The Power of Ad Copy and Market Timing in Automotive Social Media Advertising

In this blog, we’re going to analyze the performance of two different Facebook ads run for the same dealership, with the same targeting and inventory set, but different ad copy. The results were surprising and highlight the importance of market timing in automotive social media advertising.

The first ad targeted subprime customers, with references to low credit scores and first-time buyers. It generated 9 cars sold, at $464 per copy, with a total spend of $4,176 and $43,998 in gross profit generated.

The second ad had no reference to bad credit and simply referenced a low down payment in the ad copy. With $4,824 in Facebook spend it generated $142,630 in gross profit, at $322 per copy.

While the first ad produced respectable results with a 10x ROI, the second ad blew it out of the water with a whopping 30x ROI. The question is, why did a simple change in ad copy make such a huge difference?

Timing was the key. These ads ran in September and October of 2022, at the peak of inventory limitations for new vehicles. Customers were being hit with large down payments by dealers to compensate for the dealer markups due to extreme supply limitations.

The second ad tapped into this segment of the market by offering a decent selection to choose from and being more flexible on how they structured the deals to ease the down payment requirements that car buyers were facing.

This data highlights the importance of paying attention to your conversion rates, watching what is converting, and adapting as the market changes. Many automotive advertising companies view social media as a necessary evil and have no real strategy or plan. They don’t monitor conversion like this. As we can see, small changes to ad copy and the current market conditions can make a huge difference to your bottom line.

In conclusion, the power of ad copy and market timing cannot be overstated in automotive social media advertising. By keeping a close eye on your conversion rates and adapting your approach to changing market conditions, you can increase your ROI and generate more sales and gross profit for your dealership. Don’t settle for a one-size-fits-all approach.

At TECOBI, we have extensive data on which ads are working and which ads are not. We track everything to help you optimize your social media marketing and maximize your ROI. We would love the opportunity to show you how this data can take your Facebook & Instagram marketing to the next level.