Scaling 60+ Facebook Campaigns Without Scaling Costs: Zapier Custom Automation vs ManyChat
When car dealerships want to boost their sales, they reach out to DMR. a specialized marketing agency for their proven Facebook marketing system.
Here's how their magic works:
- They create eye-catching Facebook event pages for dealerships, then,
- drive paid traffic to them.
- When people comment on these ads, their team jumps in and moves the conversation to Messenger.
- That's where the real work happens - answering questions about inventory and hours, scheduling test drives, and collecting contact info.
- Everything gets tracked in Google Calendar and spreadsheets, so dealerships always know who's coming in.
It's a well-oiled machine that's helped countless dealerships fill their showrooms. But as they grew to manage over 60 dealership campaigns, they hit a wall.
"We're old school guys," admits the agency's sales director. "We knew automation was the future, but when we looked at the numbers, it just didn't add up."
The problem? Traditional chatbot platforms charge per Facebook Page. At $65 per page monthly, automating their 60+ dealership campaigns would cost them nearly $4,000 every month. For a business built on keeping marketing costs reasonable for car dealers, that was a non-starter.
Then they discovered something interesting: a way to build their own custom automation system with Zapier at a fraction of the cost.
The Solution: Partnering with Connex for Custom Automation
When the agency discovered Zapier could be a solution, they reached out to us, Connex, a Zapier-certified agency, to help build their custom automation system.
Together, they developed a three-part system:
- Front-end automation that handles initial Facebook interactions and collects basic information
- AI-powered conversation engine using Zapier's built-in AI to handle common questions
- Appointment scheduling system that automatically updates Google Calendar and spreadsheets
The Connex team brought crucial expertise in:
- Leveraging Zapier's built-in AI instead of costly ChatGPT integration
- Building dealer-specific FAQ systems in Zapier tables
- Creating scalable automation that could be easily duplicated for new dealerships
- Working around Facebook API limitations
While the system couldn't handle everything (like responding directly to Facebook comments due to API limitations), it automated about 85% of their daily interactions. For the remaining 15%, they kept one team member to handle complex inquiries.
Implementation and Results
The entire system took about 15 hours to build and test. Instead of paying $3,900 monthly for traditional chatbots, they paid a one-time development fee and their regular Zapier subscription.
What makes this solution particularly elegant is its scalability. Adding a new dealership just means duplicating the existing automation - no additional per-page fees required. Each dealer can have their own customized responses and FAQs stored in Zapier tables, ensuring consistent but personalized customer service.
"With automation, you set it up and it's the same every time," notes the agency director.
This consistency proved to be an unexpected benefit, especially when dealing with various regional differences across their dealership network.
Looking Forward
The agency is now exploring ways to enhance their system further:
- Adding SMS follow-ups for appointment reminders
- Implementing more detailed analytics tracking
- Creating automated inventory updates
The biggest lesson? Sometimes the best solution isn't the most obvious one. While purpose-built chatbot platforms seemed like the natural choice, a custom solution built with Zapier proved more cost-effective and flexible for their specific needs.
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