We’ve all heard a story about a small business somewhere that experienced amazing success because of a viral video. These stories are few and far between, but like an urban legend their power grows, propagated by social media experts. As a result, some dealerships are spending time, money and energy trying to create cute and funny videos in the hopes they’ll go viral.

Though these kinds of videos are great for branding, name recognition and driving traffic to your Website, there’s a better strategy for success. Create quality video content that in-market vehicle shoppers and potential service customers are actually searching for. These “core videos” are videos that will convert a high percentage of your Website traffic into leads and have an immediate impact on your sales. Once you have your core videos down, then you can focus on videos designed to drive more traffic to your Website.

What content should be included in your “core videos”? According to Google, the top three types of video content that car buyers search for are test drives, features and options and vehicle walkarounds.

Inventory videos satisfy the need for both vehicle walkarounds and for features and options. A full-motion inventory video emotionally engages a consumer while conveying the “must-have” features they’re looking for.

For new car inventory, test drive videos can be included in a virtual showroom on your Website. Seeing a vehicle in motion allows car shoppers to mentally place themselves in the driver seat and take ownership. It creates a far greater emotional impact and desire for the car than viewing static photos.

What other questions do car shoppers have during their search for a vehicle? As they are narrowing down their choices, they begin to look for a dealership to make their purchase. Generally speaking, consumers still don’t trust dealerships, so it’s critical to have at least one — but preferably several — value proposition videos.

A value proposition video answers the question “Why buy from your dealership?” Typically, it features the dealer principal or company spokesperson, but may also feature other managers and employees.

We all like to buy from people we know and trust, so being able to visually “meet” employees in your value proposition video significantly increases the consumer trust factor.

Once you have your value proposition videos, the next type of video to develop is customer testimonials. Social proof is a powerful influencer. During their search for a dealership, many customers visit review sites to see what others have to say about the shopping experience at your store. If you can rally several of your loyal customers to be featured in a customer testimonial video that will go a long way into satisfying a consumer’s need for social proof.

Finally, don’t forget about your service department. Video is an effective way to promote your technicians’ and advisors’ expertise. The five types of videos I recommend for service departments include:

· Service department value proposition

· Service department customer testimonials

· Service manager introduction emphasizing expertise and a friendly customer experience

· Service advisors and technicians introduction

· Service FAQ and how-to videos that explain to the customer what’s involved in a certain repair and talk about why it’s important for the health of the vehicle to have that repair done

I’m not saying you can never do a viral video; I’m just saying you should focus on your fundamentals first and make sure that, at a minimum, you have the video content that the data proves your shoppers are looking for. These are the videos that will have the biggest impact on your sales.

Trying to go viral is not a strategy that delivers proven results. Quality video content has been proven to deliver quality leads.

Tim James