Yesterday, Facebook announced the release of two new resources for car dealerships, both designed to help dealers reach their audiences through targeted ad campaigns. This news comes nearly a week after the company announced it was adding several new ad tools for the 90M small businesses that have an active presence on the platform, including automated ads, appointment booking and video editing.
Head of Auto at Facebook, Kim Stonehouse, relayed that the resources come at a time when dealers are eager for guidance on utilizing Facebook’s many ad tools.
The first of the new resources is a Dealer Playbook, which demonstrates four different approaches for driving sales via Facebook ads, including:
Why Buy Here: Building brand awareness about your unique dealership and highlighting what sets you apart from competitors.
Reach Ready-to-Buy Customers: Using VIN specific messaging to reach customers who are already conducting online research.
Build Customers for Life: Utilizing a CRM database to connect with your customers by reiterating what matters most to them in order to reach them in a more meaningful way.
Drive Promotions and Events: Promote any events or deals that a dealership is hosting.
“Those are the four key strategies that we have laid out, and it’s absolutely in response to working with dealers, seeing what’s most successful for them, what’s driving results and hearing from them on the need to provide real tactical and specific support in their own language,” Kim said.
In addition to offering an explanation of each ad format Facebook offers (video, image, carousel, etc.), the Playbook also elaborates on further ad opportunities on the company’s other platforms, like Instagram and Messenger.
The second includes an update to Blueprint, the company’s free, online support platform that offers online learning courses, insights and other resources for executing Facebook advertising effectively. The update brings customized automotive-specific e-courses.
According to the company, the courses assess “Everything from the basics of how to set up the foundation of Facebook campaigns to the more advanced steps of creating compelling mobile-first ads, measuring their success, and more.”
Facebook remains a supporter of SMBs of all shapes and sizes with its vast array of marketing and advertising tools. As the platform increases its number of resources for retailers in all realms, it’s likely that more SMBs will opt for a presence on the platform and become paying advertisers.