On July 1, 1941 at 2:29 p.m., the first television commercial appeared on screens across the United States. Bulova, a watch company, aired their 10-second commercial at a cost of $9 prior to a Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies baseball game.
During the last Super Bowl, companies paid $5.6 million for a 30-second spot. Just under 100 million viewers on average watched Fox’s broadcast of the game.
Video was exclusive to television in 1941 but obviously it is not any longer. The delivery of video has grown because of the internet and sites like YouTube. It’s led to $26 million in earnings for 8-year-old Ryan Kaji, last year’s top YouTube earner with $26 million. Ryan rose to fame opening presents in front of the camera. Ryan Toys Review debuted in 2015 and now has 23 million subscribers.
A lot has changed since July 1, 1941. What has not changed — video is powerful.
Some advertisers have cut back on television ads because of other available delivery systems, not because video stopped working. Less expensive and more targeted distribution has allowed additional genres and the “average person” to “be seen.”
Video can be engaging. A person’s personality comes through in a video more than other delivery mechanisms. Video is closer to real life because you can see and hear the person delivering the message—which makes it easier to trust the messenger (or advertiser). A video can make a difficult topic easier to understand.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a video worth?
Thankfully for advertisers, you don’t have to spend $5.6 million on a Super Bowl ad to reach 100 million viewers. In fact, PragerU.com has earned 3.1 billion views of their videos in just a few years.
The style of video matters as does the delivery mechanism
Earlier this year I interviewed Dennis Prager, founder of Prager University. I asked Dennis about the evolution of their video style. Currently, they have some of the best-animated videos I’ve ever seen. Others must enjoy them as well — given their 3.1 billion views. Dennis revealed that their videos were not always animated. They used to have a human presenter with an occasional slide or picture popping up on the screen at appropriate moments. A photographer who owned the rights to a picture of a kangaroo threatened to sue PragerU for using a photo without permission (Dennis said it was an honest mistake). This led to the switch to animated videos. In my interview, Dennis said when they switched their videos to animation they increased their viewership by 100 times.
In this scenario, the animation is definitely a better option in part because difficult topics are explained. The animation makes them even more interesting and easier to understand.
One con of online videos was made obvious when Dennis shared, “There must be hundreds of thousands of comments on our videos and many of them are very negative. It's very interesting to see what gets people the angriest, and you will be shocked.”
A video played via a television ad can garner the same anger and negative comments but it’s not visual. If you can get by that–and if you don’t have a controversial topic–consider posting some interesting videos online.
I also asked Dennis why he and Adam Carolla decided to launch the movie, No Safe Spaces, in movie theaters instead of a series of online videos. Part of his answer was, “it’s a different genre and they are not competing with each other.” (Get the audio interview and/or transcript free at or DealerProfitPros.com/sell-with-video).
What to do next
Consider using different styles of video whether it’s a talking head, whiteboard videos, animation, or a combination.
Think strongly about different ways to distribute videos. Television is not the only distribution channel anymore. Find a different genre and style that works for you–and watch sales soar.
Kenny Atcheson is the founder and president of Dealer Profit Pros and author of Marketing Battleground: How to Deploy Under-the-Radar Strategies to Explode Your Profits. Kenny teaches workshops and speaks at conventions and 20 Groups. His company offers several marketing and advertising programs (including help with video content), customer service and sales training. His website can be found at www.DealerProfitPros.com.
National Independent Automobile Dealers Association members now have another online outlet to reach potential vehicle buyers who might already have used this particular platform to find shoes, furniture or other goods.
OfferUp, one of the largest mobile marketplaces in the U.S. for local buying and selling, is now a Bronze-level National Corporate Partner of NIADA.
Since 2011, OfferUp insisted that it has paved the way for a simpler, more trusted way to buy and sell locally. Every year, the site is involved in millions of transactions on items like clothing, furniture and cars and trucks.
To support the popularity of auto sales, OfferUp created OfferUp Autos, a platform of innovative features to make automotive transactions easier for private buyers and sellers as well as dealerships.
“More than 44 million people user OfferUp annually to buy and sell locally, and we estimate that last year nearly 10 percent of used-car sales in the country flowed through our digital marketplace,” OfferUp director of automotive product Andrea Moro said.
“OfferUp Autos improves the automotive marketplace experience by giving customers digital tools to help them buy or sell their next set of wheels in a faster and more efficient way,” Moro continued.
OfferUp Autos’ Verified Dealers program includes features to help dealers be more successful. OfferUp is mobile-first and has local proficiency, providing dealers with a destination to advertise where buyers are already shopping.
Dealers who list on OfferUp have reported an increase in foot traffic and sales. Statistics show more than 30% of vehicles sold on OfferUp sell within two days, and more than 50% sell within a week.
The OfferUp Autos platform includes:
• A Verified Dealer profile that gives dealerships an official, trusted presence on OfferUp
• Optional integration with the dealer’s inventory feed to seamlessly to post listings
• Advertising solutions to gain additional exposure and drive more leads
• Tools to make it simpler to interact with prospective buyers, including click-to-call, the ability to freely share pictures, phone numbers and website URLs in chat
OfferUp pointed out that it is constantly evolving its tools to drive more traffic to Verified Dealers. The program now includes a new machine learning-based Top Lead indicator to identify ready-to-buy prospects, as well as specialized buy-here, pay-here products.
“OfferUp has revolutionized the local digital marketplace landscape, ensuring a trustworthy and transparent selling and buying experience,” NIADA senior vice president of member services Scott Lilja said.
“Along with major new investments in machine learning lead generation tools and customized BHPH member dealer solutions, OfferUp is truly on the cutting edge of the digital and mobile auto retail marketplace — a tremendous new resource for our member dealers,” Lilja went on to say.
For more information on OfferUp Autos, visit offerup.com/autos.
Partnerships continued to develop in the buy-here, pay-here dealership space on Tuesday; this time involving Frazer Computing and SpinCar.
The providers of dealer management software (DMS) for independent stores and digital automotive merchandising software announced a partnership that brings the opportunity for personalized digital merchandising.
Dealers using the Frazer DMS now can benefit from a direct integration with SpinCar’s digital merchandising platform to seamlessly create and syndicate virtual vehicle walkarounds, photos and videos to their own dealer websites, as well as to a number of leading third-party marketplaces, including Cars.com, Autotrader and Facebook.
Existing Frazer customers can contact their regional Frazer representative to activate SpinCar’s suite of digital merchandising solutions and data-powered innovations.
Since 1985, Frazer has provided a DMS to independent dealerships across the nation. The company insisted it has become a trusted partner to dealers of all sizes, and its dealer management software is currently used by more than 20,800 dealers across all 50 states to manage all facets of their business.
SpinCar’s digital merchandising platform can enable dealers to deliver more personalized interactions at every touchpoint. By bringing interactive vehicle walkarounds and feature walkthroughs to automotive retail websites, dealers are able to recreate the in-person sales experience for online shoppers. SpinCar believes these personalized online experiences can generate greater shopper engagement and proprietary first party behavioral data that helps them build trust with consumers.
SpinCar’s newest product, Feature Tour, can help dealers educate online car shoppers with personalized, multimedia experiences that showcase the unique features of a vehicle that are most relevant to each individual consumer.
“SpinCar has established itself as the leading provider of digital merchandising capabilities to the auto industry, and this partnership provides us with the opportunity to deliver even greater value to the thousands of used car dealers that trust Frazer to power their businesses,” Frazer Computing president Mike Frazer said.
“We look forward to working with SpinCar to help independent used car dealers drive superior business results through more engaging online experiences and more personalized interactions at every touchpoint,” Frazer continued.
SpinCar chief executive officer Devin Daly added, “Independent auto dealers play a major role in the used car market, and Frazer is a key enabler of their success. With more than 90% of consumers starting their car buying journey online, personalized digital merchandising is critical to building trust and engagement with shoppers before they ever set foot in a physical dealership.
“As the market for used cars becomes increasingly competitive, independent dealers need to continue to take advantage of new technologies to differentiate themselves. We are thrilled to be partnering with Frazer to bring these advanced digital merchandising capabilities to independent dealers around the country,” Daly went on to say.
