Facebook makes it very easy to spend money on their ad platform. Getting results is a whole different story.
Hopefully, by now your dealership has at least experimented with spending money on Facebook. It is really the only way to get true targeted results. Many will try to convince you of other “tactics” they have to game the system but I would tell them, just like I am telling you, …BS.
Facebook choked down organic reach for a reason. They went public. They had to show investors how they would make money. Going public made Facebook “pay to play.” That’s not a bad thing. The ad platform improves daily. Facebook isn’t just sitting still collecting their customers’ money. They really strive to add value. As they add that value the need for a budget climbs. Facebook posts without budget behind them will typically reach about 1% of your audience.
In the ad platform, you can set up a timeline ad, and you should. Step away from the boost button! “Boost” is very simple but you have more targeting options and control in the Ads Manager tool. That ad will earn you exposure to every post on your timeline. When you add a new post, just jump into Ads Manager and direct the spend to that post. This exposure to the ad platform will open up a whole new world of options to you. But be careful. Like I said earlier, Facebook makes it very easy to spend money. It takes strategy and experience to really work the tools to your benefit.
Data is the next big thing required to ensure success with your Facebook ads. We’re talking about the list of people who are in-market in your area for a new car that you sell. We felt Facebook data fell short of what we need to ensure highly targeted, relevant traffic was landing on our client’s websites, so, we went outside of Facebook for our targeting data. Doing that gave us the ability to target all the way down to the specific model (Silverado.) Facebook only gives you the ability to target brand (Chevrolet.) Currently, individual users and most agencies can only target people interested in Chevrolet, Dealer Authority, thanks to our partner data, can target people within a specific geographic location that have expressed interest or shown the behavior that they are likely to buy a Silverado soon. See where that would be a benefit?
If you currently have a vendor handling your social media but haven’t set an advertising budget, we need to talk. If you have set an advertising budget but they aren’t able to target down to the model, we need to talk. If you haven’t embraced Facebook as one of the most effective forms of advertising for your dealership… I’m speechless …but I still want to talk.