Ep. 645 - Authenticity Sells: Turn Real Stories into Profitable Ads, with Justin Friend
In this episode, my guest is Justin Friend, Senior VP at Dealers United; today, we’re going to talk about why social media is one of the most powerful yet underutilized tools for dealerships looking to sell more cars.
Think about it. If a customer walks into your showroom and feels like they know your team before they even shake your hand, the sale is already halfway done. And that’s exactly what today’s best dealers are figuring out—your ad strategy isn’t just about selling cars; it’s about making customers feel like they’re part of something real.
We’re talking about how dealerships can stop blending in and start standing out—by simply leaning into what makes them unique.
Imagine this: Instead of just pushing inventory, your team starts showing up in ads—sharing stories, cracking jokes, and bringing the dealership’s real energy to life. Suddenly, customers aren’t just seeing a dealership; they’re seeing your dealership.
And the best part? This approach doesn’t just feel good—it actually works.
That’s why this episode with Justin Friend is a must-listen. We’re diving deep into how top dealers are winning with personality-driven marketing, and why your dealership’s biggest advantage is NOT your inventory—it’s your people.
If you’ve ever wondered how to make your dealership’s ads actually connect with real people—and not just disappear into the noise—this episode is for you.
Episode Brought To You By FlexDealer
Need Better Quality Leads? FLX helps car dealers generate better quality leads through localized organic search and highly-targeted digital ads that convert. Not only that, they work tirelessly to ensure car dealers integrate marketing and operations for a robust and functional growth strategy.
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Episode Transcript
MC: 0:00
(Episode Sponsor)This episode is brought to you by FlexDealer.
(Podcast Intro)Hey auto industry. My guest today is Justin Friend. He's the Senior Vice President of Dealers United and today we're going to talk about the power of humanizing your brand as part of your social media ad strategy. Justin, thanks so much for joining me on the Dealer Playbook Podcast.
Justin: 0:31
Happy to be here. Thanks for inviting me this afternoon.
MC: 0:35
I mean at time of recording, we are pre-NADA time of release, slightly shortly after NADA, so you are sandwiched in giving people a sneak preview of what they will arrive at NADA to understand. I was particularly excited about your topic because I really think that 2024 or sorry, 2025 is the year of authenticity. It's the year of reality realistic, where you know, I think our human nature wants more and more authenticity. It's the year of reality realistic where I think our human nature wants more and more authenticity. So I want to kick things off this way From your vantage point as a senior vice president at Dealers United, being able to look in at so many different ad accounts and social accounts, what are some of the common mistakes you would say are happening on social and what you would recommend to mitigate those mistakes?
Justin: 1:32
Great question, I mean. I think mistakes can go in a bunch of different directions. Is it something technical? Is it not using the platform to its biggest advantage or power? I think one of the biggest mistakes that I see, michael, is just not letting dealerships who don't let their team have fun with social media and participate in social media.
Justin: 1:55
Speaking with a Ford dealer yesterday afternoon and they had a ton of great organic content, all sorts of things, some silly things. They're literally throwing a ball. In the showroom there was a guy dressed up in a wild suit like walking through the service department, but just real authentic things, things that happen at the dealership. I said to them I'm like, wow, you guys seem like a fun place to be. And they're like, yeah, this is us, this is how we really are. They're posting that content organically. So that's going into their feed on Meta.
Justin: 2:32
My suggestion to them and again, I don't know if it's fair to call it a mistake or not but take that content and amplify it out. Use a paid ad strategy to let shoppers who may be in your local community, who don't know about you, know that your dealership is a fun place, so when they show up and they may meet a salesperson virtually through social media. We've seen oftentimes, michael, where if we put a particular salesperson out and we deliver that content to local shoppers, they may come in and say hey, michael, I saw Bill on an Instagram reel the other day. Can I work with Bill? So I would say that if we're going to hone down to one specific mistake that people may not be taking advantage of is just having fun and getting out there and letting their brand be known for something other than just vehicles.
MC: 3:25
Yeah, what's interesting and I'm glad you threw the period after that last statement because that, as you were saying this to me, I wrote down amplify authenticity with advertising. If I'm not willing to amplify what makes me authentic that goes beyond, like you just said, the vehicle then how deeply do I actually believe in the people in my organization? Shouldn't I want to amplify the thing that is unique? How do you recommend for the dealers listening in? How do you recommend to them to get comfortable with this? What's the starting point? How do you drag authenticity? Because I think most organizations we kind of show up and we're afraid to be ourselves. Maybe we're too goofy or maybe we're controversial or whatever, and I would imagine dealers, business owners in general might have this same concern. So how do you recommend allowing for your people to just be themselves?
Justin: 4:33
Yeah, I mean, you raise a very good point and people have asked the question in the past how do you train or qualify authenticity To your point? What's too far in one direction or the other? I think it's going to vary, right? Every dealership is going to have a different level of tolerance for what may be over the line or not from a fun perspective, in terms of how to get it started. Find your champion right. Figure out who that one person could be. Who is the person that, at the dealership, is willing to get in front of the camera and it doesn't?
Justin: 5:07
You know, I want to make sure I'm clear. It doesn't all have to be fun or goofy. It could be simple things like having you know someone who's willing to get out there and walk through the dealership and say, hey guys, listen, we have, you know, 35 F-150s in stock. Here are the reasons why you should come down and visit our Ford dealership. I think it's a function of just getting out there, and oftentimes there can be a bigger risk in not doing it versus taking the chance. So I would encourage dealers to find that champion. Figure out what their goal is, figure out what their concept is that they want to talk about and then just go do it. If they need to work with a partner when it comes to advertising and recommendations, sure, that is part of what Dealers United offers as a service, and there's hundreds of other agencies out there that can help with that as well.
MC: 6:01
What I love about this is it's kind of like, if not you, then who? Kind of a scenario like if you're not going to be the one to start to do it. And then I think about just the landscape of dealers across America and the better part of the world, which are most often in rural markets, smaller populations, and as you're saying all of this and I'm taking notes I can't help but think the opportunity of becoming the big fish in the small pond is so great, and often I think we get compared against a metropolitan dealer who seems to have unlimited resources. This is, even though we're talking advertising and building authenticity into it, like it doesn't mean it has to be so expensive. Is that tracking for you with what you're seeing?
Justin: 6:48
A hundred percent tracking. It really truly is, and using your analogy of maybe the smaller dealer versus a larger dealer. And again, we work with big dealers, we work with smaller dealers. The reality is we're back to a time where inventory is really truly a commodity. The vehicle, for the most part, is a commodity. It's not so limited, it's not so scarce. So the important thing that we like to work with the dealers that we're helping from a marketing perspective is how do we differentiate your dealership, whether large or small, from the competition? Because if two Ford dealers I keep going to Ford if two Ford dealers have an F-150, arguably each Ford dealer could have a very similar or the same type of truck. If I'm a consumer, what can one Ford dealership do beyond just delivering me that piece of inventory to help me understand why I should do business with you, know them, why I should trust them, what they're all about? Like all of that type of information is critical in the buyer journey, like that's just. It becomes so much more than just that one piece of inventory.
MC: 8:03
I love this because you know there's varying opinions out there. There's people that say, why even bother with that type of information? Because you know the car and driver and the, you know Jalopnik and all of them are going to dominate you for it. But I think what you're saying, that that at least I'm picking up on here, is yes, and you are still in a rural market that is localized. We know search engine and ad platforms want to deliver local, relevant information. So so you're essentially saying what's your authentic spin on this? How are you seeing? Are you seeing? I mean, we've come from, let's say, the last 10 years where content for a car dealership was pretty, um, uniform I'll use that word across the board. Let's use the Ford dealers. It was like a Ford dealer in California and a Ford dealer in Florida and they were basically pumping out the exact same content at the same time. What are you seeing now for the successful dealers? To maybe mitigate that or make it unique to them? The successful dealers to maybe?
Justin: 9:10
mitigate that or make it unique to them. It's so funny that you say that, because we do still see that all the time. I mean, like obviously our conversation is sort of headed down the social media path, but we look at SEM or PPC, so Google Paid Ads. We also look at Search Engine Optimization, seo, and there are often times, michael, where we will find I'll call it cookie cutter right One dealer in one territory is doing the same exact content, the same image, the same copy, the same everything as a dealer in another territory.
Justin: 9:45
So you have two big challenges there. One, it's not unique. So if a dealer on one side of the country and the other side of the country are doing the same thing, you got to assume that the dealership right up the street is also doing the same thing. So you're not unique. We also have found and know that what works in a major metro market is going to be different potentially than what works in a smaller market from a targeting perspective, from a keyword perspective, from the number of available shoppers, monthly active users on any of the social media channels. So I think having that, I'll say customized or custom tailored strategy in my opinion, I'll say customized or custom tailored strategy. In my opinion, gone are the days of a one size fits all cookie cutter strategy from a marketing perspective.
MC: 10:36
What then, do we advertise? So, if we use the example that you brought up earlier, teams got some goofy characters. They like to have fun, guys walking around the showroom in a unique suit. What is an example of something they would do with that? I mean it because my worry is always, not so much now, but in the past. I mean, you know that camera turns on you, might be the most personable you know, and then all of a sudden the camera's on you're like, and today we are going going to. So what do they do with that authenticity, if you will?
Justin: 11:12
Yeah, and you raise a very valid point right. You need to have a full funnel strategy so something with that. We're calling it authenticity. But that very humanized, individual, personal type of content, that's part of the strategy. It's not all of the strategy. So that's very much. If we talk about a marketing funnel top of funnel, that's part of the strategy. It's not all of the strategy, so that's very much. If we talk about a marketing funnel top of funnel, that, michael, is very much like top of funnel type awareness advertising. So that could be an introduction and it doesn't necessarily just have to be the silly, fun, goofy stuff.
Justin: 11:44
Think about community initiatives, think about things that dealers do to support local communities. Being believer in the fact that dealerships are the cornerstone of many communities, they give back, they're philanthropic, they have events and galas and foundations that they give back to the local community. So sometimes it's just a function of putting that type of information out there. From there it then does turn into a buyer journey for the local shopper, and sure we're going to talk about getting them back to the dealership's website. Maybe we get them back to a specific BDP vehicle detail page so we can land them on a vehicle, but part of what we do is making sure that that journey, from a consumer's perspective, is going to vary based on the steps and the information that we know about them.
Justin: 12:35
So it's not just this like one size fits all, using you as an example. If you're a shopper, you're a consumer, and maybe you engage with one of our silly, goofy examples of creative that we set up. Maybe there's somebody playing guitar and that really resonates with you. You get back to the dealership's website. If you're clicking on a Mustang, for example I don't know why we're stuck on Ford, but it's all good. You click on a Mustang, but then I deliver you content that's focused on an F-150, and we see that you asked me before about mistakes. We see that I totally missed before about mistakes. We see that I totally missed the mark with you as a consumer.
MC: 13:16
I mean this goes right back to understanding audiences and understanding that not every vehicle is made for every customer. Right? I know that sounds. When I say it that way, it sounds pretty foolish. Sounds like when I say it that way, it sounds pretty foolish. People are. I can feel the eye rolls from here out in the ether. It's like, well duh, obviously a minivan is made for a family and it's like that, that, that, that, but also painters and some trades people.
MC: 13:43
And until we, like, understand the demos, or the varying demos of each of the vehicles, then what happens, I feel like, is then the advertising becomes blase, it becomes, to your point, very cookie cutter and, like you said, then you miss the mark. It's like you should have met that everything you knew or that the data can tell us about that person interested in the Mustang should have followed them right through to the point of sale and beyond.
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Justin: 14:43
And to support that further. You asked me earlier about potential mistakes and challenges. You know you asked me earlier about potential mistakes and challenges. Sometimes one of the challenges that we see is just focusing on a single platform. You talked about targeting. You talked about, you know, small business, the painter, the plumber, whatever the case may be. Targeting is also a function of different types of platforms. So if, for example, we had a dealership that has tons and tons of third row SUVs, we know that third row SUV is typically a family vehicle. Oftentimes a mom is driving that family vehicle. That could get some of those same eye rolls, so I'm with you. That family vehicle that could get some of those same eye rolls, so I'm with you. We know that 80% of US moms are spending time on Pinterest. They may also be on Meta or another channel Instagram, facebook, whatever the case may be but when it comes to targeting, that's a great opportunity to not only know your audience, but know the right platform to reach that shopper.
MC: 15:48
And we know they're on Pinterest because of all of the weekend DIY projects that I currently have on the go.
Justin: 15:57
You and me both brother.
MC: 15:59
Yeah, yeah, we're in a club, isn't that interesting? Because I think majority of the time focus right now is the standards, google, facebook and then OTT some sort of OTT right that people seem to be throwing that around, which is why I appreciate you bringing up the full funnel strategy that it's not one touch point, one and done. I think our industry sometimes suffers from absolutism. Is that a thing? Or did I just become George Bush? I'm making up words. We gravitate towards absolutes. I don't want anybody to hear what we're talking about today and think oh, he said humanize your brand, that's all you got to do. I love that you are qualifying this and saying no, there's a full funnel strategy. Humanizing your brand is an entry. You use the word introduction, which think is perfectly placed um for people to get to know you, and I love that you brought up the guitar, because while guitar and the suggestion there of tapping into people's interests that perhaps reach beyond just a vehicle, so why aren't more dealers doing this, in your opinion?
Justin: 17:11
I think there's still a lack of knowledge. I certainly don't want to say a lack of education, but I think it's a lack of knowledge and just not understanding exactly how to best leverage a full funnel strategy that's looking at every possible channel out there. I think sometimes there's some just hesitancy from moving away from the standards right you mentioned, like hey, google, cool, we check the box, facebook, cool, we check the box. I think sometimes there's just some hesitancy from moving beyond that and willing to explore additional options. But at the end of the day, everything we're talking about kind of funnels down to technology. In one way or another there's gotta be testing and learning and iterating with technology. So I think oftentimes it's just it's either a lack of knowledge or a lack of eagerness or desire to kind of change what is conventional. Like how often do we hear well, we do it this way, because that's what we've always done. It's like well, that's okay, but sometimes you have to change in order to change yeah, interesting.
MC: 18:15
And I mean, look at, look at where we are at now in our civilization's history, where you know, all the futurists are saying we're experiencing 100 years of change every five years. Now, right, things are evolving. Consumer Things are evolving. Consumer appetites are evolving. There's so many different. You know the EV topic and you know different regulations that are changing our appetites.
MC: 18:40
Still, we see and I want to kind of go down this path for a minute which is the marrying, the authenticity to the why us, when push comes to shove, I just think there's a and this is not car dealers, this is just human nature. I think we, we, when we're focused on ourselves, we like all creativity kind of goes out the door and we end up with a message that sounds like this and you know, hey, send me a message If you're listening to this and this resonates. We end up with this message Family owned and operated for over 50 years. That is the most creative crack at authenticity. I drove to where was I driving? Arkansas and along the way I must have saw 20 billboards for different dealers or dealer groups. That's like family owned and operated for over 50 years. Family owned and operated 70 years. Insert timeframe here From your perspective, I can't help but think they're trying to convey something, but they don't have the words to convey it. I mean, what's your take?
Justin: 19:44
Yeah. So here's what I would say that's fantastic, so what? And I'm not saying that in a bad way, with no disrespect whatsoever I have so many people in this industry that are not only partners but truly people that I consider friends, that are second and third generation dealers, and I think it is fantastic. So to me, those billboards, man, that is awesome. That is something that they should be proud of. But it's the next step, which I think is sort of what you're challenging. It's like okay, cool, so what? How do we take it from? It's awesome, you've been in business for 50 years. That means that you've done from a community perspective, you've done a good job. From a business perspective, you've done a good job because you're still standing. That's awesome. But if I'm a shopper, if I'm a, I'm a consumer okay, cool. So what? We've been in business for 50 years and we have more inventory than anybody else and we have the best prices and we have the best. That, like, I think there needs to be that next step.
MC: 20:46
Kind of a continuation yeah, your so what is not so what? You're an idiot. It's so what's next? What does that mean? What's the implication of that? And then baking that into you, said the champion, so making sure that your champion understands your so what? Which ties into kind of the heart of this message, which is the so why, what is kind of the heart of this message, which is the so why? What is your why of of all of this? Like, what moves you and why? Why should people? Why should a car shopper? You brought up differentiating competition. Why should a car shopper choose us when, like you said, commodity wise, they could go anywhere? What's the differentiator? So, what are your thoughts as we move into this new year that dealers should be focused on? We've talked authenticity and humanizing in the funnel From a so what perspective and a why perspective. What are some thoughts you have?
Justin: 21:45
I think the first thing that comes to mind for me is customer experience. I think the first thing that comes to mind for me is customer experience, and customer experience can be any part of the dealership showroom, service parts, waiting area, whatever the case may be. As a society, we want to have an excellent customer experience and I think that's one of the critical things that dealerships do very well to separate themselves from others who may not be doing so well. I don't know if this is too far of a stretch, but if you think about a restaurant, oftentimes we're going to go and look up hey, how many stars did this restaurant receive on Google or Yelp or wherever we're looking, and that can be how we make our decisions. So I think having that customer experience from a dealership perspective is a great place to have that.
Justin: 22:34
So what? Or so why? Beyond that, it's some of the less tangible things. We talked about it. What are some of the things that you're doing for the community? How can you you know, better improve the way that consumers feel about you? You know service part, sales, all of that type of information, but I I would boil it down to you know customer experience and I mean like gosh, the, the minute you bring up customer experience.
MC: 23:05
I take the beeline rate to culture because it's like so many dealers have. There's so many conversations in our industry that bring up culture and I desperately want that to not be the next buzzword. I want it to be tangible. A lot of dealers struggle to figure out how to quantify culture, but I think it's what you're saying it's evidenced. Healthy culture is evidenced in customers walking away being like Holy crap, that was the best time I had. I didn't want to actually leave.
Justin: 23:39
Yeah, I mean, the other side of that is like, man, I didn't hate that experience and unfortunately so many people think that you know, going to a, to go to a car dealership is awful. Personally I love it. Obviously I'm in the industry. But I think being able to change that notion and to your point like, hey, I don't want to leave, but also you referring the dealership that you had a great experience with to your friend or your neighbor, or you get that new vehicle and someone's like you know, man, michael, love, love your new ride. Where'd you get it? Oh, I bought it from so and so I had such a great experience. That's going to plant that seed in the back of their mind that when they're ready for the vehicle that, hey, my buddy michael had a great experience I'm going to. I'm going to go check them out, assuming they have the type of car that I'm looking for.
MC: 24:30
It's kind of like it's a hyperloop, if you will, that feeds itself, Because in that context the advertising takes on a whole new meaning.
MC: 24:38
I think often when we say advertising, we think oh, ad budget, yada, yada, yada, but it's like, no, what's the implication of having a healthy culture that people enjoy working at, of having a healthy culture that people enjoy working at, of them then talking about where they work with some measure of pride to the people that they know, and then the implication of those people coming in and having a good experience and then telling the people they know like, with some tweaks you could easily have a flywheel, if you will of of opportunities flowing into your business based on authenticity, based on, um you know, a genuine care and concern for your, concern for your customers, and and maybe, maybe, just maybe, then the family owned and operated slogan goes away and it's like because every customer said they'll never buy a car from somewhere else, ever again.
MC: 25:32
You know like or I don't know like that. So, as we, as we kind of wind down how quickly the time can go, um, what, give us a sneak peek on how you're going to wrap this together at NADA, for maybe those that aren't able to attend. You're speaking at NADA this coming week. At time of recording, If you're listening in the future, Justin spoke at NADA in 2025, and it was awesome and it was about this topic. Obviously, you're going to get into more detail. Give us a little sneak peek, though, on how you're going to tie everything together.
Justin: 26:05
Sure. So at NADA I'm speaking with a guy named Jay Healy. He's the chief marketing officer for the Healy Brothers Auto Group. They're in the Hudson Valley, new York region. We've been working with Jay and his team for I don't know, probably five years at this point. What we are talking about is we are sharing some of the very specific strategies that we use for Healy. Our session is called 17 Battle-Tested Ad Strategies and at the end of the day, our goal is to share with people who are in attendance actionable things that, if they get home from NADA on Monday or if you're listening in the future, monday already happened, but things that you can put into place, like right now, to help improve you know your strategy. So we have 17, as it's called, 17 battle tested ad strategies and we're we're pretty excited to share them with the crowd at NADA.
MC: 27:02
Sounds like it's going to be amazing. Hey man, thank you so much for joining me on the pod. How can those listening or watching connect with you? Thank?
Justin: 27:10
you so much for joining me on the pod. How can those listening or watching connect with you? Sure Happy to share my email. It's justin at dealersunitedcom. You can always find me on LinkedIn. Love to have people visit our website, which is dealersunitedcom, and those are the easiest ways, You're the man.
MC: 27:25
Thanks so much for joining me on the Dealer Playbook Podcast. Hey, thanks for listening to the Dealer Playbook Podcast.
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