ActivEngage, the automotive industry's premier provider of proactive live chat with business intelligence for dealer websites, today announced the launch of a custom Facebook application to increase online engagement and reach for auto dealerships.  As the world's largest and fastest growing online social networking site, Facebook offers auto dealerships significant opportunities to connect with more consumers online.  Dealers can now use ActivEngage live chat on Facebook to communicate in real-time, even if they are not logged in to their dealership account.  The application also allows dealers to share content and videos with consumers on Facebook via live chat, and even post information on consumers' profile walls.    

The new Facebook application is ActivEngage's latest tools to help dealers better leverage technology and connect with more consumers where they spend time online.  According to Facebook, the site now has more than 300 million active users and more than 120 million users log on to Facebook on a daily basis.  In addition, more than two-thirds of Facebook users are outside of college and the fastest growing demographic is users who are 35 years of age and older.    

The new ActivEngage application provides significant advancements to merely having a dealership Facebook page; dealers can now connect with consumers via ActivEngage live chat, even if they are not logged in to the dealership Facebook account.  The new application offers dealers a single location to manage chat interactions with consumers, no matter where the communication takes place online: the dealership website, microsites, Facebook, email, newsletters and more.

In addition, dealers can now use ActivEngage's "shop with me" technology on Facebook to share videos and other dealership and vehicle information, creating a virtual sales experience via live chat.  Further, with consumers' permission, dealers can even post content directly on users' profile pages from the new chat application.  This means that vehicle and dealership content can now be consumed by "friends of friends" on Facebook, creating a viral platform for dealership content.  Users can also add comments on dealership profile postings, providing even more exposure by encouraging their network members to comment on postings, even if they are not in the dealership's Facebook network.  The new application can expand dealership reach to hundreds, or even thousands, more Facebook users through sharing content on friends' and fans' profiles.

"We constantly monitor automotive consumer behavior and trends to make sure that our dealers can engage with shoppers, no matter where they are online," commented Ted Rubin, ActivEngage co-founder.  "And consumers of all ages now spend more and more time on Facebook, in greatly increasing numbers.  We developed this easy to use application to help dealers reach more consumers through this vital channel."    

ActivEngage will be demonstrating the new FaceBook application at the upcoming DrivingSales Executive Summit in Las Vegas, October 13-14, 2009.   

About ActivEngage: (www.ActivEngage.com)

ActivEngage’s proprietary business intelligence helps automotive dealers meet the needs of shoppers by providing dealerships easy to use, powerful website tools.  Advanced live chat services let dealers identify, initiate interaction and communicate with website visitors in real-time.  The essential person-to-person Meet & Greet that dealers require at the physical showroom is now possible on the dealership website through ActivEngage.  This proactive website engagement decreases abandonment rates and increases website lead generation with the thousands of visitors the average dealership receives each month.  ActivEngage provides the edge that dealerships need to engage more customers who browse for information because it starts building a personal relationship with shoppers from the moment they hit the dealership website.  ActivEngage offers three tiers of service to ensure that all website visitors' experiences are enjoyable and uncomplicated, thereby increasing the value of dealership websites through better lead generation.

10/02/09