In a new study from the Kelsey Group over half of the car dealers that participated in a survey intend to include web video on their websites over the next 12 months. Currently only 1/3 of car dealers are using video on their websites. Dealerships are also “rapidly adopting” marketing strategies that include Web 2.0 marketing such as social media and online reviews. These are “becoming an integral element of the marketing mix” for car dealers.
Click to watch video below.
The Kelsey Group conducted the survey, online, last month. Of the dealerships that responded, 59% of them stated that they intend to get involved on video sharing sites over the next 12 months. That number is a large increase over the current 33%.
This research carries the same basic message that can be increasingly found in other such reports that says traditional local media will continue to lose ground to Internet advertising.
A whopping 62% of car dealers will increase their web marketing spend over the next 12 months. That compares to only 17% who said they’d increase their traditional marketing spend. Further, Kelsey reported that 46% of dealers who participated in the survey plan to spend less on traditional media this year, and only 8% will decline their online spend.
Steve Marshall, Research Director with the Kelsey Group reported that about 200 car dealers participated in the survey. It clearly appears that more dealers will use customer ratings and reviews at 43% up from 29% over the next 12 months. Marshall reported that only 15% of the car dealers are engaged in social networking sites but twice that number, 33%, plan to give it a try this year. “A car dealer will set up their own site on MySpace or Facebook or Yahoo Groups,” said Marshall. “Or they will…put up a blog post or link on a relevant site.”
Marshall said that 28% of the car dealers plan to put video ads on sites other than their own, like YouTube or one of the other social sharing sites. Currently only one out of every five dealerships are doing this.
Dealers also plan to increase their mobile advertising quite a bit. Marshall said only 5 percent currently use mobile but 15 percent said they’ll be involved a year from now.
Most of the video ads for automotive dealerships have a “down-home” quality and are “a little unpolished”, Marshall said that it’s clear the ads aren’t being done in-house. Dealerships simply don’t have the resources internally to do this type of production. Marshall also said that car manufacturers are not participating in the cost to do online video and other Web 2.0 strategies. For the most part these ads don’t support the car brands since most of the videos are clips of display lots and showrooms.
Justin Bieber: The Power of Video.
By · CommentsWho is Justin Bieber? Chances are that you’re very familiar with this young singing idol. But where did this 15 year old sensation come from?
Justin grew up in Stratford Ontario. He began singing about three years ago and entered into a local signing contest. Even though many of the other competitors were involved in signing lessons, vocal coaches and such, Justin who had none of those things won second place and 12 years old!
He wanted to share his contest performance with his friends and relatives and so he started uploading the contest videos to YouTube. What he wasn’t expecting is that other people saw the videos as well and really liked them! His YouTube subscriptions grew at a rapid pace. Then his current manager found the videos on YouTube. He contacted the family and the rest, as they say, is history.
- Justin has become an internationally known star and had the #1 most subscribed channel of all time on YouTube.
- All of this happened with the innocent act of uploading a few videos.
Obviously there’s more to this story than I’ve just outlined. There was clearly a market waiting for a young talent like Justin.
When it comes to your business, your product, your service, is there a market waiting that hasn’t discovered you yet? What could happen if you engaged in a web video marketing campaign, unlike Justin’s innocent video uploads?
Some of you will read the story of Justin Bieber and think that only happens to someone else. Others of you will get it!
I really hope you’re one of the ones “who get it” and begin to use the power of video marketing for your business.
Google Nearby can Help Local Business…
If you rely on local web visitors for your business, Google has made a significant change in it’s search results that you need to know about.
People searching for products and services that you offer can now customize their search to return only geographically targeted resutls. If your SEO company is on top of the continual changes that Google makes to its algorythms, you’re likley in a good SEO position and will benefit from this change. If not, you’ll want to ensure that your website is ready.
Google has added a new tool in the Search Options panel called “Nearby” So far it’s only available on Google.com in English.
How does it work?
- Type in a search, let’s use the example that Google uses, “things to do on st. patrick’s day”.
- Now look at the left sidebar panel for a tool called “Nearby”.
- When you click on it other custom search options will open allowing you to enter in a city, region, or state.
As Google continues to focus on perfecting local search options, local businesses will continue to be presented with tremendous opportunities to be found in the search engine results ahead of the larger, national, competition.
Make sure your SEO understands this stuff and is working on your website to get you top listings in Google local search.
Here’s the article on the Google blog.
As a lawyer you know that you need a web design. But just having a website is simply not enough if your intent is to generate business from your website.
It’s important to plan your site and how you will build your website, right down to the finest detail. You’ll want your lawyer website to be professional and attractive, but you’ll also want it to be practical and optimized properly for the search engines.
So the first thing you’ll want to do is determine what exactly you want your website to do for your law firm. Will it just be used for branding? Or do you want a legal client generating machine? Either way you’ll need to find a web design company that will work with you to produce just the right lawyer website for your firm.
A good web design company will counsel you on the best practices of web design. How to get traffic to your website, and several other up-to-date marketing strategies. There will be lots of questions that need to be answered, such as;
- Who will provide the content for each page?
- Who will provide images?
- Will there be video included?
- Will live video shooting sessions be required?
- How many pages will be required to provide the website you need?
Then there will be questions about the web designer;
- When can you expect completion of the project?
- What kind of support will you get after the website has launched?
- Who will keep the website up to date?
- Will the designer be available for consultation on a regular basis during the development period?
It’s wise to take your time to make sure you’re making the right decisions. Many web designers will have portfolios you can inspect. Although they may not be lawyer websites you’ll be able to get a feel for the type of work the designer can produce.
As the designer for referrals. It’s one thing to show you websites they claim to have worked on, but it’s much more valuable if you can speak to the client and get some first hand information and advice in working with the prospective web designer.
When searching for the right web designer to work on your lawyer website, you can consider hiring a freelance web designer. Some of these folks are very talented and can often save you some money. The key of course is to find the right one that will not only provide you with the lawyer web design you’re looking for, but will make it do what you want your website to do for your law firm. A little due diligence is in order here.
The internet is continuously changing. This means that your website will require frequent updates to keep your visitors and the search engines interested. Usually the best person to work with you on the updates is the person who created the site. They will understand the culture of your law firm and the marketing message you want to project.
The basic principles of a lawyer web design are pretty much the same as in all other websites. If you take the time to find the right web designer they’ll be able to guide you through all of the confusing stuff and make your lawyer website come together smoothly and quickly. You’ll not only end up with a lawyer website you wanted, but one that will produce actual business for your law firm.
If you’d like to know more about our lawyer web design options, you’re welcome to contact me anytime.
