Facebook Advertising

[Max Branning 149]

I have recently started some facebook advertising again after a break from it for around 1 year. I previously tried boosting posts that i had linked to my facebook page but really got no response so felt it was a waste of time and money. 

After hearing positive things on this forum from other dealers regarding facebook i was wondering if they could pass on some tips as to how they are making it work?

Are you paying to boost posts? or are you promoting website / local business etc at cost? maybe you are manually posting adverts in local groups,  i have tried this but seems very time consuming maybe i am missing something.

What form of advertising on facebook seems to get the best results for you?

 

 

 

[jimreidvehicle 255]

Max we enjoy great success with Facebook advertising, most of which is done with boosted posts, one of the main things is the eye catching pictures that you MUST use, take  alook at what we do on our Facebook page,   https://www.facebook.com/jimreidvehicles , you also have to be available to reply quickly and put up with some really stupid questions but if you persist then it will pay off Quite happy to share what we have learned

Jim

[SC Derby 259]

When it comes to Facebook sponsored posts, whats to stop you doing one sponsored post of say £20 for your 5 cars that are due in (other than you may not have great pictures), that way you are creating nice early interest and are advertising 5 cars for the price of one?

[Max Branning 149]

I have tried boosting posts before but although it reaches maybe 5000 people, i might just get 2 or 3 likes from it and that was it. Seemed like a waste of money, maybe its just a case of persevering. What kind of budgets do you guys use? And what about target audience anything in particular?

[jimreidvehicle 255]

Please above, we paid £22 for 4 days boost, these are the results we got, just to give you an idea, the interest and the areas is very specific also the age profile , some great pictures filtered through Instagram to show dramatic look and a great description, loads of interest in this car, although not sold yet, many Direct Messages that you don't see

[sparky 274]

I've only just been starting to get into FB  but I've no doubt that it works and is providing decent leads. I'm averaging a car a month off it which doesn't sound a lot but in some cases, it's a car a month that I would not have sold had I not been on it.

For example, I had a decent spec 7 seater in last week, put it on my usual platforms (not AT) and also did a FB boost as per usual at £20. Now I'm on the North Wales coast and I've been targeting either side of me. On this one though I played about with the target audience (and this is something I need to speak to Jim about) and went further south to include the town of Wrexham (home to to the greatest football team the world has ever seen) and hey presto. Next day, a woman walks in to see said car, it's exactly what she has been looking for some time. On the test drive she remarked how she's been looking for this type of car for a while and how she saw it on her FB feed. Whether or not she would have seen the car on other platforms is debatable but to be honest it's san fairy ann. £3 pounds worth of FB advertising and boom, nuff said.

 

Now tales like this are clearly not the norm, but it's an example of just what can happen for very little money, mixed in with some time and effort, and as always, a sprinkle of luck.

[Max Branning 149]

The target audience seems to make a big difference. Any tips as to what works with this?

[Velicular 10]

I think a lot is lost in paid advertising with FB. Yes you can select audiences etc but how many other people are also marketing to the same audience? For your ad to stand out you have to be very different and creative in some ways.

Building a brand awareness locally for your business on FB will pay dividends over paid advertising. Yes it takes a while longer to do but the results are astounding. Remember most people are on FB for social reasons. Yes the odd add catches someone's eye but it is slim pickings.   Building a brand will keep visitors crossing your door step because you are not trying to sell to them. In some ways it works as a reverse phycology.

A bigger bang for your pound in advertising is sticky adds as I like to call them. Have you noticed that when you search the web for a product it does not matter which site you go to afterwards that has advertising on it, the item you were looking at is there in the ad. These adds have proved to give better results because they follow people around on the net. Also they are cheaper than FB advertising.

[James Bush 95]

I've been using facebook seriously for around 6 months and get mixed results but on the whole sell 3 or 4 cars on month from it. The customers in the whole seem to be under 35 years of age but the likes and shares do help spread your brand, and finance seems to be a big seller on facebook for me. From my website stats I can see a spike every time I boost one of my facebook posts so facebookers aren't just viewing the add and disappearing. You do get a lot of bizarre questions and hopeful daydreamers hoping to swap some old banger with big wheels and a spoiler for a nice bit of prime stock but a polite decline and a few minutes throwing messages back and forth and no harm is done.

One mistake I did make was just advertising car after car and you'd get a few likes from a boosted post but the new likes seemed to then disappear, so I started mixing it up with a bit of motoring news, sports news, iPhone hints and tips, funny videos (although be careful because what I may laugh at is somebody else's worst insult - my women driver video didn't go down too well with certain females, even though it was really taking the p155 out of lane hogging male drivers) etc and be prepared to spend a bit of time with it. I think its slowly slowly with facebook because its rare you'll post a car at the exact time somebody is looking for one but its all about awareness and building a brand an a audience as already has been said.

[jimreidvehicle 255]

13 minutes ago, Max Branning said:

The target audience seems to make a big difference. Any tips as to what works with this?

It is a bit of trial and error, but doing a bit of research and thinking about what ages groups have interest wise but it's very fulfilling when you get it spot on

2 hours ago, James Bush said:

I've been using facebook seriously for around 6 months and get mixed results but on the whole sell 3 or 4 cars on month from it. The customers in the whole seem to be under 35 years of age but the likes and shares do help spread your brand, and finance seems to be a big seller on facebook for me. From my website stats I can see a spike every time I boost one of my facebook posts so facebookers aren't just viewing the add and disappearing. You do get a lot of bizarre questions and hopeful daydreamers hoping to swap some old banger with big wheels and a spoiler for a nice bit of prime stock but a polite decline and a few minutes throwing messages back and forth and no harm is done.

One mistake I did make was just advertising car after car and you'd get a few likes from a boosted post but the new likes seemed to then disappear, so I started mixing it up with a bit of motoring news, sports news, iPhone hints and tips, funny videos (although be careful because what I may laugh at is somebody else's worst insult - my women driver video didn't go down too well with certain females, even though it was really taking the p155 out of lane hogging male drivers) etc and be prepared to spend a bit of time with it. I think its slowly slowly with facebook because its rare you'll post a car at the exact time somebody is looking for one but its all about awareness and building a brand an a audience as already has been said.

agree 100%

[James Bush 95]

The other thing I missed in my early days was your target audience and its important to target your audience to your advert - advertise a Fiesta ST to sports fans, lower age groups, ford groups, modified cars etc and the Renault Scenic to Mums groups, interests on family days out etc........it is stereotyping the customer to the car a little but does work......

Its not as simple as pressing the boost button and setting a budget, each advert I boost takes me around 15-20mins to taylor make it to suit the customer I'm after.

Edited April 12, 2016 by James Bush

[Kingsbridge Autos 2]

RE Facebook, I  Have Boosted a few ads and targeted 25-55 year olds England, scotland and Wales. not had any luck with it so far am guessing you need to build it slowly and spend allot of time posting good content mixed with ads as some have mentioned above.

[jimreidvehicle 255]

8 hours ago, Kingsbridge Autos said:

RE Facebook, I  Have Boosted a few ads and targeted 25-55 year olds England, scotland and Wales. not had any luck with it so far am guessing you need to build it slowly and spend allot of time posting good content mixed with ads as some have mentioned above.

Be more specific, focus on small areas for a start and widen from there, what you have to remember with Facebook it's NOT a classified site, you are pushing out adverts mainly to people who up until the point they have read the advert hadn't thought in changing their car, YOUR advert is the catalyst! Try your nearest city , 50 miles surrounding area etc, it works!  

 

[Velicular 10]

10 hours ago, Kingsbridge Autos said:

RE Facebook, I  Have Boosted a few ads and targeted 25-55 year olds England, scotland and Wales. not had any luck with it so far am guessing you need to build it slowly and spend allot of time posting good content mixed with ads as some have mentioned above.

As stated knowing your demographics and target age groups is a must for advertising to the right audience on the correct platform. I have attached a report from Bi Intelligence that shows the age range and usage of each platform. Hope this helps someone.

 

[Kingsbridge Autos 2]

14 hours ago, jimreidvehicle said:

Be more specific, focus on small areas for a start and widen from there, what you have to remember with Facebook it's NOT a classified site, you are pushing out adverts mainly to people who up until the point they have read the advert hadn't thought in changing their car, YOUR advert is the catalyst! Try your nearest city , 50 miles surrounding area etc, it works!  

 

Just boosted an Astra VXR 64 plate priced at 17,995 budget set £40 for two weeks, Leeds + 90km (55 miles) men and woman aged 24-44 and people that live and pass through the area.

What do you think?

[jimreidvehicle 255]

9 hours ago, Kingsbridge Autos said:

Just boosted an Astra VXR 64 plate priced at 17,995 budget set £40 for two weeks, Leeds + 90km (55 miles) men and woman aged 24-44 and people that live and pass through the area.

What do you think?

Hi Guys, yes it's important to get this part right however it's also really important to get the images especially the main image of the car spot on and the eye catching description, have you also popped in what interest these customers may have? Happy to look at what you have done before promoting if you would like a second opinion? We normally boost for 7 days for £20, you can always give it a second boost.

Jim  

[Phil H 124]

On ‎12‎/‎04‎/‎2016 at 11:24 AM, sparky said:

and went further south to include the town of Wrexham (home to to the greatest football team the world has ever seen)

 

you going with your boxing gloves ready tomorrow crucial game both need the points

[sparky 274]

2 hours ago, Phil H said:

you going with your boxing gloves ready tomorrow crucial game both need the points

Given my ticket away mate. This time last week I was going, sadly since then our manager thought he was Pep Guardiola when he's more Mike Bassatt  meaning we have been beaten at home by Dover and then absolutely tonked by the mighty Guiseley.  Guiseley FFS!! Given some of the players we currently have in our squad I'm thinking of giving up the car job because there is clearly still hope I might make it as a professional!

 

Enjoy the game

[Phil H 124]

you don't need a ticket mate it's not the heavy Weight championship just the borough road bash between the fans I'll smuggle you into the family enclosure and you won't feel out of place jumping with joy when they score as my daughter does every time anyone scores so they're used to her celebrations now.

2 hours ago, sparky said:

Given my ticket away mate. This time last week I was going, sadly since then our manager thought he was Pep Guardiola when he's more Mike Bassatt  meaning we have been beaten at home by Dover and then absolutely tonked by the mighty Guiseley.  Guiseley FFS!! Given some of the players we currently have in our squad I'm thinking of giving up the car job because there is clearly still hope I might make it as a professional!

 

Enjoy the game

 

 

[Kingsbridge Autos 2]

On 14/04/2016 at 9:23 AM, jimreidvehicle said:

Hi Guys, yes it's important to get this part right however it's also really important to get the images especially the main image of the car spot on and the eye catching description, have you also popped in what interest these customers may have? Happy to look at what you have done before promoting if you would like a second opinion? We normally boost for 7 days for £20, you can always give it a second boost.

Jim  

Jim can you send me you email would like to talk to you about facebook posts?

 

[jimreidvehicle 255]

10 hours ago, Kingsbridge Autos said:

Jim can you send me you email would like to talk to you about facebook posts?

 

Just give me a  phone on 01467634000 or email jim@jimreidvehiclesales.co.uk , happy to help

[r_oakes10 0]

Thanks for all the info everyone, We have always stayed away from Facebook as I've always feared however good your local reputation it would only take one person to ruin it, it may even be from someone who hasn't even used the garage? I'd be interested to know your thoughts on this, whether it has caused problems or people just ignore the odd bad review? Don't want to miss out if it is a good way of increasing business but obviously wouldn't want to ruin a reputation we have worked hard to build up, as unfortunately these days rather than coming in and sorting any issues out, I fear people like to just write a bad review and not give chance to rectify. 

Thanks in advance

 

[Boyton@59 0]

Nowadays Facebook advertising has become one of the biggest platforms to promote your services or product. I just launched my Ecommerce site and even I am using the Facebook Ads Campaign Management services for making my site popular and generate leads.

[whitestone679231 113]

1 hour ago, Boyton@59 said:

Nowadays Facebook advertising has become one of the biggest platforms to promote your services or product. I just launched my Ecommerce site and even I am using the Facebook Ads Campaign Management services for making my site popular and generate leads.

Call me cynical but another newbie singing a companies praises.....

[trade vet 702]

3 hours ago, Boyton@59 said:

Nowadays Facebook advertising has become one of the biggest platforms to promote your services or product. I just launched my Ecommerce site and even I am using the Facebook Ads Campaign Management services for making my site popular and generate leads.

OK good luck etc...I believe the Silicon Valley,ex Harvard or MIT 'tech' guys call this stuff 'inbound marketing'.The only contribution I have,is if you look at the social media graph above,the over 45s group account for less than 10 per cent of this market.However,the bottom line in our job (in my opinion ) is that this group are the best and easiest customers to do business with.I am well into this group,for instance,I do not have a smart phone or do social media.I will not be buying the iPhone 10 at £1000 or £1300 and do not need to receive messages when I am surfing ( in the sea not the net).That is how some Apple PR guy was promoting it on CNBC yesterday.......da ....da ...da ...!