WinnowPro Discusses the Use of Chatbots in Car Dealership Marketing and Lead Generation

Often, the difference between a failing and successful car dealership is lead generation. In recent years, many car dealerships have used online marketing strategies to convert website visitors to leads. Some of the most popular car dealership marketing strategies have included social media campaigns, email marketing campaigns, and SEO blog entries. However, in recent years, one of the most popular methods of lead generation in car dealership marketing campaigns have been chatbots. Before chatbots, car dealerships had to rely on human resources for their website visitors to receive critical lead information such as name, email, and phone number. However, thanks to recent strides in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital marketing, chatbots now allow business owners to collect leads at a greater rate for a fraction of the price. According to a recent survey by Tidio, 77% of successful online businesses use chatbots to generate their leads, while an additional 66% use chatbots to provide faster customer service.  

Since their founding in 2018, car dealership marketing solutions provider WinnowPro has helped car dealerships nationwide increase their sales, improve lead generation, and drive an average return of 20x in less than 30 days. By providing data-driven marketing solutions and services, including search engine marketing, social media marketing, and chatbot solutions, WinnowPro has helped hundreds of car dealerships improve their competitive positioning. As a long-term advocate for chatbot applications in digital marketing campaigns below, WinnowPro will discuss how chatbots can help in your next car dealership campaign.

What is a Chatbot?

Originally invented in 1966, chatbots are driven by artificial intelligence, automated rules, machine learning, natural-language processing, where chatbots process data to deliver certain responses to different types of requests. Today, there exist two main types of chatbots, task-oriented chatbots and data-driven, predictive chatbots.  

Task-Oriented Chatbots – Task-oriented chatbots or “declarative” chatbots are single-purpose programs that focus on performing one simple function. Using automated rules and natural language processing, these types of chatbots can generate automated and conversational responses to customer inquiries. Most of the tasks that declarative chatbots answer involve common questions such as queries regarding business hours, business addresses, and returning items. Today, declarative chatbots are the most prevalent chatbots, and while they do use Natural Language Processing (NLPs), their conversational capabilities remain fairly basic.  

Data-driven and Predictive Chatbots – Data-driven chatbots or “conversational” chatbots are seen as much more sophisticated chatbots, which has led to their popular nickname of virtual assistants. These chatbots are contextually aware and use NLP and machine learning to master language and responses as they mature. Data-driven chatbots can learn user preferences over time, anticipate needs, and provide recommendations without preprogrammed responses. While these types of chatbots are often deployed to monitor data and intent, they can also initiate conversations with users and customers.  

The Features and Benefits of Chatbots for Businesses

Now that AI has come to define digital marketing, chatbots are becoming one of the most important tools in a digital marketers’ arsenal. Not only can chatbots enhance customer experience, but they also transform the way customers interact with brands on a digital level. Businesses can help create stronger email automation systems through chatbots, improve customer service wait times, and eliminate the need for dedicated human resources. However, perhaps most notably, chatbots allow businesses to accelerate their sales process through lead generation.

How Chatbots Can Qualify Leads for Car Dealerships  

Within the past five years, chatbots have become an integral part of any organization’s sales teams. Countless companies now advertise their content, grow brand awareness, and generate leads and funnels to sales teams with the help of task-oriented and data-driven chatbots. For many years, businesses asked customers to provide their name and email address to drive potential leads; however, in recent years, companies have started using chatbots to set up preliminary communication with potential customers and redirect these customers to official sales channels – creating streamlined efficiencies. One of the types of businesses that have seen the most success from this new type of lead generation has been car dealerships. A number of car dealerships are now employing chatbots for greeting potential customers on their landing page and asking clients to take immediate action, such as giving their name and email or subscribing to their dealership’s car notification subscription.  

How to Set Up Successful Chatbots Lead Generation  

To successfully automate a company’s lead generation through chatbots, company leaders will need to sync customer sentiments and profile with chatbots. Chatbots cannot be used effectively when only defining a customer by a single value point. Every customer should have a distinct 360-degree lead profile that will need to be monitored by team members. A target customer is normally defined by specific categories such as age, gender, location, profession, and spending power. A buyer persona will ideally be a replica of a targeted buyer, which chatbots will be able to identify, obtain contact information from, and send to sales teams.    

For more information on WinnowPro’s lead-generating and lead-qualifying chatbot, WinChat, send us an email or give us a call. To learn more about WinnowPro services for auto dealerships and Beta Programs for exclusive product releases, visit our Automotive page.