In the last few months, Meta has announced several changes on their Facebook platform that directly impact the automotive industry. Two of these changes are the deprecation of the Vehicles Tab and the removal of the ability to post to Marketplace from a business page.
As Facebook Marketplace grew, spam and fraudulent listings became more prevalent. Although Facebook is removing the ability for Facebook business pages to post, they will no longer have to compete with low-quality Marketplace listings. This will allow advertisers to utilize intent-based marketing more efficiently.
If you’re wondering how this transition will positively impact dealerships, it will be similar to when Craigslist implemented a $5 charge per vehicle listing a few years ago. The number of vehicle listings decreased while shopper demand stayed the same, allowing the dealers that stuck around to gain a competitive advantage.
To prepare for these changes, we’ve laid out the details and available options for your dealership’s advertising needs.
So What’s changing?
Starting on January 30, 2023, Meta will no longer support the ability for sellers to create vehicle listings using a Facebook business page, along with the deprecation of the Vehicles Tab and Manage Inventory tab. Free person-to-person vehicle listings will still be available on Marketplace, but you will not be able to use your dealership’s business page to post to Marketplace without using paid automotive inventory ads (AIA).
Dealerships will also still be able to reach digital audiences via ads. Work with a Facebook partner to utilize AIA and reach your target audience with your current inventory, including paid Marketplace listings. Accounts that use free person-to-person listings will not be able to send these leads to their dealership’s CRM and they will not be visible or linked to the dealership’s Facebook page. If a dealership wants to keep these features, they will need to work with a Facebook partner to run AIA.
How Do Paid Marketplace Ads and an Organic Marketplace Listing Differ?
Compared to an organic Marketplace listing, paid Marketplace ads have diverse types of ad creative (service, evergreen/generic, VIN-specific, etc.). For every Marketplace search a Facebook user makes, a set number of paid Marketplace ads are available. Paid Marketplace ads receive priority placement within Marketplace and can utilize more granular targeting and creative ad formats. Paid ads will also always show ‘Sponsored’ below the image.
Can a Facebook business page still access their catalog?
Yes, their catalog will still be available through the Business Manager’s commerce tab to use for creating advertisements.
What can dealerships do about their data?
After January 30, 2023, all existing Marketplace listings that businesses have posted with their Facebook business Pages will be removed. It’s recommended that dealers look at their existing listings and download them before January 30, 2023. Instructions on how to download the information can be found here. Accounts currently enrolled in Ansira’s Social Suite program will continue to run normally, including receiving daily up-to-date inventory refreshes to their Facebook catalog.
Facebook’s Marketplace and Vehicles Tab updates are the platform’s move to a more intent-based social advertising solution to provide automotive dealers with a robust, effective social media strategy. For more information about these changes, please see this Facebook article.
Following January 30, 2023, dealerships will still have ways to drive success on Facebook, such as automotive inventory ads. To learn more about Facebook’s automotive advertising options, please visit their Dealer Marketing Hub.
If you are interested in running automotive inventory ads on Facebook and need a partner to work with, reach out to the social advertising team. Contact us today to learn more about our Social Suite advertising solution.
Additional Authors
Sydney Jones – Social Media Specialist
Sydney Jones has worked in digital marketing for over 7 years, with 4 years in automotive. She is a Social Media Specialist on the Social Suite team, focusing on dealerships and agencies in the United States. In her spare time, Sydney likes visiting the Puget Sound waterfront, trying new coffee shacks, and catching up on tech news.
Toria Munoz – Social Media Specialist
Toria has been working in the automotive industry for 5 years and is excited about brainstorming strategies to help dealerships sell more car. When not trying to catch up on industry trends and news, she enjoys spending time with her family, going on photo adventures, and discovering new music on Spotify.
