Best Text Message Marketing for Car Dealerships

Text Message Marketing for Car Dealerships Reviews

In recent years, texting has become a standout tool for engaging with customers in more personal and convenient ways. Texting is less intrusive than phone calls and is more likely to be read than emails, making it beneficial for both parties. Car dealerships can use SMS marketing in many ways, such as confirming appointments, following up, sharing special promotions, sending surveys, and more.

To help car dealerships find the best text message marketing software, B2B Reviews gathered a list of 30 vendors and then identified over a dozen reputable providers. We evaluated them based on features, pricing & transparency, and support. Visit our methodology section to learn more about how we created our list.

EZ Texting – Best SMS Marketing for Small to Medium Auto Dealers

EZ Texting provides streamlined SMS marketing for car dealerships that turn conversations into showroom visits, increasing engagement and boosting sales. With EZ Texting, auto dealers grow their opt-in lists with keywords, targeted offers, QR codes, and digital sign-ups. The SMS platform makes it easy to drive traffic and promote new models, sales events, and incentives while complying with TCPA regulations.

EZ Texting allows you to schedule and confirm appointments and send automated reminders, thereby reducing no-shows and increasing sales. You can send time-sensitive alerts and notifications, as well as payment reminders and receipts. It offers AI Compose and AI Reply, which generate effective SMS templates and responses that will engage and convert prospects. Finally, EZ Texting simplifies employee communication and efficiency through shared inboxes, important text alerts, contact cards, and automated workflows.

Start Free Visit EZ Texting’s website

EZ Texting features

• CRM/DMS Integration – Integrates with major CRM tools. For DMS integrations, EZ Texting offers a developer-friendly SMS API that lets you build a direct connection to your DMS platform.
• Automation – Create trigger-based workflows, use pre-built templates, enable auto-replies, and incorporate AI-assisted tools to support customer journeys.
• SMS Compliance Management – EZ Texting is TCPA-compliant, supports 10DLC registration, and adheres to CTIA regulations, allowing customers to opt in and out of SMS marketing campaigns.
• Comprehensive Communication Suite – Provides SMS, MMS, and RCS services, enabling mass texting, two-way messaging, and workflow automation.
• Analytics & Reporting – Tracks delivery & performance and offers engagement metrics, response monitoring, campaign insights, and list growth analytics.

How EZ Texting pricing works

EZ texting offers four SMS marketing plans, plus a 14-day free trial. The pricing listed below is based on an annual billing schedule, but EZ Texting also offers month-to-month pricing.

• Launch: Starts at $20/month; up to 500 contacts
• Boost: Starts at $60/month; 500 – 2,000 contacts
• Scale: Starts at $100/month; 2,000 – 50,000 contacts
• Enterprise: Starts at $3,000/month; 50,000+ contacts

What markets does EZ Texting serve?

In addition to supporting the automotive industry, EZ Texting serves small to medium-sized businesses across industries such as e-commerce, retail, legal, insurance, healthcare, nonprofits, churches, restaurants, and more.

Read our full EZ Texting review

Kimoby – Best SMS for All-in-One Service Lane Management

Kimoby is an all-in-one service lane software, offering a texting software that manages the entire repair order, from booking and status updates to final payment, in a single texting thread. The platform helps service departments handle inspections, estimates, payments, loaners, missed calls, and follow-ups. Kimoby aims to be more than a generic texting app, turning messages into the workflow.

Kimoby links status updates, video inspections, estimates, and payment links into a single text thread, keeping customer information in one location and syncing it with your Dealer Management System (DMS). The platform keeps your customers up to date by showing estimates right in the thread, each with a price and an approval system. Kimoby supports multimedia messaging, two-way conversations, scheduled texts, AI-powered tone & spellcheck, DMS writeback, Internal notes & handoffs, and reviews & CSI.

Kimoby features

• CRM/DMS Integration – Offers robust, bi-directional DMS integration to sync repair orders, customer histories, and appointments.
• Automation – Trigger automatic reminders and follow-ups from DMS events, so the routine messages send themselves.
• SMS Compliance Management – Helps businesses manage SMS compliance regulations like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL).
• Comprehensive Communication Suite – Unifies multiple communication channels and operational tasks into one platform, including SMS, MMS, DES, and more.
• Analytics & Reporting – Dedicated dashboards monitor communication performance, customer sentiment, and operational data.

How Kimoby pricing works

Kimoby offers two plans for its Service Lane OS module, each with three pricing tiers.

Essential Plan (best suited for smaller volume workshops)

• Tier 1: Starts at $700/month; 0–500 monthly work orders & 10,000 segments
• Tier 2: Starts at $1,000/month; 501–1,000 monthly work orders & 20,000 segments
• Tier 3: Starts at $700/month; 1,000+ monthly work orders & 30,000 segments

Pro Plan (best suited for high-performance workshops)

• Tier 1: Starts at $1,600/month; 0–500 monthly work orders & 10,000 segments
• Tier 2: Starts at $2,000/month; 501–1,000 monthly work orders & 20,000 segments
• Tier 3: Starts at $2,500/month; 1,000+ monthly work orders & 30,000 segments

Kimoby’s Connect plan offers just SMS services, starting at $389 per month. This is best suited for businesses looking to reach clients quickly and efficiently, and who need no other services.

What markets does Kimoby serve?

Kimoby primarily serves the automotive dealership industry in the United States and Canada, targeting small businesses to mid-market automotive service departments and fixed operations teams.

ActivEngage – Best Dealership Live Chat for Customer Engagement

ActivEngage turns digital conversations into leads through a user-friendly messaging tool, offering flexibility, scalable, and smart features to elevate customer loyalty. AactivEngage aims to make your dealership feel less like a transaction and more like a destination. You can meet customers where they are, communicating via SMS, social, and chat, providing instant, personalized interactions.

With ActivEngage, you can book service appointments, capture deal-ready details, and provide sale-boosting interactions 24/7. The flexible live chat automotive software allows your team to connect with shoppers on your terms. Additionally, ActivEngage provides managed and co-managed messaging services, ensuring your frontline is covered after hours.

ActivEngage features

• CRM/DMS Integration – Offers real-time CRM and DMS integration, directing chat transcripts, customer insights, booked sales, and service appointments into your software, no manual data entry required.
• Automation – Routes inbound messages through smart queues, integrates data directly into your CRM, and uses an AI receptionist to handle initial triage.
• SMS Compliance Management – Offers secure messaging and handles carrier requirements like 10DLC registration and carrier fees.
• Comprehensive Communication Suite – Combines live chat, text, AI tools, and call management into an all-in-one automotive communication and engagement platform.
• Analytics & Reporting – Tracks performance metrics, visitor data, and chat conversions directly through the platform.

How ActivEngage pricing works

ActivEngage offers various pricing models through its Certified and Dealer Co-Op Programs.

• Add-On Enhancements: Starts at $12/month
• Software: Starts at $79/month
• Managed Messaging: Starts at $619/month

To get a more accurate quote for your dealership, you must book a demo.

What markets does ActivEngage serve?

ActivEngage serves the automotive industry worldwide, focusing on markets like individual car dealerships, multi-location automotive dealer groups, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and certified automotive digital programs.

Podium – Best for AI-Powered Text Messaging

Podium enables you to respond to your customers the instant they text with its 24/7 AI Employee, named Jerry, that manages customers through their entire journey, from inquiry to booking and beyond, turning conversations into revenue. With Podium, the conversational AI Employee handles responses day and night, maintaining a human tone. Additionally, all text messages are consolidated into a single inbox. It features folders, assignments, templates, and more to keep conversations organized and easy to find.

Podium’s AI Employee for dealerships provides 24/7 coverage. It answers the phone and books appointments, including test drives, allowing your team to focus on the job and close more ROs. Podium consolidates your CRM, inbox, and phone into one platform, connecting to your DMS to streamline workflows and enhance service. Additionally, Podium uses current OEM offers, video messaging, iPacket links, and live inventory to bring customers to the lot.

Podium features

• CRM/DMS Integration – Syncs customer data, triggers automated review requests, and logs messages with many CRMs and DMS tools.
• Automation – Automatically sends follow-up texts, captures leads, changes contact statuses, streamlines journeys, and sends personalized messages.
• SMS Compliance Management – Adheres to regulations like the TCPA, CAN-SPAM, and carrier-specific 10DLC requirements.
• Comprehensive Communication Suite – Provides text messages, web chats, phone calls, email, and social media messages in a unified system.
• Analytics & Reporting – Offers basic analytics and reporting tools like review tracking, communication metrics, response times, customer satisfaction & loyalty trends, and more.

How Podium pricing works

While pricing is not listed on the website, Podium offers three customizable plans: Podium Platform, Sales AI, and Service AI. To get exact pricing, you must schedule a demo.

What markets does Podium serve?

Podium is best suited for medium-sized businesses and multi-location enterprises in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, focusing on industries such as auto dealerships, retail, aesthetics & wellness, home services, and professional services.

Kenect – Best for Texting with Reputation Management

Kenect is an AI-powered platform that offers text messaging, WebChat, and broadcast messaging for the automotive industry, driving revenue, improving reputation, streamlining customer experience, and keeping service lanes full. It allows you to text and engage with customers as well as book appointments 24/7. With Kenect, you can automate service calls, reduce missed calls, improve communication, generate more reviews, and capture customer feedback from a single platform.

Kenect centralizes every conversation, from payment requests and website chat management to review requests, into one platform. It enables your service department to text updates, send pictures, and answer questions in real-time. You can meet your customers on social media, increase response rates, and eliminate communication gaps.

Kenect features

• CRM/DMS Integration – Fully integrates texting with DMS and integrates with your systems to provide a stable, seamless experience.
• Automation – Automates scheduled messages, appointment reminders, status updates, review requests, and CSI surveys.
• SMS Compliance Management – Built-in SMS compliance and opt-in/opt-out management features, including administrative controls to help businesses adhere to A2P 10DLC and carrier requirements.
• Comprehensive Communication Suite – Built-in SMS compliance and opt-in/opt-out management features, including administrative controls to help businesses adhere to A2P 10DLC and carrier requirements.
• Analytics & Reporting – Measures messaging performance, customer sentiment, review metrics, and team engagement.

How Kenect pricing works

Kenect does not list pricing on its website. Instead, costs are based on your business type, number of locations, required features, and more. To get a personalized quote, you will need to schedule a demo.

What markets does Kenect serve?

Kenect offers text-based customer communication services to the automotive, outdoor power equipment, RV, powersports, marine, and local business industries, focusing on small- to medium-sized businesses and mid-market dealerships.

Compare the Best Text Message Marketing for Car Dealerships Side-by-Side

What is Text Message Marketing for Car Dealerships?

Text message marketing for car dealerships uses direct SMS to connect with prospective customers, such as car buyers and service clients. Because texts go directly to people’s smartphones, SMS marketing messages have an open rate of nearly 98%, making them ideal for time-sensitive promotions, appointment reminders, service updates, lease-end reminders, and more.

Car dealerships can enhance their marketing strategies with text messaging, especially when combined with email and direct mail. Texting shares promotions and replaces slow phone calls with fast, mobile engagement, reinforcing key communication and nudging customers toward action.

How Car Dealerships Can Use Text Message Marketing to Increase Sales

By utilizing direct messaging’s speed, personalization, and higher open rates, car dealerships can use text message marketing to increase sales and enhance customer engagement.

Core SMS sales strategies:

• Instant Response Times: You can reply to online inquiries in under 5 minutes, often nearly instantly, securing customers’ attention and preventing them from moving on to competitors.
• Multimedia Sharing: Send photos, videos, and stickers to keep customers informed and engaged with visual updates.
• Timely Alerts: Send alerts for repair updates, lease statuses, equity peaks, trade-in valuations, sales events, and more.
• Appointment Reminders: Send automated confirmation and rescheduling messages to reduce no-shows and streamline confirmations.

Text Messaging Best Practices for Auto Dealers

Text marketing is a proven way to reach your customers. However, to get the most out of your text marketing campaigns, car dealerships should follow best practices. These will not only ensure your texts meet legal regulations, but they will also ensure each message delivers the right information in a clear, concise manner while appealing to each customer individually.

• Secure Opt-In Consent—Always get explicit consent from your customers to send them marketing texts to meet regulations like the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
• Identify Your Dealership Early—Make sure your customers know who is texting them and why. Transparency is key to gaining trust.
• Keep Messages Short—No one wants to read a long sales pitch. It’s best to keep texts short, usually limited to 160 characters. This will also save your company money.
• Personalize Messaging—Texting customers based on buyer interests or vehicle history makes texts feel more relevant and helpful
• Maintain Business Hours—Only send messages during the recipients’ daytime business hours. No one wants to receive a marketing text at 9 p.m. Respect your customers’ time, and they will be more likely to respect yours.
• Maintain Proper Tone—It’s generally recommended that businesses strike a conversational yet professional tone in all communications, as it enhances perceived authority without feeling stiff.
• Avoid Spam Triggers—Use natural language, follow proper grammar, keep messages concise, manage links properly, limit all caps use, and avoid hype words like act now, winner, guarantee, risk-free, and more.
• Limit the Number of Texts—Avoid texting too often. Depending on the message content, it’s best to limit promotional marketing texts to 4–6 per month. If offers are hyper-relevant, you may be able to send more, but sending too many texts can annoy customers and increase opt-out rates.
• End with a Call-to-Action (CTA)—Include every text with a simple next step, like asking them to reply YES or book a test drive.

SMS Marketing Use Cases for Car Dealerships

Car dealerships can use SMS marketing for a variety of reasons. They can add urgency to marketing strategies, especially when used around key events or limited-time deals. Below are some of the best use cases for text messaging in the automotive industry:

• Lead generation
• Appointment reminders
• Service due notifications
• Inventory alerts
• Recall notifications
• Post-purchase follow-up
• Review requests
• Appointment scheduling
• Repair status updates
• Flash promotions
• Event invitations
• Referral incentives

SMS marketing keeps your customers informed about important, upcoming events, recalls, and deals. They’re also a great way to send status updates for repairs and other scheduled appointments. With SMS marketing, dealerships can create and maintain consistent engagement while offering relevant and useful information.

The Benefits of Text Message Marketing for Car Dealerships

Text message marketing enables car dealerships to deliver high engagement and speedy response times, send personalized sales & promotional messaging, and maintain a steady flow of customers.

Top benefits of SMS marketing for car dealerships:

• Higher Open Rate—Nearly every text gets read (98%), as opposed to emails, which have an average open rate of 20%.
• Wider Reach—People who ignore emails and phone calls typically still read text messages, meaning you’ll be able to reach more customers.
• Faster Response Times—Texts are often read within three minutes of receiving them, increasing customer response times. And with automation, you can send back tailored responses within seconds.
• Targeted Offers—Send deals, promotions, and updates to those who would be most interested.
• Appointment Reminders—Reduce no-shows by sending service reminders for oil changes, inspections, test drives, maintenance, and more.
• More Scheduled Test Drives—You can schedule more test drives by sending simple, one-click appointment requests.

Text message marketing provides these benefits and more. Car dealerships looking for ways to enhance their marketing strategies and reach more buyers should look into integrating SMS marketing software into their daily operations.

How Much Does SMS Marketing for Car Dealerships Cost?

The average cost of SMS marketing software for car dealerships can range from as low as $20 per month to over $2,500 per month, depending on the platform and number of dealership-specific features. For example, EZ Texting has plans starting at $20 per month when billed annually, and higher-tiered plans start at $3,000 per month.

Kimoby offers more auto-dealer-specific features and texting, ranging from $700 to $2,500 per month. Depending on your needs, ActivEngage charges only $79 per month for its base software but $619 for its managed messaging service. Other platforms, such as Podium and Kenect, offer personalized pricing, meaning you must go through a demo before getting a quote.

Text Message Marketing for Car Dealerships FAQs

Is SMS marketing legal for car dealerships?

SMS marketing is legal for car dealerships as long as they adhere to strict regulations and federal laws like the TCPA, which requires companies to get the customer’s written consent to receive SMS messages, text only certain times, meet carrier registration (10DLC) requirements, and more.

How effective is text message marketing for car dealerships?

Text message marketing is extremely effective for car dealerships, driving higher open and response rates, reducing no-shows, enhancing customer engagement, and boosting ROI.

What is an example of text message marketing?

An example of a common promotional or follow-up text sent to an individual who was interested in a car before could look something like this: “Hi [Name], this is [Representative] from [Dealership]. The [Vehicle] you viewed is still available for a test drive. Reply YES to schedule a time or call us at [Number].”

How We Chose the Best Text Message Marketing for Car Dealerships

B2B Reviews curated a list of 30 text message marketing software providers for car dealerships and analyzed 14 vendors with significant online presence to narrow our focus. From there, we identified 5 companies that stood out for their features, pricing transparency, brand reputation, and customer support.

We scored each text message marketing company on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) across the following criteria, each worth 25% of the total score:

• Variety of features: B2B Reviews chose vendors that offered key SMS marketing features for car dealerships, such as CRM/DMS integration, workflow automation, SMS compliance management, a comprehensive communication suite, and analytics & reporting capabilities.
• Pricing and transparency: We not only compared actual pricing and plans for each vendor and how they compared to industry standards, but we also judged them on how easy their pricing was to find. Providers with easy-to-find and transparent pricing earned more points.
• Onboarding and support: The B2B Reviews team sought companies that offered multiple types of ongoing customer support, including onboarding and knowledge resources.
• Brand reputation: We visited trustworthy third-party review sites and collected data on customer reviews and ratings to get a sense of each vendor’s reputation.