Car dealers combining systematic and programmatic email communications with targeted social media messages create an electronic safety net which avoids leads falling through the gaps, according to managing director of digital agency Marketing Delivery Jeremy Evans.

He will hosts a masterclass at this year’s Automotive Management Live event for car dealers and vehicle manufacturers on November 7 at Birmingham NEC.

Evans will show dealers how to successfully combine social media, eCRM, sales and service retention when he delivers his masterclass at the one-day motor industry exhibition.

“Social media and SocialStock should be part of the standard customer contact cycle,” said Evans. “In a time of uncertainty every lead and customer interaction counts. Using as much technology as possible to keep in touch with those customers is the key to increasing conversion and retention.”

Not surprisingly, Marketing Delivery’s longest serving clients that have worked hardest on their data have the best retention rates.

He adds: “They are working every lead in a systematic way so leads don’t drop through the gaps the way they can with manual processes. Bringing processes up to date by using social media means there are fewer gaps than ever for customers to fall between. It’s an electronic safety net so if a sales executive is not in the dealership and the perfect car comes into stock, the car buyer is alerted and followed-up.”

As well as targeting sales customers, Marketing Delivery is piloting Facebook advertising alongside its eCRM programme to boost service retention rates with best in class clients experiencing retention rates of 50% plus.

Together with a programmatic eCRM programme, retailers are seeing impressive results.  Where dealer staff have captured correct email addresses and the agency’s eCRM programme is instigated, conversion rates (from enquiry to sale) are higher than those whose email addresses have either not been captured or customers have opted out of receiving communications.

Drawing on both its data and experiences of its clients, Marketing Delivery’s social media masterclass will show dealers how they can combine follow-up emails with dynamic targeted communications on Facebook to produce the best results boosting conversion and ultimately sales and profits as well as retaining customers for service.

Once again free for dealer and manufacturer colleagues upon registration, Automotive Management Live brings together a host of industry experts who will tackle some of the most pressing industry topics. The masterclass sessions provide insights from suppliers on how to improve on specific areas of the business whilst the vast exhibition hall means products and services can be readily compared.