Unless you’ve spent the last five years living in a remote jungle, then you’re well aware how huge of an impact video marketing is making in the automotive industry. Dealers everywhere are either beginning to use it, or scrambling to get a strategy together. Thanks to how quickly technology has advanced in the last ten years, it’s easier (and more affordable) than ever for dealers to shoot their own video content and share it. Sure, you can invest hundreds or even thousands in state of the art audio and video equipment, or you could simply use your smartphone. Regardless of what you use there is one aspect of video marketing that many dealers are missing and it’s simply killing your opportunity to leverage videos effectively.
As you know (or should know), video has an incredibly high engagement rate when compared to static websites or even static picture/ graphic content. So for that reason, it is a highly effective platform for providing content to current and potential customers. In past articles, I’ve gone over topics such as how to create different video content as well as how to cross integrate video into your other online marketing avenues. Regardless of whether or not your dealership has a clear and concise goal set for the videos you’re creating, every video needs to include one thing and one thing only; A simple, and visible ACTIVE link, DIRECTLY inside the video (not in the description area). The people viewing your videos should have a direct path to your website (or wherever you prefer them to land depending on the video).
In other words, if you’re providing video content that deals with the service department, there should be a direct link right in the video that will take that person to the service section of your website. Or if you have a separate landing page set up for service, it should send them directly to that. If you make a video detailing a certain model of vehicle you sell, you should have a link set up directly inside the video that is clickable throughout the length of the video that will take a viewer to the VSRP of that particular model. Have a video that’s all about being social? Yup, you guessed it, have a link directly in the video that will take viewers to whatever social media platform you prefer.
The simplest way of doing this is add an annotation into the videos you create and type in the link that will show up as a highlighted box. While that is the easiest way of doing it, it is suggested that you present something more professional. But how? Invest in decent video editing software (Camtasia for PC or Screenflow for Mac), and create a graphic box with text that displays a clear call to action; “click here to like us on Facebook” or “Click here to schedule your service appointment today.” The easier it is for a viewer to perform the task you are asking, the more likely they will be to do it. Adding a clickable link directly into a video is the easiest, and slickest way to increase viewer engagement. Plus, since most other dealers are not doing this, you will improve your opportunities to attract new prospects.