It was back to school this month for a score of BrandSource dealers who attended their buying group’s inaugural AVB Marketing Week event in Sacramento, Calif.
The three-day retreat, developed by AVB Marketing, the group’s in-house digital marketing agency, provided a deep dive into digital marketing techniques the members can apply to their retail businesses. Industry experts tackled such social media and ad-tool topics as Facebook, Instagram Pinterest, Go Local, AdWords, YouTube and Google, and dealers learned the best ways to utilize those platforms for their stores.
Related: Google Giving AVB A Local Shopping Boost
Sessions included interactive workshops that provided first-hand experience, and a sandbox rotation training that put dealers together with the industry experts and their account executives in one-on-one meetings.
“We wanted to give our members the marketing tools and education to stay-up-to-date and innovative in their stores,” said John White, chief marketing officer of AVB Marketing. “The world of digital marketing is changing so rapidly, and for our members this truly is the way of the future.”
Samuel McVay, principal of Charley’s Appliance in El Dorado, Kan., agreed. “I was excited to come collaborate with marketers from different dealers across the country,” he said, “and I will be able to bring back a lot of insightful marketing information to my team for implementation in our store.”
See also: BrandSource Launching Local Marketing Initiative
Looking ahead, White said the agency is looking forward to hosting additional members at its Sacramento offices, “to help them with the tools they need to market their business effectively.”
AVB, or Associated Volume Buyers, is an umbrella organization for some 4,500 independent dealers who are affiliated through a number of divisions and strategic alliances including BrandSource, Canada’s Mega Group, the rent-to-own TRIB, the A/V specialty and custom integration ProSource group, and the recently formed HFA Buying Source, covering the home furnishings market.
