Auto dealers might want to remember a famous quote from Mark Twain when it comes to their social media advertising strategy, particularly Facebook. To use a Twain-ism, “the report of my death has been grossly exaggerated.”
Facebook has had a lot of negative publicity the past few years. It might lead dealers to believe that Facebook is struggling. Yes, its revenue declined slightly in 2022. Yes, it found itself embroiled in controversy over perceived censorship, and yes, other social media platforms have gained significant audience.
But, make no mistake, Facebook remains an advertising juggernaut. It’s a great platform for driving customer engagement and remains one of the most important elements in any auto dealer’s social media strategy.
No matter where a dealership is located, Facebook provides access to a massive audience of potential car buyers. In its most recent quarterly earnings call, the company said it eclipsed the 2 billion Daily Active User (DAUs) threshold in Q4 2022. That’s a jump of 81 million users Year-over-Year and evidence the platform is still growing and gaining popularity.
Facebook also delivers the RIGHT audience for anyone trying to sell new or used vehicles. Its users skew a little older than new entrants in the social media landscape, such as TikTok and Snap. In fact, 41.1% of Facebook’s current users are between the ages of 35 and 65. Just 28.4% of TikTok users are between 35 and 65. Given that the average new vehicle buyer is now 53 years old, Facebook’s older demographic is an advantage in the automotive space.
Facebook revenue was $116.61 billion in 2022, down just 1% year-over-year for the fourth quarter and full year 2022, respectively. Of course, that matters more to investors than to advertisers.
For auto dealers, Facebook advertising is becoming more efficient as time moves on. In the fourth quarter of 2022, ad impressions delivered across Facebook’s family of apps increased by 23% year-over-year. At the same time, the average price per ad decreased by 22% year-over-year. For auto dealers, this means their Facebook advertising dollars were much more likely to provide an efficient and effective spend last year.
Another factor making Facebook even more efficient is the use of Artificial Intelligence to better target overall advertising. For ZeroSum, that means combining the MarketAI platform with Facebook’s dynamic advertising capabilities. The MarketAI platform finds real shoppers in market and delivers relevant ads build from the inventory on a dealer’s lot.
These ads dynamically adjust daily to provide the most impactful ad creative for each individual shopper. This effectively prospects new customers while also re-engaging abandoned shoppers with models that first piqued their interest.
By embracing the power of AI and using Facebook to its full potential, automotive dealerships can achieve higher levels of success in their automotive campaigns. We’ve seen significant improvements in turn rate and overall sales through several client marketing campaigns.
Facebook remains a powerful platform for automotive dealerships to reach potential customers with engaging content, helping sell both new and used vehicles. Much like Mark Twain in the late 1800s, Facebook is very much alive. We expect it will remain a critical component of the auto dealer marketing mix for a long time to come.