Black Friday and year-end sales event ads for car dealerships

From late November to New Year’s Eve, shoppers expect deals and manufacturers push year-end targets. That makes it a great time to sell, and a hard time to be heard. Every other store in town is advertising too, so the dealers who do well have their ads made early, look the same on every channel and say one thing clearly.

The year-end timeline

For the rest of the year, see the month-by-month car dealer marketing calendar.

The ads to make for each event

Make each event once and resize it everywhere, so a shopper who sees your Facebook post recognises your website banner and your email the next day.

• A square feed post for Facebook and Instagram (1080 × 1080).
• A vertical Story for Instagram, Facebook and TikTok (1080 × 1920), and a short video version of it for Reels.
• A homepage banner so the offer is the first thing people see on your website. See website banners.
• A Google Business Profile post so the event shows in Maps and Search. Here’s how to post on Google Business Profile.
• An email header for your customer list. See email marketing for car dealerships.
• Optional print: a showroom poster, a flyer or a billboard. See print and billboard ads.

Not sure of the sizes? The car dealer ad size cheat sheet lists every one.

Offer ideas that work at year-end

• Year-end clearance on this year’s models, with the number left in stock if it’s true and small.
• A low finance rate or payment offer on a few named models.
• Trade-in bonus or appraisal event. Year-end is a good time to ask for trade-ins and stock up on used inventory for January.
• Pre-owned doorbusters: a handful of used vehicles at a sharp price. Pair it with the system in how to market used car inventory.
• Service and accessories: winter tire packages, gift cards and remote starters. More in service department marketing ideas.

Write it so it gets read

1. One headline, one offer. “Black Friday Sales Event” plus one offer beats five offers squeezed into a square.
2. Dates in big type. “Nov. 21 – 30” tells people to act now without inventing urgency.
3. A real vehicle that matches the offer. If the offer is on trucks, show a truck.
4. A caption with a hook and a link. Use the formula in how to write Facebook captions that sell cars.

The fine print

Busy sales events are when advertising mistakes happen. A few rules to check before anything goes live:

• Every price, payment or rate needs its disclaimer, right next to it on the ad and in the caption.
• In the US, if an ad mentions a monthly payment, down payment or number of payments, federal rules require the full terms too, including the APR. Lease ads have similar rules. See how to advertise payments, rates and leases.
• In Canada, several provinces, including Ontario and Quebec, require all-in pricing: the advertised price must include every fee except taxes and licensing.
• The vehicle must be available at the advertised price, and “sale” and “reduced” claims must be true.

This is general information, not legal advice. Your manufacturer, provincial regulator or state attorney general has the exact rules.