Smart Web Concepts is One of the First Consultants Recommended for Building Automotive Brand Presence with Facebook

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb 28, 2012 - 
Smart Web Concepts, the automotive social marketing company, today announced that it has been included in a list of 14 recommended companies in the recently-launched Preferred Developer Consultant Program. The program is aimed at helping companies connect with leading consultants and developers who are familiar with building applications, Facebook Pages and Facebook Connect integrations.

Smart Web Concepts offers major brands and agencies the tools and technologies to launch large-scale social marketing programs ranging from branded fan pages for community building, to contests, sweepstakes, virtual gifting and promotions, and 24/7 monitoring tools aimed at tracking consumer engagements.

Smart Web Concepts also built and launched the first moderation tools for
Facebook Timeline Profiles & Pages, giving brands the ability to tap into customer engagements and better understand and develop their brand message through the use of social marketing.“We’re very pleased to have been selected as one of the first companies in the Preferred Developers Consultant Program,” said Dan Moore, CEO, Smart Web Concepts. "We hope to create a stronger brand presence on Facebook, and engage with their customers in a digital way that appeals to consumers and leads to stronger brand loyalty. We’re looking forward to continuing to provide brands top-level social marketing strategy and services,and help them to take advantage of the powerful Facebook Platform.”

Millions of Facebook users return to the site each day, providing businesses with
unparalleled social distribution and the opportunity for an ongoing dialogue with their
consumers.

To learn more about Smart Web Concepts and the range of automotive social marketing services and tools that the firm offers, please visit
www.smartwebconcepts. com.

About Smart Web Concepts
Smart Web Concepts is a leading provider of automotive social marketing solutions to OEM brands and automotive dealers. Smart Web Concepts mission is helping companies build, manage,monitor and advertise brand presence to meet their acquisition, engagement and retention goals. By combining industry expertise, a leading technology platform, and comprehensive data and analytics into an integrated approach, Smart Web Concepts offers the most effective social CRM and marketing solutions for OEMS & Dealers. Smart Web Concepts is headquartered in Sacramento, CA, with dealers all over the United States. For more information, please visit http://www.smartwebconcepts.com.

Facebook® is a registered trademark of Facebook Inc.

CHICAGO — Feb. 20, 2012 — Cars.com, the premier online resource for buying and selling new and used vehicles, announced today that SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) is the recipient of a $100,000 donation from Cars.com Cares, the site’s corporate giving initiative.

“We launched Cars.com Cares this year to help fuel organizations that share our mission of building confidence,” said Mitch Golub, president of Cars.com.  “SADD builds confidence in kids and young adults through the promotion of positive lifestyle choices.  I’m thrilled they are receiving our $100,000 donation to continue their great work.”

Voting for Cars.com Cares began on the site’s Facebook page on January 26 and continued through February 13. During that time, fans could vote for one of seven causes in the running for the site’s grand donation. Other participating causes included Adopt-A-Classroom, Alliance For a Healthier Generation, Cameras for Kids Foundation, Reading Is Fundamental, Scholarship America and VH1 Save the Music.

Cars.com also got Super Bowl viewers and Facebook fans involved in the program.  Every time someone tagged the site’s Super Bowl ad using Shazam or shared their vote on Facebook, Cars.com added a $1 donation to the cause with the most votes, up to $100,000. SADD brought in the largest number of votes from its national network to receive the full donation. Each participating cause received a donation from Cars.com Cares.

“We cannot thank Cars.com enough for including us in the Cars.com Cares program,” said Penny Wells, executive director of SADD. “This donation will help fund many of our prevention education programs in schools and communities across the country.  SADD gives young people the confidence to stand up for their beliefs and the tools they need to help other teens make choices that are healthy and positive.”

ABOUT CARS.COM

Cars.com is an award-winning online destination for car shoppers that offers information from consumers and experts to help buyers formulate opinions on what to buy, where to buy and how much to pay for a car. Cars.com offers thousands of new and used vehicle listings, consumer reviews, side-by-side comparison tools, photo galleries, videos, unbiased editorial content and many other tools. Cars.com put millions of car buyers in control of their shopping process with the information they need to make confident buying decisions.   Launched in June 1998, Cars.com is a division of Classified Ventures, LLC, which is owned by leading media companies, including Belo (N.Y.SE: BLC), Gannett Co., Inc. (N.Y.SE: GCI), The McClatchy Company (N.Y.SE: MNI), Tribune Company and The Washington Post Company (N.Y.SE: WPO).

ABOUT SADD

For 30 years, SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) has been committed to empowering young people to lead education and prevention initiatives in their schools and communities. Founded as Students Against Driving Drunk in 1981, SADD has become the nation’s leading peer-to-peer youth education, prevention, and activism organization, with thousands of chapters in middle schools, high schools, and colleges. SADD now highlights prevention of many destructive behaviors and attitudes that are harmful to young people, including underage drinking, substance abuse, risky and impaired driving, and teen violence and suicide. For more information, visit us online at sadd.org or follow SADD on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN, or YouTube.

Media Contacts:

Ethan Hertzberg

Public Relations Associate

312-601-5685 (direct)

ehertzberg@cars.com

Facebook ad offering gives dealerships more control than ever before by targeting ads based on demographic information such as gender, location, age and interests.  

Chicago, IL – February 21, 2012 - SOCIALDEALER, a leading social media management company that helps automotive dealers create, manage and monitor their social activities through one centralized web platform, today introduced their Facebook Ad Management Program (A.M.P.) service. Facebook A.M.P. will give dealers the ability to target auto buyers at the top of the vehicle purchase funnel and directly engage with those buyers where they socialize online.

Facebook ads allow dealers to turn their advertising messages into a trusted referral source by including content from fans who are already affiliated with their products. As a result, the ads amplify a dealer’s social reach dramatically. Dealers will be able to select one of three Facebook A.M.P. packages, silver, gold or platinum, based on their individual needs. Each package will include:

• Facebook ad design and scheduling. 
• Sponsored Stories, a new Facebook offering that helps generate interest based on friends and follower’s “likes”.
• Demographic targets, including: age, gender, likes, location, and brand preference.
• A SOCIALDEALER Virtual Sales Marketing Manager (VSMM) to help monitor the campaign and maximize results.
• Complete analytical reports on impressions and clicks on all ads.

“Facebook A.M.P. is unlike any other ad opportunity in that it is designed to reach out to a more highly-targeted group of customers than ever before. For instance, you can get as specific as only reaching those buyers who are interested in Chevy,” said Joe Castle, CEO of SOCIALDEALER. “And with the average online user having 130 friends, it’s easy to see how a dealership’s ad message can grow exponentially with the service.”

For more information on Facebook A.M.P. and how it can help dealerships create target-rich Facebook ads, visitwww.socialdealer.com.

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About SOCIALDEALER:

SOCIALDEALER is a social media management company that provides the industry’s only complete solution to help automotive dealers create, manage and monitor their social profiles, reputation and content, as well as engage with new and existing customers.  SOCIALDEALER offers expert assistance in the development and implementation of a dealers’ social media strategy.

Media Contacts: 

Brent Albrecht

SOCIALDEALER

630.824.3196

B.Albrecht@socialdealer.com

Laurie Halter

Charisma! Communications

Ph (503) 245-3140

Laurie@charismacommunications.com

Bellingham, WA—February 21^st, 2012—AutoFerret.com announced today that its Automated Virtual Assistant (AVA) has sent her five millionth message to auto dealership customers. Considering that it takes an average of two minutes to compose an e-mail, that means AVA has added 10 million minutes of productivity to dealerships’ Internet sales departments nationwide. For each dealer using AVA, that breaks down to more than 16,000 e-mails that the sales team did not have to write. AVA sent her landmark 5 millionth message right after NADA 2012, one year after her official launch.

“AVA has effectively engaged tens of thousands of customers in conversations on behalf of dealerships,” said Ben Brigham, President & CEO of AutoFerret.com. “Because she works 24/7 she is able to work thousands of new and old leads every month, compared to the industry standard of 80-100 leads per month for the average salesperson.”

Mike Cagey is general manager of Mark Christopher Chevrolet Buick GMC, and has been using AVA for about a year. “My Internet department has not missed one lead since starting with AVA,” he said. “What dealer can afford to miss or not have good contact with a lead?”

AVA is an artificial, “military grade” intelligence technology that responds to every lead, engages them, validates their intent to purchase, sets appointments for the sales staff, then follows up to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Potential customers believe they are exchanging emails with a customer service representative and don’t know that AVA is a virtual assistant.

Jeff Proctor, general manager of Metro Honda and Acura has also been using AVA for nearly a year. “I will say my Internet sales reps spend a lot more time now actually with the customer and working car deals because of AVA,” he said.

AVA composes e-mails virtually instantly, never takes a break, is always cheerful and polite, and never complains. Her “smart” intelligence can interpret customers’ varied requests, complaints, or inquiries, and always respond appropriately. To learn more about AVA, contact AutoFerret.com.

About AutoFerret

AutoFerret.com is a fast-growing Internet technology company, founded in 2007 and based in Bellingham WA. AutoFerret develops cutting-edge web technologies, including inventory syndication tools, Facebook Apps and AVA. There are currently more than 3,000 automobile dealers across the United States, Canada, England, and Australia using one or more AutoFerret technologies. AutoFerret strives to maintain a highly successful and satisfied customer base by being agile, hyper-responsive, and creative in all aspects of their business. AutoFerret’s philosophy is to move quickly and decisively in response to customer feedback. For more information about AutoFerret.com, visit www.AutoFerret.com or call Ben Brigham at (888) 633-7738.

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DealerFire Presented with a “Top Rated” Award for Dealer Satisfaction in Website Category

Oshkosh, WI -- February, 2012  DealerFire, a custom automotive website provider and digital marketing firm based in Oshkosh, WI is excited to announce they recently were the recipient of "Top Rated" Website Provider award in the third annual DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards, presented in conjunction with the 2012 National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention and Expo.

Owner and Founder Eric Hoopman was present to accept the award.  "Achieving this level of satisfaction from our customers and earning this award is very much attributable to our strong Midwestern, hometown values.  I think it shows day in and day out within the support from the DealerFire team, we love what we do and we have a lot of fun doing it. It’s a great mix for an exceptional customer experience," said Hoopman.

For over ten years, DealerFire has been working side by side with dealerships, successfully assisting them as they grow and expand their digital presence.  The distinction they create in the industry with their custom automotive websites and digital marketing strategies keeps them, and their clients, performing as leaders.

The DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction Awards measure dealer satisfaction by allowing dealers to rate and review their vendors at DrivingSales.com Vendor Ratings, the industry’s only neutral, comprehensive vendor rating forum featuring real-time peer reviews and honest competitor comparisons.  Only vendors who achieved top rankings in dealer satisfaction in each category, as determined by the thousands of auto dealers who are part of the DrivingSales.com community, received awards. The awards also incorporate the results of the 2011 Vendor Ratings survey, which was deployed to nearly 18,000 dealerships nationwide.

“We are proud to present a DrivingSales Dealer Satisfaction ‘Top Rated’ Website Award to DealerFire for achieving the most coveted accolade of all, the satisfaction of its dealer customers,” said DrivingSales CEO and Founder Jared Hamilton. “This award, based on the direct input of the dealer community, recognizes service providers like DealerFire who are leading the way in innovation, performance, and customer service. We congratulate DealerFire on their excellent results and for achieving the satisfaction of their dealer customers.”

"Our team is looking to 2012 with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm!  With a focused management team, sharpened internal processes and an exciting product release schedule in place, we feel well positioned to offer great value to our dealer customers and all of their digital marketing efforts." said Hoopman

For more information about DealerFire's award winning custom automotive websites and automotive digital marketing, please visit www.dealerfire.com

CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. – February 13^th, 2012 – Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today it has added Automated Dispatch and Electronic Repair Order (RO) functions to the Fixed Operations module in its dealership management system (DMS) software. The upgrade is a complete overhaul of the previous dispatch system, enabling hands-free, customized and flexible dispatching along with a more open electronic RO system that increases service department productivity.

“In many service departments, dispatchers are still manually assigning jobs, with most of their time taken up with figuring out who’s available to work, balancing work loads and monitoring progress to make sure the jobs get completed in a timely manner,” said Mike Esposito, President & CEO of Auto/Mate. “An automated dispatch system greatly frees up a dispatcher’s time to focus on increasing efficiency and productivity which in turn, increases profitability.”

Auto/Mate’s upgraded Automated Dispatch and Electronic RO system includes:

 --Hands-Free Dispatching: The new system allows dispatchers or service managers to pre-set technician skill levels and a maximum number of repairs they can handle at one time. Based on pre-sets, the system automatically assigns repair jobs as they come in, as well as monitors the progress of all vehicles in the shop. Managers are alerted if there are problems or if repairs are taking too long.

--Increased Flexibility: The new system is highly flexible, allowing dispatch functions to be molded to the processes already in place within each service department.

--Electronic RO Upgrade: Technicians now have more accessibility to ROs in the shop, so they can access all information about the vehicle and customer, including repair history. The system automatically punches them in and out, eliminating the need for time clocks. In addition, techs can add electronic notes to ROs as well as request parts electronically.

--Access to Factory Information: Any time an RO is brought up on the screen, a tech or manager can perform a manufacturer inquiry from within the system with just a click of a button. All items will be displayed in a screen that can be easily added to the RO. All open recalls are displayed and automatically highlighted so they won’t be missed, increasing revenue potential.

--Increased Accountability: Monitoring productivity is made simple with a ticker widget that scrolls along the bottom of managers’ screens. The ticker display will let managers know if a tech is not assigned a job or currently working, or if a job is taking too long, or other parameters that a manager wants to track.

The upgraded Automated Dispatch and Electronic RO system was developed based on feedback and requests from Auto/Mate’s customers, offering service departments a high level of flexibility to customize dispatching functions to their needs. For more information, visit www.automate.com

About Auto/Mate

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system (DMS) software to retail automotive dealerships. Its Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) is a user-friendly, feature-rich dealership management software in use by more than 700 auto dealers nationwide.

Auto/Mate offers the best customer service in the industry, with live people answering the phone and minimal hold times for technical support. The company received top satisfaction rankings in NADA’s most recent dealership management system survey. Auto/Mate’s employees have more than 300 years of combined experience working in auto dealerships – the foundation of its “designed by car people, for car people” slogan. For more information, visit www.automate.com and follow us on www.twitter.com/AutoMateDMS.

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Bellingham, WA—February 13^th, 2012—AutoFerret.com announced today that vehicle sales data analyzed during the month of January 2012 reveals that its Automated Virtual Assistant (AVA), offers proven ROI for auto dealerships. Eight random dealerships that use AVA allowed AutoFerret.com to access their data for the purpose of analyzing ROI. The average closing rate on leads contacted by AVA was 27.8%, compared with an industry average of 6-12%. Additionally, AutoFerret.com conducted a ReEngage Campaign with AVA over the course of the month, which resulted in an average 39.5 vehicles that were sold to old leads.

“We’ve always known AVA produced great results based on her lead engagement rates and the high retention rate from our dealers using AVA,” said Ben Brigham, President & CEO of AutoFerret.com. “This recent analysis confirms what we have long suspected, which is that AVA really does produce dramatic results for dealers.”

AVA is an artificial, “military grade” intelligence technology that carries on a conversation with leads over e-mail, engages them, validates their intent to purchase, sets up phone appointments for the sales staff and follows up to make sure no leads slip through the cracks. Potential customers believe they are exchanging emails with a customer service representative and don’t know that AVA is a virtual assistant.

Leads contacted during the time period of the analysis were a random mix of new and old leads from more than 50+ sources, including a dealer’s web site, independent lead providers and manufacturers. The eight dealerships that participated in the analysis were randomly chosen and of varying size, brand and market.

The analysis was divided into two parts: AVA working fresh leads in real-time, and AVA working old leads from the past six months. The average closing rate on fresh leads contacted by AVA was 27.8%, compared to an industry overall average closing rate of 6-12%. The store with the lowest closing rate was 21.9% and the store with the highest closing rate was 35.1%. The closing rates referred to are not AVA’s closing rate: AVA does not sell cars; she helps the dealership’s sales staff sell more cars.

The average number of vehicles sold during the one-month long AVA ReEngage Campaign was 39.5 vehicles. The store with the lowest count of vehicles sold to old leads showed 11 vehicles sold on 243 leads, and the store with the highest count of vehicles sold to customers sold 66 vehicles on 1811 old leads. The AVA ReEngage Campaign mines the dealership’s database for leads up to six months old. AVA then identifies the customers still in market, re-engages them and hands them off to the sales staff.

“This is found money for the dealerships as their Internet departments are often overwhelmed with today’s leads and more recent leads,” said Brigham. “It would be almost impossible and not very cost effective to have the sales staff reach out on a continual basis to every lead in the system up to six months old.”

Also it was found that of the total number of customers who purchased vehicles from these dealerships during the month of January, AVA had been in communication with 49.4% of them. Her involvement in approximately half of the stores’ business makes her a valuable asset to an Internet department’s sales staff. AVA never tires, takes a break or gets discouraged—she just continues to mine leads, contact fresh leads and notifies the sales staff when she sets appointments.

AVA is available directly from AutoFerret.com or through its partner reseller, AutoUSA Internet Sales Solutions.

About AutoFerret

AutoFerret.com is a fast-growing Internet technology company, founded in 2007 and based in Bellingham WA. AutoFerret develops cutting-edge web technologies, including inventory syndication tools, Facebook Apps and AVA. There are currently more than 3,000 automobile dealers across the United States, Canada, England, and Australia using one or more AutoFerret technologies. AutoFerret strives to maintain a highly successful and satisfied customer base by being agile, hyper-responsive, and creative in all aspects of their business. AutoFerret’s philosophy is to move quickly and decisively in response to customer feedback. For more information about AutoFerret.com, visit www.AutoFerret.com or call Ben Brigham at (888) 633-7738.

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CLIFTON PARK, N.Y. – February 6, 2012 – Booth #320, NADA 2012  Convention & Expo—Auto/Mate Dealership Systems (http://www.automate.com) announced today the introduction of Desk/Mate, an advanced F&I Desking System for auto dealers that is available as part of Auto/Mate’s dealership management system (DMS) software. Desk/Mate allows sales managers to easily compare multiple retail, lease and balloon payment options; as well as multiple vehicle choices for the customer, displayed side-by-side. Desk/Mate is fast, flexible and easy to use, increasing productivity and profitability in the sales department.

“Flexibility is key; customers are very pressed for time and want to check out a lot of options in a hurry,” said Mike Esposito, President and CEO of Auto/Mate. “Desk/Mate allows sales managers to exceed customer expectations by offering an array of purchase and lease options virtually instantly.”

Desk/Mate’s primary features and benefits include:

--Multiple quotes on one screen. Sales managers no longer have to scroll through multiple screens to display multiple options. On one screen, they can enter the basic deal information and quickly see multiple quotes based on variables such as loan/lease/balloon, APR, term, etc.

--Additional inventory options. Desk/Mate can instantly scan through a dealership’s entire inventory and display all the vehicles that match a given payment criteria. This gives the sales managers more options and a fast, efficient way to find a vehicle that suits the customers’ needs.

--Integration with credit bureaus. Desk/Mate is seamlessly integrated with major industry credit bureaus, allowing sales managers to instantly obtain customer credit scores in order to pre-qualify them.

--Easy to understand. “Our customers told us to keep it simple,” said Praveen Tamvada, Director of Marketing at Auto/Mate. “The problem with many of the existing desking solutions is that they are just too complicated.”

--Developed by Auto/Mate. Desk/Mate was developed by Auto/Mate based on specific requests and feedback from Auto/Mate’s customers. Desk/Mate works seamlessly within Auto/Mate’s Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS), automatically populating other modules within the DMS with updated deal information.

To learn more or to see a demonstration of Desk/Mate, please visit Booth #320 at NADA.

About Auto/Mate

Auto/Mate Dealership Systems is a leading provider of dealership management system (DMS) software to retail automotive dealerships. Its Automotive Management Productivity Suite (AMPS) is a user-friendly, feature-rich dealership management software in use by more than 700 auto dealers nationwide. Auto/Mate offers the best customer service in the industry; the company received top satisfaction rankings in NADA’s most recent DMS provider survey. Auto/Mate’s employees have more than 300 years of combined experience working in auto dealerships – the foundation of its “designed by car people, for car people” slogan. For more information, visit www.automate.com and follow us on www.twitter.com/AutoMateDMS.

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FEBRUARY 3, 2012 – CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – 3 Birds Marketing, an interactive marketing agency that serves the automotive industry, is pleased to announce that it will now offer real-time chat powered by ActivEngage, the most trusted brand in automotive live chat, as part of its innovative suite of digital marketing solutions.

KETTERING, Ohio – Feb. 4, 2012 – Naked Lime Marketing today announced a new selection in its full-service portfolio of marketing, advertising, and web solutions for dealerships: Naked Lime Marketing eNewsletters, which is a professional, fully managed electronic newsletter (e-newsletter) service. Targeted, custom-branded e-newsletters are one more digital marketing tool proven to help dealers increase customer loyalty and revenue.

Naked Lime Marketing eNewsletters are designed to complement a dealer’s branding and are published monthly in an easy-to-read, easy-to-navigate HTML format. Each eNewsletter contains a number of automotive and lifestyle articles, vehicle profiles, buying and service tips, and dealer promotions. Call-to-action links help drive traffic to the dealer’s website and social bookmarking tools allow readers to easily share the content with others.

“E-newsletters are an effective way for dealerships to stay ‘top of mind’ with customers and prospects without making a direct sales pitch,” said Trey Hiers, who oversees marketing at Naked Lime. “At the same time, producing and distributing an e-newsletter can be a daunting task for dealers who don’t already have the resources or technology in place. That’s where Naked Lime Marketing can help. Our marketing analysts work with dealers to create, publish, and distribute their e-newsletter with the right content that reaches the right customers at the right time. We make the entire process simple and more efficient for dealers.”

Dealers who use the Naked Lime eNewsletter service are able to measure results generated by their e-newsletters, including sales leads and customer and prospect retention rates.

The Naked Lime Marketing eNewsletter service is offered in partnership with IMN, a digital marketing company that delivers branded newsletters and content for more than 4,000 organizations worldwide. (www.imninc.com)

About Naked Lime Marketing

Naked Lime’s Naked Truth: Deliver bold and innovative full-service marketing, advertising, and web solutions and services that help automotive dealers turn the heads of consumers and inspire consumer loyalty at every point in the retail process. Connect with Naked Lime Marketing on the Web: www.nakedlime.com, Facebook: www.facebook.com/nkdlime, or Twitter: www.twitter.com/nkdlime.

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