As part of Meta’s settlement agreement with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Special Ad Audiences — a tool that lets you expand your audience for ad sets related to credit, housing, and employment — are no longer available.

Special Ad Audiences were a lot like Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences, in that they allowed you to create a target list similar to those in a source audience of people (your customer database, for example). These Special Ad Audiences helped target prospects outside your database that had similar characteristics to those that were in it.  

The “credit” category is the one that affects auto dealerships. Since ads for new or used vehicles typically incorporate lease or finance details and/or link to pages that refer to auto loans, they fall under this classification.

What Can You Do?

Special Ad Lookalike Audiences may be lost, but all hope for your social advertising with Meta isn’t. Here are three tips on what you can do to adjust your strategy:

1 - Work With A Provider That Leverages A Data Partnership

Some digital ad providers have exclusive partnerships with organizations that specialize in audience data. Oracle is a great example of a data platform that has a wealth of sophisticated automotive targeting options — and PureCars has the distinction of being an Oracle Elite Auto Data Partner.

Oracle compiles various ownership signals, providing you with a variety of ways to target customers within a digital audience marketplace. These audiences contain offline triggers, such as vehicle registrations and aftermarket service providers at the VIN level, and online sources, such as auto parts websites.

They also source in-market signals from online auto research and other automotive industry-specific sites. Behavioral data from across the web is available as well, including user visits, clicks, use of financial calculators, vehicle builds, comparisons, and more.

The detailed targeting options don’t end there. You can also combine these automotive signals with extensive lifestyle data. So, if you want to target SUV owners that are also dog owners, you’re in luck!

Your digital ad provider can sync these Oracle data sets into your ads, helping you target potential customers at the right time in their buying journey. These audiences are automatically updated through Oracle’s connection within Facebook, keeping your ad efficient without frequent manual list updates.

2 - Take Advantage Of Other Audiences Available To You

Even though Facebook’s special ad lookalike audiences are no longer an option, Meta offers some other opportunities to reach prospective customers outside of a third party data provider or your own database.

Retargeting with the Meta Pixel

If you’re tracking conversions on your website and have the Meta Pixel enabled, you can create additional custom audiences. With these two pieces in place, you can segment your visitors into groups based on the actions they’ve taken on your site. For example, you can generate leads by targeting inventory ads to people that have already shown interest in purchasing on your website.

Facebook engagement ads

Also known as page post engagement (PPE) ads, this ad type allows dealers to share a message with more people beyond their Facebook page and business followers’ news feeds. Facebook shows these ads to the audience they think are most likely to engage.

Change your ad placement to reach new people

It’s a fairly new ad option, but a Facebook Marketplace sponsored Automotive Inventory Ad placement is another way to reach people that would not have engaged with your ad on their feed. This placement may help you reach people that you previously would’ve engaged with you when inventory could be automatically imported into Facebook.

3 - Utilize You Current Customer Data

Your existing customer database is still a treasure trove of opportunity. It allows you to run targeted ads to very specific segments, or to look beyond sales-specific ads. A few examples:

• You can build custom audience lists from your existing database. Example lists you can run are lease pull-ahead, lead but no purchase, and valuable cars coming into service that you’d like to buy.
• Focus on fixed operations by targeting your customers with ads that showcase the benefits of servicing at your dealership and service promotions.
• Convert a lower performing ad into a Messenger Ad to engage customers that prefer 1:1 communication with your dealership. (Note: This requires a chat provider or someone at the dealership dedicated to monitoring Messenger)

According to the Ipsos Global Media Study, Platforms, people use Meta more than any other platform to discover auto dealerships they may visit. That alone offers plenty of incentive to maintain a focus on your social advertising.

Even with Special Ad Lookalike Audiences disappearing, there are still plenty of reasons to look on the bright side of your Meta ad strategy. Third party data, custom audiences, and leveraging your current database are just a few alternatives to ensure the future looks bright for your social ads.

Want to see how PureCars can help you innovate and adapt your digital advertising in a constantly changing landscape? Contact us today.