How to sell cars on Facebook Marketplace for auto dealers
Millions of people shop for vehicles on Facebook Marketplace every day. This makes Marketplace a natural fit for auto retailers looking to promote vehicle inventory on Facebook. It is now possible for dealerships to list their inventory on Facebook Marketplace and reach more car buyers than ever before.
From our early tests, our clients have enjoyed a steady stream of enquiries from Facebook Marketplace for used car inventory, so it’s a good channel to prioritise for 2019.
Facebook Marketplace for auto retailers is still relatively new and we’ve had many questions from dealerships on how to best integrate Marketplace in their Facebook campaigns. In this blog, we aim to give an introduction to Facebook Marketplace for auto retailers and provide some guidance on how to use Marketplace to reach buyers at every stage of their buying journey.
Facebook Marketplace launched in 2016 as a local shopping platform and quickly started gaining ground on shopping sites such as eBay, Motors and Gumtree. In 2018 Facebook introduced ads for Marketplace giving businesses a real chance to reach customers who are actively shopping for their products and services.
When Facebook learned that a huge number of Marketplace shoppers were browsing for used cars, they decided to strengthen their Marketplace proposition for auto retailers with a number of new features. Facebook partnered with listing partners such as Cars.com in the US and Motors.co.uk in the UK to allow car dealerships to list their used car inventories on Marketplace.
This feature is only available in a limited number of regions at the time of this article being published in 2018 but there are plans to roll this out to a wider global audience.
As a Facebook Marketplace Listing Partner If you need help getting started, get in touch with us here.
Marketplace is a new feature for Facebook, so expect lots of exciting improvements in 2019 too.
Why use Facebook Marketplace for Auto Retailers
- Increase your brand visibility
- Reach in-market buyers
- Allow buyers to browse your products and request information without having to leave Facebook
- Respond to enquiries quickly with Facebook Messenger or a short instant form
- Showcase vehicles and display useful information such as price, model and mileage
- Target your audience with phone friendly listings
- Offer easy and convenient search of your inventory - At the moment Facebook Marketplace allows buyers to filter results by Vehicle type, Price, Year, Make and Model, Body style, Mileage and Transmission making it quick and easy for potential buyers to find the right vehicle
- Reach buyers with high buying intent - the Dealership Only filter on Marketplace allows you to cut through the clutter and reach people interested in buying from an auto retailer
How to list your used vehicle inventory on Facebook Marketplace
Here is how to get started with using Facebook Marketplace to promote your used vehicle inventory.
- In order to start taking advantage of Facebook Marketplace for auto dealers, you need to have an active Facebook business page.
- You can manually upload your inventory for free. If you would like to automatically sync your inventory with Marketplace, you will need to sign up with a Facebook Marketplace Listing Partner such as Driftrock. Find out more here.
- The Inventory partner will request access to your Facebook page in order to list your inventory on Marketplace.
- If you are using a live chat provider you need to connect it to Messenger. Alternatively, your Marketplace inventory partner will set up instant forms so that you can hear from your customers.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1682.0"]
This is what an instant form looks like on Marketplace [/caption]
How to create Marketplace ads
In addition to the free listings on Marketplace, you can also advertise on Facebook Marketplace as a placement.
The big advantage that Marketplace has over other ad placements is that majority of buyers on Marketplace will be actively looking to make a purchase and will therefore be more likely to convert.
Here is the step by step process of setting up a Marketplace ad:
- Log in to your Ads Manager Account
- Choose any one of those as your objective - Brand awareness,Reach, Traffic, Video views, Lead Generation, Messages, Conversions, Catalogue Sales or Store Visits and click Continue
- Select your Destination
- Choose your Audience and targeting options
- Choose Automatic Placements or Edit Placements
- Automatic placements option is a good way to ensure your ad shows at the placement that is likely to generate the biggest return on investment.
- Marketplace is not available as a placement on its own. If you choose Edit Placements bear in mind that Marketplace ads only work if they are available across different placements. Every Marketplace ad will also display in News Feed.
6. Set your budget or schedule
7. Choose the ad format
8. Click done when you are finished setting up your ad
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2026.0"]
This Marketplace listing uses a Facebook Messenger integration to answer buyer enquiries as fast as possible [/caption]
Check out our Free Guide to the 6 Essential Automotive Facebook Campaigns for some inspiration.
How to manage Facebook Marketplace leads
It’s important to respond to your Facebook Marketplace leads as quickly as possible.
With Driftrock you can sync lead form leads to the correct dealership, with the vehicle they are interested in through to your DMS or CRM. Alternatively, you can also sync leads from Messenger Chat bot conversations in the same way.
Feel free to get in touch with us to learn more
Note: Facebook (Meta) has recently launched new features such as Facebook Automotive Inventory ads and Facebook Dynamic ads. These ads provide a custom automotive experience and better targeting. You can read more about it here.
Looking for your Automotive Facebook Lead Generation and Management Partner?
Driftrock's software powers lead generation for 22 brands and over 500 dealerships. With Driftrock as your Facebook Partner you can keep control over your listings and sync leads directly to your CRM or DMS or send them straight to your email inbox.
