Video marketing for brands and businesses is a dynamic and challenging effort. There are multiple factors that must be considered such as messaging, presentation, and technology to specify a few. But for people within these organizations, how important is it for them to have a video marketing strategy for themselves? One that aligns with the company brand?
This of course depends on the industry and type of business. For large national brands it is common for these entities to align with well-known personalities and creative ad agencies to devise a PR and branding strategy. But what about smaller more local entities – for example auto dealers?
For auto dealers specifically, it’s highly beneficial for some personnel to establish a presence in the market, particularly for sales personnel. Auto sales professionals thrive on reputation and referrals. It’s the secret sauce to their success. Naturally, the idea of a video marketing strategy for auto sales professionals could be a useful approach.
Video Marketing for Auto Sales Professionals
Back in the day, hungry business owners and sales pros would attend networking events, get involved in local projects that put them in touch with the community and, of course spend lots of time talking to anyone who walked through the door – or even near it. While these methods are still effective, the Internet has opened up new possibilities.
As an example, anyone with a smartphone, which is just about everyone, can pretty much become their own media company by launching a YouTube channel, an Instagram account, or a Facebook Page and start producing video content for them on-the-fly however they like, whenever they like.
And people are doing just that. They are leveraging today’s tools to make online personalities for themselves in ways that drive business. Contemporary examples in the automotive sales space include:
- Mike Davenport – Louisville Chevy Dude
- El Patronn – Brooklyn Mitsubishi – The El Patronn Show
- Bow Tie Terrance – Dallas Dodge
- Mike Columbus – Seattle Honda Pro
These examples show not only what can be done with video marketing, but also the variety of personalities that can be a great fit.
Personality Videos
Now, if you think developing a personality for video means you have to channel over classic legends like Crazy Eddie and Madman Muntz, think again. Personality videos for auto sales professionals simply need to capture you in an authentic light in a way that consumers can identify with you and trust you. They essentially should be the digital equivalent of you being able to meet and greet a customer that walks into the dealership.
In the video below, Flick Fusion COO Time James and I look at a couple of the above mentioned auto sales professionals who have deployed unique video marketing strategies for their personal brands in their respective dealerships. Flick Fusion provides a robust video marketing platform for auto dealers.
While each personality above is uniquely different, each focuses on the same thing: Giving their customers what they want. The angle they use is all about knowing their audience and answering those questions we specified back in the overview post of this series.
Mike Davenport, for instance, also known as the Louisville Chevy Dude, goes by the tagline ‘Buying a car doesn’t have to suck’. A phrase that now well-known startup Carvana uses as well. Mike’s straight-forward and casual approach is different from El Patronn, another popular dealer personality.
El Patronn creates slick, brisk, professional videos that cover what the dealership offers, and behind the scenes clips showing off parts of the dealership such as their dedicated customer support staff.
Bow Tie Terrance is known for injecting original music and rap into his videos, making them immensely shareable.
Long McArthur and Mike Columbus meanwhile, both go with a nuts and bolts approach, delivering details with clarity and minimal fuss.
In each case, their personalities add color and flavor, but the underlying messages are the same. The focus is on showcasing the quality of their inventory and their level of customer service. In an increasingly competitive market, customers want to work with someone they like. People buy cars from people they trust, not from business.
Overview of Free Online Video Course for Auto Retail
Fun Fact: Nearly 75% of shoppers prefer video to text for branded marketing and, according to Cisco data, internet videos aimed directly at consumers is expected to grow by about 30% by 2021. (source)
That’s the basis for why rooting your website in video will engage from the minute someone lands on your website.
In this free online video course are 12 videos ranging from 3-5 minutes each, allowing you to watch only the ones you want, when you want. The course is broken into 4 sections:
- To Video or Not to Video
- Types of Videos to Produce
- Equipment and Technology
- Hosting, Distribution, and Data
