What is it that you think of when you hear the words Artificial Intelligence (AI)? I know when I first heard them, the first thought that popped into my head was the movie ET. Today, the average person doesn’t realize when they are using AI.
The other day, I received a call from my dealership letting me know that it was time for an oil change. I thought to myself, it hasn’t been the standard 5,000 miles, how would they know? It turns out, my car has an on-board AI system that evaluates the way that I drive, the distance I’ve ve driven, and lots of other things. The AI system sends a code to my dealership that tells them the best time to call for needed service.
How else has AI changed the Automotive Industry?
There is the obvious, autonomous driving, which is likely one of the most prominent use cases that comes to mind. While we aren’t comfortable letting AI take the wheel 100% just yet, we are comfortable lending AI to power safety features for vehicles to take over the wheel when and if needed.
While all the cutting edge AI features do attract customers to look at more cars, how can AI help you attract customers to your dealership in today’s competitive market?
AI can be deployed in all areas of marketing. A typical marketing campaign could be you deploying multiple different ads across multiple different channels hoping that you get someone to click on the ad. Using programmatic marketing, with AI, auto dealers will be able to reach their target customers, with the right messages, at the right time. With an AI-enabled platform, such as Netsertive’s, and auto group can take that programmatic approach and scale the messaging needed for the right target across all their dealerships.
Customer’s path to purchase have changed drastically over the years. With the majority of car buyers willing to buy cars online. Digital marketing is becoming more and more important to automotive dealers. By the time customers arrive at a dealership, they have the information that they need and are ready to buy. Consumers not only want a fast and seamless digital experience, they expect it.
With many disruptors in the industry, such as Carvana, Tesla, and Amazon being labeled as “frictionless online retailers”, they are benefiting from technologies powered by AI in other industries allowing them to take their marketing efforts to new levels not seen in the automotive industry before. These disruptors, drew on their expanding data and increased their programmatic marketing efforts using AI capabilities to reach the audience they wanted. Connecting with their customers through their entire journey, employing AI, and offering deals at the right time.
The struggle has happened within numerous industries. Take the retail industry for example, Best Buy was struggling for years, but managed to thrive by learning and understanding their customers journey and implement programmatic marketing efforts using AI capabilities and have outperformed Amazon in the stock market.
Leading auto groups have already begun their AI marketing transformations and been reaping significant rewards. These groups and disruptors in the market, such as Tesla and Carvana all have one thing in common, they have recognized that in order to succeed in today’s market they must employ AI within their digital marketing foundation to be successful. With their customer relationships and proprietary data, automotive groups and dealers are positioned to reap the rewards by implementing an AI enabled programmatic marketing program.
Kayla King
Kayla King is a Senior Marketing Manager at Netsertive. She has been at Netsertive for 5 months, and in the software and marketing industry for 10+ years. When she isn't enjoying traveling or checking out new restaurants, you can find her cheering on the ECU Pirates!
