Overview
This campaign reaches recent service customers who are now browsing replacement vehicles on Autotrader or KBB. A shopper who just completed a service visit and is now looking at vehicles off-site is showing classic upgrade-window behavior: the visit may have prompted them to weigh continuing to invest in the current vehicle versus moving to a new one. The campaign engages them with a relevant vehicle from your inventory while that consideration is fresh.
At a glance
| Campaign group | Service to Sale |
| Audience | Off-site VDP - Post-Service Vehicle Upgrade Intent |
| Channels | Email and SMS |
| Data sources | Cox Automotive (Autotrader and KBB) off-site VDP views, combined with service appointment history |
| Send cadence | Sent on weekdays only during the standard Audience Activation send window (Monday–Friday) |
Campaign goal
Capture upgrade intent in the window just after a service visit. Many vehicle-replacement decisions begin in the days after a service experience, especially when the visit involved unexpected repair costs or a meaningful diagnostic conversation. The campaign reaches the shopper while that consideration is active and channels it toward your inventory rather than a competitor's.
Who receives this campaign
A shopper qualifies when ALL of the following are true:
- They had a service appointment within the past 30 days.
- They have viewed at least one vehicle detail page on Autotrader or KBB within the past 180 days.
A shopper is excluded when:
- They have a Service Repair Order from the past 30 days (indicating the service work is still in progress or only just concluded — a sales outreach during an active repair would be poorly timed).
How the matched vehicle is selected
The campaign uses the shopper's most recent Autotrader or KBB VDP view as the basis for the offer, with the standard tiered fallback applied:
- Same-trim match (year, make, model, trim).
- Same-model match (year, make, model).
- Same-make match (year, make) as a final fallback.
Vehicles with active dealership offers or dynamic payments are prioritized within each tier.
Templates available
- Email — Single Offer (Personal and Assuring tones), in both Classic and Luxury styling.
- Email — Plain Text Assuring variant in Luxury styling.
- SMS — Personal and Assuring tones, in both Classic and Luxury styling.
- Subject lines matched to each tone.
When this campaign sends
Sends are limited to weekdays (Monday through Friday). This campaign sits second-highest in priority among Off-Site VDP campaigns, behind Service Appointment Vehicle Upgrade. If a shopper qualifies for both this campaign and a lower-priority Off-Site VDP campaign in the same window, they receive this one only.
Prerequisites
- Cox Automotive (Autotrader/KBB) data integration is enabled for the client.
- DMS integration is configured so service appointment and repair order data flow into the CDP.
- Audience Activation is active for the dealership.
Frequently asked questions
Why exclude shoppers with a recent Service Repair Order?
An active or just-completed repair order means the shopper is still resolving an issue with their current vehicle. Following up with a sales-oriented vehicle upgrade message during that window risks reading as opportunistic and damages the service relationship. The exclusion ensures the message lands only after the repair conversation has closed.
How is this different from the Service Appointment Vehicle Upgrade campaign?
Service Appointment Vehicle Upgrade targets shoppers with an upcoming service visit — a pre-appointment opportunity. Post-Service Vehicle Upgrade targets shoppers with a recently completed service visit — a post-appointment opportunity. The two campaigns address different points in the service-to-sale conversion arc, and a shopper cannot qualify for both at the same time.
Does the message reference the service visit?
No. The customer-facing copy focuses on the vehicle from your inventory. The service appointment history is used purely for targeting and does not appear in the message text.