Social media is now more important than ever when it comes to selling cars, and for some dealerships, it has even become their top source of traffic. Here’s how social media can increase your sales velocity all while adjusting, in real-time, to a volatile inventory market. Even if your new vehicle inventory is low, don't forget about the power of advertising your used cars.
80% of auto buyers said they are more likely to take car buying advice from their social network than from a salesperson, and 68% said they have purchased a car they found on social media (Crowdtap). This means that there is a massive audience on social media that is ready and willing to engage with your ads. If you want to sell more cars, you will need to take advantage of this opportunity.
Social ads can target potential buyers accurately and precisely, making those who view these ads extremely qualified leads. When these potential buyers, who already know what they want, see an ad on social media for that car in their area, they are much more likely to click through to the dealer’s vehicle display page.
So why do social ads work so well? While other channels like display ads target more top and mid-funnel consumers, social media can reach more bottom-funnel prospects. As mentioned above, these are prospective customers who already have an idea of what kind of car they want, so serving them an ad that matches a vehicle on your lot is much more effective than a branding or special-offer ad. Facebook enables dealers’ agencies (like ZeroSum) to connect dynamic-vehicle creative to its ad server, enabling exact vehicle advertising.
If you advertise at the VIN-level, you can also report whether the exact car you advertised, sold. Conversely, with ZeroSum’s patent-pending predictive modeling platform, MarketAI, you can predict how many social media ad impressions are needed to turn a vehicle. This further increases the agility and efficiency of your marketing campaigns. Need more proof this works?
ZeroSum customers know first-hand the impact that running social can have on their businesses. Since starting with ZeroSum in April of this year, one dealership’s social ads have already resulted in a 1,122.7% increase in new car VDPs from social, with about 90% coming from ZeroSum Facebook ads. This result is no exception – many ZeroSum customers have had a similar experience. Another one of our customers that has been running social currently gets about 56% of their total VDP views from social campaigns, making social their most impactful marketing channel. Additionally, their average days on lot decreased 48% for new cars and 67% for used cars.
With so much success now attributed to social media, choosing to run social ads for your dealership should be a no-brainer. ZeroSum can get you up and running in days. Learn more at https://www.zerosum.ai/solutions/social.