In May 2021, Facebook announced that vehicle listings from partner catalogs will be discontinued on Facebook Marketplace. Further elaborated, Facebook will no longer allow syndication of vehicles to organically show up in Marketplace feeds, search results, or vehicle categories starting September 13, 2021.
Since the launch of Facebook Marketplace in February 2015, automotive dealers have used this online storefront as another channel for pushing inventory out to online shoppers. After all, more than 1 in 3 people in the US use Marketplace to buy and sell. Facebook also boasts a staggering 20 million people clicking on vehicle listings each month via Marketplace.
Marketplace will obviously still exist and continue to be a great tool for people needing to buy/sell goods, including vehicles, but with catalog feed restrictions about to be enacted, options for dealers to push out inventory efficiently just became more limited. So that you’re not being left behind by competitors already prepared for this pivot, here’s what you need to do to be prepared.
The Way (Facebook) Forward
On-Facebook Destination Automotive Inventory Ads (AIA)
Continuing to put your inventory catalog to good use is seamless with these mobile-friendly, instantly-loading automotive inventory ads. We’ve compiled a dealers guide to On-Facebook Destination AIA that details all the frequently asked questions about these on-platform ads built around your inventory catalog.
Destination automotive inventory ads launched in September 2020. Within the clean interface of the On-Facebook VDP, a user sees specific information detailing that vehicle’s features, the dealership’s vehicle description, multiple layers of pricing information, mileage information (if applicable), and more, just as it would appear on your website.
Several conversion opportunities are also available. Within the ad, a user can:
- Message the dealer about a vehicle, which will seamlessly connect the user to the BDC.
- Click to call the dealership.
- Save the vehicle so a user can come back and learn more or see if the price has changed.
- Get directions to the dealership.
- Share the vehicle with another person(s).
With greater and more sophisticated propensity targeting than Facebook has ever had before, On-Facebook Destination ads work as a top to middle funnel targeting strategy that has yielded better CTRs and VDP views than its predecessors.
Marketplace-ment with On-Facebook Destination AIA
Yes, it’s true. On-Facebook Destination AIA has the ability to be shown within the Marketplace feed! Many dealers used the automatic syndication of inventory to Marketplace as a set it and forget land of leads. But as that makes its mass exodus, On-Facebook Destination ads are the best performing ad types that can still offer that distribution into Marketplace where in-market shoppers will see your inventory.
As we bid farewell to the organic syndication of inventory into Marketplace, think about how you can continue to work smarter and not harder to continue to see success via Facebook. Metrics like these On-Facebook Destination AIA averages really speak for themselves in bringing truth to power.
- Average Cost Per VDP View: $0.44
- Average CPM: $2.57
- Average CPC: $0.12
If you’re interested in learning more about deploying On-Facebook Destination ads, reach out to our team or go learn even more about Reunion Marketing’s Intelligent Social.