Effectively a window to the world on which anyone can post content, YouTube is unique as a major video platform because everyone’s experience of the platform is personalised to their tastes.
If viewers are interested in robot lawn mowers; they get videos on robot lawn mowers. If they want a car; they get car videos. And that is the sort of pond in which dealers like to fish.
Now the platform has stepped up its appeal to car retailers, especially in the environment of a pandemic where remote sales activity has become so fundamental to dealer sales.
Called TrueView for Action the new service offers additional features like a call-to-action button, links to other parts of a dealership’s website or a lead form that runs underneath a dealership’s video. (See below).
In an era of fragmented media, YouTube is gathering in the audiences that have scattered to the four winds and it overtook Australian free-to-air TV audiences two years ago. It has become Australia’s number one video channel reaching 83 percent of Australian’s 18+. That is more than any TV station or video subscription platform.
It now commands the attention of 16.5 million Australians a month. On average, they are watching 36 hours, 20 mins of content a month.
The pandemic has played a strong role in YouTube growth.
James Boysons, brand strategist at YouTube, told GoAutoNews Premium: “Nielsen estimated that being home-bound could lead to an increase of up to 60 percent in the amount of video we watch and we have seen that come true for YouTube in Australia.
James Boysons
“Our fastest growing device continues to be people watching YouTube on TV which increased by 65 percent in March.
“We’re seeing Aussies turning to YouTube to help them cope through the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 15, average global daily uploads of YouTube videos with “at home” in the title have increased over 700 percent.”
Mr Boysons said that YouTube has become an intrinsic part of the research buyers do before making a vehicle purchase.
“We know that more than 80 percent of new car buyers say that YouTube is their favourite destination to watch videos about cars and that nearly one in two car buyers turn to YouTube for information before their purchase.
“What’s interesting is that buyers are looking for inspiration and haven’t always made up their mind on exactly which make and model they are after when using YouTube.
“Forty percent of auto shoppers who used online video for research say that it helped them discover a vehicle they were not previously aware of or considering and 60 percent of auto shoppers who used video during the research process report visiting a dealership or dealer website after watching a video of a vehicle they were considering.
“So it is not only helping shift perception around which car to buy, it is also driving people into dealerships,” Mr Boysons said.
In his interview with GoAutoNews Premium, Mr Boysons addressed the following key issues:
How many Australian car buyers are on YouTube?
“Unlike running traditional dealer video ads on TV where a dealer’s message goes out to a wide audience beyond those that are interested in purchasing a new car, Google has unique audience signals that tell us whether someone is in-market to purchase a car.
“You might think this sounds too niche but with YouTube’s mass reach this means there are just over three million Australians who are in-market for a new car that you can target on YouTube.
“At this broad level it isn’t that addressable but, being able to break down by category, make and geography, this becomes an extremely powerful tool.”
How do dealers purchase video advertising?
“Under the YouTube pricing model, the cost, like Google, is based on market demand by advertisers. The level of competition to find your target customer will dictate how much you pay for an impression or view.
“One of the great things about TrueView, which is YouTube’s skippable ad format, is that advertisers only pay if the entire advertisement is viewed or viewed for at least 30 seconds.”
“With skippable ads the viewer has the option to skip after the first five seconds. It is a great format because if the audience is not right for your business and people don’t want to watch your ad then you don’t pay. If someone watches all the way through then you probably have your audience right and then that is when you pay.
“Advertisers can also buy ad impressions with a non-skippable ad; a forced view of between six seconds and 15 seconds that cannot be closed.”
How can YouTube viewers reach out to a dealer?
“We recently-developed a direct response format that builds on the TrueView ad I mentioned before called TrueView for Action.
“It is still skippable and you still only pay if someone watches the whole ad or at least 30 seconds, but you also get additional features like a call to action button, links to other parts of your website or a lead form that runs underneath your video.
“This format finds an audience on YouTube that are not only likely to watch your ad but also take action off the back of it.
“Direct response dealer ads have been part of the industry for a very long time, the difference here is that a viewer can take an immediate response on their phone, tablet or desktop at the end of the ad.
“A really important factor to consider is that the YouTube ad is the equivalent of a sales person outside the dealership.
“We have seen great success from auto clients around the world using this product to deliver higher engagement with their video ads. If the goal is to get people coming to a dealer’s website and taking action then TrueView to Action is the most efficient YouTube format for that.
“It is important to remember it is worthwhile for dealers to invest in their online showroom. There’s no point in paying for someone to walk into a dealer’s virtual showroom if the experience once they get there is disappointing.
“Dealers should make it easy for customers to request more details, book a test drive, speak to one of their team; and ensure that this experience is built mobile-first as they are most likely to visit the site on their phone.”
How does YouTube target car buyers in the dealers own market area?
“We can use post code targeting to find viewers who are within a dealer’s market area and then, amongst those, we can find the ones who are most likely to visit the dealer’s website or walk into their dealership.”
You can tell if the car buyer actually visited the dealership, how does that work?
“Yes you can. YouTube has a measurement solution called Store Visits. This was initially developed for retailers but is now commonly used by auto clients as well. Store Visits allows advertisers to see, at an anonymized aggregated level, if someone who has watched their ad has visited the dealership. Store visit data cannot be tied to individual ad clicks, viewable impressions or people. We use industry best practices to ensure the privacy of individual users.”
Do dealer video advertisements need to be expensive slick footage or can they be done on a good mobile phone?
“When it comes to production quality on the platform, we find that users see 2.5 times more value in content that aligns to their personal passions than content that has a high production value.
“Having said that, it is important to remember that the video is your salesperson so it should be reflective of your brand.
“Some of the best-performing direct response ads we see can be made with small production budgets using talent talking directly into the camera, with overlays of imagery and visuals. Equally a TV ad can often be repurposed for YouTube with small edits like adding a call to action on the end increasing the performance of the campaign.
“The video creative that you use is going to be one of the biggest factors in whether a YouTube campaign is successful. So it’s worth getting it produced professionally but it doesn’t have to blow the bank.”
Gumtree Cars found two key outcomes in its recent COVID-19 Consumer Sentiment Research. Firstly, that buyer confidence can be increased through dealers offering ‘contactless transaction’ options, such as remote inspections (video walk around for example), and secondly that buyers wanted to know how they could organise a video inspection with dealers.
How can YouTube potentially solve these issues?
“Beyond being a great place for dealers to reach their audience as an advertiser, it is also an amazing platform for them as a creator.
“Dealers can record videos of cars and upload them to their own channels totally free of charge, choosing to either make them public or mark them as unlisted so that they aren’t visible.
“Uploading videos of cars to YouTube is unlikely to pull in any new customers on their own, but is a great way for you to push this content to customers via SMS or email. You can also embed the videos for free to your website.
“As you aren’t going to be distributing the video broadly, production value doesn’t have to be super high. A simple walkaround inspection of the vehicle within the dealership will suffice, as people want to inspect the actual car they are buying rather than a generic video from a manufacturer website.”
How can dealers make the most of the YouTube platform?
“There are three ways for people to use the platform:
- People who use the platform to watch videos
- Those who are the content creators who build videos for other people to come on and watch
- The people who are interested in the audience which is watching the videos and a particular topic and want to get their advertising messages in front of that audience.
“The most important thing for the dealer is to find somebody who is in the market for a particular car who is within the geography of the dealership.
“Once you have decided on your target audience, there are really two main strategies to pursue as a dealer:
- Shift the buyer’s thinking about which make they are considering, or
- Convince them that the car they have in first place on their list is the right one and they should take action today.
“Either way, outside of going for a test drive, video is the only platform where you can really experience the car with sight, sound and motion.
“A really important factor to consider is that the YouTube ad is the equivalent of a sales person outside the dealership.
“The goal is to get people in the door or in the online environment onto the dealer’s website. The website experience for this new visitor should be tailored to ensure they go from being a visitor to a lead.
To make the process of capturing leads simpler, YouTube recently also released a new lead form ad that allows dealers to capture leads directly without the customer having to leave YouTube.
“This includes some auto specific questions dealers can ask to find out more about the person making the lead:
- Which model are they interested in?
- Which type of vehicle are they interested in?
- Option to choose their preferred dealership
- Guide on when they plan on purchasing a vehicle?
- What is their vehicle ownership status?
- What vehicle ownership option are they interested in?
“Making YouTube more actionable is a big focus for us and ensuring that it can help dealers sell more cars is a priority.”
How can dealers measure success?
“The best way to measure the success of a dealer’s YouTube ad campaign can be broken down into two buckets:
- Did people engage with your advertisement?
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- Did they watch to the end of your ad? Remember with TrueView you don’t have to pay unless they do!
- Did they click through to your website after watching your ad?
- What did they do after they engaged with your ad?
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- Did they sign up for a test drive?
- Did they call your dealership?
- Did they come and visit the dealership?
“The ratios are probably changing due to COVID but it’s important to understand how these metrics convert into sales so that you can make better decisions on what the return on your media dollars are in driving sales for your dealership.”
By John Mellor
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