Do videos really help sell cars?

[Jeff Kershner]

Is Video an effective tool for your dealers online marketing?

Video seems to be all the hype, BUT for selling vehicles, I'm not sure where and if fits into the landscape for dealers. With sites like HotSwap.com and others on the horizon, maybe we’ll find out soon enough.

Until then, will dealers be willing to spend the extra effort and money it takes to produce videos of their inventory (I’m not referring to the cheesy photo stitched videos)? Most dealers are still struggling to get decent photos of your inventory and now we’re throwing videos in the equation!

How can a video walk around of a car be any better then several pictures? Photos are usually less grainy, larger in size and load faster. I can merchandise a vehicle with the right photos with a detailed description as well if not BETTER then using video and do it in ¼ the time it takes to shoot a video. I have dabbled into inventory videos and still do with particular vehicles. The time it takes to do it right is consuming.

Someone had commented on a TechCrunch posting..

“Do videos help sell cars? Maybe if your car is not a commodity, like a highly modified 800 hp Z06 Corvette that I saw listed on ebay a couple of months ago. Yes that you might want to watch the video to see how the car pulls etc. But I won’t be going to a site like that to watch a 10 min video grainy video of a regular civic”.

I’m going to agree with this commenter. When I do video a car, it’s usually a premium high-line or performance vehicle. Not only do I record a full walk-around but I have gone as far to include motor and exhaust sound bytes as well. This brings some interesting and positive feedback from the eBay community and shoppers.

Can videos of your inventory increase conversion on your dealer website?

During a Cars.com webinare interview with Mike Lavezzi of Pacific Honda, Mike tracked an adverse effect in conversion.

“I tried the videos, and I tried expanding the amount of information online, and I didn't notice much of a difference. In fact, I actually found video to have an adverse effect at times. Customers would notice something that tuned them off about the vehicle. We stopped doing videos, and things started turning back around.”

Now that’s an interesting statement and one that I personally have a few questions about.

1. Were you using actual video footage or photo stitched videos?
   
2. Did you have a 10 second intro commercial before each video?
   
3. How was the quality of your videos and were you using a text to speech voice over?
   
4. What amount of information were you "expanding" with your videos?

Mike..if you happen to read this, we would love to hear from you!

Another avenue to consider with video is your major search engines allowing videos to show up in keyword search results (mostly in Beta at the moment). This could be a huge factor to consider as search engines continue to have an impact on your automotive dealer online marketing efforts.

Sean Bradley of Dealer Synergy really pushed the envelope with his article in Digital Dealer and is a huge advocate of Video Search, stating..

“The latest multi-media/video trend is video Internet marketing or Internet 2.0. Video search is the foundation for the next Internet evolution.”

Uploading your inventory videos and dealer commercials to YouTube, Google Video and other online video hosting websites could benefit in terms of branding, local market awareness and driving traffic to your dealer website. You can also make use of these videos on you dealer blog, Myspace page or other micro sites as well.

With all of this evident, it still comes down to time and money it takes to produce your dealer and inventory videos. Will or does the ROI makes sense?

How many of you are currently using video for showcasing their inventory?

Do you think video will have a huge impact on how we market our inventory online in the near future?

We would love to hear your feedback!

 

[Jamie Adams]

I'm obviously speaking from more of a consumer point of view Jeff; but I agree with you on the point that there is no way I am going to spend 10 minutes watching someone give me an online video tour of a car. Now, if I am interested in a hyped up "fast and furious...oo fast too furious" ride; maybe I will want to see a video displaying the NOS canisters in the trunk (or wherever they go). But for the average car buyer, it just does not seem like they will want to sit and watch an online video showing off the cars' features. Even if there is some demand, I can't see how demand will become strong enough to warrant the investment it will take to do this effectively.

However, I think there is great potential in utilizing video in order to increase your brand and customer loyalty, which it seems the Internet has had an adverse effect on in some cases...but I don't think that was what this post was meant to push discussion on.

 

[Jake]

Personally, I feel videos don't make enough of a difference to warrant the extra costs, time spent, etc. In my eyes it's an example of something that CAN be done but not something that necessarily SHOULD be done. You pointed out an important issue or two with the current video quality and time spent to shoot videos. These can be overcome with time. I really just don't think a video is necessary when 10, 20, or even 30 photos of a vehicle do just fine in showing the highlights of that vehicle. The purpose of most online marketing is to generate leads, not to actually sell the cars. Closing the deal still takes place on the lot, and I don't see that changing any time soon. So, will videos generate more leads? In my opinion, no. It's not surprising to me that Pacific Honda "found video to have an adverse effect at times". Sometimes certain dealers do things just to have something their competitors don't have, but the ROI has to make sense, otherwise it's just an ego buy.

On the other hand, one could make the argument that the online classified sites were in the same situation years ago. Cars were selling by magazine and newspaper ads, and although they could be listed on the internet, was it worth the trouble? We all know how that turned out. After all, none of us would be here on this blog if it didn't work. It took time to perfect the process of merchandising vehicles on the web, and maybe the same will happen with videos. Until that time, I'm not buying into it.

 

[[email protected]]

Being a vendor on the production side of providing dealerships websites and Internet-based marketing innovations I'm in Sean's court on his opinion of the coming importance of video for a wide range of commercial purposes on the web. But, I think video can be applied in a broad sprectrum of short tactical and strategic video pieces that each have their place in a website and all serve to help the dealership.

Some wisdom has been conveyed here - individual vehicle presentations done in video are great for special inventory and not worth it for others.

Consider the opportunities, though, as consumers' computers and connectivity increasingly allows rich media presentations of high quality that can be used to hype this weekend's sale, tell a of dealership's legacy in it's community, introduce the professionals who make the buying experience a surprisingly pleasant event, present, in video, the good reasons for an absent service customer to come in.

There are endless possibilities in bringing the presentation power of Internet multimedia into the dealership website equation, all of them with the upbeat "call to action" that asks potential customers to put their name in so you can segue them to the next step in your sales process, with individual vehicle presentations getting ho-hum status among the cornocopea of video marketing opportunities. The keys for the inclusion of video in a dealership website are: ease of production, cost, traditional advertising coordination, inclusion logistics, and post video metrics.

The online used car classified companies will jump on, and package video because it is beginning to get hyped and dealers are talking about it (how many seo companies are out there now?) But they are in the classified advertising business so their focus is obviously - on vehicle presentations.

There are many more online video opportunties around the bend.

 

[J.D. Rucker]

Video inventory as a valid lead generating, traffic generating tool is not far off. It doesn't work now because few (if any) have put the effort and thought into making it work.

To truly be effective, it would have to be something that is done all out or not at all. Could a dealer do it? Absolutely, but not likely.

A company will need to emerge that offers a full video solution. Just as Dealer Specialties key selling point is their ability to take, manage, and push inventory and photos across the internet, so to would this hypothetical service need to be. Full service and profesional.

High quality vehicles. Visits once every two weeks. "Inventory" pushed to YouTube and everywhere else that takes videos. A partnership with a classified site. A full setup that includes video walk-thrus of the dealership, the process, everything.

Most importantly, they would have to help market it.

If (when) a company emerges that is able to do all this in a way that is high quality while low in cost, dealers will jump on board. Not a ton, mind you, but with a product like that, all you would need is 1 new client every other week to get the steam rolling as the company grew.

Dreams and speculation, I know. But it COULD happen.

 

[CS]

One of the largest problems with video ads is policing spam. For example, search for "acura tl" on HotSwap:

Loading…

www.hotswap.com

The first video is for a '97 in Dublin, OH. Watch it. Let me know if you see an Acura.

Without a human review, there's practically no content guarantee.

 

[J.D. Rucker]

One of the largest problems with video ads is policing spam.

Agreed, which is why Universal Search for Google irks me.

 

[Sean V. Bradley]

I am going to give one example and I would love your feedback...

Lets say someone is searching for a "Toyota Dealership" in "Limerick Pennsylvania" and There is a video of a testimonial for Peruzzi Toyota. A video of customers saying how wonderful their experience was at Peruzzi. How strong is that?

Just so you know... Google is still in Beta mode with You Tube and Yahoo Video. but in less than 2 months, you won't have to click the video button on the top left on Google to find videos. You will simply have to just log on to "Google" and if there are videos posted you will find them.

Try this:

Go to Google, click "Video" in the top left hand corner and type in the search field "Toyota Baltimore" and you will see that Mile 1 owns that search. But if we took that to the next level... If we had videos other than just product videos, like testimonials, or videos from the Owner or GM... videos that from people of authority stating their value package proposition. How strong would it be if someone was just researching the net, types in a few key words and the next thing they know, they are looking at the owner of ABC Honda telling them that he promises them an amazing experience and a great deal... but wait there is more... Free delivery to their home or office, free oil change, car wash... or whatever else you or your store does.

One last point. The average dealership spends over $50,000 per month in advertising and there are over 20,000 franchise dealerships in the country...

They spent all of that money and most of it goes to intrusive advertising... spent on ads WHEN PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO BE BOTHERED... but hoping they will succumb.

But, Dealers do VERY little when people are actually interested in them. When someone goes to an engine and is seriously looking for information that is the time you blow them away, and exceed their expectations.

Harvard communications 101... the "Science of Communications”-

55% of communication is visual perception and body language
38% of Communication is auditory inflection of tone (sound)
7% of Communication is simply the words we use (text)

All I know is that it is VERY difficult to sell a $20, $30, $50,000+ automobile over a 7% communication medium.

It is just hard to build that value, plus you have to understand that people learn in different ways... there a visual thinkers, auditory thinkers as well as kinesthetic thinkers. Video is a powerful medium to sell, brand and simply build value.

I just watched the Presidential Democratic debates the other day on You Tube… That tells me that video is a powerful way to communicate.

I would like it for just once… just ONCE that the automotive industry does something at the same time and level as normal corporate America. We traditionally are years behind, resistance to change.

I wish you all the success in the world… My Cleo the psychic prediction… Video and Video search is going to blow away other forms of antiquated advertising and soon there will be vendors rushing to meet the need. I suggest you all that are wise and progressive start to do your research and stay ahead of the curve-

 

[Steve Williams]

Hi all,

I would like to throw in my two cents, based on experience, of course.

About six months ago a company singing the praises of this very same concept approached my dealer group. They absolutely had great technology, but would it work as advertised and drive incremental leads/customers to my store...

I decided to run a test.

I chose two stores from my group who typically did a very good job when it came to their eCommerce initiatives. So as not to appear biased, we randomly chose half of the used inventory at each store and created quality videos with good audio walk-arounds and posted them to our site marked with easy to see and understand icons denoting that a video was attached.

I ran the test for 90 days.

Conclusion...

At the end of the day its all about moving metal.

We found that customers were looking at the videos, some through to finish and some for only a few seconds, however, we saw absolutely no increase in the turn rate of the vehicles with video vs. the vehicles that simply had multiple pictures, and no overall significant increase in number of units sold in the internet department or the store as a whole.

My personal opinion, and it's just that, is that the consumer will respond just as favorably to quality pictures and good, relevent text descriptions of a vehicle as they will to video...

Just my opinion.

Best regards and happy selling to all,

Steve

 

[Jake]

I agree 100% with Sean that video can be incredibly effective, but the way it's used is the determining factor, at least at this point in time. Sean's examples are more of a branding use: customer testimonials, commercials, owner messages. I can see these being extremely valuable today and even more so down the road, especially as video search becomes more and more mainstream.

My previous post (and I think Jeff's, for the most part) was with regard to videos of individual vehicles. I think Steve's experiment over a 3-month period is a good indicator that customers can get as much information as they want with traditional photos of vehicles. Sure, video could be a good supplement to specialty pieces, but in general, is it any better than having 20 or 30 photos of the car? You can cram more content into a video but I think for the purpose of generating web leads, just having photos is equally as effective.