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Guys Just wondering if any of you have had much (any) success with FaceBook / Instagram advertising? I've been setting up my website and connecting all my social media for the business and I notice that you can place an ad on FaceBook and pay to 'boost' it. It's quite cheap and the ad runs on both Instagram and FaceBook. You can specify the total budget, the demographic of the audience, the region you would like the ad to be boosted in and you can see analytics on how the ad is performing. So I was wondering if anyone else does this? I set one up yesterday and it went live overnight. I'll let you know how it gets on and tell you if any leads come through. Kind regards Scrawf I supposed if I go to CDX I'll learn all about it!

THOUSANDS of dealers across the UK are using Facebook to their advantage in the areas of sales and marketing – and you’ll be able to find out more about how it can help YOU at this year’s CDX. Researchers from the massively popular social media site recently discovered that two thirds of consumers would prefer to send an online message to a friend or business than pick up the phone or send an email. And that’s where Facebook comes in with its Messenger service. Over the past 18 months, Facebook has developed best practice that enables OEMs and retailers to come together to provide a seamless customer experience through social media that also drives increased conversion rates. OEMs build brand favourability, model awareness and product consideration via Facebook and Instagram, and thanks to Facebook’s ability to track when consumers are showing signs that they are ready to buy, it can ensure your local marketing activity targets the right people at the right time. REGISTER FOR YOUR FREE CDX TICKET HERE This workshop is relevant for franchised retailers and independents who will able to… Discover how Facebook can seamlessly connect OEM and retailer marketing efforts to target the right customer at the right time with the right message; Learn how OEMs have built messenger bots to help qualify customers, and connect them to retailers; Learn how Facebook can then seamlessly transfer the customer to the retailer, to continue the conversation in real time. You’ll also be shown examples of best practice, and how you can upskill your marketing to capitalise on the new way consumers are preferring to interact with businesses. If your contact rate of consumers has been declining in recent years, this workshop will show you how to reverse that trend. It will be presented by Aiden White, client solutions manager, autos, for Facebook UK. Aiden works with the UK’s leading OEMs and their agencies to deliver campaigns across the Facebook ‘ecosystem’ as well as drive closer collaboration with their retailer networks. Another great reason to come to CDX 2019 at Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre, on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. VIDEO: Why YOU should be at this year's CDX!

Having spent over £30,000 advertising on Facebook over the past few years, I wondered if other car dealers/brokers used FB to market their cars and what experience have you had with it. We had no problem getting the audiences, however contacting the applicants who came from FB has been a nightmare. Anybody else seen the same?

Hi all, I'm the Digital Marketer at First Response and just wanted to share some industry knowledge with you guys. Facebook have just updated their algorithm (how they decide which posts get seen) and they've made it extremely hard for any business Page to now show on people's newsfeed. Essentially, to get onto a newsfeed you will now have to pay for it or have incredible engagement. If you're a Facebook-focused dealer then you will likely need to start thinking strategically. Facebook want conversations between a dealership and its fans/customers. I would not be surprised if over the next coming weeks you see your reach dropping significantly on your posts and your engagement coming to a halt (calculate this by adding likes, comments & shares over the week or month then dividing by number of likes). My best advice for dealers at the moment is to: Allow conversations on your page (reviews, posts, comments) and actively respond back to them Use video - this naturally has more reach and live videos are even better Stop posting the same stuff over and over again, it's about quality not quantity (if applicable) Start thinking about what your fans want to see (not what you want to show them) Consider putting aside some budget and/or man power for your Facebook There's a lot to take in there but I am happy to answer any questions! Jade Digital Marketer First Response Finance

What is the effectiveness of sharing cars for sale on Facebook & Twitter branded with your logo and colors?

Just seen this article! We know it goes it everywhere in the country - but this just shows the extent to the number of cars being sold - It affects us all - hence legit dealers are losing business / profits ! A car dealer has been handed a 12 week suspended prison sentence after selling a potentially dangerous car while posing as a private seller. Ian Blinkhorne of Elm Road, Stratford, pleaded guilty to the charges against him at Nuneaton Magistrates following an investigation by Warwickshire County Council’s Trading Standards team. The 51-year-old sold the Ford Ka to a Leamington woman after he had advertised the vehicle for sale on Facebook, The Leamington Spa Courier reported. It later failed an MOT test and a Trading Standards’ vehicle examiner identified a number of faults which made the car unsafe to drive. Among the issues were faulty power steering, seized brakes, excessive corrosion to the driver’s seat mounting and failed suspension.

Whilst you have all been moaning and groaning about the latest Autotrader price increase we have been filling our boots with selling cars via Facebook. No I know what you are all going to say " we already DO Facebook" , but DOING Facebook is NOT enough, you have to learn how to master it and the persistently work with it until it starts paying off. Directly marketing customers, right down to age, gender, where they stay, what they like, even which TV programmes they watch.....I know it's crazy, but YOU can use this technology now! Yes you have to pay to get results, but trust me it's only a fraction of what you are paying advertising on Classified Adverts especially Autotrader. Now there are two ways to do this, either take the hard lonely path which takes about three years to master (this is what we did) OR take the easier more direct route which will normally take about 3 months to get results! Let me know if you want any help and I'll point you in the right direction. As Albert Einstein once said " Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results " Jim

Due to launch tomorrow the Car Dealer Magazine Conference and Expo Event at Silverstone, Facebook for the Forecourt is an excellent series of videos & tutorials produced by Neil & David of Neil Weightman Digital Media. Personally I’m really excited as I have been lucky enough to sneak a preview and feel that EVERYONE can benefit from this Product! I even feature in some of the videos as Neil and I discuss our very own success with Facebook. If you are going to Silverstone tomorrow make sure you grab two minutes with Neil & David at Stand 230 but in the meantime why not click on the link below to register your interest NOW! Keep an eye out for a very special PROMO Code just for our very own Twitter Car Dealers Forum, which will give you a discount over and above the special launch price! http://www.fbfortheforecourt.com/ Kind regards Jim

Now I know there are LOADS of sceptics out there but let me tell you something for nothing, we ARE selling cars via Facebook! It's not been an overnight thing, it's been a carefully constructed strategy, hard work and persistence, but let me tell you, it's now FUN, EASY to carry out and it's now paying OFF! Yesterday (Saturday) I sold a GTD Golf at £14999 from a post on our Facebook page after many Direct Messages with a follower (who had never dealt with us before ) and a Subaru WRX at £28499 which we posted on FB a few weeks back with a GoPro video Road Test by myself again to a brand new customer to us! Not bad for two £13 promoted posts! Certainly much cheaper than AutoTrader. But before you all start logging onto FB to post a few quick adverts, you really need get your strategy right! One of the problems you encounter is the fact that Facebook, like Google continue to move the goal posts so you need someone on your side who knows where to move the goals posts to and that is where we have been lucky BUT you can be too because I have convinced our "goal post shifter' and 'Digital Guru' to share these secrets. It has taken us over 3 years for to get the results we are having now from FB but our man "Neil Weightman' of Neil Weightman Digital Solutions is about to packet and launch what he has taught us so YOU can get those results sooner. Neil is going to launch his 'Facebook for the Forecourt' Package at this years Car Dealer Conference, so if you ever needed a reason to go this is it!

I never knew this and thought it was worth sharing ..... Anyone noticed your data being used up quickly lately? Well it is because facebook has changed your settings and as videos now auto play in your feed...that's huge data and costs you £. On iPhone, go into your phone settings, go to FB icon, click on that, then on settings and select "auto play on wifi only". On desktop go to the little triangle top right of your FB page, go to settings, down the bottom is videos, click on videos and move the slider to off On android go into ap settings and do the same On Samsung while in FB press the left button next to home key on the phone then press settings and it comes up with the auto play option.

Posting Pictures / information/ Registration numbers on Social Media. I’ve been thinking about this for a quite a while and the recent story about Paul Weller made me wonder even more. I’m always cautious about what information I post on social media, I always ask customers if they are OK with their picture being posted on FB / Twitter when they’ve bought a car from me. It’s all too easy to snap away without thinking and post pictures /information which could cause an issue for some one. The Paul Weller situation is a bit different as it’s his children, but what if you spotted a car with an unusual registration number , snapped away posted it on twitter , and the car shouldn’t have been there for whatever reason ??? I nearly did that say a car with ‘GOK’ ( Don’t think it was Gok Wan !) But was just about to take a picture and thought ‘what if’ ... I didn’t bother! We all do these things on spur of the moment and its for fun , but in reality are we asking for trouble ? lawsuit ? any thoughts ?

Saw this story earlier on twitter and thought it was worth sharing on how NOT to use social media, AND being careful of who tweets/ responds on your business ! http://northernmunky.com/2014/02/16/the-shed-where-the-tools-live-apparently/comment-page-1/#comment-22

After the Top 100 most influential twitter car dealers was published, I asked myself what actually is more influential? Facebook or Twitter? I post videos, pictures, questions and even just comments or observations. Everything I post to Facebook gets automatically posted to Twitter. I think I have a good following on Facebook, most of my interactions are done with customers or potential customers, whereas most of my followers and interactions on Twitter are done with fellow dealers or others in the motor trade. I like both forms of social media, but for very different reasons. The things I post, definitely go further with Facebook, and I know I've sold more cars as a result of Facebook than I have via twitter. I also know that more of my customers are more active on Facebook than they are on Twitter. What does everyone else prefer Facebook or Twitter? and why? Is there a way of monitoring how influential we are on Facebook? And, is there a way of monitoring which one is most influential for car dealers? Would love to know peoples thoughts.

Just a thought but only dealers on twitter know about this forum and how 'social media' works. Still a lot of dealers out there just about getting a website never mind anything else, seeing that 'The car Dealer Magazine' is sent out to a lot of dealers , some who are not on social media /networks doing a survey with all the subscribers to find out what their thoughts are? Just an idea ? I Think it would be interesting to see why/what they think about social media/ good- bad? over to you CD Team!