Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/148632
xxxx s 38 • August 12, 2013 • Powersports Business solutions www.PowersportsBusiness.com The dealership of tomorrow A video-related dividing line in our industry A fellow industry member once stopped me at a dealer show and told me I was his favorite bathroom read. "Seriously," he said. How do you respond to that? I mention this not to provoke whatever tasteless joke that immediately came to your mind (and mine!), but to give you proper notice: This will be will one column that needs to be read by a computer. Why? Because I want you to go to your web browser and type in: http://bit.ly/12z4vRd Watch this YouTube video — it's a fairly quick one. Then, type this one in: http://bit.ly/120tD8n For this one, just watch the first 10-15 seconds of it. Once you've done that, I want you to consider two things: 1. Neither of these videos had a summer blockbuster budget to pull them off. The visuals are certainly not bad, and the second one is actually fairly exhilarating, like you're seated on the bike yourself. But let's be honest: You and I could produce these videos if somebody gave us the equipment and said, "Go to it." 2. It's extremely likely that more than 100,000 consumers viewed those two videos. Maybe even 150,000. Seriously. The staggering popularity of online video P38x39-PSB10-Solutions.indd 38 had more than 300 units listed online, but no has become a dividing line in our industry, a videos of those units. The second dealer had fact many of us are either not aware approximately half the number of units of or have not accepted. Regardlisted as the other dealer, but one-third less of which camp you sit in, of those units had videos. Turns out the here is what you need to know: There are more adults second dealer's listings received 155 perwatching YouTube than any cent more consumer actions (a click from network TV station, according to a search result to an ad detail page) than numerous online reports; the dealer who had twice as much as This acceptance of video is inventory but no videos. drastically changing the retail Knowing one such comparimarketing landscape. Accordson wouldn't sway many of you, ing to a report on Mashable. we did a second one. Again, two Neil Pascale com, in three years, compaTexas dealers with similar brands nies' ad spend for digital video marketing will and models. Only this time both dealers had double to $8 billion. Yes, billion. a similar number of units. Again, only one of What does this mean to us? It means we're the dealers had videos on their unit listings. seriously hurting our chances of selling a And again, the dealer with videos is seeing a unit if we're not providing video of our units huge, huge advantage in consumer actions on as part of our online marketing. Or maybe I their listings — they had nearly 200 percent should approach this from a different promore consumer actions on their listings vs. spective: If you're providing videos on your the other dealer. website and on CycleTrader.com for your Can you imagine what that means in the unit marketing, you're way, way ahead of the difference of leads one is receiving vs. the overwhelming number of dealers who don't other? How about in terms of sales revenue? go to this step. Yet many of us will delay even looking into Want proof? In a recent Dominion Powvideo production, even though your website ersports Pulse webinar, we studied this exact provider should already possess a tool that issue. We did a comparison of dealers in Texas lets you easily post a video to multiple places, with similar brands. Both dealers were listing including YouTube and your website. So let their units on CycleTrader.com. One dealer me dissuade you from delaying by telling you a couple of important things about video production that we discussed on the aforementioned Dominion Powersports webinar: 1. It's not expensive. You can shoot acceptable video with your smartphone, and even a decent video camera and equipment can be had for $500; 2. It's not time-consuming. One dealer said it takes him about a half hour to do one video; 3. It can be done with a small staff. The dealer I referred to is Mainland Cycle Center. Their general manager, Albert Crow, told webinar audience members his rural Texas dealership has 12 employees yet still manages to take video of every one of his new and used units. Two years into this effort, Mainland Cycle Center has nearly 1,500 consumers following him on YouTube and nearly 3 million video views. Three million! "It's really not a question of if you're going to do video," Albert said during the webinar, "it's a question of when are you going to start doing video. You just have to start somewhere." Start today. PSB Neil Pascale is the Business Development Manager for Dominion Powersports Solutions, a dealer service company that includes PowerSports Network, Cycle Trader, Traffic Log Pro, Ziios and Dominion Insights. He can be reached at neil.pascale@dominionpowersports.com. 7/31/13 2:59 PM ww N Mo Th has cyc eit Un and anx ing bac 50 Th ho ano new fac sta new as peo are to ho ma wa tha his "ex exp mo is o str her