Carousel Ads and Your Alternative: Stop Losing Business
You want your independent dealer business to expand consistently. You must be the dealership that people choose to visit first if you want to do that. The issue is that following every other dealership’s cookie-cutter approach won’t make you stand apart. Inventory carousel advertisements, which are slideshow advertising that feature photographs of your inventory and vehicle prices, may appear to be the perfect solution, but there are a number of serious issues with that tactic.
These inventory ads have the following issues:
Dealership digital advertisers are increasingly using inventory carousel ads, also referred to as automobile Inventory Ads. In fact, according to Facebook/Meta, these automated and state inventory ads account for an astounding 89% of dealerships’ digital advertising budgets. While these advertisements could appear to be a quick and inexpensive approach to highlight inventory, you’ll be in direct competition with every other dealer in the market, particularly franchise businesses.
Using a broad audience as a target
The effectiveness of your targeting is another problem. These advertisements may not be being seen by the people you wish to target since the platforms on which they are displayed, like Facebook, optimize them to be seen by people who click on advertising regularly. Additionally, many platforms restrict the targeting to people over 18 who live within at least a 15-mile radius of your business if you’re a dealership. That will cost a lot to even make a dent.
Taking Away From Your Brand
Advertisements that just feature your inventory and prices have a tendency to suggest that the only value of your dealership is its selection and pricing. These kinds of marketing will quickly start to backfire unless you’re certain that you always have unique products and competitive rates.
The Cure
To solve the issue, it’s essential to work together with your marketing team and advertisers to develop a straightforward yet distinctive plan that meets the needs of your dealership and distinguishes you from your rivals.
striking out
Using video advertisements to promote your dealership to individuals who may not be familiar with you before is one such successful tactic to take into consideration. According to research, over 70% of in-stream video advertisements are completed. Additionally, video advertising can be displayed in social media newsfeeds, articles, and other online communities where your customers are most likely to be found.
Prescriptive messaging and precise audience targeting
You can use individual customer data to target a specific audience for your dealership thanks to the availability of data service providers like TransUnion. For instance, if you are excellent at qualifying customers with less-than-perfect credit, you could use data analysis to target this particular audience and show them a video demonstrating how your dealership can qualify customers with low credit scores with a low down payment and manageable monthly payments.
You may differentiate your dealership from the plethora of mass-produced, automatically generated inventory ads while still communicating with the right demographics by utilizing these specialized and distinctive tactics.
Potential buyers will be aware of your dealership and curious to learn more after seeing your video a few times. Your paid advertisements can start to work their magic here. Customers can easily touch to phone, submit a loan application, or see your website by tapping on your advertising that are designed to look like Facebook Marketplace.
Once a potential buyer has visited your website, your advertising pixel(s) will be able to identify them, allowing you to retarget them using a thorough paid ad campaign. This implies that you can target users who started filling out a lead form or credit application but abandoned it.
If all goes according to plan and a customer ultimately decides to purchase a car from your dealership, you can benefit from the ability to target them with advertisements for up to 180 days following the sale. By expressing your gratitude for their business and asking their network or anybody they know who would be interested in buying a car, these ads can serve as a simple yet effective method to say “thank you” rather than trying to sell them another vehicle. By doing this, you may easily broaden your audience and draw in new potential clients who were recommended by an individual they know and trust, all while preserving your relationship with your current clients.
Compared to the more conventional strategy of just flooding a specific area with inventory, you can significantly enhance new sales conversions by employing focused tactics like the one outlined above. The strategic approach enables you to target the right audience while being more specific with the message you want to deliver. This ultimately encourages business growth by optimizing how your advertising funds are used.
To sum up, while inventory carousel advertising might initially appear like a good idea, they may ultimately prove to be a waste of money. The best course of action would be to work with your advertiser to develop a distinctive plan that focuses on the proper demographic and highlights your dealership’s advantages, ensuring that your ads are more effective and unique than those of your rivals.
About SimpSocial
An automobile digital marketing company called SimpSocial is dedicated to assisting dealers with significantly increasing sales, service, and trades. SimpSocial, a company founded by former Facebook employees and industry leaders in the auto industry, invented a platform to hone target audiences and make advertisements more pertinent to consumers. SimpSocial’s dealership clients are able to be the dealership continuously in the shopper’s feeds thanks to white-glove dealer-specific creative.
You can get in touch with for additional details at SimpSocial.com or SimpSocial (888) 829-1110.
Back to Blog