LAS VEGAS — Before dealerships invest in TV campaigns, they should consider testing video ideas on less costly digital platforms, such as social media hubs YouTube and Facebook, to see how consumers respond, suggested Peter Leto, Google’s head of industry, automotive retail sales, at the Digital Dealer Conference & Expo here in September.
“It’s important to test different creative in general in terms of length and the type of creative you’re putting out,” Leto said. “You don’t know what’s going to resonate best, [and] what you think in the boardroom will resonate best might not be what performs well.”
That was just one in an array of suggestions from Google and Facebook on how dealerships can approach video in the digital age. At the conference, the Silicon Valley giants shared tips on how retailers should tailor online videos to fit the consumption habits of today’s mobile-centric consumers.
Video continues to be a critical research tool for car shoppers.
For buyers who used online video as a resource, 96 percent watched a video of the brand they eventually bought, according to a January study from Google and comScore. In addition, Leto said 42 percent of shoppers will watch 30 minutes or more of video on their path to purchase.
Meanwhile, Facebook users consume 150 million hours of video each day, which is more than Netflix. “We’re not talking about social media; we’re talking about mass media,” said Phillip Rather, Facebook’s head of automotive partnerships.
(Originally published on Automotive News – October 2, 2017)