Did you know that if you aren’t using video the right way, you could be driving customers away and losing them to other dealerships?
Mike DeLong, National Brand Manager for Covideo powered by EasyCare, has the solution. He will be sharing those ideas, and his 25 years of retail automotive experience, at this year’s 14th Digital Dealer conference in Orlando. Join him for his exclusive workshop, “How to use Innovative Video Techniques to Communicate With Your Customers Better.”
Today’s customer is tech savvy. They depend on computers, smartphones, and tablets to stay connected. This “now customer” has immediate access to information from a variety of sources. Communications are on demand. Video on the web has created a visual frenzy. For Mike DeLong, the way to communicate with this “now customer” lies in the proper application and control of innovative video techniques with unique content tailored specifically for this powerful medium.
Dealerships recognize that the effective use of email is a must when communicating with customers. Is simply emailing your customers or putting a link to a video on your website enough to stay competitive in 2013?
“It’s not just the speed of the response to an email,” says DeLong, “But the quality of the response that enhances the chance of a sale. No email, even with its bold-typed words and colorful graphics, can ever replace the passionate voice inflections of face-to-face interactions. However, when applying video to an email, your message can now be personalized, more engaging, and more in line with what tech savvy customers expect.”
Video is engaging and evokes emotion. Studies show that consumers respond to personalized video more often and more favorably than they do to dry, text based emails. Even if you are using video on your website or in your emails today, don’t fall into the trap of thinking you have the situation “handled.”
“Some dealers tell me, ‘Oh, we’ve got video on our website,’” says DeLong. “And they think that’s all they need to do. Others say, ‘We’ve got a video link in our emails,’ and they think they’ve done all they can to capture the ‘now customer.’ But the fact is, if you’re not using video the right way by controlling the way your message is viewed, your efforts may be backfiring. You may actually be driving customers away from your website and losing them to other dealerships.”
In his workshop, Mike DeLong will show how to avoid the ineffective use of video, citing specific errors that can be found on actual dealer websites. He’ll point out common pitfalls for dealers along with the top five mistakes to avoid when using video on your website, emails and social networking platforms. He’ll also cover how to effectively integrate video into all of your dealership communications, marketing, and advertising; from all the traditional places you may already know, like emails and e- newsletters; to places in which you may not be aware, like business cards and Craigslist.
If you’re still relying on older, traditional forms of communication to reach your customers, you’re probably not connecting with the “now customer.” If you think that simply posting a link to a pre-packaged video on a website like YouTube will reach them, you’re still not quite there. To reach the “now customer,” and actively engage them, you must learn how to utilize video to its fullest potential and get your customers involved. If you do, you’ll be ahead of your competition!
