One Isn’t Always the Loneliest Number That You’ll Ever See

In determining the effectiveness of video marketing, perhaps the metric most used is views - How many views did this video get? In fact, in a recent study by Yahoo-owned video platform Brightroll, 31 percent of polling respondents from over 70 ad agencies in the UK, placed completed views as the most important metric, followed by brand lift (28 percent) and a four-way tie between inventory quality, conversion, click-thru-rate and sales impact, which all came in at 8 percent. Hold on a minute. Does this mean that these marketers care about video views almost four times more than sales?

In video marketing, too much focus can be placed on how many people saw a video when, in fact, what matters is did someone watch the video and then buy the car. Yes, it’s important to have your videos on every touchpoint a buyer may visit in the purchasing process. It’s also important that your video is engaging enough that that individual watches it and decides that YOUR car is the one they want, versus the many others they may encounter. But make no mistake, car buying is an individual journey.

Our world is so noisy today that consumers go out of their way to be alone. Don’t believe me? Try to visit mostexclusivewebsite.com then come back to this blog. I dare you.

It didn’t take long for you to come back, did it? You know why? That website only allows a single visitor on its servers and then only for 60 seconds at a time. Once a person gains access, they can then leave a short message on the site to prove that they were there. Sounds kind of silly, right? I mean, why would someone visit that site? The fact is that so many people are trying to access the site that it cannot keep its servers up. According to the Washington Post more than 300,000 people have tried to access the website while only 55,000 have been successful.

People crave individual experiences. They want to feel special. Creating relevant and engaging video content can accomplish that. It can warm the customer up to your dealership as they make their way along whatever path they’ve chosen. On high funnel touchpoints, you want customers to find videos about your dealership’s value propositions and why they should consider purchasing from you, service and sales overviews, along with customer testimonials. These will start making an impression on your customer and plant a seed that you are the “good guys” and that they can trust you. As they move further down the funnel, they’ll be watching your inventory videos while searching for a vehicle. Once they are low funnel shoppers, that’s when you want to treat them like they are the only lead, the only customer, and the most important person in the world, by serving up personalized lead responses, vehicle walk arounds and appointment confirmation videos. Video also gives you the ability to serve up custom content via your video players, throughout the entire buying cycle and specific to an individual shopper’s behavior and viewing pattern. This makes the overall experience even more relevant and more personal to each shopper.

Stop thinking of video marketing as a numbers game. There is only one number that matters --and that is the customer that is watching your video… right… now.

Views: 67

Comment

You need to be a member of DealerELITE.net to add comments!

Join DealerELITE.net

Comment by steven chessin on July 30, 2015 at 4:58pm

Tim - You nailed it. Let me see if I can put it into a close-up perspective. 

A pro mechanic has many different screw drivers and a pro lead manager has many different tools to bring a customer from out-there to in-here. VIDEO is not the first tool to grab  --- the phone will always be the best lead response tool  --- but VIDEO is  --- if used properly - nearly as strong. Again  --- if properly used. 

Most make the mistake of thinking of video  --- like television  --- as just a MARKETING tool  -- but its primary use is as a response tool for lead management rather than a lead generation tool. If you send a communication presentation that gets ONE VIEW and closes the deal it has served its purpose. 

The only "problem" with that approach is --- it does not always work. Even if it doubles the conversion rate from 10% to 20%  --- that is still an 80% failure-rate. That does not mean you stop trying to double your conversion-rate ... it simply means you need to learn how to lower the 80% failure-rate. And yes ... there is a way ! 

First ---- there are "naturally occurring leads". Whatever the store is already doing gets many to make contact and even to come-in. Great. Unless they do not buy. Then a personal follow-up is needed to get them back-in. Maybe that will work. Maybe it won't. You still have to try. HOWEVER ---- if it doesn't work with the one  - you then need to move-on to the next one, The next 100 or 1000 "views" until the BUYER finally sees it. 

In the following video from long ago --- Dan tries to get his initial customer back. If that PERSONAL COMMUNICATION had not been successful  ---- there is a PRESENTATION VERSION here that is not personal --- it is PUBLIC. Fortunately that variation was never needed. Plan-A worked. Plan-B was ready if it hadn't worked. A video email for 1 person to view 1 time is HOPEFULLY all you need for it to be seen but expect to need Plan-B ... 80% of the time. And when you do this --- the NEXT "naturally occurring" leads will not be "naturally ocurring" .... because YOUR VIDEO will have GENERATED THEM. 

So does this give you an "unfair competitive sales advantage" ?

Damn straight it does ... who has a problem with that ? The salesman that generated the next leads DESERVES THE NEXT LEADS ... and the sale as he invested his time to do the sales marketing.

© 2024   Created by DealerELITE.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service