It doesn't matter how you sell; your dealership can thrive with Facebook leads on the bottom line. If you’re still not convinced about investing in automotive marketing on Facebook, here’s a quick snapshot of why you should:
- Facebook still has the largest user database out of all social platforms, with 2.32 billion monthly users as of the end of 2018
- 74% of users access the app or desktop site at least once daily, spending an average of 35 minutes per day on the platform
- 78% of Americans have discovered retail products to purchase on Facebook
One of ActivEngage’s fastest-growing services is Facebook marketing for car dealerships. In this article, we discuss the top 3 reasons WHY (and how):
Car dealers get more quality Facebook leads from Messenger with ActivEngage
Managing social media conversations is NOT as easy as people think. When car dealerships come to ActivEngage for Facebook services, they often come with horror stories — Messenger bots, inappropriate responses from their staff, poor customer service that got out of hand, etc. Mismanagement of Facebook can cost your dealership its reputation and revenue; you don’t want to get this wrong.
Having had over 1 MILLION conversations on Messenger with car buyers, the ActivEngage Technology Team has created a platform that supercharges engagement and drives results. To name a few:
Chat Queues
Did you know that most Facebook conversations span days at a time? Our Chat Queues keep track of your previous messages so you can pick up right where you left off. No other Messenger, Texting, and Web Chat platform does this!
PreRead
PreRead™ allows platform users to see what shoppers are typing in real-time before they ever hit send. This helps dealership staff (and our messaging team who also uses the software) offer speedy, friendly service every time.
Lead Form Autofill
Messenger isn’t designed to get leads into the CRM, and doing this by hand often causes data error. Lead Form Autofill automatically captures lead information in conversations, so all you have to do is click a button to send data to your CRM.
That’s just scratching the surface of what the ActivEngage platform can do, but you get the gist. Messenger conversations can be a considerable lead driver for your dealership; you just need to know what to look for.
Facebook ads are more effective and easy to deploy with ActivEngage
Facebook automotive inventory ads use your dealership’s live inventory feed to show your vehicles to local, in-market buyers proactively. If you haven’t heard of these before, you’ve probably already seen them. They’re increasingly popular.
With ActivEngage, dealers can leverage Facebook's sophisticated targeting data to create dynamic inventory ads based on consumers' market radius, credit bracket, and car shopping behavior. This results in the opportunity to reach the highest customer base yet!
How Auto Inventory Ads work:
Shoppers who are actively searching for a vehicle will be targeted to see dealer ads in their Newsfeeds. Each ad is unique to the individual—if a shopper is searching for SUVs, ActivEngage targets them with local SUV ads.
But, because some shoppers won’t always convert after seeing an ad once, our tool launches retargeting ads until they do. By retargeting them, you’re giving customers a more engaging and personalized car buying experience. This results in a happier customer and an even better selling experience.
The most significant advantage of these ads is that they can drive customers back to your dealership website, making it a first-party lead. You spend THOUSANDS of dollars driving traffic to your website and making it your digital storefront. Facebook Inventory Ads are just one way of turning those dollars into sales, not just traffic.
Putting it All Together for the Ultimate Facebook Program
From raising awareness through Ads to showcasing inventory on Marketplace to engaging and converting those interested buyers in Messenger, it’s clear that Facebook is just another valuable extension of your storefront.
Creating a multi-touch Facebook campaign is hard work — and it’s easy to get caught in the weeds of marketing ideas instead of focusing on the ultimate goal. With ActivEngage, your dealership can streamline vendors, provide a unified message through multiple Facebook channels, and ultimately turn social media into social commerce.
