These three building blocks are essential. They take time, skill, and strategy, and you have to get them right.
Car dealer advertising seems easy on the surface, but you need to dig deeper to get an edge on your competition.
Read on and discover what to do and what to avoid in your dealership’s commercials.
If a car dealer TV commercial does not grab the viewer’s attention in the first few seconds, the rest of the commercial won’t be seen or heard. Yes, that sounds like common sense. But we get it… it’s easy for a car dealer to get focused on its sales targets, and miss the mark on what the customer wants to hear in the dealer’s advertising.
Even though TV ads don’t have a “Skip Ad” button like YouTube, our brains do have a “don’t pay attention to this” trigger. We ignore things that aren’t relevant.
Above-average auto dealer advertisements achieve the first goal of grabbing attention by addressing the customer’s pain point, problem, or desire. Don’t kick off your TV commercial with a sales event or an advertising cliche.
Instead, know why your customers buy from you. Do they need a low down payment, low monthly payments, an upgrade from their current vehicle, or help with financing? These are strong advertising hooks that you should place at the beginning of your commercials to get attention.
Save the event, the discounts, and the other information about your dealership for later in the spot. There’s plenty of time for that later in the commercial.
The rap on car dealers is that they can’t be trusted. That’s unfortunate, because after working with thousands of car dealerships, dealer principals, automotive advertising agencies, and auto dealer marketing departments over the years, we know that dealers CAN be trusted.
So how can car dealers overcome the stereotype in their TV commercials?
It takes time and it takes marketing precision, but it can be achieved. This is what branding really is.
A good place to start is for a car dealership to take a look at its marketing material once piece at a time. For example, watch each of your TV commercials and ask yourself very convicting questions like:
If you answered no or hesitated when answering any of these questions, then take a step back and ask your team “why?” Then address them by creating new TV commercials.
The reason these questions are so crucial is that car buyers and dealers are practically enemies at first. But a car dealership’s marketing and advertising, when done effectively, can knock down that wall of distrust. Then when it’s time to put the deal together, the tension is reduced, the process is less strained, and it can be the beginning of a long-term relationship with that customer.
And it was all because you started off on the right foot by gaining trust in the dealership’s TV commercials and advertising.
If your ad has achieved the first two steps of gaining attention and earning trust, then step three in the process of creating an impactful car dealer TV commercial will be really easy.
The viewer is paying attention to what you’re saying and believing that what you’re saying in the commercial is true. The customer’s heart and mind is open. Now it’s time for your TV ad to set the process in motion.
Give the viewer a reason to take action. Here’s where the dealership’s sales event, special offers, and other urgency comes into play. This is where you use your TV commercial to nudge the customer along in the process to visit your website, browse your inventory, schedule a test drive, etc.
One word of caution here. Many car dealerships wipe out all their hard work in gaining trust by getting too salesy and too pushy at this step. Don’t let the retail portion of your TV ads contradict the transparency you established in the branding part of the commercial.
It’s OK to be passionate and energetic, but don’t take it too far. Raising your voice only raises the hype, and that’s not what customers want from you.
After you’ve hit the offers, round out your commercial with an easy-to-remember call to action. Directing the viewer to the dealership’s website and stating what you want the customer to do there is all you need to say.
How do you put all of this into practice in your dealership’s TV advertising? Certainly, the days of dressing up the sales manager and having him ride an inflatable pink elephant on the roof of the dealership are long gone. They may be a blast to create, but funny car dealer commercials are no longer part of the formula for the most successful car dealerships.
Since the number one outcome of car dealer TV commercials should be to gain the customer’s trust, you simply need to speak from the heart. That doesn’t mean be sleepy, boring, or passive in any way. It does mean passionate, charismatic, and authentic. Draw people toward you so they can see you’re the real deal.
Once they feel good about you, it will be a piece of cake to get them to visit your website and the dealership. Once they know they can believe in you, getting them to take action on your offers will be easy.
Ads should inspire trust in your company, not irritation. The last thing people want is another loud and pushy auto dealer. They just want an honest dealership to do business with. Being authentic in every TV commercial you create is a great place to start.
Find out why we believe in truth in car dealer advertising.
Once a strategy and script are in place, it’s time to produce your TV commercial. Our shooting and video production masters will create your TV commercial at your dealership or in our amazing creative and video production spaces in Raleigh.
We’ve invested in the latest equipment, recording tools, and editing software to create beautiful, high-quality commercials that get the customer’s attention, earn their trust, and motivate them to take action. Our professional video production facility includes:
If we shoot video at your dealership, we have the most efficient process and modern cameras, lights, and gear to get the job done, including a fleet of drones to shoot aerial footage of your dealership inventory in crisp 4K quality.
We can accommodate small and large video and commercial projects throughout the United States and Canada.
Dealer Creative is a full-service car dealer TV commercial production company and video marketing agency. Learn more about our car dealer marketing services here.
Dealer Creative has mastered the formula for optimized TV ads. It’s not just about dropping your dealership into a TV commercial template. It’s about working closely with the dealership’s marketing team to create a customized commercial to drive traffic now and build your brand for the future.
As a full-service auto dealer video marketing company, we have a team of creative thinkers, innovative copywriters, retail experts, campaign builders, and advertising veterans that will guide you through the process start to finish.
Advertising strategy + creative thinking + innovative video production = success in car dealer video marketing. It’s why our car dealer TV commercials are best in class and help set your dealership apart from everybody else.
Get attention. Earn trust. Motivate to action. Get more customers. Dealer Creative produces high-quality, high-impact car dealer TV commercials that can make it happen for you.
To learn more or to get started on your TV spots, contact Dealer Creative using the form below, or call us at (800) 951-4005.
