As auto manufacturers and suppliers grapple with tough economic times, understanding consumer preferences becomes even more important for near-term survival as well as future viability.

J.D. Power and Associates’ Web Intelligence Division utilizes social media to help the auto industry gain consumer insights, mining the blogosphere for unvarnished insight and unbiased opinion.

We invite you to join us for a webinar to discover how J.D. Power Web Intelligence can take the blogosphere beyond monitoring and turn social media information into action.

This webinar delves into the opinions found social media on topics like the following:

• What are short- and long-term auto industry trends, such as consumer purchase intent?
• How are consumers responding to recent OEM incentive and marketing programs such as job-loss insurance?
• How can automakers more successfully approach Gen Yers?
• How has J.D. Power’s newest spin on segmentation – Tribe ReportsTM – helped other companies gauge marketing effectiveness?

DATE: Thursday, May 28, 2009
TIME: 2 pm Eastern
SPEAKER: Chance Parker, Vice President & General Manager
J.D. Power Web Intelligence

Myself and Alex (along with Jennifer Suzuki and David Kain) will be part of the 1st Party Leads webinar hosted by Dealer.com.

Be sure to check back here for the full recording and posting of the webinar.

Until then, be sure to check out the ALL NEW DealerRefresh Dealer Technology Forum for best practices with dealer technology.

DealerRefresh has been around for almost 5 YEARS and there is a ton of information on here. Choose a category on the left or use the search feature in the top right to find HUNDREDS of articles about Internet Marketing and Best Practices.

**Below are transcripts from the from Jeff and Alexs’ presentations**

I am not sure if it was because of the simultaneously scheduled “King of Cars” TV marathon on A&E or that the all male review “The Thunder Down Under” was completely sold out this past week, but Jeff and Alex were unable to attend the Spring Digital Dealer Conference being held in Las Vegas, and I kindly stepped up to provide this friendly review for each of you…

Located at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, this year’s spring conference promised some great entertainment combined with a strong agenda of current issues within our fast-moving market.  I teamed up with Alex Jefferson of Proctor Honda and Acura to attend multiple sessions, as well as to meet with several vendors to share some useful information with our DealerRefresh readers (please note the well-coached GQ pose that Alex prompted me to take…).

Kevin Frye and Alex Jefferson

“Please God, what does it take to sell a car?” That is certainly a strong opening statement, and this session led by Gil Chavez, Joe Webb, and Kim Clouse reviewed some strong fundamentals to what it takes to utilize the Internet successfully to sell cars. This was a great session for the first day as it reminded everyone of the skills that build a strong foundation for your Internet strategy. With such a challenging market, and with so many things to do, Gil, Joe and Kim emphasized that today’s Internet manager must be “God-like” – which begs the question “What type of pay plan does a God-like Internet manager deserve…”

The 6th Digital Dealer Conference will be held on April 19-21, 2009

I’m not going, are you?

The agenda looks jammed packed, and If I were going…here are the a few of the speakers I would go see:

Increase Your Web Traffic 30 Percent in Just 30 Days
Over a dozen real-world ways to immediately increase your web traffic and build a strong foundation for the future will be discussed. Even if you are having great success with your current tactics – learn more to add to your arsenal. - Duncan Scarry (I’ve never seen this dude nor heard of his company, it’s always interesting to see someone you have never heard of before.)

Please, God, What Does It Take to Sell a Car? General Session
Personalizing the process with the newest technology and putting the prospect’s desires before your own will lead to higher closing ratios, stronger profits, happier sold customers, and enlightenment - Gilbert Chavez, Joe Webb, and Kim Clouse (I’d have to go support Gilbert, Joe, and Kim - what a great group of guys!)

Sean is offering DealerRefresh readers a substantial discount to his Dealer Synergy Internet Director Immersion Program for April.

Internet Sales 20 Group presents the POWERFUL Internet Director Immersion Program as a 3 or 5 Day Workshop!

For: Dealer Principles, General Managers, Internet and BDC Directors
Where: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
When: April 13th - 17th 2009

Over the span of this 3 or 5 day course, attendees will learn:

• Create your new Internet Sales 20 Group Network, go over benchmarks and statistics and learn the secrets of Dealer Synergy’s “4P” strategy.
• Learn how to unleash the true power of today’s most advanced technology to utterly CRUSH your competition, even in a down market.
• Learn how to create the highest ROI on your lead generation and increase your conversions.
• How to become a world-class Internet Director, team leader, coach and mentor.
• Take a field trip to dealerships who have utilized these strategies and seen surreal success.
• Create action plans, get tested and achieve your certification

Sean has not offered any vendor discounts on these events, but for the first time Dealer RefreshReeaders are eligible for $1000 off the standard rate.

Three Day Event is $3000 - $1000 DealerRefresh Discount = $2000
Five Day Event is $4000 - $1000 DealerRefresh Discount = $3000

Be sure to mention DealerRefresh when you call to register for this event. Call 1-888-379-6374 or register online

My favorite is the fact that Sean Incorporates the FranklinCovey- 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Training. He did a great job with his 2008 Synergy Session (you can read Brian Tuckers review here). Good Stuff!

If I know Sean, I’m sure he’s doing it up right so take advantage of his offer, save some money and get some training.

Date: Thursday, April 9, 2009
Time: 12pm to 1 p.m. (Eastern)
Location: Your Computer
Cost: FREE - Register Here

Description: Industry roundtable discussion with:

• Mitch Golub, president, Cars.com
• Art Spinella, president, CNW Marketing
• Paul Taylor, chief economist, NADA

With sales of used cars expected to return to 40 million-plus units in 2009, used-car sales stand out as a bright spot in automotive retail. For consumers concerned about their purse strings and possible job losses, buying a pre-owned car allows them to get the vehicle they need and maintain their peace of mind. This webinar examines the current outlook for the year ahead and outlines the practical steps dealers must take to survive and even thrive in this changing economy.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

• Fine-tune your advertising strategy and media mix to reach in-market shoppers.
• Capitalize on economic uncertainty and pent-up demand to drive more used-car sales.
• Stock your store with in-demand cars that turn quickly and hold gross.
• Leverage third-party vehicle history reports and factory certification programs to build buyer confidence in your listings.

This Free Webinar registration made its way into my inbox, so I thought I would share it with everyone. If you’re not leveraging PR announcements to help with your dealership website SEO efforts then you could be missing out. Lee Odden is the real deal and just spoke at this years PubCon Search Marketing conference.

Register for this webinar today to learn how you can achieve SEO success.

Topic: Using Your News TO Drive SEO
Speakers: Lee Odden, CEO, TopRank Online Marketing
Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Time: 2:00pm Eastern Time
Cost: FREE
Register: http://tinyurl.com/anbcsu

With more than 70 million people getting their news online every day, your news is about more than just reaching the media.

Your news can be a powerful tool to directly reach the millions of people searching for information online, drive traffic to your website and maximize your online visibility.

News search engines like Yahoo! News and Google News offer a great way to direct targeted traffic to your website and help you generate awareness about a topic or your company.

Join Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing to learn how to make use of tactics such as press release and news content optimization to take advantage of the potential traffic news search can generate.

Ward’s Automotive Spring Training Conference

Ward’s wants to invite you to join them in Tampa, FL, March 15-17 for the second annual Ward’s Automotive Spring Training Conference.

Last year’s conference was a hit, and deemed by participants as one of the premier events of the year.

We know that with all of the uncertainty surrounding the automotive industry, this is a tough time to be thinking about a conference.

But we also know, dealers will be selling cars in the future.

And Ward’s wants to help you get — not only your fair share — but your unfair share of the market.

That means this is one conference you can’t afford to miss.

In addition to exciting keynote speakers, they have designed informative workshops with the newest marketing strategies for dealers and general managers.

Most of this information is stuff your agencies don’t even know yet.

Create the 21st century marketing department by showing you how to weave the power of the Web throughout all of your advertising efforts.

So make sure you’re in a position to hit a home run in 2009.

Visit us at www.wardsauto.com/springtraining to register.

See you in Tampa!

Date: Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
Time: 1 p.m. (Eastern)
Location: Your Computer
Cost: FREE - Register Here

Join us on March 10th for a Free Webinar

Join DealersEdge and Brian Pasch of Pasch Consulting Group for a FREE webinar March 10th.

Spend 90 minutes with Brian on March 10th and you will learn

• How simple changes in your SEO strategies can make a huge difference.
• How being clever with your Google Maps title can help you jump ahead of your competition.
• How to use Facebook as a productive marketing platform.
• How to use Social Tagging to turn your website into a viral marketing machine.
• How to buy ads on Facebook that will drive local results.
• How social network alternatives can help you create a “controllable” social network for your dealership.
• How to use Craigslist, Google Base and VAST as dealership selling tools and how to automate your inventory into these sites with GBFeeder.com.
• Why Blogging works for auto dealers and tips on how to start your own blog.
• How to use news releases to drive traffic to your website and as an SEO strategy.
• The checklist for creating a viral marketing action plan for your dealership.

Registration Info:
This Webinar is a Free service brought to you by DealersEdge and The Pasch Consulting Group.  Your only cost will be for the phone call to connect to the audio portion of the program.  Presentation slides will be presented via the Internet, using the GoToWebinar platform.

Registration is Limited -  Connections to this event are limited to 300.  That might sound like a lot, but our most recent free Webinar far exceeded that number and tested the limits of the GoToWebinar phone circuits.  So please, if you plan to attend, register as early as possible.

Space is Limited - So Register Now

Date: Friday, January 9th, 2008
Time: 12pm to 1 p.m. (Eastern)
Location: Your Computer
Cost: FREE - Register Here

In responding to the current economic slowdown, you can either give up or get down to business. Choose to jumpstart your 2009 sales with timely tips from the experts at Cars.com who will share their top internet sales techniques to help you weather tough times and position yourself to thrive in the recovery. We’ll examine the critical components of your online advertising and internet sales processes that help you connect with in-market shoppers and work with them to win the sale.

In this session, we’ll discuss the:

• Stock your store with the in-demand vehicles that car buyers want in today’s market.
• Merchandise your listings and promote your store to stand apart from your competitors.
• Communicate with in-market shoppers to build credibility and establish rapport.
• Stick with buyers until they buy.
• Leverage internet advertising, including specials, to keep your inventory moving.