Auto dealerships have a long tradition of being experts in nurturing prospective buyers. It’s a high-touch process, with face-to-face time between seller and buyer: the seller guides the process, and follows-up with the right ideas and offers.
Dealers bring those high-touch customer service traditions to the digital sphere by using search, social and advertising to contribute to their prospects’ data gathering – and drive that research to the front door or website of the dealership. Smart dealers understand that most shoppers arrive to their lot or online store knowledgeable and with a plan.
Online video – YouTube in particular - is key to nurturing those buyers. According to one study, almost half of consumers go to dealership websites as a result of watching online video, and 42% head straight for the inventory page. Here are some things to keep in mind when creating a video plan for your dealership.
Auto buyers use video for research, so be there
According to the TNS Media Consumption Report, 69% of people who used YouTube while buying a car were influenced by it. A media plan that includes video is absolutely necessary – display, search and social alone will not go far enough.
TIP: Nurture with personalized video ads that speak to the target’s place in the sales funnel.
Boosting video boosts everything
A strategic video plan has a ripple effect: it boosts search, increases views and subscribers to your channel, and it improves your overall website searchability. An investment in video is an investment in the entire marketing plan. And the industry is taking notice: according to eMarketer, video ads will account for 18% of the automotive industry’s digital spend in 2017.
TIP: When budgeting, consider not only your KPIs, but how the entire digital marketing ecosystem operates together and how efforts build.
Leverage your local power
Consumers are willing to travel further to purchase a car for the right reasons. For example, a 2012 study by AutoTrader revealed 45% of buyers live within a 10 mile radius of a dealership, and 20% live more than 30 miles away. “Local” can mean many different geographies – DMA, zip codes, or something else.
TIP: Know where the locals are who matter to you – and target them with personalized location info.
Video holds sway over auto decision making. But the key is to make those videos connect with the correct target audience. Performance video enables that connective tissue – fueling the front-end of the buy with precise audience targeting to ensure you capture the person at the proper time in their sales process, with the best message.
View our new infographic for details on how you can get performance video to work for your dealership, all day.
