Use 2025 learnings to power a successful 2026

Published: December 2025

As we reach the close of an impactful year at Marketing Delivery, we want to take stock of the successes we have delivered to our retailer clients and how we can continue this momentum into 2026 and beyond. Growth this year has been defined by enhancing the fundamentals, improving data and using AI to create smarter activations and campaigns. This has been rounded off with the integration of Marketing Delivery as a TekCor4 company, a catalyst for expansion into the new year.

Amplifying 2025 wins

In 2026, we can expect continued acceleration of AI across the motor industry, with manufacturers and retailers likely to integrate AI more deeply into their operations, from the initial enquiry through into aftersales. As this happens, the customer journey will need to evolve significantly, requiring fresh approaches, capturing accurate data, including new digital touchpoints, and more personalised experiences to meet rising expectations.

To test customer attitudes towards AI use, we ran a survey in the summer of 2025 to ask customers ‘How would you feel about a car dealer using artificial intelligence (AI) tools to facilitate their communications with you, if it meant those communications were more personalised and relevant, and as long as your data was still protected?’ Notably, 52% of respondents stated that they were either neutral about or would prefer a retailer to use AI, demonstrating a growing consumer acceptance of AI communication.

AI will continue to play a major role in the customer journey, with smarter, more frequent communications improving engagement at the top of the funnel. Retailers will be able to increasingly use AI-driven tools to pre-qualify prospects, secure early finance approvals, and streamline the path to purchase.

Much like AI, social media continues to evolve and received a targeted focus in 2025 to refine how retailers can measure the outcomes of their social media marketing efforts. In the second half of the year, we expanded our SocialStock offering to include new TikTok catalogue ads. Using our offline conversion tools, we logged over 2,000 enquiries from social media activity in the first 11 months of 2025. Unique to Marketing Delivery, we can attribute a cost-per-enquiry, which, on average, was only £67.86, showcasing the significant impact social media can have with a lower cost per enquiry compared to other marketing methods. Retailers using the pilot implementation of our TikTok ads, where they are able to link their vehicle catalogue and run ads to potential customers, have seen high levels of both impressions and clicks, with an impressive cost-per-click of only £0.04.

Looking ahead to 2026

As part of TekCor4, we are now able to offer a wider range of services to our customers, especially when using data to drive activity. By combining TekCor4’s Catalyst for Aftersales program with VoiceBox, we will be able to cross-reference a retailer’s customer base with OEM data, to identify and contact aftersales customers, prioritising high-value services to maximise workshop utilisation and profit – more to come on this in 2026.

2026 will also see the introduction of Rich Communication Services (RCS) as standard, taking SMS communications to the next level. For retailers, RCS is a more agile, customisable and cost-effective solution to sending WhatsApp messages. Demand for SMS communications is growing and provides an opportunity to reach customers more directly with interactive and engaging messages. Retailers will be able to send rich-content within mobile messages, such as stock catalogues. Two-way messaging includes prompts for customers to quickly reply to retailers, improving customer response times, boosting sales conversions, and enhancing aftersales retention.

With new tools and software developments available, it is more important than ever that retailers spend the necessary time and resources on getting the basics right. Data integrity will support businesses to expand, remain agile and hit the ground running in 2026 with enhanced communication that boosts enquiries and conversions.

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