When dealers first implement a video marketing strategy, it can be a challenge to generate leads from the videos they create. If you make a video, post it on a Vehicle Display page (VDP) and call it good, unfortunately you are missing out on a lot of lead opportunities. Not all leads come from your VDPs! To generate more leads, two things need to happen.
Number one, make sure your videos are getting seen on places other than VDPs. Number two, make sure your videos are optimized with lead conversion tools. Let’s review how you can incorporate these two important steps into your video marketing strategy.
Get Your Videos Seen
Dealerships should have a variety of video content on their website such as customer testimonial videos, “why buy” videos, manufacturer incentive videos, 360-degree interactive videos, and service videos.
Your home page should prominently feature a video showroom and video widgets that link to other website pages where these videos are displayed.
Additionally, make sure your inventory videos and other video content are distributed to as many digital touch points as possible. Give prospects the opportunity to see your videos on:
- Social media profiles
- Third-party auto shopping websites
- Video ads
- Video email marketing
- Lead follow up emails
- YouTube and other video channels
The purpose of having videos on so many touch points is to reach as many people as possible and draw more visitors to your website. Once they get to your website, some of these visitors will convert into leads.
Include Lead Conversion Tools
When a shopper clicks on a button to watch a video, what do you want to happen? Does the video end without a call to action? Even worse, does clicking on one of your videos pull that viewer away from your website and take them to YouTube?
It’s important to host videos on a video marketing platform designed to optimize your videos’ exposure, instead of hosting videos on YouTube. When your videos are hosted on a platform that can integrate with your CRM, you will know which digital touch points are engaging viewers and who is viewing your videos. Your salespeople will even receive alerts when a prospect is on your website viewing a video!
Additionally, every video should include a call to action and have lead conversion tools embedded into the video. Examples include clickable banners, buttons, and phone numbers.
Another recommended best practice is to have a landing page for every video. Every time a website visitor clicks on a video, the landing page opens up, the video starts to play, and immediately the customer sees the following elements:
- Call to action
- Lead form
- Several “recommended videos to watch” featuring your dealership’s value proposition video, customer testimonial video, and inventory videos featuring vehicles similar to the one they just watched
- Dealership contact information including phone number
The purpose of a landing page featuring several videos is to keep the customer engaged for as long as possible. The inventory video may be the video that draws them in, but after watching it you want your prospect to start clicking on other videos.
If your dealership has videos that aren’t generating a lot of leads, it might be time to re-evaluate your video marketing strategy. Make sure that your videos are being seen on multiple touchpoints, contain calls to action, and are displayed on landing pages designed to convert.
