SEMA News—October 2014

INTERNET

By Joe Dysart

Web Analytics Update

The Latest Tools for Getting the Most From Your Web and Social-Media Marketing

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin offer a free website-analytics service that’s considered an industry standard.

Businesses looking to evaluate the return on their efforts in web and social-media marketing can take heart: There are scores of analytical tools available that can precisely show them how well their campaigns are doing.

In social media, those just getting started in analytics would do well to check out Hootsuite. A powerful social-media dashboard that allows users to manage all of their postings and other activities on all the major social-media networks, Hootsuite is also packed with a wide variety of analytical tools that show how well you’re doing on social media.

“Hootsuite is a great place to start,” said Brendan Chard, president of web design company The Modern Firm. “It helps businesses save time by letting them manage and post from all of their accounts in one central place. It also provides really nifty analytics reports that show the effectiveness of your social-media efforts, including visits to your website, social shares and even new contacts/leads as a result of social media.”

Essentially, if you can imagine an analytics report—any kind of analytics report—Hootsuite can most likely come up with the insights you’re looking for, according to Diana Chow, corporate communications coordinator for Hootsuite. Moreover, given that the entry-level use of Hootsuite is free, it’s a great package to cut your teeth on and then use as a benchmark to evaluate other social-media analytics tools.

“Most small firms will be completely satisfied with Hootsuite’s free plan,” Chard said.

Once you’re comfortable using Hootsuite, however, you still may want to add some additional social analytics tools to your arsenal to ensure that you’re getting the deepest look at what’s going on with your social-media marketing. In the process, you may also be able to save some serious coin, according to Ian Anderson Gray, a social-media consultant who writes an insightful blog on social media.

	IBM continues to spin off projects from its Watson analytics computer, which gained fame after beating top human contestants on the game show “Jeopardy.”

Gray said that Hootsuite analytics can get very expensive for small businesses if you’re looking to go beyond the three basic analytics reports the online service offers free. He noted that most “enhanced” Hootsuite reports, for example—reports you can tweak to offer insights that are not available from the standard free reports—cost businesses $45 to $50 a pop, depending on the rate plan they chose. Plus, there are other extremely popular analytics reports that you simply must pay for. A Hootsuite report on your activity on LinkedIn, for example, goes for $20 per month, and a report for your activity on Facebook goes for $30 a month.

Given that reality, Gray said that he’d opt for the following reports within Hootsuite:

• Twitter Engagement Report: Useful in looking at your follower growth and daily engagement.
• Facebook Insights: Gives a tad more than Facebook’s free Insights Report but also gives you the convenience of keeping track of Facebook on the Hootsuite dashboard.
• LinkedIn Page Insights: Shows you how the latest LinkedIn updates to your company page are doing. Again, this report is very basic, Gray said.
• Google Analytics: Analyzes basic activity on your website on the Hootsuite dashboard.

“The advantage of Hootsuite reports is that you can have all of your reports in the same place if you are solely using Hootsuite to manage your social channels,” Anderson said. “However, some of the reports are fairly basic. In my opinion, you’ll get more powerful and helpful reports by using third-party tools.”

Third-party providers Gray recommended include:

• SumAll: Offers powerful reports across a wide range of social channels, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, YouTube and more, according to Gray.
• twtrland: For monitoring activity on Twitter.
• Commun.it: Does a good job of segmenting your Twitter followers to show you high-value members within your community, according to Gray.
• Brandwatch: An enterprise solution that is well worth considering, as it is incredibly powerful, according to Anderson.

Still other social-media analytics to check out include Tweetdeck, Mention, LeadSift and Buffer.

Meanwhile, for analytics that monitor activity on your website, the free Google Analytics is a good first choice. Like Hootsuite for social media, Google Analytics is an industry standard for website analytics that businesses can learn and then use as a benchmark to evaluate similar tools.

Essentially, Google Analytics measures overall hits on your website, where visitors are coming from, how long visitors are staying on your site, which pages they’re clicking on and more. It also offers some basic social-media monitoring.

In contrast, larger business with deeper pockets looking to get much more sophisticated analytics can go for the premium version of Google Analytics, as well as offerings from other players. According to a report released earlier this year by market-research firm Forrester, top web-analytics packages for the enterprise are made by Adobe, AT Internet, IBM and Webtrends.

“Features such as predictive analytics, support for mobile applications, reach of partner programs and the ability to support customer implementation distinguish one vendor from the next,” said James McCormick, lead author of “The Forrester Wave: Web Analytics Q2 2014.”

McCormick’s take on each product from the heavy hitters:

Adobe: “Adobe dominates the market with the largest number of enterprise web-analytics clients,” McCormick said. Essentially, the company’s mission is to make sophisticated analytics accessible to all marketers.

IBM: IBM has beefed up the Coremetrics software it acquired by enhancing the packages behavioral analytics and mobile analytics capabilities, among other things, according to McCormick. One caveat: “Some customers feel that the licensing model makes it difficult to invest more in it,” McCormick said.

Webtrends: “Webtrends has continued to strengthen its core offering, improving existing capabilities and developing new ones such as its real-time data streaming service,” McCormick said. He added that it’s also investing in integration with other tools, such as online testing.

AT Internet: “AT Internet primarily targets Europe, Russia, Latin America and Southeast Asia to sustain its growth,” McCormick said. Its analytics is built on data collection, aggregation, mining and distribution.

Joe Dysart is an Internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan.
joe@joedysart.com
www.joedysart.com
 

SEMA News—October 2014

INTERNET

By Joe Dysart

Web Analytics Update

The Latest Tools for Getting the Most From Your Web and Social-Media Marketing

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin offer a free website-analytics service that’s considered an industry standard.

Businesses looking to evaluate the return on their efforts in web and social-media marketing can take heart: There are scores of analytical tools available that can precisely show them how well their campaigns are doing.

In social media, those just getting started in analytics would do well to check out Hootsuite. A powerful social-media dashboard that allows users to manage all of their postings and other activities on all the major social-media networks, Hootsuite is also packed with a wide variety of analytical tools that show how well you’re doing on social media.

“Hootsuite is a great place to start,” said Brendan Chard, president of web design company The Modern Firm. “It helps businesses save time by letting them manage and post from all of their accounts in one central place. It also provides really nifty analytics reports that show the effectiveness of your social-media efforts, including visits to your website, social shares and even new contacts/leads as a result of social media.”

Essentially, if you can imagine an analytics report—any kind of analytics report—Hootsuite can most likely come up with the insights you’re looking for, according to Diana Chow, corporate communications coordinator for Hootsuite. Moreover, given that the entry-level use of Hootsuite is free, it’s a great package to cut your teeth on and then use as a benchmark to evaluate other social-media analytics tools.

“Most small firms will be completely satisfied with Hootsuite’s free plan,” Chard said.

Once you’re comfortable using Hootsuite, however, you still may want to add some additional social analytics tools to your arsenal to ensure that you’re getting the deepest look at what’s going on with your social-media marketing. In the process, you may also be able to save some serious coin, according to Ian Anderson Gray, a social-media consultant who writes an insightful blog on social media.

	IBM continues to spin off projects from its Watson analytics computer, which gained fame after beating top human contestants on the game show “Jeopardy.”

Gray said that Hootsuite analytics can get very expensive for small businesses if you’re looking to go beyond the three basic analytics reports the online service offers free. He noted that most “enhanced” Hootsuite reports, for example—reports you can tweak to offer insights that are not available from the standard free reports—cost businesses $45 to $50 a pop, depending on the rate plan they chose. Plus, there are other extremely popular analytics reports that you simply must pay for. A Hootsuite report on your activity on LinkedIn, for example, goes for $20 per month, and a report for your activity on Facebook goes for $30 a month.

Given that reality, Gray said that he’d opt for the following reports within Hootsuite:

• Twitter Engagement Report: Useful in looking at your follower growth and daily engagement.
• Facebook Insights: Gives a tad more than Facebook’s free Insights Report but also gives you the convenience of keeping track of Facebook on the Hootsuite dashboard.
• LinkedIn Page Insights: Shows you how the latest LinkedIn updates to your company page are doing. Again, this report is very basic, Gray said.
• Google Analytics: Analyzes basic activity on your website on the Hootsuite dashboard.

“The advantage of Hootsuite reports is that you can have all of your reports in the same place if you are solely using Hootsuite to manage your social channels,” Anderson said. “However, some of the reports are fairly basic. In my opinion, you’ll get more powerful and helpful reports by using third-party tools.”

Third-party providers Gray recommended include:

• SumAll: Offers powerful reports across a wide range of social channels, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, YouTube and more, according to Gray.
• twtrland: For monitoring activity on Twitter.
• Commun.it: Does a good job of segmenting your Twitter followers to show you high-value members within your community, according to Gray.
• Brandwatch: An enterprise solution that is well worth considering, as it is incredibly powerful, according to Anderson.

Still other social-media analytics to check out include Tweetdeck, Mention, LeadSift and Buffer.

Meanwhile, for analytics that monitor activity on your website, the free Google Analytics is a good first choice. Like Hootsuite for social media, Google Analytics is an industry standard for website analytics that businesses can learn and then use as a benchmark to evaluate similar tools.

Essentially, Google Analytics measures overall hits on your website, where visitors are coming from, how long visitors are staying on your site, which pages they’re clicking on and more. It also offers some basic social-media monitoring.

In contrast, larger business with deeper pockets looking to get much more sophisticated analytics can go for the premium version of Google Analytics, as well as offerings from other players. According to a report released earlier this year by market-research firm Forrester, top web-analytics packages for the enterprise are made by Adobe, AT Internet, IBM and Webtrends.

“Features such as predictive analytics, support for mobile applications, reach of partner programs and the ability to support customer implementation distinguish one vendor from the next,” said James McCormick, lead author of “The Forrester Wave: Web Analytics Q2 2014.”

McCormick’s take on each product from the heavy hitters:

Adobe: “Adobe dominates the market with the largest number of enterprise web-analytics clients,” McCormick said. Essentially, the company’s mission is to make sophisticated analytics accessible to all marketers.

IBM: IBM has beefed up the Coremetrics software it acquired by enhancing the packages behavioral analytics and mobile analytics capabilities, among other things, according to McCormick. One caveat: “Some customers feel that the licensing model makes it difficult to invest more in it,” McCormick said.

Webtrends: “Webtrends has continued to strengthen its core offering, improving existing capabilities and developing new ones such as its real-time data streaming service,” McCormick said. He added that it’s also investing in integration with other tools, such as online testing.

AT Internet: “AT Internet primarily targets Europe, Russia, Latin America and Southeast Asia to sustain its growth,” McCormick said. Its analytics is built on data collection, aggregation, mining and distribution.

Joe Dysart is an Internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan.
joe@joedysart.com
www.joedysart.com
 

SEMA News—October 2014

INTERNET

By Joe Dysart

Web Analytics Update

The Latest Tools for Getting the Most From Your Web and Social-Media Marketing

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin offer a free website-analytics service that’s considered an industry standard.

Businesses looking to evaluate the return on their efforts in web and social-media marketing can take heart: There are scores of analytical tools available that can precisely show them how well their campaigns are doing.

In social media, those just getting started in analytics would do well to check out Hootsuite. A powerful social-media dashboard that allows users to manage all of their postings and other activities on all the major social-media networks, Hootsuite is also packed with a wide variety of analytical tools that show how well you’re doing on social media.

“Hootsuite is a great place to start,” said Brendan Chard, president of web design company The Modern Firm. “It helps businesses save time by letting them manage and post from all of their accounts in one central place. It also provides really nifty analytics reports that show the effectiveness of your social-media efforts, including visits to your website, social shares and even new contacts/leads as a result of social media.”

Essentially, if you can imagine an analytics report—any kind of analytics report—Hootsuite can most likely come up with the insights you’re looking for, according to Diana Chow, corporate communications coordinator for Hootsuite. Moreover, given that the entry-level use of Hootsuite is free, it’s a great package to cut your teeth on and then use as a benchmark to evaluate other social-media analytics tools.

“Most small firms will be completely satisfied with Hootsuite’s free plan,” Chard said.

Once you’re comfortable using Hootsuite, however, you still may want to add some additional social analytics tools to your arsenal to ensure that you’re getting the deepest look at what’s going on with your social-media marketing. In the process, you may also be able to save some serious coin, according to Ian Anderson Gray, a social-media consultant who writes an insightful blog on social media.

	IBM continues to spin off projects from its Watson analytics computer, which gained fame after beating top human contestants on the game show “Jeopardy.”

Gray said that Hootsuite analytics can get very expensive for small businesses if you’re looking to go beyond the three basic analytics reports the online service offers free. He noted that most “enhanced” Hootsuite reports, for example—reports you can tweak to offer insights that are not available from the standard free reports—cost businesses $45 to $50 a pop, depending on the rate plan they chose. Plus, there are other extremely popular analytics reports that you simply must pay for. A Hootsuite report on your activity on LinkedIn, for example, goes for $20 per month, and a report for your activity on Facebook goes for $30 a month.

Given that reality, Gray said that he’d opt for the following reports within Hootsuite:

• Twitter Engagement Report: Useful in looking at your follower growth and daily engagement.
• Facebook Insights: Gives a tad more than Facebook’s free Insights Report but also gives you the convenience of keeping track of Facebook on the Hootsuite dashboard.
• LinkedIn Page Insights: Shows you how the latest LinkedIn updates to your company page are doing. Again, this report is very basic, Gray said.
• Google Analytics: Analyzes basic activity on your website on the Hootsuite dashboard.

“The advantage of Hootsuite reports is that you can have all of your reports in the same place if you are solely using Hootsuite to manage your social channels,” Anderson said. “However, some of the reports are fairly basic. In my opinion, you’ll get more powerful and helpful reports by using third-party tools.”

Third-party providers Gray recommended include:

• SumAll: Offers powerful reports across a wide range of social channels, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, YouTube and more, according to Gray.
• twtrland: For monitoring activity on Twitter.
• Commun.it: Does a good job of segmenting your Twitter followers to show you high-value members within your community, according to Gray.
• Brandwatch: An enterprise solution that is well worth considering, as it is incredibly powerful, according to Anderson.

Still other social-media analytics to check out include Tweetdeck, Mention, LeadSift and Buffer.

Meanwhile, for analytics that monitor activity on your website, the free Google Analytics is a good first choice. Like Hootsuite for social media, Google Analytics is an industry standard for website analytics that businesses can learn and then use as a benchmark to evaluate similar tools.

Essentially, Google Analytics measures overall hits on your website, where visitors are coming from, how long visitors are staying on your site, which pages they’re clicking on and more. It also offers some basic social-media monitoring.

In contrast, larger business with deeper pockets looking to get much more sophisticated analytics can go for the premium version of Google Analytics, as well as offerings from other players. According to a report released earlier this year by market-research firm Forrester, top web-analytics packages for the enterprise are made by Adobe, AT Internet, IBM and Webtrends.

“Features such as predictive analytics, support for mobile applications, reach of partner programs and the ability to support customer implementation distinguish one vendor from the next,” said James McCormick, lead author of “The Forrester Wave: Web Analytics Q2 2014.”

McCormick’s take on each product from the heavy hitters:

Adobe: “Adobe dominates the market with the largest number of enterprise web-analytics clients,” McCormick said. Essentially, the company’s mission is to make sophisticated analytics accessible to all marketers.

IBM: IBM has beefed up the Coremetrics software it acquired by enhancing the packages behavioral analytics and mobile analytics capabilities, among other things, according to McCormick. One caveat: “Some customers feel that the licensing model makes it difficult to invest more in it,” McCormick said.

Webtrends: “Webtrends has continued to strengthen its core offering, improving existing capabilities and developing new ones such as its real-time data streaming service,” McCormick said. He added that it’s also investing in integration with other tools, such as online testing.

AT Internet: “AT Internet primarily targets Europe, Russia, Latin America and Southeast Asia to sustain its growth,” McCormick said. Its analytics is built on data collection, aggregation, mining and distribution.

Joe Dysart is an Internet speaker and business consultant based in Manhattan.
joe@joedysart.com
www.joedysart.com
 

SEMA News—October 2014

INDUSTRY NEWS

SEMA Show Events to Increase Export Opportunities

	The International Happy Hour is one of several SEMA Show events where exhibitors can network with buyers and distributors from around the world.

Nearly 25% of buyers attending the SEMA Show reside outside the United States. Show attendees are invited to participate in three interactive sessions regarding emerging international markets where top specialty-equipment distributors and retailers will discuss business challenges and opportunities and identify the best-selling products for street-performance, off-roading and other growing niches.

The sessions will take place Monday, November 3, in the Upper North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, Room N259. The topics and times are: “Middle East Opportunities for U.S. Manufacturers,” 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.; “The Developing Russian Specialty-Equipment Market,” 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.; and “Insider Tips: Selling Specialty-Equipment Products in China, the World’s Largest Emerging Automotive Market,” 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

Exhibitors are also invited to network with buyers and distributors from around the world during the 11th annual International Happy Hour, Wednesday, November 5, where more than 1,000 companies are expected to attend. Top international media from key overseas markets will also be in attendance.

Registration is complimentary, but required. Questions? Contact bettyg@sema.org.

 

SEMA News—October 2014

INDUSTRY NEWS

SEMA Show Events to Increase Export Opportunities

	The International Happy Hour is one of several SEMA Show events where exhibitors can network with buyers and distributors from around the world.

Nearly 25% of buyers attending the SEMA Show reside outside the United States. Show attendees are invited to participate in three interactive sessions regarding emerging international markets where top specialty-equipment distributors and retailers will discuss business challenges and opportunities and identify the best-selling products for street-performance, off-roading and other growing niches.

The sessions will take place Monday, November 3, in the Upper North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, Room N259. The topics and times are: “Middle East Opportunities for U.S. Manufacturers,” 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.; “The Developing Russian Specialty-Equipment Market,” 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.; and “Insider Tips: Selling Specialty-Equipment Products in China, the World’s Largest Emerging Automotive Market,” 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

Exhibitors are also invited to network with buyers and distributors from around the world during the 11th annual International Happy Hour, Wednesday, November 5, where more than 1,000 companies are expected to attend. Top international media from key overseas markets will also be in attendance.

Registration is complimentary, but required. Questions? Contact bettyg@sema.org.

 

SEMA News—October 2014

INDUSTRY NEWS

SEMA Show Events to Increase Export Opportunities

	The International Happy Hour is one of several SEMA Show events where exhibitors can network with buyers and distributors from around the world.

Nearly 25% of buyers attending the SEMA Show reside outside the United States. Show attendees are invited to participate in three interactive sessions regarding emerging international markets where top specialty-equipment distributors and retailers will discuss business challenges and opportunities and identify the best-selling products for street-performance, off-roading and other growing niches.

The sessions will take place Monday, November 3, in the Upper North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, Room N259. The topics and times are: “Middle East Opportunities for U.S. Manufacturers,” 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.; “The Developing Russian Specialty-Equipment Market,” 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.; and “Insider Tips: Selling Specialty-Equipment Products in China, the World’s Largest Emerging Automotive Market,” 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

Exhibitors are also invited to network with buyers and distributors from around the world during the 11th annual International Happy Hour, Wednesday, November 5, where more than 1,000 companies are expected to attend. Top international media from key overseas markets will also be in attendance.

Registration is complimentary, but required. Questions? Contact bettyg@sema.org.

 

SEMA News—October 2014

INDUSTRY NEWS

SEMA Show Events to Increase Export Opportunities

	The International Happy Hour is one of several SEMA Show events where exhibitors can network with buyers and distributors from around the world.

Nearly 25% of buyers attending the SEMA Show reside outside the United States. Show attendees are invited to participate in three interactive sessions regarding emerging international markets where top specialty-equipment distributors and retailers will discuss business challenges and opportunities and identify the best-selling products for street-performance, off-roading and other growing niches.

The sessions will take place Monday, November 3, in the Upper North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, Room N259. The topics and times are: “Middle East Opportunities for U.S. Manufacturers,” 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.; “The Developing Russian Specialty-Equipment Market,” 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.; and “Insider Tips: Selling Specialty-Equipment Products in China, the World’s Largest Emerging Automotive Market,” 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

Exhibitors are also invited to network with buyers and distributors from around the world during the 11th annual International Happy Hour, Wednesday, November 5, where more than 1,000 companies are expected to attend. Top international media from key overseas markets will also be in attendance.

Registration is complimentary, but required. Questions? Contact bettyg@sema.org.

 

SEMA News—October 2014

INDUSTRY NEWS

SEMA Show Events to Increase Export Opportunities

	The International Happy Hour is one of several SEMA Show events where exhibitors can network with buyers and distributors from around the world.

Nearly 25% of buyers attending the SEMA Show reside outside the United States. Show attendees are invited to participate in three interactive sessions regarding emerging international markets where top specialty-equipment distributors and retailers will discuss business challenges and opportunities and identify the best-selling products for street-performance, off-roading and other growing niches.

The sessions will take place Monday, November 3, in the Upper North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, Room N259. The topics and times are: “Middle East Opportunities for U.S. Manufacturers,” 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.; “The Developing Russian Specialty-Equipment Market,” 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.; and “Insider Tips: Selling Specialty-Equipment Products in China, the World’s Largest Emerging Automotive Market,” 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

Exhibitors are also invited to network with buyers and distributors from around the world during the 11th annual International Happy Hour, Wednesday, November 5, where more than 1,000 companies are expected to attend. Top international media from key overseas markets will also be in attendance.

Registration is complimentary, but required. Questions? Contact bettyg@sema.org.

 

SEMA News—October 2014

INDUSTRY NEWS

SEMA Show Events to Increase Export Opportunities

	The International Happy Hour is one of several SEMA Show events where exhibitors can network with buyers and distributors from around the world.

Nearly 25% of buyers attending the SEMA Show reside outside the United States. Show attendees are invited to participate in three interactive sessions regarding emerging international markets where top specialty-equipment distributors and retailers will discuss business challenges and opportunities and identify the best-selling products for street-performance, off-roading and other growing niches.

The sessions will take place Monday, November 3, in the Upper North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, Room N259. The topics and times are: “Middle East Opportunities for U.S. Manufacturers,” 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.; “The Developing Russian Specialty-Equipment Market,” 1:00 p.m.–2:00 p.m.; and “Insider Tips: Selling Specialty-Equipment Products in China, the World’s Largest Emerging Automotive Market,” 3:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

Exhibitors are also invited to network with buyers and distributors from around the world during the 11th annual International Happy Hour, Wednesday, November 5, where more than 1,000 companies are expected to attend. Top international media from key overseas markets will also be in attendance.

Registration is complimentary, but required. Questions? Contact bettyg@sema.org.

 

SEMA News—October 2014

INTERNATIONAL

A Tax Benefit for Your Exports

How Specialty-Equipment Companies Can Save Big on Their Taxes Through the IC-DISC

By David Ji

Automakers and parts suppliers that are looking to put some additional cash back into their pockets should take a second look at their exports. Thanks to one often-overlooked export tax incentive, those exports may be more valuable than some companies realize.

In the past, the creation of an Interest-Charge Domestic International Sales Corporation (IC-DISC) has allowed U.S. manufacturers from a number of industries to greatly reduce the amount of tax paid on their exports—and the automotive industry has been no exception.

For example, tax specialist alliantgroup recently helped one company that produces LED lights for a variety of motor vehicles receive $235,600 in tax savings on their exports. Another company that creates fabrics and composites for automotive applications was eligible to receive $539,000 in tax dollars for its IC-DISC.

SEMA organizes three annual trips to China (September); Middle East (March) Russia (May) to provide member manufacturers the opportunity to meet one-on-one with key pre-vetted buyers. Pictured here Royal Purple’s George Shepherd (right) speaks with a buyer in Moscow. For more information on any of the SEMA international trips, e-mail lindas@sema.org.

Let’s take an expanded look at this proven tax strategy that offers so much potential value for automakers and parts suppliers.

IC-DISC: How it Works

In short, an IC-DISC is a separate entity that a manufacturer creates for its exports. Under this tax strategy, the exporter pays commissions to its IC-DISC (receiving a 39.6% deduction in the process) while being taxed only to the exporter’s shareholders or partners at a favorable 20% rate. The bottom line is a permanent tax savings for U.S. exporters and shareholders of nearly 8% of net export income.

Who Qualifies

To qualify for IC-DISC, automakers and parts suppliers must meet three general requirements with respect to their exports:

       1. Are Your Exports Manufactured?

The commissions from an IC-DISC must deal with export property that is manufactured or produced in the United States. For automakers and parts suppliers, the big takeaway here is that your company more than likely meets this requirement if your business produces or manufactures automotive parts for export.

The LED lights producer for motor vehicles that we discussed earlier met this standard due to a number of manufacturing activities, including the casting of metal for parts, the assembly of printed circuit boards with the other fabricated components and the inspection of all assembled products to ensure that their seals were watertight. If any of these activities sound familiar, chances are your company can benefit from IC-DISC.

       2. Can You Prove That Your Exports Are Shipped to a Foreign Destination?

Simply put, you must prove that your products are indeed exports to qualify for IC-DISC, as the sale or lease of property or services in question must ultimately be for use outside of the United States. An eligible company can directly export the goods it manufactures or give the goods to a freight forwarder or distributor, as long as the ultimate destination is outside of the United States.

       3. Do They Meet the U.S. Content Requirement?

		What Some Companies Have to Say About the IC-DISC Program: “Before initiating this study, I was a bit naïve as to what the end result was going to be; ultimately, it was very much worthwhile and Rigid Industries is already seeing the benefits as the savings are being reinvested back into the business. —Seth Anderson CFO Rigid Industries “This incentive has definitely been worth the investment of our time and resources. It is something that fits right in for our business and has provided us with many opportunities.” —Michael Ward Jr. Vice President; Ward Manufacturing

For IC-DISC purposes, any goods that you export must contain at least 50% American-made content—meaning that no more than 50% of fair market value of the export property may be attributed to imported articles. Of particular interest to those in the automotive industry, this rule applies to a company that manufactures a single part in a larger export. For example, if a company manufactures only the tires (with at least 50% of the material in the tires being American made) for a model of cars shipped to China, the tires could still make the company eligible for IC-DISC.

Relating back to a real-world example, the automotive company we discussed earlier that produced fabrics and composites qualified for IC-DISC through a number of individual parts created here in the United States with American-made materials. These export parts included armrests, headrests, door bolsters, sunshades, visors and much more. Once again, if your company performs these or similar manufacturing activities, your business could very well be eligible for lucrative tax savings under IC-DISC.

IC-DISC: It’s Here to Stay

In addition to providing a substantial return on your exports, IC-DISC will also be around for a while, with both Congress and the White House having repeatedly expressed the need to strengthen American manufacturing and increase U.S. exports. With the future of IC-DISC secure and the potential for valuable tax savings, automakers and manufacturers would be wise to explore their options.

For export-generating resources available to SEMA-member companies, contact Linda Spencer at lindas@sema.org or visit SEMA.org/international to learn about SEMA’s overseas exhibiting opportunities, access to vehicle make/model data and the international vehicle measuring program through which members are provided access to hard-to-obtain vehicles popularly accessorized around the world but not sold in the United States. The vehicles currently available include a Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger T6, Mitsubishi L200 and UAZ Hunter.

David Ji is a senior managing director at alliantgroup, where he has specialized in assisting companies in identifying and capitalizing on a wide variety of business tax incentives. He can be reached at david.ji@alliantgroup.com or 713-877-9600.