Adoption and Trust
Unlike sites like Craigslist that have buyer/seller anonymity, Marketplace listings are connected to Facebook’s public profiles with a person’s name, photos, and network. This has made shoppers widely adopt Marketplace as the go-to place to buy and sell since they feel more secure when communicating and transacting.
The Best Part – It’s Free
That’s right: listing your vehicles on Marketplace is FREE.
There’s no cost per listing, and Facebook never takes any percentage of transactions made through its platform.
But while the listings are free, you will need to expect costs associated with setting up your vehicle feeds.
(While your dealership can list your vehicles manually, doing so will require tedious updates to pricing, descriptions, and photos — plus swapping the listing once it sells. NOT recommended!!!)
Thankfully there’s another way…
How To Automatically Sync Your Vehicle Feed To Marketplace
Recently Facebook selected Dealers United as a certified Inventory Partner to help dealers set up and sync their vehicle feeds to Facebook Marketplace automatically.
Through our Inventory Ads platform, dealers are able to list their entire pre-owned inventory at no additional cost.
…which translates to hundreds of automated classifieds on the #1 social platform in the U.S — for free!
(Want to learn more about how we sync inventory to Facebook? Read this article.)
Ready to join Facebook Marketplace? Click here!
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.
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