NADAFrontPage.com spearheads real-time focus on Web communications
By Laura Withers
At the height of the “cash for clunkers” frenzy last summer, NADA received more than 100 e-mail messages a day from dealers around the country asking for guidance. The nada.org home page became an ever-changing landscape of the latest tips, links, and quick-hit updates. The association’s e-newsletter, NADA Headlines, with its direct links to nada.org, included the latest “clunkers” news daily.
With the association’s communication engines running on all cylinders, one thing became clear: Online communication is vital.
Front Page to the Auto World
Now the association is taking its online communications to a new level with the launch of its online magazine, “NADA Front page,” which will capitalize on the immense popularity of NADA Headlines and provide updates on auto retailing news as it happens. NADAFrontPage.com debuts at the 2010 convention in Orlando with coverage of daily convention activities and interviews with top automaker executives. It will also be featured in the NADA pavilion in the expo hall.
The online magazine is a hybrid site, combining news aggregation with original reporting. NADAFrontPage.com features expanded coverage of auto industry news, NADA-TV reports, quotes from industry leaders, and auto stock quotes. Other special sections include “NADA in the News,” politics, people, and issues. Look for auto sales trends, the latest auto technology, news on auto shows, and slideshows of concept cars of the future.
NADAFrontPage.com will complement the daily e-newsletter, NADA Headlines, which has become a must-read for thousands of dealers. NADA Headlines now has more than 35,000 subscribers—including thousands of industry followers, such as automakers, suppliers, and the media.
“The idea is to build on the extraordinary success of NADA Headlines,” says David Hyatt, NADA vice president for public affairs. For example, there are often a number of compelling stories that for lack of space do not make it into the daily e-mail, Hyatt says. “NADAFrontPage.com solves that problem,” he notes, by featuring all the news important to dealers from the best sources, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, Automotive News, The Washington Post, The Detroit Free Press, and The Detroit News, to name a few.
Exploring social media
The future is viral, and that’s where social media comes in. NADA is already on popular sites like Facebook and Twitter, posting association updates to hundreds of followers. NADAFrontPage.com will offer a number of social-media links, as well, including Digg, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Twitter. The goal: to allow for viral distribution of relevant news stories through all the major social-media sites. “Branching out into the world of social media will further strengthen our position as the ‘voice of the dealer’ and No. 1 source for information on auto retailing,” Hyatt says.
And with tools like Twitter, NADA will broaden its audience to more than just dealers. Already, NADA Headlines attracts more than 100 new subscribers each month, many of them industry insiders who first find out about NADA’s legislative and regulatory efforts from the e-newsletter.
Relying on all forms of online communication—Web sites, e-newsletters, and social media—NADA will maintain its position as the top source of information on auto retailing. “With NADAFrontPage.com,” Hyatt says, “we’re taking our online presence to a new level.”
Laura Withers is a public affairs writer for NADA.