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PCG Digital Marketing is pleased to recognize automotive industry leaders who will be educating dealers at the upcoming PCG Pit Stop Conference on July 16 and 17 at Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach.

Industry thought leaders Ralph Paglia, Kathi Kruse, JD Rucker, Brian Pasch, and Paul Potratz are just some of the personalities that will share their insights into the latest opportunities for car dealers to grow their business online.

Paglia’s hands-on workshop, entitled “Digital Guerilla Marketing Strategies and Tactics,” will show dealers how to take advantage of emerging Internet marketing tools for guerilla marketers and how to recognize when their competitors are using these same tactics against them.

According to Paglia, “No dealer should try these techniques without knowing the risks and returns.”

Kathi Kruse will be addressing all conference attendees at the opening dinner reception on July 16^th with a keynote address titled: “How to Generate Through Social Media Integration.”

According to Kruse “Before they visit your store, internet savvy car shoppers spend up to 11 hours online researching you and your store. They bypass the Yellow Pages and cable ads to see what their Social network says about your reputation and inventory.”

JD Rucker, automotive social media pioneer, will be leading a popular workshop entitled “Facebook Marketing vs. Facebook Advertising.” With Facebook and Google + dominating discussions on new media strategies, Rucker brings to the table a proven tactical plan that dealers can implement to dominate your local markets.

The PCG Pit Stop Conference tour after Huntington Beach will continue its road trip to St. Louis, Seattle, Vancouver, and Toronto, delivering world-class education to car dealers on subjects they need to leverage new media opportunities.

12 Workshop Subjects Offered

The Pit Stop Conferences are open to any dealership employee but were created with Dealer Principals/GM, General Sales Managers/ISM, and Fixed Operations Managers in mind.

A total of 12 workshops will be presented in each city including strategies for Fixed Operations, Internet Lead Management, Video Search Marketing, Google Places, and Mobile Marketing.

To register for the PCG Pit Stop^® program or for more information, visit http://www.pcgpitstop.com . Dealers can also call 732.450.8200 ext 5 and ask for Renee McGowan to register via phone.

About Ralph Paglia

Ralph Paglia has 20+ years of leadership in information technology enabled automotive marketing strategies and tactical implementation. Widely known as the outspoken Director of Digital Marketing at ADP Dealer Services, Ralph is now the Vice President of Digital at Tier 10 Marketing.

About Kathi Kruse

Kathi Kruse is an Automotive Social Media Expert, Blogger, Coach, Author, and Founder of Kruse Control Inc. Born in the heart of Los Angeles to a family of “car people,” Kathi’s passion for the car business spans a 30-year career managing successful dealerships in Southern California. Kathi is co-author of the book “Next Up – Essential Social Media Strategies for Auto Dealerships.”

About JD Rucker

JD Rucker is Director of New Media at TK Carsites, responsible for research, development, and implementation of dealership marketing strategies on search engines and social media.

JD is also President of Hasai, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of TK Carsites that specializes in viral marketing campaigns in and out of the automotive industry. His works, strategies, and quotes have been seen in hundreds of publications and news outlets including NY Times, NPR, and Time.

I recently had the pleasure to sit in on a workshop Joe Webb presented at the Chicago PCG Pit Stop conference.  Joe gave attendees a number of solid processes to help increase the effectiveness of responding to email prospects.

One of the tips Joe gave attendees was how to reverse engineer lead data and how to research a customer online BEFORE responding.  I like Joe’s comment that taking ONE extra minute to do some simple research would NOT impact the opportunity measurably.

I could not agree more since research will create a more intelligent and more engaging response.

In the past month, I’ve been exploring new ways to reach out and connect with “prospects” which in my case is car dealers.  As I travel around the country speaking at conferences and 20 Group I normally meet dealers who need assistance with their online reputation, SEO, SEM, or social media strategy.

But what has been a challenge recently is contacting dealers in a specific local market and inviting them to attend one of the regional PCG Pit Stop events.  This is where I have been testing new contact methodologies since email, cold calls, and direct mail really are weak.

Leverage LinkedIn For Your Dealership

One marketing tool that I have found effective is LinkedIn.  There are a number of effective ways to leverage your existing customers, friends, and business associates to create a targeted marketing list to sell more cars. If your sales team is not leveraging LinkedIn, they should be.

With email delivery rates dropping, LinkedIn has very impressive email delivery rates that are many times higher than normal email.  Also, keep in mind that your customers change email addresses on a regular basis but will update their LinkedIn profile with their current contact information.  This means you can stay connected with your customers much longer than your current DMS will allow.

I know that there is high turnover in car sales but seasoned sales professionals that use LinkedIn properly will be way ahead of their peers.  In just 60 days, I have added over 500 targeted dealership employees to my network.

Imagine what your sales professionals could do with developing lists that include local teachers, doctors, lawyers, business owners which all can be created off their EXISTING customers.  LinkedIn has rules that “govern” how fast you can build your network, but adding 20 people a day is very reasonable.

Once sales professionals build their lists, LinkedIn can allow them to “tag” the contacts with keywords that can be used to create targeted email messages or tips each month.  So people who purchase a Honda Civic can be tagged with keywords like “Honda”, “2011 New Car Buyer”, “Family With Kids”, etc.

Sales professionals can search these tags to create targeted email lists or invitations to special events.

Developing a Digital Networking Strategy

I will be adding a workshop on leveraging digital networking tools for automotive sales professionals at the upcoming PCG Pit Stop Conferences .  I

Paul Potratz and I have been brainstorming on this type of workshop which I think car sales professionals will love.

LinkedIn email is not the only method that is working.  LinkedIn Groups also shows great promise along with Facebook which many conversations have already covered.

I have also been very pleased on the ROI of creating better quality promotional videos for PCG events and services.  Video marketing for sales professionals is an green field opportunity for progressive dealerships.

So any sales professionals that would like a workshop of digital branding and network strategies should check out the upcoming schedule of conferences at http://www.pcgpitstop.com and Paul Potratz and I will show you the ropes!

P.S.  Please join me on LinkedIn!  I would love to connect with you.

Did you know that your local competitor just got smarter?  You thought that they were behind the ball with digital marketing, social media, and leveraging the Internet but that was yesterday’s news.

Your local competitor did wake up.  They realized that they were behind and took action.  Good entrepreneurs are not perfect but when they realize that they are losing market share and wake up they can be a fierce competitor once again.

If I were you, I would be looking over my shoulder because your competitor is using their recent knowledge to mount an attack.

Your competitor attended a 20-group meeting, a social media conference, or a digital marketing workshop, and the lights went on.  You were too busy to notice this change so I thought I would send a warning shot over the bow.

You Once Had An Edge

I was pleased to know that you got started with social media and digital marketing a few years ago and had an edge in your local market.  You exploited that edge and basked in the sun of your success.  Congratulations.

You were rewarded with greater sales, website traffic, and market share. Over the past few years you have been busy implementing the things that you learned by engaging in the educational opportunities offered by this industry.

In fact, I’ve noticed that you have been so intent on implementing what you learned you have been too busy to attend any new workshops in the past year.  Is it still true that you got so many ideas in 2009 and 2010 that you have decided to skip attending conference this year?

Why pile on more ideas when you haven’t had a chance to implement those from 2009 right?

Your Competitor is Smiling

To paraphrase a famous business book, while you have been busy implementing last years’ digital marketing strategies  “the Cheese has moved again”.

Do you need an example?  Today being on Google Page One is not as important as being on Google Page with strong positive review stars.   If you are one Page One with bad reviews, your advertising budget is helping to direct more business to your competitors.

If you haven’t focused on a strong IRM process, much of your Automotive SEO work may be actually hurting more than helping your online sales.

No Time To Get Complacent

Is this scenario describing your dealership?

• Are you the incumbent that has decided to attend conference every other year?
• Are you the dealership that recently woke-up and engaged?
• Are you the dealer who wants to engage but needs assistance creating a competitive digital marketing strategy?

The dealers who want to remain relevant cannot afford to skip a year of education.  The industry is moving faster that most can comprehend yet I hear so many excuses why dealers think they can take a break from learning.

• “I’ve been to that event last year”
• “I can’t take time out of the office.”
• “The speakers and topics are always the same”
• “I’m the only person in my market that gets it.”

The reality is that the best conferences have not only new topics but also important revisions to existing strategies that you are using.

Two years ago little data on consumer behavior on dealer mobile websites was being shared, today we have a wealth of data to discuss.

Two years ago the conversation on reputation management was just starting and today the case studies on the impact of online reviews is chilling.

Google has recently changed their standards for organic search rankings and many dealers were penalized for poor link building processes.

Invest in Education in 2011

Since your competitors are heading to conferences, workshops, and online learning opportunities based on the most relevant topics for 2011 I thought you would want to reconsider your lack of action.

You have the power to remain ahead of your competition and find where the cheese has been moved.  What will you do?

I hope to see you in Orlando for starters.  Lock in a $100 discount off Boot Camp Registration by taking advantage of this special registration link.