Stitched Image Video VS True Walkaround Video w/o Voice Over

[craigh]

I tend to agree Craig but I'm not aware of a service that offers the SpinCar-esque 360 with highlights options and features. There is a service called SpinCar and they place icons within the Spin (combined images) but the clickable icons are used for close up (separate photo.)

I've had many discussions with the team at SpinCar and I've used their product many times.
What they show and what they can do are disconnected. Those dots can be used for all sorts of things.
For some clients, we've taught them to create a hotspot on top of the radio and link it to a PDF explaining Ford Sync as an example.
They use it to show photos by default, but if you're willing to put in the time you can do far more with it.
I'll try and dig up an example here.

 

[joe.pistell]

Get the radio station to voice them for you or if you dont do any radio hire someone on a site like abcvoices.com. Something that introduces a custom walkaround and throws a couple points at them that explains how to buy a car with you.

To add to Mitch's helpful thoughts, for all kinds of talent work, I use Fiverr.com

 

[joe.pistell]

...Which of the 2 videos do you prefer?

1. Does the In-house true walk-around video NEED a voice over that points out the vehicle specifics?
2. Does a voiceover take away OR add to the quality of the the video?

JK,
DO a test. Compare the performance in youtube 'audience retention' data. Once you have that data, then it opens a whole new world of content optimization.

BONUS: you can get qualatitative feedback of a concept by using https://www.usertesting.com/



p.s. Asking car ppl about what a car shopper likes is often way off the mark.

.

 

[Mike Snellenberger]

Some great points and ideas here. While I agree it's best to ask the shopper, you can do so through testing your videos and ads to see how much interaction and length that is watched.

We purchased a turntable through Carturner.com and were still sending to flick fusion for voice over. They were shorter and outside only due to volume and time constraints.

The 360 is very cool for interior and think it will be the way to go. Is google bumping these for ranking as well?

I would think the video would have to be 2 minutes or less, but would depend on the market and audience.

So my vote is walk around outside, 360 inside, voiceover with features, and 2 minute length. Just a vote but think we could test and find out a good answer off data and response rates.

 

[ChrisR]

Had one of our sales people record a video on their cell phone today, and ended up rotating the video a couple times throughout, which I think would annoy any viewer. I grabbed the photo capture camera, and had him assist a little, and we threw this together in a few minutes



I see SpinCar being mentioned a few times lately. Their claims of 75% increased time on VDPs, etc did not pan out in the 12 months I used their service. I did not notice a significant increase in time on site when adding their widget, nor did we see a measurable decline of visitor time on site when we cancelled their service. Your mileage may vary.

 

[craigh]

I see SpinCar being mentioned a few times lately. Their claims of 75% increased time on VDPs, etc did not pan out in the 12 months I used their service. I did not notice a significant increase in time on site when adding their widget, nor did we see a measurable decline of visitor time on site when we cancelled their service. Your mileage may vary.

We didn't start using them because of their claims, we started using them because we believe it's a better way to view the vehicle.
We get hundreds of interactions on SpinCar, including customers going inside the vehicle and clicking hotspots, so we know they're engaging with it. I don't think a digital metric is sufficiently going to show how much of a value add this is for the customer.

 

[johncolban]

If you're just using music, instead of speaking, I think you lose out on part of what makes video so great! Granted if you have a terrible personality it could backfire, but a "True Walkaround" allows you to showcase your personality, show you're knowledgable and have some fun. You can't do this with stitched image "video"! :: http://watch.authntk.com/d19b2ade

 

[craigh]

I've had many discussions with the team at SpinCar and I've used their product many times.
What they show and what they can do are disconnected. Those dots can be used for all sorts of things.
For some clients, we've taught them to create a hotspot on top of the radio and link it to a PDF explaining Ford Sync as an example.
They use it to show photos by default, but if you're willing to put in the time you can do far more with it.
I'll try and dig up an example here.

http://www.priorityford.com/used/Fo...0e0a6b278b2504f3d40557.htm?searchDepth=6:1746

If you spin to the front of the car and click the Video icon, it plays a video.
This stuff is possible, but very few clients are taking the time to get as creative as the system allows.

 

[mikesayre]

http://www.priorityford.com/used/Fo...0e0a6b278b2504f3d40557.htm?searchDepth=6:1746

If you spin to the front of the car and click the Video icon, it plays a video.
This stuff is possible, but very few clients are taking the time to get as creative as the system allows.

If you're looking to do something similar to a Carvana style layout, like @craigh mentioned Spincar can do that. It has a lot of features, probably one of the best scripted style photo-presentation multimedia systems out there for auto. Using it you can have a great layout on your VDP if you're willing to invest some time.

Mobile is changing everything to do with multimedia, it's becoming so over-simplified and it's effective for shoppers. Spincar works great on mobile, but I get questions on it being the more about the photos, color, options, pricing, overall merchandising, and exposure than anything else.

What I always seem to struggle with is the time constraints vs. sales value. It always comes down to answering questions around - if we'll sell that many more cars from it, or not for the time/money we invest? When I look at the stats, I can't win that argument.

How would you make your case for using the Spincar system with video? What about mobile? What are shoppers really looking for with mobile multimedia for vehicles?

 

[Jeff Kershner]

I'm with Craig on this one. I think the 360 view is easier for the customer to check out specific details they are looking for.

With the recent advances in 360 video cameras and the fact that YouTube hosts them, I would think that is an attractive option for interiors especially. The ideal solution to me would be an exterior walk around similar to the G-Wagon above, then 10-15 seconds of interior shot with a 360 video camera from the driver's seat, passenger seat and the center of each bench seat and cargo area.

I like your recommendation @Nathan Anderson on using the 360 view. This is something I've been considering.

The voiceover is not really needed. If you want a list of the vehicle options in the video you could scroll them across the bottom of the screen like a news ticker or in an overlay.

If I can make it efficient, I'm considering adding a SHORT narrative voiceover to the beginning of the walk-around video. 20-30 seconds - touching ONLY on the hot specifics. Year, Make, Model, Top Packages or Features, Known History / 1 Owner Carfax and .... enjoy the video...

I'm not a fan of the News Ticker. I was watching an example video with a news ticker and I found it to be extremely disruptive.