While some car dealers depend on TV adverts, print marketing and walk-ins to generate sales, a new breed of dealers have decided to bravely go where the industry has never dared to before - internet marketing using social media. Yes, almost every dealer in the western world has a website that features a complete inventory of new cars as well as a running list of available used cars. Dealers count on their reputations among new-car customers to lure those looking for used cars in the door. That is not how social media marketing works.

Social media is an environment that requires more than just putting a name out there. It requires engaging with customers on a personal level, to the extent that they feel like they are best friends with the companies they associate with. This is accomplished through a variety of methods, one in particular being the use of promotional video. In this brave new world, dealers are using resources such as YouTube and Vimeo to promote used cars.

Flashy, Informative, and Productive

Video appeals to car dealers for a long list of reasons, not least of which is an attractive cost-to-benefit ratio. A very attractive and productive video can be produced by professionals for a few hundred pounds and then broadcast via social media free of charge. A car dealer needs only establish a YouTube channel and it's ready to go. Moreover, even those dealers that do not want to spend money on professional production probably have at least one tech-savvy person on staff capable of handling the task.

Compare that to TV advertising that can cost thousands of pounds for a short, 30-second advert that only runs in the middle of the night on select channels. The cost-to-benefit ratio clearly favours online social media video.

The second benefit of going the video route is one of creativity. The average web user is happy to sit for a video between two and three minutes long without even flinching; that is not possible with TV advertising. Furthermore, a car dealer can present a lot of information in that amount of time. Presented well, in a manner that is flashy and attractive, it can seal the deal. Consider a recent video put out by Jennings Ford Direct as one example. Or this video Fiat 500 Sunderland vs Kia Picanto specifically targeting google search for Fiat 500 in Sunderland UK.

The Ford Focus Sunderland video runs for 1:45 and features the 1.6-litre TDCi engine. What first catches your eye is the bright red colour of the car against the backdrop of lush green foliage. Dance music plays in the background while the graphics begin to roll, describing everything from sale price to the car's top features. Throughout the video, a number of side panels appear to explain everything a sales representative would cover in a typical on-site visit. However, the real catch is the combination of multiple car angle shots and music that slowly builds to an exciting conclusion. You WANT to own this car by the time the video ends.

The Jennings Ford Direct video is by no means the only one of its kind circulating on social media. Nevertheless, it is a great example of how video can be used to present used cars to the audience most likely to buy them - young people with limited incomes but discriminating taste in cars.

Video Hits a Nerve

Video succeeds as a marketing medium because it hits a very specific nerve among consumers. By utilising both audio and visual components to present a message that could otherwise seem complex and dry, video connects with viewers on an emotional level to influence them to feel one way or another about the message being presented. Car dealers want viewers to feel excited after watching a video, knowing that such excitement can very quickly lead to a sale.

So, does it work? All indications suggest that it does. One of the early pioneers of using social media to market used cars, an American sales associate from the state of Montana, went from selling 12 cars per month when she started to more than 20 cars per month three years later. She uses social media to the extreme by connecting with her more than 600 loyal customers via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and her own branded website.

Social media and video are transforming the way car dealers sell used cars. In so doing, they are also changing the broader car industry by directly connecting with potential customers on an intensely personal level. As the trend continues, we expect big changes in the retail car industry. Ten years from now, it will look nothing like it does today.