- May 29, 2018
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- Todd
Customers want more VIDEO - What is (or would be) your strategy?
- Thread starter Jeff Kershner
- Start date
- Feb 17, 2015
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- Chris
I recently bought a matterport 3D camera and will be shooting some test scenes pretty soon. We have a nice photo booth where we take all the new and used car images and videos (that get no views on YouTube), but I think getting inside the car and letting people navigate around could make a dealer's website stickier. I seen some people use like a Theta and take a single pano shot from the center console, but I think you need a shot from each seat and those get stitched together to create a virtual tour inside the car, important facts about that is to make sure that the resolution is extremely good so that when people zoom they can actually see interior details, instead of blur. Does matterport tours are called showcases, which I do for real estate, however the hosting cost could be a stumbling block for dealers, but then again dealers are already paying through their noses for advertising so I think the cost per unit is relatively low compared to the other options. so I guess the question is static and video versus 3D immersive technology. or all three.
- Apr 7, 2015
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- First Name
- Jim
Everyone's purchase journey is as unique as everyone's life. So, the more that videos can be personalized, and the greater variety of video choices available, the better they will fit into the consumer's purchase journey. The ideal situation for a person researching the purchase of a vehicle is to have all of the video elements available in one place. This can include interactive car spins, video profiles, pic-to-vids, VIN-to-vids, YMM interactive video test drives and eventually virtual reality. The key is to provide a pallet of many choices so that each purchase journey provides what each consumer needs to make a sound buying decision. Some dealers, like Matthew's Auto Group of Vestal, NY, have embraced interactivity and video-centric emails very successfully, while others are just waking up to this new world and suffering because of their slowness to respond to today's consumers' need for video.
- Jan 17, 2014
- 3
- 2
- First Name
- Timmy
Great topic. The word "video" can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Most of the time when people talk about "video" they talk about one or two types of "video content" not necessarily a "video marketing strategy". A lot of the times they are even hosting those one or two different types of video content with different video hosts.
What if you could shoot a personalized video Text or Email to a Sales Lead, Sales Customer, or Service customer (that includes the sales person or service tech's personal introduction video along with a couple of testimonial videos, value proposition videos, an equity offer video [if the customer has an equity offer available in the CRM], a couple of inventory videos, new model test drive videos, even a couple FAQ or How To videos if they are relevant to that shopper). Then a day, week, month, even a year or more later have a Video Marketing Strategy that recognizes when the person that received that video message is on KBB, AutoTrader, Cars.com, Facebook, your website, or Any Touch-Point that you have video content. The technology then checks with your CRM to see if that person is an existing Customer or New Lead and instantly notifies the sales or service rep assigned to that customer that they are live, on ABC touch-point, watching XYZ video right that very second. What if your strategy could automatically change the video content each Customer or New Lead is watching to show each individual person watching your video the most relevant marketing message. Instantly show them new Incentives and Rebates for vehicles they've been looking at. Show them relevant service coupons or offers if applicable. Geo-Target them to know if they are Showrooming and watching your video from a competitor's lot to adjust the message and content of your video. 100 other people could click to watch that same video at that same time and all see a completely different message...all based upon each viewers viewing history, CRM Data, DMS Data, geo-location, etc.
These are just a few examples of the many ways that a Video Marketing Strategy can leverage your website, CRM, DMS, viewer data, and marketing data to enhance the experience for each video viewer, while making it easy for you to get your video content displayed across multiple touch-points when it is the most relevant. So that you are getting the right message in front of the right shopper at the right time of the buying cycle.
I guess my point is that there is much more to a video strategy than just content. I love reading about the different ways video is being used. I'm even more excited to see how various technology leaders in our industry are starting to leverage the technology that powers video hosting/enhancement/display.
What if you could shoot a personalized video Text or Email to a Sales Lead, Sales Customer, or Service customer (that includes the sales person or service tech's personal introduction video along with a couple of testimonial videos, value proposition videos, an equity offer video [if the customer has an equity offer available in the CRM], a couple of inventory videos, new model test drive videos, even a couple FAQ or How To videos if they are relevant to that shopper). Then a day, week, month, even a year or more later have a Video Marketing Strategy that recognizes when the person that received that video message is on KBB, AutoTrader, Cars.com, Facebook, your website, or Any Touch-Point that you have video content. The technology then checks with your CRM to see if that person is an existing Customer or New Lead and instantly notifies the sales or service rep assigned to that customer that they are live, on ABC touch-point, watching XYZ video right that very second. What if your strategy could automatically change the video content each Customer or New Lead is watching to show each individual person watching your video the most relevant marketing message. Instantly show them new Incentives and Rebates for vehicles they've been looking at. Show them relevant service coupons or offers if applicable. Geo-Target them to know if they are Showrooming and watching your video from a competitor's lot to adjust the message and content of your video. 100 other people could click to watch that same video at that same time and all see a completely different message...all based upon each viewers viewing history, CRM Data, DMS Data, geo-location, etc.
These are just a few examples of the many ways that a Video Marketing Strategy can leverage your website, CRM, DMS, viewer data, and marketing data to enhance the experience for each video viewer, while making it easy for you to get your video content displayed across multiple touch-points when it is the most relevant. So that you are getting the right message in front of the right shopper at the right time of the buying cycle.
I guess my point is that there is much more to a video strategy than just content. I love reading about the different ways video is being used. I'm even more excited to see how various technology leaders in our industry are starting to leverage the technology that powers video hosting/enhancement/display.
- Feb 11, 2015
- 2,492
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- First Name
- Alex
IOW, you're going to need some form of Sales Attribution in order to justify the solvency of video production and marketing execution across multiple channels.
- May 31, 2019
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- First Name
- Jeff
I believe there are several elements to consider here. To your point Jeff, a poll of dealers will return an inflated number of those who 'think' they have a video strategy simply because they shot something on a cell phone and posted it to YouTube. Those dealers are not concerned with content, quality, and perhaps not even their brand. Just because you have a phone that can shoot great video does not mean that you should just do it. This is a similar conundrum to dealers 'knowing' that they need to have a Facebook presence, so their solution is just slap up a FB page to claim their name. While the shaky, raw, disjointed walk-around video might suit the driveway seller on AutoTrader, it probably does not reflect the brand of your dealership.
Being deeply involved with a client that produces a long-running TV show and a lot of video for the interweb, the old 'content is king' rule is more important today than ever. You certainly don't have to have $10k camera to shoot decent quality, but you DO need to have at least some idea of what you want to accomplish with the video that you are capturing. Granted an employee video should be thought through and rehearsed (newsflash: retakes are free). Profile vids are also neat to send out in your emails. If you are going to do a vehicle walk-around, do it in front of another person first, and for the love of Mike, try to keep it under 2 mins. I would echo that caution should be used before you decide to jump right into LIVE videos. Live video can go from interesting to embarrassing in a fraction of a second. Think about how many takes you did just to record your voicemail greeting because you flubbed the first one. Live broadcasting is unforgiving.
Lastly there are plenty of delivery mechanisms available to help spread your content, some free, some paid. While you most likely should have it on YouTube, you have to again tread with caution, as you cannot control what shows on the right side of the page next to your video. Google decides what shows in that space and you have to be aware that something inappropriate or a competitor may surface there. Once you do get your video hosted someplace, you can then utilize a free tool such as bit.ly to create unique links that you can monitor activity on.
Being deeply involved with a client that produces a long-running TV show and a lot of video for the interweb, the old 'content is king' rule is more important today than ever. You certainly don't have to have $10k camera to shoot decent quality, but you DO need to have at least some idea of what you want to accomplish with the video that you are capturing. Granted an employee video should be thought through and rehearsed (newsflash: retakes are free). Profile vids are also neat to send out in your emails. If you are going to do a vehicle walk-around, do it in front of another person first, and for the love of Mike, try to keep it under 2 mins. I would echo that caution should be used before you decide to jump right into LIVE videos. Live video can go from interesting to embarrassing in a fraction of a second. Think about how many takes you did just to record your voicemail greeting because you flubbed the first one. Live broadcasting is unforgiving.
Lastly there are plenty of delivery mechanisms available to help spread your content, some free, some paid. While you most likely should have it on YouTube, you have to again tread with caution, as you cannot control what shows on the right side of the page next to your video. Google decides what shows in that space and you have to be aware that something inappropriate or a competitor may surface there. Once you do get your video hosted someplace, you can then utilize a free tool such as bit.ly to create unique links that you can monitor activity on.
- Jan 17, 2014
- 3
- 2
- First Name
- Timmy
The right video marketing strategy gives you complete attribution, and complete bi-directional control of the customer experience, across your entire video marketing network, and in real-time.
I believe video should be a significant part of a dealer's marketing AND communication efforts. I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for how I embraced video 15 years ago. Let's face it - everyone and their mom knows by 2019 we should have video presentations of our inventory. Everyone knows we should have video introductions to our dealership staff online and on social - though not enough clearly do. We know we should be sending personal video messages to prospects at countless points in the process. (If I could do this in 2005, surely we can do this with more consistency in 2019 and beyond).
However, from a video marketing perspective, I believe we need to push further. We must get away from the typical dealer commercials or online vids that celebrate price, offer, discount, rates, payments and more. Videos need to be either "campaign" in orientation (by which I mean an event or promotion that lasts the course of a week to a month - think "trade buyback month" and be supported with all other advertising efforts in play) OR they need to be brand-focused. Not OEM-brand, but dealer brand-focused. With value props, celebration of employees, differentiation of services, etc.
We take this one step further for a few of our clients. For those that invest in pre-roll, truview video ads, or pre-streaming ads, we recommend they partner with a data company so we can identify conquest opportunities and missed customer opportunities. (Think Experian data that allows us to view the demographic, buyer's interests, zip codes, models, etc - and we create scripts and targeted video content to run on pre-roll specifically aimed at those customers. Just like where advertising with a shotgun approach works poorly and is measured worse, marketing in the medium of video without clear directives, a specific audience, and unique content is a true waste of dollars.
We need to embrace video in all aspects. Differentiate yourself with storytelling strategies and with data-driven insights if you want video to have any impact on your bottom line. Video is free - just takes time, effort, and ingenuity. The distribution of said video can be costly - which is why it is so important to do it right.
However, from a video marketing perspective, I believe we need to push further. We must get away from the typical dealer commercials or online vids that celebrate price, offer, discount, rates, payments and more. Videos need to be either "campaign" in orientation (by which I mean an event or promotion that lasts the course of a week to a month - think "trade buyback month" and be supported with all other advertising efforts in play) OR they need to be brand-focused. Not OEM-brand, but dealer brand-focused. With value props, celebration of employees, differentiation of services, etc.
We take this one step further for a few of our clients. For those that invest in pre-roll, truview video ads, or pre-streaming ads, we recommend they partner with a data company so we can identify conquest opportunities and missed customer opportunities. (Think Experian data that allows us to view the demographic, buyer's interests, zip codes, models, etc - and we create scripts and targeted video content to run on pre-roll specifically aimed at those customers. Just like where advertising with a shotgun approach works poorly and is measured worse, marketing in the medium of video without clear directives, a specific audience, and unique content is a true waste of dollars.
We need to embrace video in all aspects. Differentiate yourself with storytelling strategies and with data-driven insights if you want video to have any impact on your bottom line. Video is free - just takes time, effort, and ingenuity. The distribution of said video can be costly - which is why it is so important to do it right.
- May 1, 2005
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- Jeff
@Todd Thomspon - VERY AWESOME. Thanks very much for sharing with the community. I hope everyone takes a moment to watch https://www.steeleauto.com/steele.m4v
So even though this comes across more directed towards an internal communication, you're getting this in front of actual cuy buying and service customers? What has been the overall results you have seem from this video?
