Brand
Partner
The automaker partnered with Meta and Infobip to turn WhatsApp into a direct sales channel by using ads that click to WhatsApp and an AI agent to generate leads and drive purchases via conversations that mirrored the dealership experience.
Their Story
A global automaker’s Italian sales challenge
Kia Italia is part of Kia Corporation, the South Korean multinational automaker. In Italy, Kia wanted to find a faster path from ad impression to sale. The traditional car purchase cycle is long. Potential buyers often need multiple touchpoints, dealership visits and follow-ups before committing. Kia Italia wanted to compress the timeline by giving people a reason to engage immediately. Moreover, Kia aimed to reduce lead-qualification costs, traditionally driven by channels such as the call center.
Their Goal
Shorten the path from ad to sale
Working with Meta and Infobip, a Meta Business Messaging Partner, Kia Italia built an AI-enabled sales experience. The campaign used ads that click to WhatsApp on Facebook and Instagram to bring interested people directly into a conversation with an AI agent. Rather than filling out a form or waiting for a callback, customers who tapped the ad joined a WhatsApp conversation that felt like speaking with a knowledgeable sales advisor.
“At Kia Italia, we’re always looking for ways to innovate. We recognized that WhatsApp is where people want to interact with brands—on their own terms, at any time of day. By leveraging an AI agent, we transformed our WhatsApp presence from a simple lead-collection tool into a full conversational experience. The agent provided detailed car model information, answered questions in real time, and guided customers through the decision-making process. The result? A shorter sales cycle and a measurable improvement in both quote requests and car sales.”
Giuseppe Mazzara
Customer Experience & Brand Marketing Director, Kia Italia
Their Solution
A conversation that felt like the dealership
The agent served two purposes at once. First, it generated leads through natural dialogue, guiding people to share their name, email, phone number and postal code without the friction of a traditional form. Second, it drove genuine interest by answering questions about specific car models in real time: pricing, features, availability, trim options, financing and more.
The conversation emulated the experience of walking into a dealership and speaking with someone who knew the product inside and out, except it happened instantly, on the person’s phone, at the time that suited them. When the customer was ready to take the next step, the agent connected them with their nearest dealership for a quote or a test drive.
Their Success
Conversations that ended in signed sales
Within 4 weeks, Kia’s Data and CRM team and its media agency reported that the campaign generated 144 qualified leads, 116 car quote requests and five direct car sales—at lower cost per car sold than Kia Italia’s usual approach of ads that click to WhatsApp. Results are based from Meta Ads Manager, Infobip and Kia’s CRM:
- 40X return on ad spend*
- 10.3 messages per engaged session on average, more than 2X the number it takes to collect lead information (four messages)*
- 53% lower cost per car sold compared to usual approach, attributed to ads that click to WhatsApp combined with AI agent*
*Results are self-reported and not identifiably repeatable. Generally expected individual results will differ.
“At Infobip, we are committed to partnering with clients and Meta to deliver the latest WhatsApp solutions and stay ahead of evolving customer trends. We developed a custom solution for Kia, designed not only to drive car sales but also to introduce customers to a new way of engaging with the brand—through natural, seamless conversations on WhatsApp.”
Vittorio D’Alessio
Country Manager Italy, Infobip
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