Vehicle acquisition campaigns have long been a core part of our social advertising strategy here at PCG Digital. They can be a great supplement to your existing marketing efforts in times of low inventory volume. When the chip shortage forced vehicle manufacturing to slow down and dealers were struggling to keep new cars in stock, many shifted their focus to buying up as many used cars as possible to meet the demand. Former commuters suddenly found themselves working remotely with no need for a car, so our messaging sought to speak to those sellers who were looking to downsize and get the best value for their vehicle.

In the current market, the challenge is not only convincing car owners to sell their vehicles to a dealership, but to sell their vehicles at all. With automotive tariffs leaving buyers uncertain, many are hoping to hold onto their vehicles for longer to avoid buying a new car at increased prices. This means less trade-in cars available for dealers to resell, leading to fewer pre-owned vehicles on the lot.

So for those who are willing and able to part ways with their vehicle, how can your dealership cut through the noise? That’s where vehicle acquisition ads come in.

Facebook Marketplace is the most popular social commerce platform, and with millions of vehicles sold and purchased on Marketplace each year it’s time to reframe Facebook as a true automotive marketplace, not just a social platform. With vehicle acquisition ads, the goal is to reach these Facebook users who are browsing the platform with the intention to list their vehicle for sale and to position your dealership as a trusted buyer.

Messaging

• Sell your car without the hassle!
• No back and forth with potential buyers, no low-ball offers, no sketchy transactions.
• We make the process simple and transparent.
• Tell us a bit about your vehicle and we’ll tell you how much it’s worth.
• Get an instant cash offer with the confidence that you’re getting the best value for your vehicle.
• Simply bring it into the dealership and be on your way! We will handle the rest.

Campaign Setup

Audience Targeting

Since there will be fewer prospective sellers compared to people in the market to purchase a vehicle you may want to cast a wider net than you would usually target in order to reach a wider audience. For example, if your inventory ads target a 15-mile radius outside your dealership, try expanding the radius for your vehicle acquisition campaigns.

Dealers should also use their first-party data to retarget users whenever possible. We utilize our dealership clients’ customer lists to remarket to existing customers in our Meta advertising. For vehicle acquisition campaigns, I recommend pulling a list of customers who have recently purchased a vehicle without trading one in. This would be a great audience to strategically remarket as they are your trusted customers who may have their previous vehicle still sitting in their garage. So when the time comes that they are ready to sell, your dealership will be top of mind.

Broad Audience Settings

VS. Retargeting Audience Settings

Vehicle acquisition campaigns are best created with a traffic objective or a conversion objective. Whereas the ultimate goal is to have users fill out a vehicle appraisal form on your website, this is the lowest-funnel objective you can optimize for. We tend to see better performance when campaigns are optimized more for users in the consideration phase versus conversion-driven ads. With a decision as important as selling your vehicle, your audience will want to be fully informed on the process before giving out their personal information. The optimal ad landing page should give adequate information on the selling or trade-in process before directing users to the appraisal form. 

If your website is not integrated with a third-party buying or trade-in tool, you may be a great candidate for on-Facebook lead ads. With this ad format you can create your own custom forms to gather contact information and ask basic qualifying questions about the vehicle they are interested in selling. The best part about Meta lead ads is that they integrate seamlessly into the Facebook and Instagram platforms, so users do not have to leave the app or interrupt their social media scrolling to complete a form. The form is automatically populated with contact information from the user’s profile, making this a low-barrier and user-friendly way to collect leads.