Embracing new ways of communicating to customers can transform both the top and bottom-line, according to social media expert Anna Farmery.

Farmery, who is a writer, speaker and coach on making the new social business model work in a competitive environment through her company The Engaging Brand, will aim to dispel social media myths at AM and Auto Trader’s Digital Marketing Conference on February 4.

Taking place at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, Farmery, who is a writer, speaker and coach on making the new social business model work in a competitive environment through her company The Engaging Brand ( http://www.theengagingbrand.com ), will host one of AM’s three digital workshops where she will provide tangible information on how successful techniques of social media can drive sales. She will also use an automotive retail group case study to illustrate her points and to enable delegates to see how her strategies can be implemented as well as the potential results.

Farmery said: “The way people buy cars, buy any goods has changed substantially over the last decade. Consumers are more informed, they are more aware of brands in relation to competitors and they are becoming more reliant on their social circle for recommendations than traditional advertising when it comes to making a buying decision.

"At first this can seem like a problem for businesses retaining traditional methods of sales and marketing but, in fact, it is an opportunity which can help you stand out from the crowd.”

Farmery will explore how websites have become much more ‘organic’ in nature and is now the ‘living’ embodiment of a brand or business which needs to portray its personality online and engage with customers and prospects as well as developing the customer relationship much earlier than the first time they walk onto the forecourt.

She added: “Latest research shows that in the last 12 months, the use of both mobiles and smartphones for pre sale consumer research has increased by 113%.

"The role of the website has changed from a static advertisement to a social, interactive site that can act as the online sales person to attract browsers into the showroom where the sales team takes over and converts them from potential buyer to customer.”

In addition, Farmery intends to debunk the many social media myths with some explored in greater detail with the aim of turning falsehoods into commercial common sense. Farmery’s social media truths include:

  • Social media is not a strategy but a specific measure or measurable sales tactic which drives sales
  • How social media is truly not about tweeting about your lunch but about delivering tangible value to the customer in the research, enquiry or decision making stages
  • How social media is not merely a conversation but a trackable part of the sales funnel
  • Being social is not new, any sales person will try to build rapport and connect with customers in the showroom, it is ensuring your web presence mirrors that same offline approach
  • The biggest block to social media tactics is not time as people think, it is mindset
  • How social media only wastes time

Tickets are available to dealers and manufacturers. To book, please contact Nicola Baxter on 01733 468289, email nicola.baxter@bauermedia.co.uk or visit http://digital-marketing.am-online.com/