PCG Digital Marketing announced that DealerRefresh was chosen to receive the Lighthouse 2010 Automotive Website Award (AWA) for Best Online Automotive Community Content.  The awards were presented to the leading automotive website companies, developers, and social media advocates at the AWA breakfast ceremony in Las Vegas on October 12, 2010.

As the automotive industry increases its reliance on digital marketing, website technology, analytics, and mobile applications, it must find ways to educate its members.   Some of the best education is coming from online industry communities.  The 2010 AWA Lighthouse Award recognizes DealerRefresh.com for serving the industry with thoughtful articles, educational content, encouragement, and engagement.

DealerRefresh is for the car dealer Internet sales professional thriving for more information looking to elevate their game. It’s also for industry professionals looking to keep up with some of the latest dealer industry news and trends.  DealerRefresh was the first site to bring automotive Internet sales professionals together in one virtual spot.

The website covers everything from internet marketing best practices for dealers, what works with SEO and search engine marketing, how online video fits into a dealer’s landscape to online reputation management for any dealership.

Founder Jeff Kershner is the Internet Marketing Manager / Internet Sales Trainer.

About the Automotive Website Awards

The 3^rd annual Automotive Website Awards (AWA) were created by PCG Digital Marketing, recognized leaders in automotive digital marketing strategies.  For 2010, PCG Digital Marketing recognized the industry’s best website platforms across three different categories: design, technology and search marketing.

The Automotive Website Awards seek to provide car dealers with an unbiased evaluation of automotive website platforms and integrated search marketing tools.  The 2010 AWA study included a review of over 50 automotive website providers.

This year’s published study includes 160 pages of valuable information regarding automotive website platform choices, search marketing performance, design and technology. The report is the industry’s reference guide for the best in automotive website technology and design.

Download a full PDF version of the Automotive Website Awards.

I was sad at the closing ceremony for the DrivingSales Executive Summit.

I can’t recall feeling this way at the end of an automotive conference; this event was special.

One of those reasons was that 15 members of the PCG Automotive SEO Study attended. It was great to meet SEO Study members who I have just known through our webinars and emails.

The event attracted great leaders and speakers of the automotive industry as well as heavyweights from social media and digital marketing. Chip Perry, John Holt, Dale Pollak, Dan Zarrella, Grant Cardone, Ralph Paglia, JD Rucker, Allan Cooper, Jeremiah Owyang, and Scott Monty just to name a few. The general sessions were powerful, engaging, and provided a Q&A opportunity for attendees to interact with the presenters.

Live Streaming Keynote Speeches

I was blessed with the opportunity to present one of the keynote addresses as well as conduct a workshop on Automotive SEO. I would love to get some feedback on my speech from anyone who attended so that I can continue to improve my speaking skills as well as tailoring the subject matter to reach my audience.

My presentation was live streamed on the Internet so hundreds of additional people were able to see the keynote speakers. That was groundbreaking and future DrivingSales events will continue to stream broadcast to reach more automotive professionals that seek to grow. A number of clients emailed me that they were watching and cheering me on; that was very encouraging.

After my keynote, it was encouraging meeting so many dealers who are now engaging and implementing SEO as part of their marketing strategies. A few years ago this would not have been the case so the awareness is growing as well as adoption.

DrivingSales Innovation Cup

One of the most unique elements of the Summit was the DrivingSales Innovation Cup awards, which had two categories; dealers and vendors. In the dealer category, five dealer finalists had 5 minutes to present their innovation in front of their entire conference. The same held for vendors who also had 5 minutes to make the case why their innovation was the best of their peers.

When the judging was completed, Marc McGurren from the Jerry Durant Group in Weatherford Texas won the dealer innovation prize for his after hours website marketing strategy. For the vendor Innovation Cup, eCarList won top honors for their mobile application. The competitive spirit and passion that each finalist demonstrated was inspiring.

I’m a big fan of creating a positive competitive spirit in our industry and this was a great element of the DrivingSales Executive Summit.

The Atmosphere Was Electric

There was something else about the Summit that is hard to describe but it was felt by all that I asked. There was a sense of intimacy and engagement that I have not experienced at other conferences.

Some of that was due to the size of the conference but there was more that established a feeling that this event was valuable. It will be important to ensure that this spirit is preserved as the show grows in attendance. Next year there are already plans in place to create more small group engagement.

Another element of the conference that impacted me was the quality of the accommodations at the Encore. The Winn/Encore properties are just amazing and the Winn Buffet was off the charts. The hotel air was clean and not smoky and the service attitude for the hotel employees really enhanced the Summit. Jared picked a first class hotel to hold this first class Summit.

Looking Forward to 2011

I predict that the 2011 DrivingSales Executive Summit will double in size next year and that may be conservative. The number of top quality speakers, market experts, and trainers that have committed to support this conference each year is staggering.

Jared Hamilton and his team created tremendous value for all that attended and that will be rewarded with strong word of mouth recommendations at future 20 Groups. If you enjoyed the 2010 DrivingSales Executive Summit, I encourage you to send Jared Hamilton an email and express your thanks and feedback to make next year an even greater success.

Look forward to a number on announcements in coming weeks about additional educational opportunities for car dealers throughout the year organized by DrivingSales. 2011 will be a very exciting year for automotive education and best practice networking.

Brian Pasch, CEO of PCG Digital Marketing, is a featured keynote speaker at the 2010 DrivingSales Executive Summit in Las Vegas.  Pasch will address attendees Tuesday, October 19^th at the Encore Hotel.  Brian Pasch will be outlining his case why dealer principals need to create a formal Search Marketing Strategy for 2011.

According to Brian Pasch, car dealers have outsourced their Search Marketing Strategies without a formal plan of attack. Pasch encourages dealers to create a Search Marketing roadmap for their dealership in 2011 and to take a leadership role in seeing it implemented.

“Dealer principals need to get serious about understanding the fundamentals of how Google works.  Dealers must understand how search engines can be leveraged to increase traffic to their website.  Car dealer websites produce highest quality leads and dealer principals need to better understand how to drive more traffic, leads and sales to their business.  Dealer principals must take a leadership role in 2011 for all their digital marketing initiatives. “

Automotive SEO Strategies

Following his keynote address, Brian Pasch will be leading a breakout session on Automotive Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies.  Mr. Pasch will be demonstrating how dealers can increase their visibility for their brand in their primary market area.  He will also show car dealers how to calculate their POD scoreä which is a reflection of how effective their advertising investments are being rewarded online.

Pasch will be sharing his research and real-time data to present his case that Dealer Principals need to have a strategy to stay relevant and appear on Page One search results.  Since over 90% of consumers research a new or used car purchase online, dealers who do not appear on Page One for popular searches will receive less website visits and sales.

The DrivingSales Executive Summit is an exclusive automotive event focused on cutting edge dealership operations.  It features an invitation-only guest list of the most successful and innovative dealership operators in the country and world-renowned speakers to educate and inspire the collaborative process.

Brian Pasch is a noted Automotive SEO expert and in-demand speaker. He frequently travels the country leading Automotive SEO based seminars and hands-on demonstrations.  Brian will also be speaking at the 9^th Annual Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition, also in Las Vegas, from October 12-14^th.

Automotive professionals who have not yet registered for the DrivingSales Executive Summit can do so online at http://drivingsalesexecutivesummit.com/registration .

Conference attendees who would like to schedule a free personal consultation with Brian Pasch to discuss their Internet marketing needs can make an appointment by calling 732-450-8200.  Appointments can be made after business hours by sending an email to carrie@pcgdigitalmarketing.com.