By John Stewart

The session was led by speakers Katie Mares (right), Brand Experiment Expert, and Corey Perlman (left), ImpactSocialMedia.com.

Today on SEMA360, attendees received practical strategies on how to use digital assets to attract customers and how to earn their loyalty. Because today’s customer journey is a blend of online and offline interactions, it’s important to know how to generate new leads and how to hold on to customers you earn. In the COVID-19 era, you need to create an ad budget and presence more than ever, because you have to stay in touch with your customers. The session was led by speakers Katie Mares, Brand Experiment Expert, and Corey Perlman, ImpactSocialMedia.com.

Among the key points:

Remarketing: Sending an ad to someone who visits your site and shops, but does not buy. Remarketing is a powerful way to stay in touch with a potential customer.

Create a Look-Alike Audience: Facebook, for example, will take a look at your current audience demographics and habits and create a similar audience for you. This is another very powerful way to create a new population of people to market to. That’s why it’s so important to get folks on your digital platforms and social channels in the first place—you must develop an email database. Have a place to collect information about your customers.

Don’t Tell Me, Show Me: Tell your digital story, be authentic. Use video. This gives you the opportunity to build an audience over time, doing episodic, consistent shows over the next few months. Just be you; if you mess up, that’s OK—you’re human. It’s like a video newsletter.

Make Your Customer the Hero: Interview your customers and let them relate their experiences. People trust people, not necessarily what is written. And then, if you have video content, you can re-use it in print.

Connect on a Personal Level: Care about the person, not about getting their business. You must be genuinely interested in your customer. Your customer is the person who keeps the lights on at the shop. If you can’t care about the customer, you’re in the wrong business. People crave actual human interaction right now.

Collect Golden Nuggets: A customer will tell you everything about them if you give them a chance, so collect those nuggets and use them. Vacations, kids, preferred ways to be contacted—use that to tailor the customer experience.

Seamless Brand Promise: Have standards in place for every touchpoint, and make sure everyone on your team is on board to support those standards.
Silent Selling—your drip campaign, your website, etc.

View the session on SEMA360.

By John Stewart

The session was led by speakers Katie Mares (right), Brand Experiment Expert, and Corey Perlman (left), ImpactSocialMedia.com.

Today on SEMA360, attendees received practical strategies on how to use digital assets to attract customers and how to earn their loyalty. Because today’s customer journey is a blend of online and offline interactions, it’s important to know how to generate new leads and how to hold on to customers you earn. In the COVID-19 era, you need to create an ad budget and presence more than ever, because you have to stay in touch with your customers. The session was led by speakers Katie Mares, Brand Experiment Expert, and Corey Perlman, ImpactSocialMedia.com.

Among the key points:

Remarketing: Sending an ad to someone who visits your site and shops, but does not buy. Remarketing is a powerful way to stay in touch with a potential customer.

Create a Look-Alike Audience: Facebook, for example, will take a look at your current audience demographics and habits and create a similar audience for you. This is another very powerful way to create a new population of people to market to. That’s why it’s so important to get folks on your digital platforms and social channels in the first place—you must develop an email database. Have a place to collect information about your customers.

Don’t Tell Me, Show Me: Tell your digital story, be authentic. Use video. This gives you the opportunity to build an audience over time, doing episodic, consistent shows over the next few months. Just be you; if you mess up, that’s OK—you’re human. It’s like a video newsletter.

Make Your Customer the Hero: Interview your customers and let them relate their experiences. People trust people, not necessarily what is written. And then, if you have video content, you can re-use it in print.

Connect on a Personal Level: Care about the person, not about getting their business. You must be genuinely interested in your customer. Your customer is the person who keeps the lights on at the shop. If you can’t care about the customer, you’re in the wrong business. People crave actual human interaction right now.

Collect Golden Nuggets: A customer will tell you everything about them if you give them a chance, so collect those nuggets and use them. Vacations, kids, preferred ways to be contacted—use that to tailor the customer experience.

Seamless Brand Promise: Have standards in place for every touchpoint, and make sure everyone on your team is on board to support those standards.
Silent Selling—your drip campaign, your website, etc.

View the session on SEMA360.

By John Stewart

The session was led by speakers Katie Mares (right), Brand Experiment Expert, and Corey Perlman (left), ImpactSocialMedia.com.

Today on SEMA360, attendees received practical strategies on how to use digital assets to attract customers and how to earn their loyalty. Because today’s customer journey is a blend of online and offline interactions, it’s important to know how to generate new leads and how to hold on to customers you earn. In the COVID-19 era, you need to create an ad budget and presence more than ever, because you have to stay in touch with your customers. The session was led by speakers Katie Mares, Brand Experiment Expert, and Corey Perlman, ImpactSocialMedia.com.

Among the key points:

Remarketing: Sending an ad to someone who visits your site and shops, but does not buy. Remarketing is a powerful way to stay in touch with a potential customer.

Create a Look-Alike Audience: Facebook, for example, will take a look at your current audience demographics and habits and create a similar audience for you. This is another very powerful way to create a new population of people to market to. That’s why it’s so important to get folks on your digital platforms and social channels in the first place—you must develop an email database. Have a place to collect information about your customers.

Don’t Tell Me, Show Me: Tell your digital story, be authentic. Use video. This gives you the opportunity to build an audience over time, doing episodic, consistent shows over the next few months. Just be you; if you mess up, that’s OK—you’re human. It’s like a video newsletter.

Make Your Customer the Hero: Interview your customers and let them relate their experiences. People trust people, not necessarily what is written. And then, if you have video content, you can re-use it in print.

Connect on a Personal Level: Care about the person, not about getting their business. You must be genuinely interested in your customer. Your customer is the person who keeps the lights on at the shop. If you can’t care about the customer, you’re in the wrong business. People crave actual human interaction right now.

Collect Golden Nuggets: A customer will tell you everything about them if you give them a chance, so collect those nuggets and use them. Vacations, kids, preferred ways to be contacted—use that to tailor the customer experience.

Seamless Brand Promise: Have standards in place for every touchpoint, and make sure everyone on your team is on board to support those standards.
Silent Selling—your drip campaign, your website, etc.

View the session on SEMA360.

By SEMA PR

Several Manufacturers are offering limited-time discounts on SEMA360. Below are some of the discounts attendees will find in SEMA360.

For more, sign up for SEMA360 at www.sema360.com and begin meeting with Manufacturers today:

• Performance Electronics is offering a discount on all Performance Electronics ECUs, wire harnesses, digital displays, PE-wideband and apparel.
  
  
• 1-800EveryRim OEM Wheels is offering qualifying companies a one-time, 10% discount valid through 2020 on any non-special order wheel(s). During SEMA360, the company will be featuring its RimText system (951-RimText/951-746-8398) and online portal EveryRim.com.
  
  
• Bishop Innovations – HOZEEZ has a discount code available for download from its Showcase, which can be used on their website after SEMA360. The company offers HOZEEZ, which allows consumers to wash cars without the hose getting stuck under tires, and Merchandising Display to display HOZEEZ.
  
  
• Spark Lines Inc. is offering a 10% discount and invites media to learn more about their high quality, shatterproof Goodyear window deflectors.

• Sharpline Converting Inc. is offering special discounted pricing on its latest products of roll striping, graphics, paint protection film, and chemical protection products.
  
  
• Blud Lubricants is offering special pricing on products designed for professional level racing and includes suspension fluids, auto and moto engine oils, gear oils, differential fluid, chain lube, 2 stroke pre-mix, automatic transmission fluids, power steering fluid and a variety of cleaning products.
  
  
• Bully Dog & SCT Performance is offering specials and giving away $50,000 in tuners as part of its Great Tuner Giveaway.
  
  
• Pareto Point Industries is offering special low prices for its TopDog-V Parallel-Flow Advanced Oil Filtration System, as well as adding a second premium advanced filter and six magnets with caps for additional capture of ferrous debris.

SEMA360 continues until Friday, November 6, at 5:00 p.m. (PST). To learn more about what manufacturers are highlighting on their Showcases, visit the SEMA360 Manufacturer News and Highlights Page.

By SEMA PR

Several Manufacturers are offering limited-time discounts on SEMA360. Below are some of the discounts attendees will find in SEMA360.

For more, sign up for SEMA360 at www.sema360.com and begin meeting with Manufacturers today:

• Performance Electronics is offering a discount on all Performance Electronics ECUs, wire harnesses, digital displays, PE-wideband and apparel.
  
  
• 1-800EveryRim OEM Wheels is offering qualifying companies a one-time, 10% discount valid through 2020 on any non-special order wheel(s). During SEMA360, the company will be featuring its RimText system (951-RimText/951-746-8398) and online portal EveryRim.com.
  
  
• Bishop Innovations – HOZEEZ has a discount code available for download from its Showcase, which can be used on their website after SEMA360. The company offers HOZEEZ, which allows consumers to wash cars without the hose getting stuck under tires, and Merchandising Display to display HOZEEZ.
  
  
• Spark Lines Inc. is offering a 10% discount and invites media to learn more about their high quality, shatterproof Goodyear window deflectors.

• Sharpline Converting Inc. is offering special discounted pricing on its latest products of roll striping, graphics, paint protection film, and chemical protection products.
  
  
• Blud Lubricants is offering special pricing on products designed for professional level racing and includes suspension fluids, auto and moto engine oils, gear oils, differential fluid, chain lube, 2 stroke pre-mix, automatic transmission fluids, power steering fluid and a variety of cleaning products.
  
  
• Bully Dog & SCT Performance is offering specials and giving away $50,000 in tuners as part of its Great Tuner Giveaway.
  
  
• Pareto Point Industries is offering special low prices for its TopDog-V Parallel-Flow Advanced Oil Filtration System, as well as adding a second premium advanced filter and six magnets with caps for additional capture of ferrous debris.

SEMA360 continues until Friday, November 6, at 5:00 p.m. (PST). To learn more about what manufacturers are highlighting on their Showcases, visit the SEMA360 Manufacturer News and Highlights Page.

By SEMA Editors

SEMA has announced the Top 12 builders in the seventh annual SEMA Battle of the Builders competition—the event that determines the builder the aftermarket community considers best.

The 2020 Battle of the Builders Top 12 finalists are (by category):

Hot Rod

• Andy Leach – ’71 Plymouth Cuda
• Brady Ranweiler – ’63 Chevrolet two-door wagon
• Kyle Kuhnhausen – ’64 Chevrolet Corvette

Sport Compact

• Chip Foose – ’74 Jaguar E-Type
• Josh Croll – ’04 Subaru WRX STI
• Todd Budde – ’93 Mazda RX7 FDS3

Truck/Off-Road

• Brad DeBerti – ’20 Toyota Tacoma
• Mark Giambalvo – ’65 Chevrolet C10 pickup
• Randy Borcherding – ’71 Ford Ranchero

Young Guns

• Austin Phipps – ’68 Chevrolet Camaro RS
• Cody Medeisis – ’68 Chevrolet Camaro
• Eli DeWitt – ’67 Pontiac LeMans

Judges and industry experts RJ DeVera (Meguiar’s), Cam Miller (HS Customs), Jeremiah Proffitt (Proffitt’s Resurrection Land Cruisers), and Mike and Jim Ring (Ringbrothers) narrowed the Top 40 competitors to these Top 12 finalists. The Top 12 finalists will judge one another with the winner named the Top Builder in the 2020 SEMA Battle of the Builders competition on Friday, November 6.

By SEMA Editors

SEMA has announced the Top 12 builders in the seventh annual SEMA Battle of the Builders competition—the event that determines the builder the aftermarket community considers best.

The 2020 Battle of the Builders Top 12 finalists are (by category):

Hot Rod

• Andy Leach – ’71 Plymouth Cuda
• Brady Ranweiler – ’63 Chevrolet two-door wagon
• Kyle Kuhnhausen – ’64 Chevrolet Corvette

Sport Compact

• Chip Foose – ’74 Jaguar E-Type
• Josh Croll – ’04 Subaru WRX STI
• Todd Budde – ’93 Mazda RX7 FDS3

Truck/Off-Road

• Brad DeBerti – ’20 Toyota Tacoma
• Mark Giambalvo – ’65 Chevrolet C10 pickup
• Randy Borcherding – ’71 Ford Ranchero

Young Guns

• Austin Phipps – ’68 Chevrolet Camaro RS
• Cody Medeisis – ’68 Chevrolet Camaro
• Eli DeWitt – ’67 Pontiac LeMans

Judges and industry experts RJ DeVera (Meguiar’s), Cam Miller (HS Customs), Jeremiah Proffitt (Proffitt’s Resurrection Land Cruisers), and Mike and Jim Ring (Ringbrothers) narrowed the Top 40 competitors to these Top 12 finalists. The Top 12 finalists will judge one another with the winner named the Top Builder in the 2020 SEMA Battle of the Builders competition on Friday, November 6.

By SEMA Editors

SEMA has announced the Top 12 builders in the seventh annual SEMA Battle of the Builders competition—the event that determines the builder the aftermarket community considers best.

The 2020 Battle of the Builders Top 12 finalists are (by category):

Hot Rod

• Andy Leach – ’71 Plymouth Cuda
• Brady Ranweiler – ’63 Chevrolet two-door wagon
• Kyle Kuhnhausen – ’64 Chevrolet Corvette

Sport Compact

• Chip Foose – ’74 Jaguar E-Type
• Josh Croll – ’04 Subaru WRX STI
• Todd Budde – ’93 Mazda RX7 FDS3

Truck/Off-Road

• Brad DeBerti – ’20 Toyota Tacoma
• Mark Giambalvo – ’65 Chevrolet C10 pickup
• Randy Borcherding – ’71 Ford Ranchero

Young Guns

• Austin Phipps – ’68 Chevrolet Camaro RS
• Cody Medeisis – ’68 Chevrolet Camaro
• Eli DeWitt – ’67 Pontiac LeMans

Judges and industry experts RJ DeVera (Meguiar’s), Cam Miller (HS Customs), Jeremiah Proffitt (Proffitt’s Resurrection Land Cruisers), and Mike and Jim Ring (Ringbrothers) narrowed the Top 40 competitors to these Top 12 finalists. The Top 12 finalists will judge one another with the winner named the Top Builder in the 2020 SEMA Battle of the Builders competition on Friday, November 6.

By Mike Imlay

Nick Niakan	Kim Pendergast
Julian Gill	Jim Liaw
Chris Kersting	Brian Reese

What can recent events teach specialty-equipment companies about crisis and recovery? That was the topic of an informative panel discussion kicking off day three of SEMA360, Wednesday, November 4. Entitled “Top Aftermarket CEOs Talk Crisis & Recovery,” the discussion is part of the ongoing series of morning “Brew Talks” held each day of the trade-only SEMA360 online event. The unique series brings together industry leaders, innovators and personalities for interesting conversations touching on a variety of hot topics.

Led by SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting, the Wednesday panel featured CEO/presidents Julian Gil of Eibach Inc., Jim Liaw of Formula DRIFT, Shahriar “Nick” Niakan of aFe Power, Kim Pendergast of Magnuson Superchargers and Brian Reese of The Retrofit Source. Insights touched on everything from facing adversity, preparedness and retaining sale and productivity, to issues of flexibility, management style and the new SOPs many aftermarket businesses have now embraced amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, remote viewers joined the discussion through a real-time chat feature.

All the panelists agreed that the experiences of the last several months brought new lessons and best practices that are likely to remain with aftermarket businesses well into 2021 and beyond. One example are the adaptations companies have made for a remote workforce. Reese noted that The Retrofit Source is weighing permanently requisitioning all employees with laptops instead of desk computers to promote worker flexibility.

Meanwhile, Pendergast noted the challenging remote-work decisions facing companies as pandemic lockdowns ease. “We’re now facing people coming back to work and that may be the harder thing,” she said, explaining that some employees will have lingering health and safety concerns, while others will simply prefer to continue working from home. She noted studies that have shown decreased productivity over time among remote workers, especially as distractions increase. “What we’ve faced is people at home with nothing to do but work, and maybe spend time with their families, so they have been extremely productive,” she continued. “But I think what we will face as things open up is people will have distractions from home and that productivity will decrease.”

There was also broad agreement among panelists that recent aftermarket sales surges may level off after lockdowns end as well, since consumers will once again have more entertainment options competing for their discretionary dollars. All believed that digital marketing tactics, which many aftermarket businesses have honed during the pandemic, have raised new standards for communicating with employees, business partners and consumers alike.

For Gill, the need for flexibility and cross-training of management and staff were key pandemic takeaways. Liaw said recent events have reminded him how adversity has a way off making a team shine. Niakan meanwhile focused on “planning, planning, planning” for inevitable crises—not to foresee every conceivable challenge, but because the exercise itself builds a toolkit of choices for rough times.

Morning “Brew Talks” represent just a few of the many educational opportunities being served up at SEMA360, which continues through Friday, November 6. The SEMA Week event also offers exclusive manufacturer-buyer connections, industry networking, new-product and technology introductions, project vehicle builds and more.

Click here to watch the video, available on demand.

Additional details about the innovative e-marketplace can be found at www.sema360.com.

By Mike Imlay

Nick Niakan	Kim Pendergast
Julian Gill	Jim Liaw
Chris Kersting	Brian Reese

What can recent events teach specialty-equipment companies about crisis and recovery? That was the topic of an informative panel discussion kicking off day three of SEMA360, Wednesday, November 4. Entitled “Top Aftermarket CEOs Talk Crisis & Recovery,” the discussion is part of the ongoing series of morning “Brew Talks” held each day of the trade-only SEMA360 online event. The unique series brings together industry leaders, innovators and personalities for interesting conversations touching on a variety of hot topics.

Led by SEMA President and CEO Chris Kersting, the Wednesday panel featured CEO/presidents Julian Gil of Eibach Inc., Jim Liaw of Formula DRIFT, Shahriar “Nick” Niakan of aFe Power, Kim Pendergast of Magnuson Superchargers and Brian Reese of The Retrofit Source. Insights touched on everything from facing adversity, preparedness and retaining sale and productivity, to issues of flexibility, management style and the new SOPs many aftermarket businesses have now embraced amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, remote viewers joined the discussion through a real-time chat feature.

All the panelists agreed that the experiences of the last several months brought new lessons and best practices that are likely to remain with aftermarket businesses well into 2021 and beyond. One example are the adaptations companies have made for a remote workforce. Reese noted that The Retrofit Source is weighing permanently requisitioning all employees with laptops instead of desk computers to promote worker flexibility.

Meanwhile, Pendergast noted the challenging remote-work decisions facing companies as pandemic lockdowns ease. “We’re now facing people coming back to work and that may be the harder thing,” she said, explaining that some employees will have lingering health and safety concerns, while others will simply prefer to continue working from home. She noted studies that have shown decreased productivity over time among remote workers, especially as distractions increase. “What we’ve faced is people at home with nothing to do but work, and maybe spend time with their families, so they have been extremely productive,” she continued. “But I think what we will face as things open up is people will have distractions from home and that productivity will decrease.”

There was also broad agreement among panelists that recent aftermarket sales surges may level off after lockdowns end as well, since consumers will once again have more entertainment options competing for their discretionary dollars. All believed that digital marketing tactics, which many aftermarket businesses have honed during the pandemic, have raised new standards for communicating with employees, business partners and consumers alike.

For Gill, the need for flexibility and cross-training of management and staff were key pandemic takeaways. Liaw said recent events have reminded him how adversity has a way off making a team shine. Niakan meanwhile focused on “planning, planning, planning” for inevitable crises—not to foresee every conceivable challenge, but because the exercise itself builds a toolkit of choices for rough times.

Morning “Brew Talks” represent just a few of the many educational opportunities being served up at SEMA360, which continues through Friday, November 6. The SEMA Week event also offers exclusive manufacturer-buyer connections, industry networking, new-product and technology introductions, project vehicle builds and more.

Click here to watch the video, available on demand.

Additional details about the innovative e-marketplace can be found at www.sema360.com.