They say there’s no such thing as a dumb question . . . but what if you don’t know which questions to ask in the first place?

We can’t stress enough the importance of asking questions, especially when it comes to your auto marketing. We created a blog series all about questions you should ask your digital marketing agency to make sure your marketing dollars are being spent in the best way possible.

So far, we’ve covered the topics of:

• Lead tracking
• Google Ads
• Email marketing
• Search engine optimization (SEO)

In this fifth and final installment of our “Questions to Ask Your Agency” blog series, we’re covering the topic of Facebook ads, sharing five questions you should ask before hiring (or firing) your next digital marketing agency.

The Importance of Facebook Advertising for Auto Dealers

The average active American Facebook user spends an average of 40 minutes a day on the platform.

If you’re not already utilizing Facebook ads in your dealership’s marketing strategy, you’re missing out on getting your store and inventory in front of people hanging out on Facebook every single day!

Facebook ads are incredibly powerful, but they must be shown to the right audience at the right time in order to produce a good return on investment (ROI). Before giving an agency free rein over your Facebook Business Manager, ask these five questions about automotive Facebook advertising.

5 Questions About Facebook Advertising You Must Ask

1. How Can I Know Facebook Ads Are Helping My Business?

Facebook ads will cost your dealership money, and you should only spend that money if you know it’s helping your business. While ROI can be difficult to measure with traditional marketing platforms like TV and radio, it’s much easier and more accurate to measure the success of Facebook ads.

After establishing your dealership’s key performance indicators (KPIs), such as new and used vehicle detail page (VDP) views, your marketing agency should work with you to create Facebook ads that boost those KPIs.

But if you run an ad on Facebook, and then a customer comes to your store to purchase a vehicle, how do you prove that ROI from Facebook?

Enter Facebook Offline Events: an offline conversion tool that allows advertisers to see how many people became a lead or made a purchase after seeing your Facebook ad.

In addition to reporting a campaign’s reach, cost per click (CPC), and other Facebook metrics, a good digital marketing agency will also report on Offline Events to see if the work it’s doing is translating to humans showing up at your dealership. (If you’re looking for a tool to streamline that process, check out Hydra.)

2. How Much Should I Spend on Facebook Ads?

Before creating Facebook ads, you first need to consider why you want to advertise on Facebook. In other words, are your goals:

• Brand awareness?
• Increasing form submissions?
• Generating more search results page (SRP) or VDP views?
• A combination of all of these?

Your dealership’s marketing team should communicate your Facebook advertising goals to your digital marketing agency before it gives you any Facebook budget recommendations.

After evaluating your Facebook ad goals, number of campaigns, campaign length, and estimated audience reach, your dealership and agency should be able to establish a Facebook ad budget that delivers results without overspending (or underspending) your marketing dollars.

3. How Will My Facebook Campaigns Work Together?

From top-of-funnel brand awareness ads to bottom-of-funnel Lead Ads, your Facebook campaigns should reach people wherever they are in the automotive sales funnel — without competing against each other.

If your marketing agency knows what it’s doing, it will make sure your Facebook campaigns are working together. For example, once a person interacts with your top-of-funnel campaign, they should see a more targeted Facebook ad, such as a dynamic retargeting ad.

Dynamic retargeting is essential for automotive marketing, as it allows you to show someone the exact vehicles they viewed on your website. At 9 Clouds, we even have our own software, Cumulus, that connects your automotive inventory feed with your Facebook catalog.

We’ve seen a three times higher click-through rate (CTR) and engagement with these ads — all with little to no management required after the software is implemented!

Learn More About Our Cumulus Software

4. Will You Use Our CRM Data? How?

To target the most qualified audience, your marketing agency should have access to your dealership’s customer relationship management (CRM) system. That said, make sure your agency is using your data wisely, not abusing it in a time when personal data privacy is such a hot topic.

9 Clouds has access to our clients’ CRMs to create Custom Audiences on Facebook, which can then be used to create Lookalike Audiences.

We’ve found that incorporating these Custom and Lookalike Audiences in Facebook ads result in higher-quality traffic and more qualified leads than relying on Facebook’s interest-based targeting alone.

North Dakota Ford Dealer Finds Success with Facebook Lookalike Audiences

5. How Does Your Agency Stay On Top of the Latest Trends with Facebook Advertising?

The only consistent thing about Facebook advertising (and digital marketing in general) is that it is always changing.

To keep up, your dealership’s digital marketing agency should invest time and energy into researching the latest Facebook trends and developments.

On the 9 Clouds team, we have designated “Facebook specialists” who participate in Facebook webinars, subscribe to Facebook blogs and newsletters, and communicate what they’ve learned to the rest of our team and clients.

We also have a designated representative at Facebook with whom we regularly meet to ask questions. This allows us to learn firsthand what’s to come in the world of Facebook advertising.

Ask 9 Clouds Your Facebook Advertising Questions

Facebook ads should be an important part of your online marketing. Looking for more Facebook resources for auto dealers? Check out our site.

If you’re ready to achieve real results with a trusted digital marketing partner, contact us for a custom digital marketing proposal for your dealership.

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