It's no longer an option. Dealers must buy into the concept of Google+ immediately. Today, the site has been called a "ghost town" by publications such as the Wall Street Journal, but the reality is that the effect on search alone is enough to make it imperative. If it gets the traction that we expect in social as well, this will become the most important social property the dealership will own. This portion of one of our webinars briefly descusses why Google+ is something that needs to be a part of your social strategy today. ...

As the industry progresses towards a holistic internet marketing approach, many of the tech-savvy dealers (particularly those on Driving Sales) have experienced a shift in the way they handle their websites. The days of "let the vendor do it" are slipping away as dealers are demanding the ability to edit and improve their own websites in a partnership with their vendor rather than relying on the vendor and taking their word on it. This shift is evident in the amazing websites that dealers are building with various platforms. There are three factors that every dealership must consider with their websites' performance: traffic, leads, and sales. While the last one might have more to do with the conditions and circumstances at the dealership itself, to say that the website doesn't affect the ability of the dealership to increase sales is ludicrous. Traffic and leads are directly influenced by the condition of the website. In this webinar, Jeff Cryder (who spoke ...

It takes more than money to produce an amazing Web site — it takes good sense. This webinar will cover ten of the most common and most crushing pitfalls in digital marketing. Whether you’re just starting up your Web marketing strategy or want to make sure your digital juggernaut is running as smooth you’d hoped, our checklist is ideal for your digital check-up. You’ll recognize a lot of the 10 Critical Quality Controls for Social and SEO, while a few might surprise you. All of the entries on this handy catalog of common digital disasters are backed with advanced analytics, sentiment monitoring and study of online user behaviors. You’ll learn about subjects ranging from “Chat: A Mixed Blessing” to how “Empty Fields Don’t Grow Leads.” So tune in to tie off your loose ends and make sure your digital presence is as healthy as possible, by applying our 10 Critical Quality Controls for Social and SEO.   ...

The video boom is still here even if most would agree that it's lost a little of the luster it had last year and into this year. Many dealers are using video for promotions, but for most it's simply not generating the referrals, exposure, or views that many vendors promised. The key that we've found is in the optimization. It's easy to post videos, but so often dealers find themselves checking a week later to find that only a couple of dozen people actually viewed it. Sometimes, it's even less. Videos are flooding the market, but finding them is a challenge. Most people still find their videos by searching on YouTube or Google itself, so having them optimized properly is so important. That was the topic of this week's TK Carsites Webinar as our Erin Ryan gives 5 ways to make it happen. Thankfully, one doesn't have to be a search engine optimization guru to make it happen.   ...

It's one thing to have contests, post inventory, and update your status with random thoughts and questions. It's another thing to integrate social media into your day-to-day business activities with a strategy that takes full advantage of the potential of social media. That was the premise behind the webinar we recorded earlier this week. Dealers can move the needle on their sales through social media by applying simple techniques on a consistent basis that enhance the overarching strategy as a whole. If you have any questions about this or any other webinar, please feel free to contact me. We've been doing these for over a year and a half now and the results have been nothing short of stellar. We do them live every Wednesday at 9 am Pacific. One of the tips included in this webinar involves Driving Sales, by the way! I'm not one who likes "Top 10 Lists" but this one happened to have 10 components, so it simply worked out,.   ...

There's something that can be said about competitors collaborating for education. You get to see diversity in strategy and philosophy but you also get to see that things that are universally agreed upon. Such was the case when Ralph Paglia from Tier 10 Marketing and I put together a webinar for one of our largest audiences ever - over 400 dealers and vendors attended this particular one. It goes to show that dealers are interested in learning how to make social media work for them. Set aside some time and watch this one. It's long, but it's worth every minute. 7 Keys to Social Media Success in 2011 from TK Carsites on Vimeo. ...

This is the second of a 7-part series that breaks down how dealers can take advantage of the recent changes at Google to amplify their presence as well as take immediate control of what is being presented in their organic search results. Part 2 is called "Diversify Reviews" and it demonstrates why and how dealers should be getting reviews for their dealership. It isn't as simple as sending everyone to DealerRater. There are 12 sites that we've found that Google puts in their car dealer reviews, all discussed in the video. It also includes an email template that dealers can use to get reviews. Again, this is the second of seven. The first can be found at Google Places Changes. We will be posting daily on Driving Sales until the series is complete. ...

This is the first of a 7-part series that breaks down how dealers can take advantage of the recent changes at Google to amplify their presence as well as take immediate control of what is being presented in their organic search results. Part 1 is called "Clean Your House" and it details the steps you can take today to put the right compelling and trackable information on your Google Places profile (which is appearing in many search engine organic results as we speak). Perhaps more importantly it tells you how to control the market areas where you want to appear in organically. Again, this is the first of seven. We will be posting daily on Driving Sales until the series is complete. ...

This hour-long webinar by Erin Ryan, Social Media Specialist for TK Carsites, goes in-depth regarding the best ways to get started in Social Media. Erin has been obsessed with social media for over a year now and hosts a weekly social media webcast when not working social media magic for her dealers.



Fire Up Your Social Media Engines! from TK Carsites on Vimeo.

If you aren't on Facebook yet, you're one of the few. Over 400,000,000 people are using the site at least once a month with new pages being built every second. Businesses are using it for branding, driving traffic, and increasing overall exposure. For car dealers, there are certain things that you will want to make certain you have in order to be successful. Car Dealer Facebook Pages are quickly becoming a "must have" themselves; if you're going to get involved, you might as well do it right. The 7 "Must-Haves" on Your Dealership Facebook Page from TK Carsites on Vimeo. ...

As car dealers move into the social media sphere, many are finding challenges in integrating the automotive mindset into the social media frame of mind. One particular exception is Jeff Cryder Jr. from Lebanon Ford. Tonight, he will be joining the Social Blade Show crew discussing the week's social media news as well as sharing where, why, and how he found success for his dealership in social media. After the live show, we will post his interview here on Driving Sales as well. Jeff is like the rest of us. He wasn't born into social media, nor was he an early adopter who has accumulated 20,000 tweets and 5,000 Facebook friends. He's just a guy who saw an opportunity in social media and took it. Thus far, the results have been a huge success. Join us tonight on the Social Blade Show, 7pm Pacific, 10pm Eastern, or catch the recorded version on Driving Sales over the next day or two. * * * Learn more about automotive marketing on Driving Sales. ...

One of the biggest challenges in diving into social media is in choosing the best way to spend time, effort, money, and resources. Every dealership has its own personality and addresses challenges differently. Deciding how best to position your dealership for success is the key to achieving it.



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See more Automotive Marketing Webinars at Driving Sales.

Streaming .TV shows by Ustream

The most amazing aspect of DrivingSales.com is collaboration, both intellectually and through projects. This weekly show that Brian Pasch, Paul Rushing, and I have put together has already yielded some amazing ideas and concepts... and we're only 3 shows in!

Now, it's time to hear from you. Both for the Automotive Internet Marketing Show and for the Automotive Marketing Boot Camp, we truly believe that the best way to serve dealers and give them the information that they need to succeed is to ask them:
"What would YOU like to learn about automotive Internet marketing?"
Search engine optimization, blogging, social media, social networking, pay-per-click, microsites, landing pages... the list of potential avenues for advancing a car dealer's Internet marketing strategy is huge. We plan on covering as much as possible, but it's always important to have a strong focus on the target audience's hot buttons when we're dealing with limited time frame (30 minutes a week for the show and 16...

Brian Pasch and Paul Rushing were in attendance at Digital Dealer 7 and share their feedback, with discussion about the future of Automotive conferences and future plans of a hands on boot camp to help dealers with an actionable plan on reaching more consumers.

Differences of opinion and strategy will come to light with the main goal providing dealers with actionable information to protect their search engine reputation. This has been a hot topic the last few weeks here at Drivingsales and we welcome all points of view. Don't miss it if you want to learn more, give your opinion and learn what we are doing for dealers to protect their online reputation.







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Starting today and continuing every Wednesday at noon est.   Brian Pasch, Jim Rucker and Paul Rushing, with selected guests, will be bringing you a weekly webcast , with replays available at www.drivingsales.com/blogs/webinars.

This weeks show will be an intro to the series for us to generate promo clips and to lightly touch on a few topics.  We have planned for several very intense future broadcasts to help dealers reach more customers online using tried and proven techniques.  Future topics will be derived from participant and viewer input .  Please join us today at noon est for our launch.


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