Facebook advertising might be the most powerful tool auto dealerships have ever had. You can target people where they live, based on life events that might prompt them to buy a car, and every time they open a phone or a computer.

Unlike some other lead generating tools, Facebook catches people near the top of the sales funnel.

The top of funnel advantage

By catching people at the top of the sales funnel, you’re able to get to them before your competition can. You’re already forging a relationship while they’re just beginning to think about buying a car or truck. 

They aren’t spending Saturdays wandering around lots. They haven’t called anyone. They haven’t looked at finding yet.

No pre qualifying

Because they’re just beginning to think about buying a car, you can’t treat them like you would someone further through the process, deeper in the sales funnel. If you start asking questions about financing, co-signers, and credit information, you’re likely to scare them off. 

Take your time

The leads that you generate from Facebook need to be nurtured. You need to take your time to get them to your showroom and just talk to them.

They’re still in the emotional stages of buying a car. They might be shooting too high in terms of the vehicle they can afford, but that’s part of the process.

This all takes time and patience. Unlike the “hot” leads that you might from other sources, albeit fewer of them, the people will take time to get from “thinking about it” to signing on the dotted line. That said, if you walk them through the process, educate them a bit on the way, and treat them well, you’ll get a lot more loyalty out of them than someone who’s already decided on the major factors and is just looking for the right price. 

How to lose them quickly

If you jump right into credit issues or downpayments, anyone that’s not qualified is probably going to run away. This is doubly true if you don’t market yourself as a “bad credit, no problem” type of dealership. This doesn’t mean you can’t help people, but they haven’t built up the trust to get to that point. 

Get emotional with them

The leads you generate from Facebook are in the emotional stages of buying a car. You need to appeal to their emotions. They want to be excited and you need to give them permission to be excited. 

Invite them to the dealership with promises of no pressure and some fun test drives. Get them to fall in love with one of your vehicles. People can do amazing things in their lives when they really want something. 

While they’re looking at your vehicles, you can work on building trust and getting them taken care of. 

Later, when they’ve found the right vehicle and seem ready, you can start the conversation about co-signers, financing, and credit issues. 

The power of Facebook advertising to build a great funnel

The most important aspect of Facebook ads and their ability to build your funnel is that you can keep the funnel full by filing it at the top. 

If you’re working your leads well, you can move them from lukewarm, top-of-the-funnel leads to buyers. As one group moves out of the bottom the funnel a lot more will go into the top. 

Because the number of leads entering the funnel is large, you can eventually have a significant number of leads coming in to buy vehicles.

Working this way, and keeping your interactions moving leads down the funnel, you can get out ahead of your competition and keep people in your showroom instead of shopping around.

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