One of the major digital trends we’re seeing today is a preference for video over text-based or static displays.

That’s true of marketers, the majority of whom name video as the type of content with the best ROI. Studies have found that nearly 85 percent of companies have reported finding significant levels of success in meeting their video marketing goals.

It’s also true of consumers. Customers are 27 times more likely to click-through online video ads than banner display ads, and 43 percent of people want to see more video content from marketers than they are currently seeing.

In fact, of all the marketing channels available today, video may be the one most poised to explode in reach and importance. In fact, that may already be happening — by 2019, some estimate about 80 percent of all Internet traffic will be video.

Armed with this knowledge, it’s time to take a look at your dealership’s video strategy. How does it fit into your greater comprehensive marketing approach? Are you leveraging this channel to its full potential right now and giving yourself a foundation to build on in the near future?

Here are a few tips to improve your dealership’s use of video:

Diversify Your Content
Often, marketers associate video with just one or two uses. They think primarily of TV commercials, or maybe of a social media feed full of humorous “skits” meant to appeal to an audience but doesn’t clearly tie back to a product or brand.

In reality, the possibilities for leveraging video are limited only by your own creativity. Traditional commercials featuring vehicle or service information are still a viable use of video, but so are in-depth demonstrations, special offers and promotional material designed to enhance brand perception.

Entertaining content, like those humorous skits I mentioned earlier, has its place as well — as long as you have a clear purpose for it in your larger strategy. Such content should always tie back to your products or brand in a way that makes sense, and ideally will include relevant, useful and actionable information once you’ve hooked the audience.

Video is more than a one-trick pony. Diversifying your content is critical to putting video to work in as many areas of your digital space as possible.

Think Targeted Results
Video also should be part of your targeted marketing campaigns.

Incorporating video can provide a critical boost to your SEO efforts. Research has shown that adding a video to your website can make the chance of a front-page Google result 53 times more likely. To increase reach even further and maximize efficiency, be thoughtful of how best to leverage the content in digital ads that run next to or may link to your video ads.

As a channel that boasts unusually high levels of audience engagement, it also should be employed strategically to enhance existing targeted marketing campaigns. Looking for a way to boost click-throughs on those targeted emails? Adding quality video content may be the answer.

Plus, and especially important in today’s marketing landscape, video is designed to provide high-quality results measurement. You can measure click-through rates, drop-off points or number of times watched, down to the level of individual audience members if desired.

Take Advantage of Emerging Technologies
One of the common complaints against video has always been the cost involved, but as video marketing has become more common, so too has it become more affordable. A whole host of new technologies is emerging to support video production and dissemination.

For one, video search engine YouTube makes repurposing existing video content a breeze, as commercials and other video ads find a second life (and beyond) as YouTube uploads. This is an affordable and efficient way to create a video presence even before you have an extensive supply of newly generated content.

Plus, companies exist that make video production as simple as writing a blog post — and not much more expensive. Alternatively, you can get the users of your brand engaged by actually delegating some marketing responsibilities to them in creative ways, such as the Starbucks White Cup Contest of 2014 that had Starbucks customers compete to submit a design which was featured on a limited edition Starbucks reusable plastic cup.

Once you have those videos, it’s time to share them. Popular social media sites like Facebook reward those who leverage video content with features like auto-play in the Newsfeed that make your content far more likely to be seen by a greater number of eyes.

The potential ROI of targeted, high-quality video content continues to soar while the associated costs continue to decrease, making it even more appealing to include video as an essential component of your digital strategy.

The Time is Now
As the marketing landscape continues to shift year after year, it’s critical for advertisers to keep their “toolkit” up-to-date and fully leverage high-performing channels.

We firmly believe that, now and in the future, video is poised to make some serious waves. Now is the time to assess your own approach and see if you’re following these basic tips for video marketing performance.

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