Back in March 2018, Facebook announced an end to Partner Categories, the ad targeting parameters that were sourced by third-party data providers like Oracle Data Cloud and Acxiom.
Talking to dealers across the United States, the move raised a question of whether Facebook advertising will still be worth it. If you can’t use Polk data to hone in on the in-market shopper, what good are Facebook ads?
But over the summer, we’ve learned a lot more. Dealers need to know two things:
Facebook is definitely still the place to reach shoppers, even without third-party data.
Third-party data hasn’t left Facebook altogether.
WHY FACEBOOK DID THIS
Put simply, Facebook doesn’t want to be involved in third-party data.
While Facebook will still let you import your store’s own data, and while it still offers a wealth of data on its platform for you to use, Facebook no longer wants to let third-party data providers push Polk data, credit card data, and other consumer information into its social network.
In the past, when advertisers selected these parameters in their targeting, Facebook cut a check for a portion of that ad spend to the data provider. Now, given the heightened scrutiny on Facebook’s use of data, the platform doesn’t want anything to do with it.
To avoid being culpable, Facebook no longer offers those targeting features within the Detailed Targeting section of its Ads Manager tool (where you build your campaigns and pick your audience).
Instead, stores that want to use third-party data will need to get whitelisted by providers like Oracle Data Cloud. Then, after agreeing to some terms and conditions, they will see expanded audiences in the Custom Audiences tool, so they can select “likely Ford buyers in the next six months” (or similar audiences).
These data providers will then bill the advertiser who used their targeting directly, which means that dealers will end up paying Facebook and the provider separately. A source at Oracle Data Cloud expects that the total cost will remain about what it was before the scandal.
HOW DEALERS SHOULD TARGET NOW
From August 15 to October 1, 2018, some dealers and agencies will still be using the old targeting setup. Campaigns that had already been running were given that long to continue using third-party data, while new campaigns were not. On October 1, 2018, all Partner Categories targeting will be shut off.
Knowing that this change has been coming since spring, advertisers in the auto industry have been getting ready for a raised bar on their ads. Before we knew that third-party data would still be available, it looked like we would need to change tactics. No longer would advertising on Facebook be as simple as logging into Ads Manager and selecting current in-market Toyota shoppers.
Of course, as experienced agencies can tell you, even that idea wasn’t huge reason to panic. Advertisers were already using different tactics to reach the right audience on Facebook in countries that didn’t allow third-party data. It just took more finesse.
Here are three alternative tactics dealers can use to target shoppers while they wait to be whitelisted.
- INTEREST-BASED TARGETING
. . . AKA people whom Facebook knows to be interested in, say, the Lexus RX.
As opposed to relying on vehicle registration data, these “interest-based” categories are based on people who simply express interest in these products. Interest might be shown by liking a topic’s page, liking several posts about a topic, or by frequenting web pages about a topic on a website that has the Facebook tracking pixel installed.
- RETARGETING
. . . AKA people who visit your website, which must have the Facebook pixel properly installed in order to track visitors.
For example, you can show SUV ads to anyone who visits your SUV pages, trucks ads to anyone who visits your truck pages, service ads to service visitors, and so forth.
- CUSTOM AUDIENCES
. . . AKA people in your own customer relationship management (CRM) system.
In addition to its own targeting database, Facebook also allows advertisers to upload a list of their own contacts (known as a Custom Audience), so they can either target that list or target an entirely separate group of people who share similar characteristics (known as a Lookalike Audience).
Head-to-head, we’ve found that a Lookalike Audience based on a store’s past customers in the CRM often outperform Polk data targeting when it comes to generating clicks and contributing to purchases.
WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO
The scare alone of losing Facebook’s targeting capability should remind dealers that their online ads are only one part of an overall digital marketing approach.
First off, driving paid clicks to your website is valuable only if your website does its job of qualifying and converting visitors into leads. Search engine optimization (SEO), Google Ads, and Facebook ad campaigns all rely on a healthy website to garner you sales opportunities.
Next, make sure you have a strategic, value-driven email marketing plan to follow up with new leads who aren’t ready for a call from your sales staff.
Facebook advertising is just one part of your balanced auto marketing approach. But even after the current change, it is where your shoppers are spending the most time online—so make sure you’re either studying up on the Facebook platform or finding a partner who can keep your store on the cutting edge.
