Facebook messenger for car dealers: boost sales & customer engagement

Remember the old days, when customers stopped by at your showroom on a free Saturday morning and purchased a car right then and there? Nowadays, it's more likely your customers start their journey online. They search on social media for pictures of their dream car or google directly for car dealers in the area.

And that's not all, customers even prefer the first contact moment to take place online. According to CarDealer magazine, more than half of car buyers prefer messages over phone calls. That's where messaging apps such as Facebook Messenger come into play.

In this blog, I'll tell you how to use Facebook Messenger for car dealers by touching on the following subjects:

• Why Facebook Messenger?
• How Facebook Messenger can boost your car sales, using:
• Facebook Messenger ads
• Chatbots on Facebook Messenger
• Facebook Messenger as a chat on your website

Why Facebook Messenger?

Over 40 million businesses are actively using Facebook Messenger. Here's why Facebook Messenger is interesting for car dealers too:

• Target a large audience: Facebook Messenger has 1.3 billion monthly active users, and over 20 billion messages are sent by businesses and people every month.
• Create engagement: You can run Click-to-Message ads that trigger Facebook users to start a conversation in Facebook Messenger.
• Use automation tools: Facebook Messenger offers automation tools to keep the conversation going. Think about chatbots, auto-, and quick replies.

How Facebook Messenger can boost your car sales

Let's deep-dive into 3 Facebook Messenger features that can boost your sales:

1. Facebook Messenger ads
2. Facebook Messenger bots
3. Facebook Messenger as a chat on your website

Facebook Messenger ads

Facebook Messenger offers two types of ads:

• Click-to-Message Ads
• Sponsored Message Placement ads

Both ads invite Facebook users to start a conversation with your business in Facebook Messenger.

How DS Automobiles uses Click-to-Message ads to book test-drives

DS Automobiles, a French automobile manufacturer, uses Click-to-Message ads to generate the most cost-effective leads for test drives. They do this by targeting the right audiences and showing them Click-to-Message ads at a relevant point in their customer journey.

When potential customers click on the ad, they'll receive an automated greeting message that starts the Messenger conversation. After this, an agent picks up the conversation and books an appointment.

As a result of this campaign, the test-drive leads increased by 76% compared to onsite lead conversions.

For more inspiring examples of Facebook Messenger ads, you can read this article.

2. Facebook Messenger bots

It's safe to say that Facebook Messenger bots are very popular among businesses. There are already more than 300.000 active chatbots on Facebook Messenger.

Facebook Messenger bots can help you:

• Reply within seconds: When a customer sends a Facebook Message, the chatbot automatically picks up the conversation.
• Collect leads: A chatbot can help you collect customer information or book appointments.
• Increase customer satisfaction: Day or night, it doesn't matter. Chatbots are available 24/7.

You can learn how to set up a chatbot for Facebook Messenger here.

How BAS Trucks uses a chatbot to collect leads

BAS Trucks, the biggest truck and trailer dealer in Europe, uses a flowbot to collect leads in thirteen languages. The flowbot asks prospects multiple-choice questions to help them find the information they are looking for. This way, people can make appointments, request quotations, and receive order information.

BAS Trucks set up their flowbot with Trengo. With Trengo, you can deploy chatbots for not only Facebook Messenger, but also WhatsApp, live chat, and other channels.

Learn more about chatbots and flowbots in Trengo.

3. Facebook Messenger as a chat on your website

You can start the conversation directly in Messenger, but you can also redirect visitors from your website to Facebook Messenger.

Adding a Facebook Messenger website widget to your website brings the following benefits:

• Customers can pick their favorite channel: When the customer lands on your website, they can choose their preferred channel to contact you.
• You can keep the conversation going: The conversation doesn't end when the customer leaves your website. Facebook Messenger is always accessible.
• You get more customer information: When a customer starts a conversation via Facebook Messenger, you have direct insight into their personal information.

Learn how to add Facebook Messenger to your website.

How Muntstad uses a website widget for all their channels

Muntstad, one of the most well-known automotive companies in the Netherlands, offers service via email, telephone, WhatsApp Business, Facebook Messenger, and live chat.

Muntstad uses Trengo's multichannel website widget so customers can contact them via their favorite channel—Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, live chat, or email. They receive messages from all these channels in Trengo's platform and use automation tools to work even more efficiently.

As you can see in the screenshot below, Muntstad personalized their website widget completely. They did this by connecting the channels of their choosing, adding their brand colors, and writing their own copy.

You can learn how to put a multichannel live chat on your website here.

Start using Facebook Messenger for car dealers

Facebook Messenger offers a lot more than chatting with your customers. Especially for car dealers, there are some great features that can help you stand out from your competitors. I hope this article gave you some nice inspiration to get started. 💪

If you want to use Facebook Messenger to its full potential, you can also enlist the help of Trengo. In our omnichannel platform, you can manage conversations from all channels, including Facebook Messenger, and use innovative tools to work more effectively.