Digital Dealer V - Use it or lose it..

Unfortunately my plans for Digital Dealer V were canceled at the last minute, but the timing was good personally.  It does look there will be a lot of things covered there as there always is.  This appears to be the crowning glory for Mike Roscoe and his publications.

I sure hope that we will see some coverage for the event as eluded to by Jared over at DrivingSales.  If not  the “Dealer Magazine Trio” and vendors in attendance are missing huge marketing opportunities that would allow them to maximize their presence and reach people who were unable to attend or going to the JD Powers event.

I really would of loved to eves drop in on some of the things being presented.  More than anything to see if anything being presented was more than monkey tell, monkey do closed with a sales pitch to buy a training program or process that has not been rewritten in the last 3 years.

Internet marketing techniques and web applications should always be in a state of flux, online presences should be maximized and relying on one size fits all plug and play widgets without real ownership at the dealership level is a waste of marketing capitol.

Just like sales 101 some things will pass the test of time in the automotive Internet arena but that will mostly boil down to process and lead handling, which should always be tweaked as data and trends become evident.

If you are in attendance and take away one idea that could really impact your business make sure you act on it.  It could be as simple as getting back to the basics or as complicated as wiping your online marketing slate clean and restarting from scratch, just make sure you follow through..

Stay up to date on Digital Dealer V and other industry events at DrivingSales

Technorati Tags: dealer magazine, digital dealer, drivingsales, Mike Roscoe, online automotive internet marketing

Social Networking vs Print Media

Social Networking in the Car business is finally starting to take traction in a huge way. There are several Automotive Social Networking sites geared to the online community of industry professionals who make their living on the Internet. Publications in the industry have tried to attract this same type of user base and have not done a very good job of creating a community.

When I visit forums at some of the industry rags it is quite comical. Many of these publications have a large reach with their print editions but cannot attract online participants. I think the main reason for this is because the old school is still predisposed to mediums that they understand the best.

But what is their true reach?

How many times have you been in a manager’s or GM’s office and seen copies of magazines like Automotive News, Digital Dealer or Dealer Magazine still in the wrapper? How many times has someone brought you an article from one of these publications to use as a reference? More often than not when people reference these rags it is because they or someone they know is mentioned in them. I had to seek out a copy of NADA Auto Exec when I was obscurely quoted (p. 70 February 2008), I was not able to verify this until four months after the article was published through a new friend of mine, Jared Hamilton. What that told me is that no one is reading these publications, as I have many contacts in the industry and at the time was employed by a dealer group that has twelve rooftops!

The power of the Internet has put the transfer of information at the fingertips of it’s users. We do not have to wait for a daily, weekly or monthly publication to find out what is going on in the industry or anything else. The multiple distribution channels the Internet presents us with is making print publications in our niche almost obsolete.

I believe the reason for this is the message that are delivered in these publications is one sided and is designed to cater to advertisers and not represent real trends in the industry. Looking through a Recent issue of an industry publication there was a very compelling article about the use of mobile technology after a full page ad for a mobile service provider, written by another vendor in the niche.

While I do believe that mobile technology will have applications in the industry and will provide a valuable marketing platform if leveraged properly, the article was lacking. It did not provide any real life examples nor does it let dealers that are trying these application to give honest opinions and reviews of these services. It was a one sided sales pitch that would not encourage anyone to try to add it to the marketing mix via user testimonials or to discuss the pitfalls they have observed.

That is were social networking, social media and platforms such as blogs will change the way we all do business. They allow an open exchange of ideas and opinions with a touch of marketing. The marketing aspect of these types of forums can be abused, there are plenty of real life examples, and is probably the reason many of the forums by industry publications cannot gain any real traction.

Advertising is what drives any content distribution channel online, print or otherwise. This blog has advertising on it and I encourage you to visit the advertisers but the main goal at its inception was for me to keep up with what I am doing to improve an internet department. I even have a journal, not open to the public, that I keep here. The networking opportunities it has afforded though have been greater than any level of monetization that I could expect and has proven the real value.

This opinions expressed here are mine and are not those of any industry associations I may have. A recent post here caused some personal grief because a reader did not like what they saw and it has recently happened to others in the industry as well. It is apparent the old school has a lot to learn about the new paradigms they are living in now.

That is why it is a delight that I have aligned myself with industry leaders in it’s new social networking platform www.DrivingSales.com, the vision expressed by those close to this project is overwhelming. This is the first full fledged charge for the industry as a whole to reach this century.

Technorati Tags: automotive social networking, dealer magazine, digital dealer, drivingsales.com, nada auto exec