Backed by the theme “Intelligence Driven Marketing” the 2018 Dealership Minds Summit in Iowa City, July 24-25, welcomes three of the best minds in the business, Doug Vahrenberg, Owner of Vahrenberg Implement, Ben Garton, Chief Marketing Officer of Garton Tractor, and Lee Parish, Owner of Parish Tractor.

This intelligence driven session is packed full of thought-provoking discussions set to explore how to extend marketing dollars to make an impact on the market, the best practices for managing Google Adwords to attract the right web traffic and how to use social channels to build digital support.

Vahrenberg is a third generation single-store dealer-principal who had to buy in with a creative approach to marketing. He encourages his team to “work outside the box” to come up with new, more efficient ways to develop marketing strategies that don’t break the bank. Spending as little as $50 a month, Vahrenberg has been able to land jaw-dropping results and is reaching new customers via social media that would not otherwise know of the AGCO dealership. 

Ben Garton

Heading up the marketing efforts for a 9-store Kubota and New Holland dealership, Ben Garton puts a high priority on Google Adwords, particularly on managing the negative words (the unrelated Google searches that can lead people to the company’s site). This tactic has helped Garton Tractor ensure that its web visitors are strong leads of ready-to-purchase customers and thus can’t be easily shrugged off by salesmen. Spending as little as $150 a month on simple tools like Google Adwords and Facebook ads, he has helped Garton Tractors top over $100 million revenues per year.

Parish started his career with Kubota Tractor Corp. in Georgia as a regional dealer representative. When he heard one of the dealerships was selling its business, he purchased the business in 2012 and renaming it Parish Tractor. The business quickly grew and became recognized by Kubota as an elite dealership performing in the top 5% of Kubota dealerships in North America.

Lee Parish

“Some dealerships set up a Facebook page and then just hope people find them,” he says. “But, it’s a two-step process. After they like your post, you need to get them to like your page.” Once a prospect has liked you page, Parish says you can then start actively targeting them.

Together, these three experts will offer invaluable knowledge that dealers in farm equipment need to increase customer traffic, make an impact on the market, and develop digital support, all on a budget.

To learn more about this session and see the full lineup of speakers, visit DealershipMindsSummit.com.

Limited seats are available and reservations are now open. A discounted registration rate of $499 is available through 6-18-18, offering a $40 discount off the full rate of $539. Registration can be made online or by calling (262) 432-0388 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday.

Sponsors of the 2018 Summit include A&I Products, Ag Direct, BigIron Auctions, CLAAS, Fastline Media Group, HBS Systems, Iron Solutions, Machinery Scope, Montag Manufacturing, Team SI, Western Equipment Dealers Association (WEDA), Yanmar, Topcon Agriculture and Yetter Mfg.