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My first Facebook ppc


Blaine

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So I decided to do a little Facebook ppc for getting buy here pay here car leads this morning.

 

I made a very cool graphic with a basic call to action posted it to my sites Facebook page then used the promote post feature. total budget for this is $30.00

 

Created another add to promote the buy here pay here website itself. Total spend is $10.00 dollars a day for the next 7 days.

 

Results so far - Graphic seen 683 times - 12 people liked it (it's well done) 3 people called the phone number on it. When they called I manually entered their info into my "pre-approval form" then sent that to my team members at the car lots. 2 appointments set :lol: total spend so far for the day $4.63

 

Website ad results so far 417 people seen the ad. 6 people clicked the link and visited the site. 2 of the people that visited the site filled out the "pre-approval form" and 1 already has an appointment set with a team member to go test drive a Chrysler 300 this evening.

 

I'm liking this facebook already !!!!!!!

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This is crazy.

 

Yesterday I blew $20.00 bucks doing google PPC and got nadda. It's been an hour since my last post and I've had 2 more calls and captured both leads with my pre approval form. Another one already has an appointment to see one of my team members to look at a truck.

 

Between both ads I've spent $11.16 today.

 

I'll wait till tonight and look at it again and post the results. I had no idea local facebook PPC was this fricking powerful.

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I posted one custom graphic that I made to a Facebook page advertising buy here pay here cars.

I set a one day budget of $30.00 for this ad.

Over a 12 hour period from 9:00 am, till 9:00 pm this photo ad was seen by Facebook users in the Louisville/Southern Indiana area 5430 times.

18 people liked the photo.

20 people liked the Facebook page the photo was posted on.

11 people shared the photo to their timeline where all of their friends then seen it in their Facebook feeds (probably another 3000 views).

6 people called the phone number on the photo and I set appointments with 4 of them to visit my team members and shop for cars. 1 person Googled the phone number on the image and visited the website, they filled out the form and submitted it to be pre-approved for a car loan.

2 more people engaged me on the Facebook page itself by asking questions, and both set appointments to visit team members to car shop.

The only screw up I made was not putting the url to the website on the graphic. But it was just a test run to see what would happen.

I have never seen a return on money spent for advertising like this.

 

Here's a link to the graphic that generated the traffic. Notice the black background and neon green that comes off the page right at you. Then the woman is a secondary call to action. Shes good looking. But is presented in a non sexy way.

 

https://www.facebook.com/buyherepayherelouisvilleky/photos/a.988408334535128.1073741828.887913597917936/988408294535132/?type=1&theater

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Good stuff Blaine.

 

The questions you're getting all look like FAQ questions on websites.

 

  • What kind of van s do.you have
  • Do u have to have good credit to get a low down payment?
  • Do u have to have a job?
  • What Color year and the price

About a year ago I did advertising on Craigslist, I purposely left out answers on the live ads to get traffic to communicate with me via email. I had one ad that generated somewhere around 50 targeted contacts spread out over a month.

 

You might split test including the website URL on the ad, you never know, not having the website URL shown on the ad might have better conversions since it forces traffic to contact you.

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Just an update.

 

Although I only ran the ad for one day, I'm still getting calls. Where are people seeing it? I guess it's coming from the 11 people's Facebook pages who shared it on their timelines. Since yesterday morning I've gotten something like 5 more calls. I captured the info from 3 more of them and sent the leads to team members.

 

Since it all started 2 cars have been sold.... I get a check for $250.00 for each of these. And there are still appointments set for Saturday which is the really big day in the car biz. Also some of the guys are so busy that I might only hear from them bout once a week. I really won't know a solid number for another week or two. But I know enough to know that this is going to work out ok.

 

Now I just need to figure out how to expand this out and use it for my other customers and sites.

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I captured the info from 3 more of them and sent the leads to team members.

 

Who are the team members?

 

Is that in house employees or the guy running the local car lot?

 

 

I have a finance manager at one dealership on the team.

 

1 is a sales rep that's been at his dealership for 13 years.

 

And another owns his own dealership.

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Final post and Recap.

 

So yesterday I thought hey! It being Saturday and Saturday being the big day in the used car sales business I would run the ad again.

 

Went to post it and got rejected by Facebook. Apparently the ad violated their 20% rule. No post that's being boosted can have a graphic showing over 20% of the image with text in it. The one I was using was easily at 80%. Why did they let it run the first 24 hrs? I have no idea. So I'll have to rethink that aspect of it next time I want to try it.

 

How did I do overall? Surprisingly none of my guys sold a unit yesterday. Kind of bummed me out but what they hey. We make have a straggler this week that comes in and makes a purchase. Car buyers are very fickle. They'll set an appointment for today, then not show up for a week. So in total 3 units were sold for a profit to me of $750.00

 

I really was hoping to break the 1K mark but still may be the end of the this week.

 

A couple quick things that I'm taking away from it all.

 

Total spend was $100.00 for both ads. 1 hr to make a custom graphic. About 30 mins posting both (first time learning curve). Then the time it took to field the calls and capture their contact info then feed it to the team members was another 3 hrs. So It was profitable. With some tweaks and experimentation I'm sure this can be much better.

 

I discovered that a very geo targeted click from Facebook users costs me between 40 to 45 cents. This is either via a boosted post or just flat out promoting the site. That's a hell of a lot less than Googles average they charged me of $3.00 - $400.00 per click for what seems to be close to the same thing.

 

I plan to do this again this coming weekend and will share what I do and how it works again.

 

Sorry about the rambling post.

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I captured the info from 3 more of them and sent the leads to team members.

 

Who are the team members?

 

Is that in house employees or the guy running the local car lot?

 

 

I have a finance manager at one dealership on the team.

 

1 is a sales rep that's been at his dealership for 13 years.

 

And another owns his own dealership.

 

 

Thanks,

 

How does a sales rep benefit If you're getting payed? Are you splitting the commission?

 

I did some research & from what I've seen $250 is about average per sale on used car commissions.

 

How did you find car lots you can trust? If you're not getting payed upfront per lead, how do you know the car lot isn't skimming sales?

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I captured the info from 3 more of them and sent the leads to team members.

 

Who are the team members?

 

Is that in house employees or the guy running the local car lot?

 

 

I have a finance manager at one dealership on the team.

 

1 is a sales rep that's been at his dealership for 13 years.

 

And another owns his own dealership.

 

 

How does a sales rep benefit If you're getting payed? Are you splitting the commission?

 

*The sales rep gets paid his commission regardless of how a dealership acquires a lead or makes an additional sale. A really good sales rep will have "bird dogs" that bring him potential customers. All dealerships have a bird dog structure in place, where they will willingly pay a "bird dog" to bring them potential customers. My bird dog fee is between$200.00 to $250.00 and I'm well known in Louisville. Tonight I'm being taken to dinner by the newly hired finance manager of a used car lot. He's seen me in action first hand and want's to talk car leads for the dealership he's recently moved to.

 

I did some research & from what I've seen $250 is about average per sale on used car commissions.

 

* $250.00 is about the average sales commission that a sales person will make per unit depending on how their dealerships pay structure is set up. Some do a flat commission per car. Others do a percentage of the gross profit from the sale. Other factors that can affect how much the sales rep make are how much he can squeeze out of the customer for the down payment. Then there are incentives and bonuses paid weekly for achieving certain numbers.

 

How did you find car lots you can trust?

 

* Owners, and finance managers are easily trusted. Sales reps on the other hand are a bit shady. Owners, and finance managers see the big picture and stand to make a fortune off of you. Finance managers get a salary plus a normal $100 dollars per car they get "bought" which is lingo for getting the customer financed. A finance manager can easily make an additional $1IK to $2K per month because you leads are coming into his dealership. Keep in mind that my model is strictly related to people with bad credit.

 

If you're not getting payed upfront per lead, how do you know the car lot isn't skimming sales?

 

* You never really know for sure. It comes down to trust and follow up. Look at it like this. The average profit to a dealership owner on one car sold after all expenses is $1500.00 - $2000.00. That's a lot of money.

 

If a dealership is selling an extra 10 cars per month because of you. And the owner of that dealership is making an additional $15,000.00 to $20,000.00 off of your leads in pure hard profit..... He really doesn't want you to get pissed at him because he shafted you for a couple hundred bucks. Hell you might quit sending leads to his place. If it's an extra 20 cars per month being sold from your efforts. The guy that owns the dealership is potentially making close to an additional half million a year for him and his wife. That's a big ass chunk of money. 20 sold x 2000 profit per car = $40K per month x 12 months = $480.000.00

 

A sales rep that's getting your leads sells another 10 cars per month? He just made an additional $2500.00 that month in pay that he wouldn't have made without you. Plus if those extra sales put him at the top for sales that month he just got the $1000.00 bonus check his dealership pays the top sales rep every month. He is going to love you and make sure you're taken care of. He knows that he needs to be dam sure that the dealership is getting your checks cut and ready for you to pickup.

 

It's really pretty cool. Once a month I swing around and pickup my checks and it never fails. The other reps at the dealerships are like... "so you're the internet badass?" Dude! How can I get a piece of this action?

 

Then before long you're known in your city by the dealers and sales reps. And then they're calling asking you out to dinner.

 

 

 

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Blaine,

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Are you specifically looking for or working with small car lots where I would imagine it's easier to deal with the owner since he calls all the shots (no big dealership red tape)?

 

Why aren't you using Craigslist?

 

I ran a test ad on Craigslist less than 24 hours ago, the ad generated 4 emails asking for more info. The ad is currently buried on CL, I'll leave it alone for a week just to see If it generates anymore contacts on it's own.

 

I think 4 contacts on CL in the auto category is pretty good considering it's a fast moving category. I think I spent about 10 min. on the whole test. I also posted at the worst time, about 1:00 AM, my first email response was at 7:00 AM so I'm sure a lot of newer ads were posted in that 6 hour time span & bumped my ad way down on CL.

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I don't want to speak for Blaine, but car ads in Craigslist are significantly harder to attract attention with in larger cities than in smaller towns. Even where I live, which is no sprawling metropolis, a car ad will be buried in an hour. Not to mention in a lot of towns you have competitors that flag anything posted.

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Blaine,

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Are you specifically looking for or working with small car lots where I would imagine it's easier to deal with the owner since he calls all the shots (no big dealership red tape)?

 

Why aren't you using Craigslist?

 

I ran a test ad on Craigslist less than 24 hours ago, the ad generated 4 emails asking for more info. The ad is currently buried on CL, I'll leave it alone for a week just to see If it generates anymore contacts on it's own.

 

I think 4 contacts on CL in the auto category is pretty good considering it's a fast moving category. I think I spent about 10 min. on the whole test. I also posted at the worst time, about 1:00 AM, my first email response was at 7:00 AM so I'm sure a lot of newer ads were posted in that 6 hour time span & bumped my ad way down on CL.

 

 

 

Yes Yukon.

 

The best are the smaller lots.

 

But the one guy on my team that is a sales rep is at a big lot, and he's been there forever.

 

Craiglist yes I use it. But it's different posting in the cars for sale section. I used to post a car every 5 minutes all day long using automated software. But craiglist started charging dealers a fee of $5.00 per car and that kind of put the kabosh on my spamming program. Just to update the ad is another $5.00. And you have to really have a car that is for sale by a dealer.

 

I stay away from the "by owners" section because I don't want another craiglist account banned. Had that happen a few times in the past so don't bother with it anymore. I actually am going to go back to posting some in the financials section. Those are free.. Send it in as a type of credit ad. The old repair your credit and get a car at the same time gig.

 

What kind of ad did you run on Craig list if you don't mind my asking?

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I don't want to speak for Blaine, but car ads in Craigslist are significantly harder to attract attention with in larger cities than in smaller towns. Even where I live, which is no sprawling metropolis, a car ad will be buried in an hour. Not to mention in a lot of towns you have competitors that flag anything posted.

 

Yes a car ad in a city of half million can be off the first page in an hour.

 

Mostly in the dealers section the flagging went away when Craigslist instituted the policy of charging $5.00 per car to load one up. They're making money at it so I have not had one flagged since that new policy went into effect year before last.

 

 

I don't know if the for cars for sale by private owner section is still free. I've avoided that for some time, after having a few Craigslist accounts banned for posting in there.

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I don't want to speak for Blaine, but car ads in Craigslist are significantly harder to attract attention with in larger cities than in smaller towns. Even where I live, which is no sprawling metropolis, a car ad will be buried in an hour. Not to mention in a lot of towns you have competitors that flag anything posted.

 

Yea, I know CL ads drop fast for larger cities that's why I was saying 4 contacts was good (IMO). Keep in mind I wasn't really trying other than posting the ad just the one time, no bumps, nothing.

 

You also don't have to post in a heavily used seller category to target the same type of buyers, example the auto parts category doesn't bury ads as fast as the new/used auto category. I know flaggers are out there but I've done this for a while last year & never had any problems, granted a different niche, still same concept.

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Blaine,

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Are you specifically looking for or working with small car lots where I would imagine it's easier to deal with the owner since he calls all the shots (no big dealership red tape)?

 

Why aren't you using Craigslist?

 

I ran a test ad on Craigslist less than 24 hours ago, the ad generated 4 emails asking for more info. The ad is currently buried on CL, I'll leave it alone for a week just to see If it generates anymore contacts on it's own.

 

I think 4 contacts on CL in the auto category is pretty good considering it's a fast moving category. I think I spent about 10 min. on the whole test. I also posted at the worst time, about 1:00 AM, my first email response was at 7:00 AM so I'm sure a lot of newer ads were posted in that 6 hour time span & bumped my ad way down on CL.

 

 

 

Yes Yukon.

 

The best are the smaller lots.

 

But the one guy on my team that is a sales rep is at a big lot, and he's been there forever.

 

Craiglist yes I use it. But it's different posting in the cars for sale section. I used to post a car every 5 minutes all day long using automated software. But craiglist started charging dealers a fee of $5.00 per car and that kind of put the kabosh on my spamming program. Just to update the ad is another $5.00. And you have to really have a car that is for sale by a dealer.

 

I stay away from the "by owners" section because I don't want another craiglist account banned. Had that happen a few times in the past so don't bother with it anymore. I actually am going to go back to posting some in the financials section. Those are free.. Send it in as a type of credit ad. The old repair your credit and get a car at the same time gig.

 

What kind of ad did you run on Craig list if you don't mind my asking?

 

 

It was a regular by-owner ad for one vehicle. Very little details on the description, no hype just model, year & a couple of vehicle options, pics inside & out. Only tested for CL email responses.

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Blaine,

 

Before I forget...

 

I was thinking last night, have you considered targeting RV buyers?

 

Considering most RVs are expensive maybe the commission might be higher? No doubt RV sales would be slower but it might be something to consider to supplement the auto niche in spring & summer months.

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Hey Yukon.

 

Car marketing is a consequence of what my initial plan was when I launched my plan some 3 years ago now.

 

And over all my plan was and still to a degree is capitalizing on the fact that a lot of people that had good credit scores 6-7 years ago now have mediocre credit scores and think that when they go to buy a car that they can't get anything but buy here pay here.

 

That's why all of my stuff centers around buy here pay here.

 

Truth is though that 90 percent of the people that approach me about buy here pay here end up getting financing through a secondary bank. Buy here pay here is a last resort and all of my team members can and will do it. But secondary financing is better for the buyer and the car dealer both.

 

I have customers with credit scores as low as 430 still get secondary bank financing.

 

I'm not really in the car business. More in the solving a transportation problem business.

 

To answer your question: No I don't do RVs. People that have the money for an RV don't have a problem. Not that there wouldn't be money in there somewhere.

 

People with a low credit score and a blown transmission have a problem that needs solving. They need a way to get to work and back and make sure the kids get to their functions. That's the problem I solve.

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To answer your question: No I don't do RVs. People that have the money for an RV don't have a problem. Not that there wouldn't be money in there somewhere.

 

Lol, a large percentage of the US lives on credit.

 

My inlaws earned roughly +$100k a year & always wanting to borrow money. No joke, one week they would be on vacation in Myrtle Beach, the next week they needed to borrow money for gas or basic food (not exaggerating).

 

A friend of mine inherited $30K, he told me he was going to invest all the money in something solid. About 6 months later I asked him what he invested his money in, he bought a bunch of electronics & pissed the money away. He's also hooked on check cashing businesses, while earning $40K a year at an offline job. He's a good guy just not good with managing money.

 

Just because someone makes a decent amount of money at a job does not mean they know how to manage money & sure doesn't mean they can get a loan with a decent rate.

 

Anyways, the folks that suck at managing money want to go on vacation just like everyone else.

 

The whole point of credit is people don't have money. Nobody wants to pay an interest rate just because they can.

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