Yelp Director of National Marketing Presents “Local, Social, Mobile: Leveraging Converging Trends to Drive More Car Shoppers Into your Dealership;” joins keynote line-up that includes Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land, former U.S. Navy SEAL Officer Leif Babin, and The Walt Disney Company^®

Salt Lake City, UT – August 19, 2013 – DrivingSales today announced that Yelp Director of National Marketing Dylan Swift has joined the keynote line-up for the fifth annual DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES). With a monthly average of 108 million unique visitors as of Q2 2013, Yelp is uniquely positioned to help dealerships develop tactics to ensure that not only do consumers choose their stores, but that they have a great experience once they are in the door.

The presentation, “Local, Social, Mobile: Leveraging Converging Trends to Drive More Car Shoppers Into your Dealership,” will help dealerships place a greater focus on consumer behavior, sharpen their online reputation strategies and make sure local and mobile are fully integrated into their marketing. The keynote takes place on Sunday October 13^th at the DSES which is held through October 15^th at the Bellagio Las Vegas.

“It is no secret that today consumers are making their decisions online, rather than by driving by, or walking in, the showroom door. Ensuring visibility – and the right kind of visibility – online, mobile, locally and wherever consumers are shopping, is mission critical to a business’ survival today.  And Yelp, with their huge success as evidence, probably understands this better than anyone else in the market,” said DrivingSales CEO Jared Hamilton. “With a knowledge base of consumer behavior gleaned from a monthly average of 108 million unique visitors, Dylan Swift of Yelp will offer DSES attendees a unique window into the who, what, why and how of consumer ‘wants’ online, as well as reinforcing the importance of online reputation to ensure customer staying power. We are very excited to welcome Dylan to our 2013 powerhouse keynote line-up!”

Swift joined Yelp in December 2009 to lead the company’s marketing efforts to local, regional and national businesses. He began his marketing career at eBay, where he spent six years growing the community via online marketing and business development. Dylan has also worked in marketing at Lending Club and Prosper. He has an MBA from Wharton and a BA in art history from Bowdoin College.

Yelp was founded in San Francisco in July 2004. Since then, Yelp communities have taken root in major metros across the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, The Netherlands, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Singapore, Poland, Turkey, New Zealand and the Czech Republic. Yelp had a monthly average of 108 million unique visitors in Q2 2013.  By the end of Q2 2013, Yelpers had written more than 42 million rich, local reviews, making Yelp the leading local guide for real word-of-mouth on everything from boutiques and mechanics to restaurants and dentists. Yelp's mobile application was used on approximately 10.4 million unique mobile devices on a monthly average basis during Q2 2013.

Swift joins a line-up of insightful and inspiring keynotes and presentations from innovators inside and outside the auto industry, including former U.S. Navy SEAL Officer and decorated combat veteran, Leif Babin, global search marketing authority Danny Sullivan and The Walt Disney Company^®, as well as nineteen dealer-selected breakout sessions on topics ranging from CRM, digital marketing, fixed ops, hiring, creating a culture of success, selling pre-owned vehicles, leveraging ‘big data’, video, and more.

For more information on Dylan Swift’s keynote presentation “Local, Social, Mobile: Leveraging Converging Trends to Drive More Car Shoppers Into your Dealership,” go to: http://www.drivingsales.com/blogs/DSNews/2013/08/18/yelp-director-n...

Each year the DrivingSales Executive Summit automotive conference sells out. Tickets are still available at http://drivingsalesexecutivesummit.com/registration/. For more information about the DrivingSales Executive Summit and to register, visit: DrivingSalesExecutiveSummit.com or contact dses@drivingsales.com. Stay tuned for DSES news as it develops on www.twitter.com/drivingsales and on facebook.com/drivingsales. Participate in the conversation with the #DSES hashtag as preparations continue throughout the year.

For more information check out today’s blog on DrivingSales at: http://www.drivingsales.com/blogs/DSNews/

About The DrivingSales Executive Summit (DSES)

The DrivingSales Executive Summit is where the most progressive dealers gather to collaborate and learn forward-thinking trends in automotive operations. DSES features world-renowned experts on marketing, technology and retail operations from inside and outside the industry, who provide the most valuable and actionable insights for today’s dealership professionals.  The DSES agenda is dealer-driven, ensuring the content is 100 percent focused on the needs of progressive dealers.  Only the top 10 percent of speaking applications selected by DrivingSales members make it on the agenda.

To protect the quality of the event, seating is limited and always held at a 5-diamond venue.  DSES has sold out every year.  For those interested in attending, securing seating as early as possible is recommended.  For more information, visit DSES.com

About DrivingSales

DrivingSales is a professional network serving the auto industry with dealer-driven news and information, online training, and performance data, all to enable dealers to make critical business decisions at their dealerships.  DrivingSales’ mission is to connect progressive dealership professionals to the people and information they need to maximize their success.

Founded by a third-generation car dealer, and opened up to the industry in 2008, today DrivingSales has a registered user in over 50% of new car dealerships in the US and is active in several other countries around the globe.  To learn more about the DrivingSales community, training or performance analytics visit DrivingSales.com, DrivingSalesUniversity.com and DrivingSalesData.com

DrivingSales Executive Summit Media Relations:
Elizabeth Johnson (Elizabeth@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 213.713.4865

Melanie Webber (melanie@mwebbcom.com), mWEBB Communications, 949.307.1723