On January 30, 2023, Meta removed the ability for dealerships to have “Vehicles” or a “manage inventory” tab on the top of their Facebook business pages, highlighting the need for Automotive Inventory Ads (AIAs) in your well-rounded marketing strategy. Let’s get into what this means for dealerships like yours.
Before we look at the motive and use case, let’s take a look at how it used to flow. This tab pulled through inventory from the feed so a shopping opportunity was available while users were on Facebook.
Here’s how this used to look:
This decision is likely an attempt by Meta to decrease the amount of spam leads dealers often encounter when it comes to Facebook leads. This change doesn’t affect individuals who will still be able to sell their vehicle or property on Facebook Marketplace using their personal profile, however..
So, what does this mean for you?
In short, this reaffirms the need for dealers to embrace and utilize Automotive Inventory Ads (AIAs). These ads utilize the inventory feed and interactively showcase vehicles to tailored audiences, directly impacting your ability to sell to higher intent prospects..
While it’s unclear what further changes Facebook will make for dealers, these ads continue to be the most cost-effective and strategic way to market on Facebook.