Auto Remarketing Canada Conference 2016

The 9th annual AR Canada Conference took place on Monday and Tuesday in Toronto, and our President, Duncan Cochrane had the honour of speaking for the second year in a row. The AR Canada conference is presented by ADESA, CARPROOF and Cox Automotive Canada, and is designed to bring members of the used-car industry together to discuss current opportunities and challenges faced by industry members.

This year, there were over 600 used-car industry professionals and 18 different workshops. There were many ideas and insights shared from all aspects of the industry, and it was a great learning opportunity for everyone that attended. If you weren’t able to attend this year, we’ve got you covered. Here are some of the most memorable moments and key takeaways that we observed!

Shawn Vording from Carproof spoke about a national survey that they completed which found that 40% of customers trade in a vehicle, and 61% of people that traded in a vehicle thought that their trade in value was too low. Are you educating your customers on how the value of their vehicle is determined? Shawn was also able to backup these statistics by doing a live poll with the audience.

Another memorable presentation was from Erin Elofson from Facebook. Facebook is so much more than likes and shares; did you know that there are large, attention-grabbing, lead-generating ad formats available on Facebook? Erin also shared some interesting stats including:

•  1 out of every 4 minutes spent on mobile in Canada is spent on Facebook and Instagram
• over 21 million Canadians have Facebook and 16 million of those users are on Facebook every day.

So not only does Facebook give you the ability to create large, creative ads, but also gives you a reach of over 16 million people. This is a huge opportunity that dealers can and should utilize.

Duncan spoke about Iteration and Personalization. He discussed why it’s important and how dealerships can incorporate it into their websites. Dealerships are now selling to a generation of customers that expects their buying experience to be personalized to them, and Strathcom Media has the tools to help sell to this new customer base.

We had a great time at AR Canada again this year, and we look forward to seeing everyone again at AR Canada 2017!