The National Independent Automobile Dealers Association recapped the top three takeaways from the closing presentation of the 2026 BHPH Forum that featured TikTok Automotive principal Ryan Copacia.

While TikTok contains plenty of video rants about football teams and politics, Copacia showed how dealers can use the social media platform to reach the shoppers who are already spending time there.

According to NIADA, the highlights of what Copacia shared during “Different Animal, Same Opportunity: TikTok for BHPH” included:

  1. Authenticity beats polish. The dealers winning on TikTok are being themselves.
  2. Going viral means nothing unless locals see it. Boosting your best organic posts in your own market is one of the most efficient media buys available.
  3. Track the leads you’re already getting. The best TikTok sales happen in DMs and comments, so make sure those leads reach your CRM.

A talk about TikTok wasn’t the only closing day idea segment to finish NIADA’s BHPH Forum in Austin, Texas.

Tuesday morning’s closing general session opened with the Best Idea Contest, led by NIADA director of education Brent Carmichael. Winning ideas from each of Monday’s roundtables were presented and attendees voted on the best of the best.

Russell Moore of Top Notch Used Cars in Conroe, Texas, won with his idea of using AI bots as “digital employees.”

“Moore said he’s bad at following up, so he built a bot that tracks his ideas and checks in with staff to make sure they get done. He now has five bots covering sales, collections, marketing, and buying, and they’re connected to his DMS, QuickBooks, phone system, and CRM,” NIADA said.

Moore also cited specific uses to help prevent repossessions.

“I wanted to figure out an early trigger warning for repos,” Moore said.

NIADA highlighted one bot compares Moore’s past repos against his current portfolio, flags the accounts most likely to default, and sends that list to his collection manager every morning. At the end of the day, it checks whether she followed up and reports back to him.

Moore said that in just three weeks this early-warning system has saved about 10 repos.

NIADA said Moore was clear that the goal isn’t to replace employees but to give them time back.

“I’m trying to give them a day off during the week. I’m trying to buy back some time for them,” Moore said.

Moore won two registrations to the 2027 NIADA Convention & Expo, which is June 20-23 at the Gaylord Opryland in Nashville, Tenn., plus a three-night hotel stay, courtesy of AutoZone.

NIADA added that the BHPH Forum would not have been possible without the support of its sponsors, including Signature Sponsors, Buckeye Risk Services, Ituran USA, National Lenders General Agency, Neo Verify, Park National Bank, PassTime GPS, Solera, TRS TaxMax, and TrueRe.

A full list of Premier and Select sponsors is available at niada.com/bhphdealerforum.