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AI-Powered Marketing: Predictive Insights for the Modern Dealer.

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Predictive insights and analytics are changing the way automotive dealerships operate. From optimizing marketing campaigns to predicting sales needs, predictive insights use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and data to anticipate trends, improve decision-making, and boost efficiency.  

This guide will introduce you to the world of predictive insights, explain how they differ from predictive analytics, and highlight how they can help your dealership excel across various functions.  

Included in this guide:  

What Are Predictive Insights?  

Predictive Insights vs. Predictive Analytics  

What Are the Benefits of Predictive Insights?  

Use Cases for Dealerships  

What Are Predictive Insights?  

At their core, predictive insights in the automotive industry involve using dealership data and analytics to identify customer behaviors, and offer actionable strategies. By analyzing consumer online shopper activity and data like vehicle searches, trade-in value, dealer website traffic and more, predictive insights empower dealerships to anticipate customer needs and their readiness to purchase. 

Predictive insights connect your dealership’s CRM with shopper data from online marketplaces that enables dealers to create powerful personalized shopper experiences that drive more sales. 

Predictive Insights vs. Predictive Analytics  

While the terms “predictive insights” and “predictive analytics” are often used interchangeably, they serve distinct functions: 

Predictive Analytics is a broader term encompassing the methods, statistics, and tools used to predict potential outcomes using historical and real-time data. For instance, it might use statistical models to anticipate sales growth trends.  

Predictive Insights, on the other hand, refer to the actionable recommendations derived from predictive analytics. If predictive analytics provides the forecast, predictive insights show how likely a buyer is to make a purchase, as well as shoppers’ priorities.  

To put it simply, predictive analytics tell you what’s likely to happen; predictive insights tell you what to do about it.  

What Are the Benefits of Predictive Insights?  

Predictive insights aren’t just for tech giants—they can benefit any business ready to leverage data effectively. Here are five key advantages of incorporating predictive insights into your dealership or business operations: 

  1. Consumer Knowledge: Powerful data capabilities from predictive intelligence help to indicate your shoppers’ interests. By measuring online activity, predictive insights can identify shoppers who are more likely to make a purchase. 
  1. Prioritization: Helps salespeople and BDC agents prioritize leads based on their readiness to purchase, ensuring that efforts are focused on the most promising prospects. 
  1. Proactive GenAI Communications: Dealerships can deliver tailored communications that resonate with customers powered by data from predictive insights tailored to the unique needs of individual consumers. This not only enhances engagement but also builds trust and fosters long-term satisfaction by addressing individual needs effectively. 
  1. Increased Efficiency: By providing insights into customer behavior, sales teams can work smarter, not harder, and improve their overall efficiency. 
  1. Improved Customer Retention: By understanding customer behaviors and delivering personalized experiences, dealerships can foster stronger relationships, ensuring customers return for services, upgrades, or new purchases. 

How Can Predictive Insights Help Your Dealership?  

For automotive dealerships, predictive insights offer immense potential to optimize operations, personalize customer interactions, and drive growth. Here’s how they can be applied across key areas within your dealership: 

1. More Impactful Marketing 

Predictive customer insights can identify patterns in your consumers’ preferences and behaviors. As consumers spend time online, some providers capture this data, and your dealership’s CRM can build a behavior profile of their buying journey. .This data can help you create a marketing strategy that targets ready-to-buy shoppers with powerful, timely messaging just in time to deliver the perfect deal.  

2. Focused Sales Efforts 

AI-driven insights can analyze buyer patterns to identify which vehicles or features will be in demand in the coming months. This helps dealerships focus on staying relevant and meeting the needs of today’s buyers.   

3. Task Prioritization 

Determining which leads are most engaged can help your sales team keep track of whom to prioritize and when to pick up the phone. With data that helps to identify engagement strength, it’s easier to set clear follow-ups, and keep track of hot leads. 

4. Intelligent Segmentation 

Predictive insights helps dealers target their marketing efforts to be more effective. With the help of a powerful, modern CRM, predictive insights can create more intelligent audience segmentation.  

5. Build an Omnichannel Experience 

Creating a seamless buying experience with your customers at every stage of the process—whether they begin online, in-store, or a mix of both—is vital to today’s shoppers. With predictive insights, dealers can help bridge the gap between each step, allowing buyers to go back and forth as they evaluate their options.  

6. Staffing Optimization  

Your sales team is dedicated to delivering the ultimate customer experience. So, understanding which customers to prioritize and when to reach out is paramount. Predictive insights enable your team to identify where shoppers are at in the buying process, removing the guesswork, helping your team prioritize and focus on in-market shoppers who are more likely to buy.  

7.  Enhance Your Marketing 

Your next car-buyer is likely inundated with hundreds of messages from multiple sources. So, getting your marketing offer through will require a holistic approach. Predictive insights can help dealers deliver multi-media marketing across multiple channels such as email, text, direct mail, social media and more. 

Harness the Power of Predictive Insights  

Integrating predictive insights into your dealership’s operations isn’t just a trend—it’s a vital move to stay competitive in the automotive retail space. With applications in marketing, sales, back office, and fixed operations, the potential for growth and efficiency is unparalleled.  

If you want to take your dealership’s sales  to the next level with predictive insights, it starts with choosing the right tools and strategies. Explore how tools like VinSolutions’ advanced CRM can support your business goals.  

Are you ready to redefine your dealership’s potential? Learn how to take a new retailing approach and leverage predictive insights visiting https://www.vinsolutions.com/dealership-software/automotive-artificial-intelligence/  

2025 Fixed Ops Focus Series: Reporting Enhancements

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Watch our latest 15 minute webinar hosted by Matt Warpinski, Director of Performance Management at Xtime, as he showcases hands-on tips on how our new reporting capabilities will help you and your team uncover actionable insights for enhancing your overall service experience.

Learn about new, modernized reporting views, increasing customer insights with detailed appointment and repair order metrics, and tracking performance with real-time dashboards. This recorded session, which includes Q&A, will help you stay ahead with Xtime’s cutting-edge solutions.

Evaluating Data and Predictive Insights to Close More Deals 

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In Cox Automotive’s 2024 Power of Data research study, four out of five dealers agree: Data can help them forecast trends, generate and capture demand, become more efficient, and maximize profits. And yet, only 26% of dealers are confident in insights provided by third-party vendors.  

The recent surge of third-party tools that provide data and leverage AI-generated insights means dealers have seen results that are all over the place. Dealers face three major challenges: 

  • The technology providing insights does not have access to real-time customer data 
  • The data is inconsistent across multiple dealership systems and tools 
  • The data simply isn’t detailed enough 

Given these concerns, it’s no surprise dealers have been hesitant to invest in solutions that can use this data to automate workflows and provide AI-driven insights. With the right partner, dealers can leverage granular data that is clean, consolidated, and ready to activate.  

How dealers can ensure the quality of data 

There are two key things to consider as you evaluate your data for use with AI and automation applications:  

  • Choose the right data source. Quality, real-time, consolidated data is foundational to the success of newer technology like marketing automation and AI, but not all data sets are created equal.  

For example, the solutions offered by Cox Automotive are powered not only by the dealer’s first-party data, but also by consumer data from 82 million unique visitors of Autotrader, Kelley Blue Book and Dealer.com—insights spanning the full shopping and ownership journey.  

The level of detail that comes with this behavioral data makes all the difference. It empowers sales managers to craft winning deals in real time and pinpoint the exact moment customers are ready to buy.  

  • Consider what you have technology doing vs. what you have people doing. Be realistic about what your technology does best and what your people do best. Look for solutions that can identify shoppers who are more likely to buy—even before they ever submit a lead. Trusting those insights and acting on them can give you a huge competitive advantage, especially if you level up your communications with generative AI. 
     
    But your people are still going to be best at 1-on-1 conversations. Don’t fall victim to the all-or-nothing mindset; you need your people and your technology to work together. 

Key questions to evaluate data 

  • Where is the data coming from? Does it give a full picture of the consumer’s intentions? 
  • Is the data current and accurate? Is it available in real time or is it batched? 
  • How specific is the data? Is it gathered directly from a specific buyer, or is it based on “similar” shoppers?  

How dealers can evaluate predictive insights 

Predictive insights and machine learning aggregate data to help guide decision-making and improve business results. They power the recommendations you see on most retailing sites and are some of the most powerful AI tools available to the automotive retail industry today.  

With the right data, tools, and partner, predictive insights can identify current, high-quality leads who are more likely to close than other lead types, helping the sales team prioritize their efforts.  

Going one step further, these insights can provide a detailed picture of a shopper. They reveal even more about the consumer: what they are looking for in a car, their overall budget, their payment ranges, and their intended trade-in vehicle—intel that empowers sales managers to put together winning deals in real time and pinpoint the exact moment customers are ready to buy.  

Key questions to evaluate predictive insights 

  • Are the insights delivered at the right time with real-time information? 
  • Are the predictive insights shopper-specific and actionable? Are they based on real actions from each unique shopper? Can the insights provide buying signals about the shopper?  
  • Are the insights incorporated into day-to-day dealer workflows? Are they easy to access by your staff within existing tools? 

With access to consolidated, clean, ready-to-activate data delivered in real time, dealers can unlock powerful insights that reveal more about car buyers: the make and model they’re interested in, their monthly payment range, and even how ready they are to buy.  

Only VinSolutions Predictive Insights empowers sales managers with exclusive insights that tell them exactly when a shopper is ready to buy. 

Fighting Fraud: What Every Automotive Dealer Needs to Know

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Margaret Bosworth, Director of Fraud, Identity, and Compliance Solutions at Equifax, joins Jade Terreberry for the first of a two-part series focused on fraud prevention in the automotive industry. In this first episode, the different types of fraud—first-party, third-party, and synthetic identity fraud—are broken down highlighting how education, technology, and cross-industry collaboration are key to protecting dealerships and consumers. Listen for insights into emerging fraud trends and how both Cox Automotive and Equifax are evolving its tools to help dealers stay ahead of threats while maintaining a smooth customer experience.

Guest Expert:

Margaret Bosworth

Director of Fraud, Identity and Compliance Solutions

Auto, Insurance and Telco Vertical

Equifax

Key Takeaways:

Understanding Fraud Types: Learn the differences between first-party fraud (like credit washing) and third-party fraud (including synthetic identities) and how they impact dealerships.

Emerging Threats: Hear how fraudsters are evolving, including the use of child SSNs and fake identities to build synthetic credit profiles.

Technology as a Defense: See how real-time data, device behavior tracking, and fraud detection tools can identify suspicious activity early in the customer journey and can help you combat fraud.

Cross-Industry Collaboration: Understand the importance of partnerships between dealers, lenders, and tech providers to create a unified fraud prevention strategy.

Creating a Fraud-Aware Culture: Learn why dealership-wide education and awareness are essential to successfully adopting fraud prevention tools and practices to protect your business.

Timestamps:

0:00 – 0:31 

Introduction

Jade Terreberry introduces the topic of fraud and guest Margaret Bosworth, kicking off part one in a two-part series on fraud prevention in automotive.

0:31 – 2:20 

Defining Fraud in Automotive

Margaret explains the importance of understanding fraud and balancing customer experience with risk mitigation in automotive.

2:20 – 4:14 

First-Party vs. Third-Party Fraud

Breakdown of the two main fraud categories and their relevance to dealerships, including an intro to credit washing and synthetic IDs.

4:14 – 5:46 

Credit Washing Explained

Margaret provides a relatable example of credit washing and how it can mislead dealers and lenders during underwriting.

5:46 – 7:33 

Synthetic Identity Fraud

Discussion on how synthetic identities are created and why they’re a growing threat in the automotive space.

7:33 – 9:29 

Fraud Detection Technology

Jade and Margaret explore how Cox Automotive and Equifax use advanced tools to detect bot behavior and non-human activity.

9:29 – 11:13 

Predictions and Future Threats

Margaret shares predictions on fraud trends they are seeing at Equifax and how evolving customer journeys create both risks and opportunities for detection.

11:13 – 12:28 

Equifax’s Role and Industry Collaboration

A look into how Equifax partners with Cox Automotive and others to build practical, real-time fraud prevention solutions.

12:28 – 14:04 

Building a Fraud-Aware Culture

Jade and Margaret discuss the importance of internal education and making fraud awareness part of dealership culture, and what you can gain by doing so.

14:04 – 15:51 

Final Thoughts and Anecdote

Margaret shares a personal story with her children that illustrates the mission of fraud prevention and the importance of understanding its impact.

15:51 – 17:26 

Closing Remarks

Jade previews part two of the podcast series with Cox Automotive and Equifax and encourages listeners to subscribe for more insights and tools to protect their dealerships, as well as the first to hear when the 2nd part of the series is released.

2025 EV & Hybrid Insights 

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In automotive, there is no bigger task ahead than the shift to electrification. While there are still concerns about costs and charging infrastructure, sales show that more people are adopting EVs. In the first quarter of 2025, EV sales increased by 11.4% compared to last year. Interestingly, this growth is coming from brands other than Tesla.  While Tesla’s sales declined, new models from Acura, Audi, Chevrolet, Honda and Porsche helped boost overall EV sales. 

At Cox Automotive, we remain optimistic about the future. Despite some ups and downs, and starts and stops in regulations, we see a strong interest in EVs among consumers. Our data shows that an average of 4.4 million households have shown interest in electric vehicles over the past 90 days. 

Additionally, research and shopping for EVs on Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book have remained stable, with a 9% increase in New Car Visits year-over-year. Similarly, we’ve seen Hybrid and Plug-In Hybrid shopping increase by 11% year-over-year.  While interest varies across different regions in the U.S., we’ve seen an increase in EV and Hybrid shopping across all Census Regions, even with lower gas prices.    

Download our latest EV and Hybrid shopper data and explore advertising opportunities with Cox Automotive to reach this highly engaged audience.  

In the meantime, continue preparing for the rise in EV adoption, and read our blog on increasing consumer adoption of EVs. Here’s a snapshot of a few insights and the actions you can take to focus on EV sales: 

Insight: Shoppers are skeptical about making the EV switch.  

Action: Incorporate more EV related material in your content. EV buyers actively seek information online, consuming more content than their (ICE) counterparts. Since the concept of EVs is still new to some shoppers, they rely heavily on content, especially videos, when researching online 

Insight: EV Shopper demographics are becoming more mainstream.  

Action: Use data to your advantage and work with your digital marketing partner to ensure your EV advertising is getting in front of more consumers that are interested in EVs. Additionally, provide more education around EVs about what manufacturers sell EVs, and the different models and varying price ranges can help with awareness.  

Insight: Dealers need to feel confident to sell EVs.  

Action: As a dealer, ensure you are reaching out to your OEMs to help educate consumers on their line-up, on the key differences and benefits of EV vs. ICE, as well as provide information on EVs listed for sale. 

The road to electrification certainly has not been a linear progression, but there’s a lot to be optimistic about with exciting new products and a robust and growing consumer base.   

From Online Interest to In-Store Sales: Operational Strategies That Work

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GUEST:

Chad Atwater

Director of Sales

Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book

Guest Expert: Chad Atwater, Director of Sales for Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book, joins Jade Terreberry to have a quick but impactful conversation at the AIS NRC Conference to discuss how dealers can use real-time data to drive performance and stay competitive in a rapidly shifting market. Chad shares practical strategies he sees working inside dealerships for leveraging tools like nVision to manage inventory, optimize operations, and align digital activity with physical lot performance, also emphasizing the importance of dealership processes in converting online engagement into closed deals.

Key Takeaways:

Real-Time Data is Critical: Dealers must use tools like Envision to monitor and respond to consumer behavior in real time.

Virtual Lot Activity Predicts Physical Lot Success: Online engagement is the most direct indicator of upcoming in-store activity.

Optimize Every Step from Click to Close: Success depends on managing the full customer journey—from first click to final sale—through operational efficiency.

Dealer Processes Matter: Internal dealership processes must be aligned and efficient to convert digital leads into real-world sales.

Use Metrics That Matter: Focus on actionable analytics to make smarter decisions and move inventory faster.

Timestamp:

0:00 – 0:31 

Introduction

Jade Terreberry introduces the podcast and welcomes Chad Atwater, Director of Sales for Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.

0:31 – 1:45 

Real-Time Data and nVision

Chad emphasizes the importance of using real-time data tools like Envision and highlights the value of Jeff Flak’s weekly sessions.

1:45 – 3:12 

Virtual Lot as a Predictor

Discussion on how online consumer behavior is the best indicator of what will happen on the physical lot.

3:12 – 4:32 

Operational Optimization

Chad explains how dealers can use real-time data to manage inventory, people, and processes more effectively.

4:32 – 5:35 

Using the Click to Close Strategy

Jade and Chad discuss the importance of dealership processes in converting digital engagement into sales, emphasizing the full journey from click to close.

Digitize Your Dealership Checklist

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Blend online and digital processes in six easy steps

The most successful automotive retail stores are integrating online and in-store processes. Learn to create a hybrid experience that saves time, builds trust, and improves the car buying experience. This simple checklist will help you balance online processes with digitally supported in-store steps to build a unified experience.

Understanding Consumer Behavior: Fast Tracking a Click to Close

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Guest Expert: Noah Lee, Director of Product Consulting for Dealer.com, joins Jade Terreberry at the AIS NRC Conference to discuss the critical steps between click and close in the car buying process. Noah shares insights on how understanding consumer behavior and leveraging data can optimize marketing strategies, enhance the customer experience, and drive higher conversion rates, highlighting the importance of the Retail 360 ecosystem in creating a seamless, connected experience for both consumers and dealers.

Noah Lee
Director of Product Consulting
Dealer.com and Cox Automotive

Key Takeaways:
Understanding Consumer Behavior: Learn how capturing and analyzing consumer data can help tailor marketing efforts to meet shoppers’ needs at different stages of the buying process.

Retail 360 Ecosystem: Discover the benefits of Cox Automotive’s Retail 360 ecosystem in providing a connected, frictionless experience from online research to in-store interactions.
Optimizing Follow-Up: Understand how detailed consumer insights can improve follow-up strategies, making them more personalized and effective.

Seamless Transitions: Explore how reducing repetitive steps and ensuring smooth transitions between online and in-store processes can enhance the overall customer experience.

Leveraging Real-Time Data: Gain insights into the importance of using real-time data to make informed decisions and improve dealership operations.

Timestamps:

0:00 – 0:31
Introduction
Jade Terreberry introduces the podcast and the guest, Noah Lee, Product Manager for Dealer.com.

0:31 – 1:45
Guest Introduction
Noah Lee is welcomed to the podcast, and Jade highlights his expertise and relevance to the topic.

1:45 – 3:12
Importance of Click in the Buying Process
Noah discusses the significance of the initial click and how it sets the stage for the entire car buying journey.

3:12 – 4:43
Understanding Consumer Behavior
Noah explains how capturing and analyzing consumer data can help tailor marketing efforts to meet shoppers’ needs.

4:43 – 6:09
Retail 360 Ecosystem
Discussion on the benefits of Cox Automotive’s Retail 360 ecosystem in providing a connected, frictionless experience.

6:09 – 7:14
Optimizing Follow-Up
Noah shares insights on how detailed consumer data can improve follow-up strategies, making them more personalized and effective.

7:14 – 8:17
Seamless Transitions
Exploration of how reducing repetitive steps and ensuring smooth transitions between online and in-store processes can enhance the customer experience.

8:17 – 9:27
Leveraging Real-Time Data
Noah emphasizes the importance of using real-time data to make informed decisions and improve dealership operations.

9:27 – 10:47
Building Sales Team Confidence
Jade and Noah discuss the need for dealership staff to gain firsthand experience with EVs to confidently guide customers.

10:47 – 11:02
Closing Remarks
Jade wraps up the episode, thanking Noah for his insights and encouraging listeners to subscribe for future episodes.

Countdown to Conversion with Vehicle Search Personalization 

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With Dealer.com, your dealership ensures shoppers find what they’re looking for on your site no matter how they browse, search or carry their shopping experience from site to site.  

How AI-Powered Website Personalization Works 

Experience Optimization, also known as Dealer.com’s website personalization engine, works by taking a visitor’s previous shopping activity from Autotrader, KBB.com and Dealer.com websites, and using AI and automation to dynamically customize what they see on portions of your Dealer.com website. 

You can enhance their shopping experience by providing tailored, relevant inventory and incentive recommendations for your customers based on the vehicle(s) they’re shopping for and how much they’re willing to spend.  

By leveraging a customer’s browsing behavior, search history, and entered data to personalize your website offerings, you’ll see increased engagement and lead conversion. In fact, you’ll double VDP views and boost lead submissions by 33% compared to non-personalized vehicle offerings.* 

Increase Customer Engagement on Your Site 

Ready to see how personalization can lead to increased lead conversion and satisfied customers? Schedule a quick demo and we’ll show you how to start personalizing the customer experience on your website. 

*Source: Statistics based on 9,582 Dealers that have utilized Modern Specials, comparing shoppers that only saw Personalized Specials impressions vs shoppers that only saw Non-Personalized Specials impressions from 01/01/2024 – 07/31/2024. 

Tariff and EV Market Talks: Updates, E-Commerce and the Opportunity Dealers Can’t Miss

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Guest Expert: Jimmy Douglas, Founder of Plug, joins Jade Terreberry to break down the evolving landscape of electric vehicles (EVs) and what it means for dealers today. From shifting consumer use cases to the impact of tariffs and the growing opportunity in used EVs, Jimmy shares practical insights on how dealers can better position themselves in the EV market. He also emphasizes the importance of hands-on education for dealership staff and how e-commerce is uniquely aligned with EV buyers.

Key Takeaways:
EV Use Cases Are Expanding: EVs are no longer just for early adopters—improved affordability and utility are making them viable for a broader range of consumers.

Tariffs Could Boost Used EV Values: New vehicle tariffs may lift used EV values, helping buyers with negative equity re-enter the market.

Used EV Market Opportunity: Dealers should not shy away from used EVs, especially with tax credits and brand-loyal, tech-savvy buyers entering frequent trade cycles.

E-Commerce and EVs Align: EV buyers are more likely to complete purchases online, making digital retailing a key growth area.
Sales Staff Must Be EV-Confident: Dealerships should prioritize hands-on EV experience for their teams to build confidence and improve customer education.

Timestamp:

0:00 – 0:31 Introduction
Jade Terreberry introduces the podcast and welcomes guest Jimmy Douglas, Founder of Plug, highlighting his recent panel on EV utility and use cases.

0:31 – 2:09 EV Misconceptions and Use Cases
Jimmy discusses common anti-EV arguments and explains how EVs are ideal for specific use cases like commuting, while the affordability and utility gap between EVs and ICE vehicles continues to close.

2:09 – 3:31 EV Affordability and Infrastructure Improvements
Jimmy highlights how improved range, better charging infrastructure, and narrowing price gaps are making EVs more practical for a wider audience.

3:31 – 4:43 Tariffs and Used EV Value
Jimmy explains how tariffs on new vehicles could lift used EV values, helping buyers with negative equity re-enter the market and encouraging more trade-ins.

4:43 – 5:34 EV Buyer Behavior and Trade Cycles
Discussion on how EV buyers are brand-loyal, treat vehicles like tech upgrades, and tend to trade more frequently than traditional buyers.

5:34 – 6:11 New EV Buyer Segments
Jimmy shares how affordability is bringing in new buyer segments, including rideshare drivers and those using alternative financing options.

6:11 – 7:14 EVs and E-Commerce Alignment
Jade and Jimmy discuss how EV buyers are more likely to complete purchases online, making e-commerce a strong fit for this segment.

7:14 – 8:17 Education for First-Time EV Buyers
Jimmy emphasizes the need for dealership staff to confidently educate first-time EV buyers on charging, ownership, and maintenance differences.

8:17 – 9:27 Building Sales Team Confidence
Jade and Jimmy agree that dealerships should send staff home in EVs to build firsthand experience and confidence in selling them.

9:27 – 10:47 Real-World EV Experience Matters
Jimmy shares a personal story about driving a Cybertruck and how extended use helped him fully appreciate its features—reinforcing the need for immersive staff training.

10:47 – 11:02 Closing Remarks
Jade wraps up the episode, thanking Jimmy for his insights and encouraging dealers to stay ahead of EV trends for a more successful road forward.