Expert digital marketer Paul Potratz offers simple tips on where you can get more bang for your buck
Remember the days when you would place your newspaper ads for the weekend and run a high-frequency radio campaign on the top two stations, resulting in reaching more than 50 per cent of the entire market?
This strategy was the recipe for a profitable month in the world of auto sales not so long ago. A lot has changed, however, but this is not another article about how the internet has changed the way we do business (although that is certainly the case).
What about the effect on TV viewership?
Once you understand the effect that the internet has created with TV viewership, you will start thinking completely differently about your TV marketing strategies. The strategy of TV media placement, and the actual type of message that is needed for the various types of video media placement has been affected. This different type of thinking will allow you to develop a video strategy that will reach today’s consumer numerous times as they travel through the shopping process.
The first step is to start with the digital strategy since that is where people go to research and connect prior to making a purchase.
Traditional TV viewership has serious competition
TiVo and streaming TV with the likes of Hulu, Netflix and iTunes. These are just a few of the competitors, but let’s not forget about Google, who is going after TV viewership with Google TV and YouTube. (Some of these services are not yet available in Canada.)
In fact, YouTube recently revamped its platform so it will allow easier TV viewing in the very near future. TVs are now being developed that will have streaming capabilities built in. Traditional TV advertising is push advertising, or, in other words, you are trying to get your message to someone on their TV set with 96 per cent of the people not interested in your ads.
However, on streaming TV advertising you can target individuals based on behaviours that are much more likely to be in the car shopping process. That is, more than 40 per cent of the viewers may be in the market to buy a car based on behavioural actions.
Car shoppers research on YouTube
YouTube has become a research tool for shoppers. With that in mind, how will you start using it differently? One of the first ways is to produce videos that are rich in research and content.
Produce videos that will allow a shopper to receive the same type of information that they would if they were on the lot with your best product specialist. Give the consumer an extensive walk around, test drive and comparison video. Be sure to include your contact information throughout the video such as phone, website, email, twitter, QR code and (one of the most important) text short code.
A new marketing tool
Pre-roll video is a relatively new marketing tool that will allow you to place a video clip on sites like YouTube, Metacafe and Vimeo.
The pre-roll video is basically a short commercial that runs prior to the desired video the individual originally searched for. Think of it like a traditional TV commercial but online. Our research, however, has shown that the video must not be focused on a sales event, so be creative in the video production by focusing on features, benefits or some fact that is entertaining.
If you want to get really creative you could create some comparison videos of your brand vs. the competition.
Specific vehicle videos decreases sales cycle
A video walk around on your website is something you definitely want to add to your marketing mix for 2012, at least for featured vehicles. Our dealerships that include a true walk around that was recorded by a product specialist saw an increase of 13 per cent in leads, and the vehicle sold 37 per cent faster than a vehicle without a video.
Quality matters in brand awareness
Video production quality does make a difference from what we have found in our research. The better the production quality, the more memorable the video will be in the mind of the shopper; either the conversion is higher and the engagement is higher, or the viewer will watch the video much longer.
Video is a strong marketing tool because it has the power of sight, sound and motion. Video is the one tool that must be used in your strategy for 2012 and beyond, but don’t limit it to just the sale of vehicles. Video works extremely well for accessories, service and collision. Bottom line: it works well for anything you need to promote and sell.
