IRVINE, Calif., Dec. 12, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Autobytel Inc. (Nasdaq:ABTL), pioneer of the automotive Internet and the company dedicated to connecting automotive consumers with dealers, today announced it will be conducting two NADA Workshops focused on texting best practices for dealers at the NADA Convention & Expo in San Francisco in January 2015.
Scott Pechstein, VP of National Sales for Autobytel, will be conducting the session Text and Engage with Today's Changing Consumer January 22 – 23, 2015 – part of the NADA Convention Workshop series – as Autobytel kicks off its official 20th Anniversary celebration at the show.
This informative, in-depth workshop provides dealers with the following:
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Data that demonstrates the importance of texting to engage car buyers online and in the showroom.
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The processes involved with texting correctly and compliantly.
- Best practices tips and advice to help dealers implement a full scale texting platform into their business operations, to drive sales and improve the customer experience.
"Texting offers an immediate, convenient, and interactive two-way conversation between dealers and consumers, but potential fines tied to new TCPA guidelines make it critical for dealers to implement processes that assist with compliance and keep text leads within a lead management system," said Pechstein. "This workshop covers all the bases when it comes to texting the right way, to increase sales and improve customer satisfaction."
Pechstein says the Autobytel texting workshop at NADA is built on the following data, which demonstrates the explosive growth, and importance of, dealer texting programs:
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Today, 94% of cell phone owners between the ages of 30 – 49 years send and receive texts.1 75% of cell phone owners between the ages of 50 – 64 send and receive texts.1
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98% text messages are read, compared to 22% of emails, 29% of tweets, and 12% of Facebook posts.2
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88% of cell phone owners with annual household incomes of $50,000 or more send and receive texts.3 The average number of mobile texts sent and received on a monthly basis outpace call volume across all age groups.3
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Text messaging (SMS) produces engagement rates 6 – 8 times higher than email4, and 90% of text messages are read within three minutes of delivery.5
- 63% of smart phone owners use their mobile device to research and shop while at a dealership; 52% visit an additional dealership as a direct result; and 72% are more likely to visit another dealer than those not using a mobile device on the lot.6
Dates, times, and locations for the Text and Engage with Today's Changing Consumer workshops are:
January 22, 2015: 12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. PST, Room 3011W
January 23, 2015: 10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. PST, Room 3024W
To learn more about the workshops, call or text Scott Pechstein at (949) 278-8618. To learn more about the importance of texting, visit http://mobile.autobytel.com. For Autobytel dealer products and services, visit http://dealer.autobytel.com. For 2015 NADA Convention & Expo information, visit http://nadaconvention.org.
1Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project Spring Tracking Survey, April 17 – May 19, 2013.
2Frost & Sullivan 2010.
3Experian Marketing Services and Simmons National Consumer Study.
4HelloWorld Benchmark Mobile Marketing Study, 2012.
5Mobile Squared Report: Conversational Advertising, 2010.
6 Placed, Inc. and Cars.com Mobile Device Use at the Dealership, January 2014.
About Autobytel Inc.
Autobytel Inc. provides high quality consumer leads and associated marketing services to automotive dealers and manufacturers throughout the United States and offers consumers robust and original online automotive content to help them make informed car-buying decisions. The company pioneered the automotive internet in 1995 with its flagship website http://www.autobytel.com and has since helped tens of millions of automotive consumers research vehicles; connected thousands of dealers nationwide with motivated car buyers; and helped every major automaker market its brand online.
Investors and other interested parties can receive Autobytel news releases and invitations to special events by accessing the online registration form at investor.autobytel.com/alerts.cfm.