THOUGHTS ON DMS MARKETING FOR 2026

Fixed Ops Magazine Article Link: Click here

As the industry heads into NADA 2026, the gap between modern service marketing expectations and legacy DMS driven systems is becoming increasingly clear. Most dealers are marketing consistently. The issue is not effort. The issue is accuracy.

Over time, DMS data becomes fragmented. Customer records are duplicated. Ownership changes are missed. Vehicle details are incomplete. In many dealerships, thirty to forty percent of the database is no longer reliably marketable. That means a significant portion of service marketing spend is directed toward customers who will never see, trust, or respond to the message.

As EV adoption increases, these gaps become more visible. Sending an oil change reminder to an EV owner does more than waste money. It erodes credibility.

In recent months, industry publications have focused heavily on AI and automation as the next frontier in dealership ops. AI will undoubtedly play a major role in fixed ops marketing going forward, but there is an important truth that often gets overlooked. AI is only as effective as the data behind it. When inaccurate or incomplete data feeds automation, the results are faster mistakes, not better outcomes.

In the next issue of Fixed Ops Magazine, I will take a deeper look at how DMS data quality impacts service retention as well as the customer experience and marketing ROI. We will explore why consistency outperforms prediction, how any fragmented vendor strategies create unintended customer frustration, and what fixed ops leaders should be asking of any AI driven marketing solutions they evaluate.

Before adding more tools, the industry needs to address their current foundation.

The full article will examine what that foundation looks like and why it matters now more than ever.

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