The Most Important Inbound Marketing Trends for 2014
2014 Is turning out to be the year when “content is king!” This should be a welcome trend to many dealers, as the past years have brought many voices with confusing messages as to the best way to approach online content.
The next big winner for automotive marketing in 2014 is “in-bound marketing.” That’s the current buzzword for attracting and responding to shoppers who respond to your online presence — your website, your social media postings, banner ads you place, etc.
But the organic nature of content-based marketing really goes above having people click on an ad you’ve placed. Content-based marketing gets picked up by search engines because it’s full of relevant information that propels it to the top of the results pages people are searching for. And with proper SEO-rich content, the Internet and potentially thousands of readers, viewers, bloggers and of course shoppers, are saving, sharing, tweeting and re-posting your message.
It’s that kind of synergy of message that generates strong search engine rankings, and brings strong, pre-qualified shoppers to your website. They’ve heard of you. They’ve read something helpful you’ve posted. You come recommended. And not just by your own ad, but by a third party — a friend, a trusted web source, etc.
One of today’s leading voices of these big trends for 2014 is Bill Parlaman, Vice President of Digital Marketing for Stream Companies. But the idea of content generating strong results and translating into qualified traffic to your site is not new to Bill.
Before coming to Stream Companies, Parlaman launched his first online business in 2006 and quickly learned there was a lot more to running an online business than simply creating a website. This is when he took the leap into direct response marketing, SEO, website design, social media, and website conversion optimization.
Over the years, Parlaman has transformed clients’ websites and online footprint to be what they are meant to be — active lead generators.
“Traffic doesn’t mean anything if it doesn’t convert,” says Parlaman, with the passion of one who practices what he preaches. “An effective website should be driving leads to your dealership 24 hours a day.”
As the vice president of digital marketing, Bill is responsible for the SEO, PPC, social media and inbound marketing teams at Stream Companies.
BIll brings that knowledge to Digital Dealer for the first time during the 16th Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition, May 6-8, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
And he’s fired up to reach new audiences with some of the most important lessons Internet marketers must know.
“Every smart dealer is talking about automotive inbound marketing,” says Parlaman. “What is it? How do you do it? Why should you do it? How much does it cost?”
Parlaman says these are just some of the key topics he’ll discuss at the 16th Digital Dealer to guide new and experienced Internet marketers towards greater traffic and conversions in 2014:
The biggest mistake automotive dealers make when it comes to online lead generation.
- Why you must change the way you think about search engine optimization.
- How to generate a steady stream of website traffic without wasting money on pay-per-click (PPC).
- How to stop struggling to generate leads from your website.
- Discover how to get your website visitors to take the action you want them to.
- How to properly measure and optimize your website so that you can be sure all your digital marketing efforts can actually be turning into an ROI.
Prior to joining Stream, Parlaman founded Radical Marketing Solutions, a Philadelphia-based small business Internet marketing and SEO agency that has helped small business owners and entrepreneurs get more traffic, more leads, and more sales from their websites. He is the author of two books, “The Ultimate Success Secret,” and “How to Make Maximum Money with Minimum Customers.”
