We're fast approaching the 2012 DrivingSales Executive Summit. This event is known for bringing automotive audiences the best of the best with regards to current speaking talent and topics. And this year we're planning on nailing it again - but we need your help! 



We provide an impressive line-up of industry professionals for breakout presentations covering a wide range of segments and topics. Here's a list of ideas to jumpstart some brainstorming: 


Conversion Optimization & Best Practices

Top SEO Ranking Factors for 2012

Advanced Google Adwords Strategies

Advanced Fixed Ops Marketing

Social Commerce

Online Consumer Behavior

Mobile Apps/Mobile Strategies

Non-Automotive Customer Interaction Strategies

Local Search Strategies

Google Analytics & Webmaster Tools

ROI & Social Analytics


So - what kind of topics would you like to see presented during the breakout presentations at this year's Driv

So, now that we have all submersed ourselves within the social landscape, opened up a multitude of social network accounts and shared every last innocuous detail of our daily activities - what's next? We've progressed beyond connecting with our friends, familiar connections within our industry and creating fragmented lists of people.

I believe Social Discovery is one of those "what's next" opportunities. We now have the ability to connect with a massive layer of individuals based on the expanding social graph. We're connected friends of friends, by interests and most importantly by location. 

I spent six years positioning myself within my dealership's respective markets as a "trusted car guy." Even though I wasn't necessarily selling vehicles directly, I was selling our brand and showing our salespeople how to improve their digital presence, build trust and connect with customers in new

Doung Frisbee, head of Automotive, Global Vertical Marketing at Facebook, published a great overview of a recent research study conducted within the automotive market. He covers the importance of relationships, social connections and influence with regards to the activity between automotive brands and shoppers while providing some excellent advice on how it can improve. Here's his original post:    Everywhere I go, people ask me about changes in the automotive industry. Increased competition, shrinking margins, alternative fuel technologies, in-vehicle infotainment and new business models have all changed the industry dramatically over the last few years. But in every market I visit, one thing remains the same. From manufacturers to dealers, everyone echoes this sentiment: the car business is a people business. It is a relationship business and a word-of-mouth business. Building strong connections with customers has always been a cornerstone for success in th...

Hurry - grab your FREE copy of Guy Kawasaki's newest book: What The Plus! (Google+ for the rest of us)  Whether you're already on Googl'e+ or you haven't even heard of it yet, you'll want to dive into Guy's latest book - he was kind enough to share this free dowload link, but there's a limited amount available. (It worked when I used it today - the link expires April 25 if it doesn't exhaust all copies)  Seach and social are colliding. Find out why Guy is just as exceited about Google+ as he was about Apple 25 years ago! Download What The Plus! by Guy Kawasaki ...

You'll definitely want to tune into this exclusive interview with GM's Director of Social Media, Mary Henige. The interview is courtesy of two highly respected marketing communications professionals Hugh Macken and Deirdre Breakenridge. Be sure to follow them on twitter & check out their blogs - top notch quality. (I had the pleasure of meeting Deidre last year at an RIT symposium where she delivered an excellent presentation)  Listen to internet radio with Hugh Macken Live on Blog Talk Radio Here's an excerpt of Hugh's blog post as well:  Henige, a 25 – year corporate communications veteran at GM and award-winning corporate communications professional, outlined the company’s approach to social media as it relates to both internal and external stakeholders. In doing so she stressed the importance of an empowering corporate culture that has provided the foundation for strong levels of internal communication. It’s that...

Jared Hamilton has done it again. He has been busy at the drawing board trying to solve the problem of bringing together W-Fi services, tablet applications and fixed operations. Its something every dealer and consumer has been asking for buy didn't even realize was a problem yet. The solution: The Brake iPad. The Brake iPad is simply a new type of brake pad made from Rhodium. When installed with the proprietary DrivingSales installation package, and integrated with the accompanying iPad app, it harnesses the energy created while the brakes are applied and creates a Wi-Fi signal - turning your vehicle into a free hotspot for up to 7 devices. "Jared has high expectations of the team, so we went out and solved a problem that hasn't actually occurred yet." Said Eric Miltsch, Director of Product Strategy at DrivingSales. "We're all about genius innovation here - we simply call it 'genuvation', humbly added Shaun Raines, Executive Director of Drivi...

    Dennis Galbraith is known for his groundbreaking data management techniques. He is taking the entire data management technology segment by storm with his new data tool, the dGlove.    This masterpiece of innovation simply slides onto your hand like an ordinary glove, however this is no ordinary glove. Once you put it on, you'll notice items such as basic mouse controls, a pause button, power switch, USB charging stations and an LED really bring some robust features to the table. "I envision the day where everyone attending the DrivingSales Executive Summit will be wearing the dGlove," said Dennis Galbraith, dGlove Founder and Director of Revenue and Business Intelligence at DrivingSales. "Users will have the ability to access their website data by simply moving their hand around in several complicated gestures wherever they may be - in their car, walking down the street and even in the bathroom. It's all very natural...

DrivingSales is shaking up the QR Code industry with its revolutionary DqrS System - Driving quick response Sales. Dealers can now order DqrS full-body vehicle wraps for the entire inventory. Customers can scan vehicles wrapped with the DqrS from up to one half-mile away to access vehicle information, browse dealership websites and schedule test drives.  "We're so stoked to be the first to market with a QR scan solution that solves a major problem for customers - the desire to scan QR Codes from long distances," said Jared Hamilton, CEO of DrivingSales. "I keep hearing people say they love scanning QR Codes, but they don't like being restricted to being 2 inches from the car, they want the flexibility of being 2,640 feet away as well." Ric McCoy, QR Code expert, was impressed with the results from his early beta tests. "I ordered DqrS wraps for every car on my lot. Sure, it took one week to wrap all the cars, but it was time well spent....

    I recently spoke with Dan Moore, Founder and President of Smart Web Concepts about the news announcement of being chosen to join Facebook's Preferred Developer Consultant program. These are the type of relationships that can help drive further innovation for the retail automotive market. Here's a few items from our conversation that I felt the rest of the community would be interesting in knowing.   EM: When did you learn about this FB dev program - and what is it really all about?   DM: Smart Web Concepts learned about the open enrollment in October of 2011 and we submitted our application in November 2011 for the Facebook PDC.The Facebook "PDC" Preferred Developer Consultant Program is designed to have a selected group of outside companies improve the Facebook experience through apps, page enhancements, and tools. EM: What are you hoping to gain from being involved with this program?   DM: SWC's ...

A very interesting location based marketing discussion popped up online recently. A screen shot of a Mercedes Benz dealership's foursquare venue was posted online by DrivingSales community friend Aaron Strout. (Two-time DSES keynote speaker & Location Based Marketing for Dummies co-author)  Joe Webb and I share some of our thoughts below. EM: Aaron posted this picture to highlight the creative tip usage by a large brand. Tips are an extremely important element of the foursquare platform as this is where deeper levels of consumer value can be found. As more brands get involved, even more value can be passed along. However, in this situation, a tip left by Edmunds.com may not be viewed as being helpful for the dealership.  The tip reads: "Think twice about trading in your car. You'll get more for it by selling it yourself." Aaron called out the unique usage of this element and it's ability to help consumers - exactly what foursquare wants to ...

Another excellent year for the NADA Convention in Las Vegas has passed. I wasn’t speaking this year, so I was excited about spending more time on the show floor. I had the opportunity to interview vendors and several successful dealers. (Look for those video interviews from @DrivingSalesTV soon!) The knowledge and experience base, with regards to advanced digital strategies, has increased tremendously throughout the retail industry in just a couple of years. Dealers clearly recognize the need for an optimized online presence and efficient internal processes. They were hunting for the next set of products and services creating buzz. We’re seeing another major shift in focus as the community begins to embrace the importance of deeper social integration, data management and mobile strategies for both consumers and internal workflow. The philosophies have become more encompassing as dealers and vendors look to connect with customers on multiple channels. You may have ev...

Google confirmed another algorithm update, Panda 3.2, effective January 18th. Maybe you noticed some changes to your listings. (You are watching your search results placements, right?) Fortunately I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary, just one new listing and it happens to be one of my favorites: our Foursquare venue pages made a significant jump to page 1, 2nd result; from page 2, 8th spot.  Click image to enlarge.     So, if Google is giving  preference to an optimized location based venue page - how can this be leveraged? (Plus, a few other ways to ensure your Foursquare venue works off-line as well) Verify your business on Foursquare. (If you haven't, you can do so in 3 easy steps) Create specials. More choices now let you that target new customers with first time check-in specials or check-in with friends and multiple visits or Mayor check-ins for returning visitors to help drive loyalty efforts. Add your category (EX: C...

Pinterest. The hottest new community everyone is rushing to. So, what's the big deal? Think of it simply as a digital pin board for the stuff you like online, letting you: "Pin" images Organize them within "boards" Allow others to pin items to your board Follow other people or just individual boards Like, re-pin & comment Share items socially Pin items using the browser bookmark Pinterest is very popular with the ladies. Beautiful images of landscapes, vacation homes, clothes and of course, kittens. The visual nature of the community and the "content stream" is an endless playground for those with ADD. Endless scanning of awesome pictures and cool content. What can we learn from Pinterest regarding how curate and organize content for our customers? Image quality makes a world of difference: Are you making sure your merchandising efforts are top notch? Segmented customer groups are powerful: People enjoy ...

Quora is one of my favorite sites for reading & discovering great info on various topics I find interesting. Why? Because of it's simplicity, the community dynamic and the ability to get credible information directly from sources I'd otherwise never have a chance to interact with anywhere else. (I've asked questions & received replies from the likes of Dennis Crowley, Ashton Kutcher & one of the original developers of Photoshop) I'm also a fan of being able to vote answers up or down; letting you weed through the junk very quickly. Here's a simple explanation of Quora, from CrunchBase, if you're not familiar with the site: Quora, founded in June 2009, first launched in private beta in January 2010. Quora is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to kno...

Here's something for vendors to think about this year and as we prepare for NADA and other late-Winter/early-Spring conferences: Are you the vendor sales guy who makes dealer staff duck and cover?  We've all experienced this to a varying degree, it doesn't need to be this way. As much as we all love the shiny new tools, the cool new gadgets and next hottest thing that will provide an eternity of well-qualified shoppers, we still don't like to be "sold." Of course, we like to be challenged, educated & informed - but you know what we really like? We like being talked to first. Personally, I've enjoyed the relationships that have been created. Simple old adage: We buy from (& stay with) those we like. Here's a few of the characteristics & activities I associate with those I've worked with:  Be creative Be helpful Be real Be memorable Be available Be active in the off-line community ...

What were the most Googled cars in 2011?

Hat tip to VJ for this gem.

Source: Most Googled Cars Of 2011

Whether you've already created a Google Plus Business page for your dealership or plan on doing so eventually, here's two simple things you can do to help make sure it stands out. One is for esthetics, the other for search.  G+ Business pages allow for a profile image and five window panes to display images from your scrapbook. Why not dress it up a bit?  Use this tool to create custom profile images with G+ banners, logos and landscape shots for the window panes: Make Google Plus Banners   Once your page is set up, be sure to add a link to your site in the about page. You'll need a link on your G+ page pointing to your website and then from your website back to your G+ page to complete the loop required to have your page indexed properly and included within Google Direct Connect. (G+ Pages don't have custom URL's) You'll also need to confirm ownership of your G+ page by adding a short snippet of code to your website. Just as Googl...

One of the things I love to do is find the newest ways for people to connect with Auction Direct online. Here’s two ways that will become increasingly popular. Everyone on the Internet is looking for Information. What’s the best information we can find? Information from trusted sources such as our family, friends and co-workers. When our friends tell us about a restaurant, a clothing store or even an accountant, we listen to those recommendations because we trust the review. Word of mouth marketing is one of the most effective methods for any business to increase sales; Facebook and Google have introduced two of the most revolutionary online word of mouth marketing tools. Facebook understands one simple fact: People love to share the stuff happening in their life. Now, they’re making it even easier to for people to share life events – social consciousness. Items such as getting engaged, getting a new pet or even a new home will be shared even easier...

Google recently turned on it's newest analytics feature: Webmaster Tools SEO Reports. You're missing critical data if you don't integrate your sites within webmaster tools. Note: This assumes you have already added and verified your site(s) to Google webmaster tools. If you haven't, you can start here) The webmaster tools SEO reports will add a new layer to your SEO reporting with regards to the following activity:  Queries Landing Pages Geographical Summary For each category, you'll now see specific data for: Impressions Clicks Average Position Click Through Rate (CTR) This makes reviewing your data much more efficient by showing where your pages rank, how they perform and ultimately helps you drill down further to determine where your efforts should be focused. If a page is important, but doesn't rank well and isn't getting the desired traffic, you'll be able to identify these opportunities much quicker.&n...

Nicely organized side-by-side comparison of Google+ and Facebook. Click image to expand.

Everyone knows how powerful Word of Mouth marketing is. It's about to get an incredible shot in the arm thanks to the new social graph features within the upcoming Timeline profile. Facebook's goal is to let you share evey facet of your life with anyone and everyone you care to. Sure, on a personal level we may not be in interested in all of this activity - but from a digital marketing perspective, this is just huge.  One of the activities users will be able to share, is that new car they just bought. (When, where, who they were with, description & share a photo) Should be a fun feature to leverage.  Click image to expand ...

Another wonderful infographic showing how businesses are using Facebook. As more business solutions such as Google Plus for businesses, social eCommerce tools and mobile pay wallets gain momentum; social retention will shift even more towards social acquisition. 

Click image to expand.

 

Excellent infographic from KISS Metrics showing global Google analytics metrics and usage trends. Compare your website metrics to these statistics – how does your site measure up? Click to view full size.



 

Original post appeared on WhatDidEricSay.com

Be sure to check out the new release of Location Based Marketing for Dummies, written by Aaron Strout, one of the DrivingSales Executive Summit keynote speakers!  If you're still scratching your head about location based marketing, get this book. It'll quickly bring you up to speed about the tools, strategies & overall understanding of this segment. (And also cool to see a CarZar mention in the book as well!) Congrats to Aaron and his co-author, Mike Schneider.  ...

Google Authorship Attribute: The authorship attribute is a new element within the Panda update. It's another way Google is prioritizing content from published authors within the search engine results pages. This is a nice solution for experts in their respective field as it helps build greater awareness while improving authority. Authors and blog owners can now have their image appear in the right margin of Google's search results by following a few simple steps. Create a Google Profile - these are now wrapped within your Google Plus account. Don't have a G+ account yet? Get one here. Add your blog link to the right column of your Google Profile. Add the Google Profile Button to your blog. ...

Why is this significant? Google+ business solutions will be out soone enough. Will you be prepared?

The 10 Commandments of Link Building

Courtesy of KliKKi search engine optimization.

 

Get ready for a new round of changes within the social/digital marketing spaces. Google+ opened it's doors with a limited launch last week. After using it for a few days, I can tell this will shake things up.                       Google+ is Google's answer to Facebook and how they believe social activity should be done. Google knows social is all about sharing. They also know that not everything we share online is enjoyed by all of our friends. Their solution: Circles. Add people to your own custom circle to ensure the content shared fits a common or shared interest. Want deeper connections? Create a Hangout for your contacts and everyone can join you in a video chat. Content sharing is even made easier with Sparks, a content delivery/curation system providing you the topics you select. For example, I chose topics such as sports cars, tech news, website design, location based marketing a...

Google is raising the bar for local listing results again by introducing a new method of serviing results within Google Maps. (Not web listings - just when Google Maps is selected as the source) Google is experimenting with serving results which best matches the descriptive terms used to describe those establishements. What's the best place for these "descriptive terms" to come from? Your customer reviews! So, conceivably, our customers now have the ability to help improve our local listings and lend a hand with our SEO efforts when they write their reviews.  Just another reason why it's so important to consider the experience you're creating for your guests; their reviews may now hold even more weight.  For more info, check out Google's Small Business Blog Post.    ...

  During a recent conversation, I memtioned three items I felt were the most useful to post on Facebook Pages. Ironicaly, those items also created a less than fortunate, yet memorable acronym: C.R.A.P.  Coupons Reviews (and) Pictures   In my opinion, anything else is just...crap.  Anyone have a consistent formula they're using to post successful content on their Facebook pages? How are you gauging it's success? Comments, likes, data from your insights? ...