The ever popular Car Dealer Podcast has become Motor Trade Radio.com and is being relaunched tomorrow on Saturday 31st October.

The rebranding, designed to capture a wider and more international motor trade audience, promises an even greater daily blend of topical insight, automotive news and industry discussion.

Available as an internet-only radio show the chat show platform is available to download on iOS, desktop and android devices.

The episodes, each just 20-30 minutes long, are focussed around the needs of today’s franchised and independent car dealerships, covering a large variety of discussion topics including popular industry headlines, lead generation tips, regulatory advice, stock sourcing, digital marketing, entertainment, news, reviews and more.

With a variety of guest contributors each day, the Podcast also features The Saturday Morning Meeting with CAP’s Black Book editor, Philip Nothard, as well as a weekly legal helpdesk where legal expert Nona Bowkis answers listeners’ motor trade questions.

The history of Motor Trade Radio

MotorTradeRadio.com is the brainchild of founder and ex-dealer principal Derek Blair, who has over 20 years experience in the retail motor sector. It is the culmination of Derek's vast industry knowledge and digital expertise, developed to assist dealerships in optimising their own operations by imparting a wealth of valuable information, trends and tips from the industry’s figureheads.

Derek's initial objective was to create an audio platform compatible with today's devices, which would provide useful guidance and insights to independent and franchised dealerships nationwide. The original show was subsequently launched on the 27th July 2015 via iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher Radio with support from the WMS Group, CAP Automotive and Lawgistics.

Drawing upon the knowledge of this industry's leading suppliers and retailers, it addresses a wide variety of topics such as stock sourcing, compliancy, lead generation, new product launches, affordable advertising strategies, social media techniques, recruitment and conversion optimisation. The podcast is due to be relaunched as Motor Trade Radio on Saturday 31st October 2015 to reflect its newly acquired international audience and horizontal market sectors within the automotive industry.

Performance, downloads and coverage

From its inception Motor Trade Radio has grown substantially in both download volumes and awareness, having gained around 20,000 downloads across 38 countries to date. The initial press announcement was covered by Motor Trade News, supported by blog entries from CAP Automotive, the WMS Group and Lawgistics. It is also continuing to gain traction across the popular social media networks through extensive promotion and word of mouth.

A relaunch press release is scheduled for Friday 30th October in addition to a full page promotion within issue 9 of the WMS Group's newspaper, Fast Lane, which is due to be dispatched during November. This has a circulation of circa 45,000 dealers including the WMS Group's own current and prospective networks, within Car Dealer and Motor Trader magazines, plus digitally to Motor Trade News's distribution.

Content and reach overview

The show has attracted a wide variety of guests spanning the extensive segments of this industry, many of which have received extremely positive listener feedback. It has also been shared extensively on social media by high profile industry leaders including Robert Forester, CEO of Vertu Plc, from which we have been able to attribute spikes in website traffic and subsequently downloads.

Guests to date have included the IMI, BEN, iVendi, Luscombe Motors, Amari Supercars, Supaguard, Autoglym and MAN Truck & Bus. Additionally the show incorporates a Saturday Morning Meeting series featuring Philip Nothard, editor of CAP's Black Book, plus a weekly helpdesk in conjunction with Lawgistics where dealers can submit their legal questions. The future guest lineup will include Dr. Holden from Sewells, SKY Adsmart, dealer group Chief Executive Officers and well-known motoring journalists.

Supporting the industry

Motor Trade Radio has proven itself as an essential tool for dealerships by imparting knowledge, key insights and fresh ideas which are continuing to benefit their businesses. It has also highlighted many of the leading suppliers and the customer care or profit opportunities that lie therein. One example of this is Scot Speed UK, who received an order of over 600 car mats from one dealership following their episode airing.

Going forwards

This rebrand will expand the reach of Motor Trade Radio so that all subsectors of the UK's motor trade - in addition to the global industry - can benefit. Our long-term strategy is to open further revenue streams by creating new advertising and sponsorship opportunities, which can be targeted to the respective audiences. The show will predominately be supported by further press releases, website content marketing, social media promotion (organic and PPC), e-newsletters and extensive search engine optimisation to increase the organic traffic. By reducing the number of episodes from six days per week to three, it allows us to become more selective in our guest lineup, therefore refining the show's content and creating a degree of exclusivity.

www.motortraderadio.com