In this episode of Word on the Street, Andrew Street sits down with Ryan Copacia, a five-year TikTok veteran and the architect of the platform's automotive retail strategy. Ryan shares his journey from building the auto vertical from scratch to returning in 2026 to lead the global push for dealer-centric solutions. The conversation moves past the "dancing app" stereotypes and dives deep into how TikTok has evolved into the world's most powerful entertainment and discovery engine for car buyers.

In this episode, they dig into:

• The "Blue Ocean" Opportunity for Dealers: Why TikTok currently offers a massive white space with high attention and low competition compared to the crowded "Red Oceans" of legacy social platforms.
• The Smart Plus & Auto Ads Suite: How TikTok’s new machine-learning-driven products allow dealers to syndicate inventory catalogs automatically and target the right user for the right vehicle.
• The Power of Passive Shopping: Why getting in front of users while they "decompress" at the end of the day can condense a three-month research process into an immediate purchase decision.
• A Shift from Demand Capture to Demand Gen: The industry-wide transition from just fighting over the "last-click" buyer to building long-term, incremental demand through visual storytelling.
• The "Everyone is a Creator" Movement: How even dealers without a film crew can use simple tools like lapel mics and TikTok’s Symphony editor to create content that stops the scroll.
• TikTok Search as the New Discovery Entry Point: Why users are increasingly using TikTok search to get "authentic perspectives" on safety, towing capacity, and brand comparisons instead of traditional search engines.
• The Viral ROI of Local Personalities: How individual sales reps in rural markets are out-selling major metro stores by building massive personal followings and shipping cars nationwide.
• Incremental Audience Reach: The specific value for dealers in reaching the "Gen Z and Millennial" buyers—many of whom are not active on any other social or traditional media channels.

Our Website: https://www.dealeromg.com/

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Contact us:

info@dealeromg.com

512-436-9677

This podcast episode features Andrew Street (CEO of Dealer OMG) and Allison McConeghy (Lead Client Partner at Pinterest) discussing the strategic role of Pinterest in the modern automotive dealership marketing mix. With nearly a decade at Pinterest and a career in automotive dating back to 2012, Allison shares how the platform has evolved from a niche space into a powerful full-funnel marketing tool for dealers.

The conversation centers on debunking the myth that Pinterest is solely for wedding planning and nurseries, highlighting instead its unique position as a "discovery engine" that connects people to ideas. Allison explains that Pinterest allows dealers to engage high-intent, affluent shoppers—particularly women, who power 80% of car-buying decisions—during major life events like marriage or starting a family. Because these "life moments" make users 2.5 times more likely to purchase a vehicle within 12 months, the platform provides an unparalleled opportunity for incremental reach that other social networks miss.

Hot Topics:

• The Power of Life Events: How major life changes (marriage, babies, landscaping) trigger car-buying needs and how Pinterest captures this intent early.
• Full-Funnel Strategy: The importance of running a combined strategy of awareness (why buy), consideration (offers/incentives), and shopping (inventory feeds).
• Attribution and Measurement: Why last-click models like Google Analytics fail to show Pinterest’s true value and the importance of using the Pinterest tag and monthly sales match-backs.
• Creative Best Practices: Tips for dealers to create impactful, human-focused video content—such as showcasing vehicle features like hands-free liftgates—to stop the scroll.
• Incremental Audience: The fact that roughly 30% of Pinterest users are not active on other social platforms, representing a significant untapped market for dealers.
• Audience Targeting: Leveraging Pinterest's specific audience levers to segment inventory (e.g., matching pickup trucks with DIY and sports-focused users).
• The "Visual Discovery" Difference: How Pinterest differs from "people-to-people" social networks by creating a positive, focused environment for planning and ideas.

Our Website: https://www.dealeromg.com/

Find us on social:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dealer-omg/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DealerOMG

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dealeromg/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dealeromg

Contact us:

info@dealeromg.com

512-436-9677

In this episode of Word on the Street, we’re joined by Curtis Driver, Omnichannel Digital Sales Manager at Capital Auto Group, to unpack why dealers so often fire vendors within the first 90 days — and what both sides get wrong during onboarding.

Curtis shares a candid dealer-side perspective on why onboarding breaks down, how silence and unclear expectations kill momentum, and why utilization is the most important metric dealers should be watching early on. The conversation covers how marketing, BDC performance, and in-store execution must work together, why dashboards don’t matter if managers aren’t trained for accountability, and how communication methods like SMS and short-form video outperform email inside the dealership.

The episode also explores omnichannel digital sales, realistic uses of AI in sales and service, the role of CDPs and lifecycle marketing, and why AI should scale employees — not replace them. Curtis explains how dealers evaluate vendors in the first 14–90 days, what causes frustration during rollouts, and why proactive communication is the biggest differentiator between vendors who last and vendors who get canceled.

If you’re a dealer, vendor, or automotive marketer looking to build stronger partnerships, improve onboarding outcomes, and cut through AI hype with real-world insight, this episode delivers practical takeaways straight from the store level.

Our Website: https://www.dealeromg.com/

Find us on social:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dealer-omg/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DealerOMG

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dealeromg/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@dealeromg

Contact us:

info@dealeromg.com

512-436-9677