As a baseline, today’s car buyers expect consistent, relevant and timely communications from retailers. To stand out, retailers need to add nuanced and hyper-targeted messaging that adapts according to the customer’s position in the sales or aftersales journey. The use of automation and AI-driven tools can deliver positive outcomes for the retailer and customer alike. However, without sophisticated integration capabilities, the introduction of new systems may result in siloed data, contributing to data inaccuracies and duplication of processes. One such example is where a customer’s sales record is held in a different system to the associated aftersales record, creating the potential for inconsistent and potentially inaccurate communications, undermining trust and loyalty. True integration, facilitated by partner programmes such as the one between Marketing Delivery and Keyloop – helps eliminate these issues. Layering data to maximise accuracy and salience Thanks to these integrations, Marketing Delivery’s VoiceBox can align customer data and insights from across different suppliers to deliver a comprehensive view of each specific customer experience. It integrates with lead management and dealer management systems, as well as drawing upon third-party data sources. This gives a single, more accurate perspective on customer needs and behaviours to underpin bespoke communication strategies that boost engagement and drive sales. Alongside its Keyloop Partner status, Marketing Delivery’s software integrates with other manufacturer-mandated systems, in addition to specialist providers like Impel for conversational AI and merchandising, Bumper for aftersales conversion and EMaC for service retention. With VoiceBox acting as the central communication ‘hub’ from which to trigger emails and SMS, Marketing Delivery’s clients can issue automated messages at the right point in time with a consistent corporate identity and tone of voice. The flexibility and integration capabilities of VoiceBox allows retailers to continue to work with preferred specialists to achieve the best outcomes at each customer touchpoint, while also maintaining data in one place. An added benefit is that the results can then be collated into the Marketing Delivery’s BrainBox reporting tool, which is easily accessed by retailers to see live results and data quality insights. An example of this ‘data layering’, where you draw from different sources, is the issuing of relevant reminders and sales-driven prompts. With continuous cross-checking of a retailer’s customer database against records from the DVSA , VoiceBox can be used to automatically create and send AI-powered emails to alert existing customers about their forthcoming MOT. Similarly, retailers can evaluate the status of customer accounts through integrations with the likes of Bumper or EMaC to trigger bespoke creative, specific to the customer’s circumstances. With Marketing Delivery’s Keyloop integration, customer and vehicle records can then be updated automatically in the DMS, maintaining data accuracy without the need for laborious administration. Accurate data is the foundation for success Clean data drives performance. Marketing Delivery has recently introduced a new Data Cleanse Report that retailers can use to conduct a ‘live’ health check of their full customer database, identifying any records with inaccurate or incomplete details. The report complements their suite of data management tools within their comprehensive reporting platform, BrainBox, that can amend and augment records, as well as monitor consent capture rates and missing information, such as MOT due dates, email addresses and mobile numbers. Reporting to drive growth To measure the effectiveness of marketing efforts, retailers need to define clear and measurable outcomes. This can include observing operational efficiency and conversion rates to monitor ROI after introducing new levels of automation. The performance dashboards and KPI metrics available in BrainBox give retailers deeper levels of clarity than available previously. Alongside reports on customer data quality, retailers can now quantify and measure cross-department performance and identify areas of strength or opportunities. All of Marketing Delivery’s clients benefit from a dedicated account manager who will support them to build, tailor and understand their reports and make informed data-driven decisions on what the next steps could look like. Retailers can run reports to track and compare their performance and flag any areas of improvement or focus, or they can expand this review by using industry benchmarks offered by Marketing Delivery to contextualise their results in comparison to averages from across the sector. An omnichannel approach, underpinned by true connectivity of systems and data, can facilitate the timely and seamless communications that are now required to succeed in a highly competitive marketplace.