TurnHere's CEO shows automotive marketers how to distinguish brand benefits using visual storytelling that provides consumers with ads they will actually want to watch.

Online advertising within the automotive industry continues to grow, as automakers and dealers recognize that the internet is an effective platform to target and reach out to new customers. Although the auto industry is expected to raise its total ad spending by less than two percent over the next five years, online car marketing will surge, topping $4 billion by 2010, according to estimates from Borrell Associates.

But to optimize their returns on online ad spending, car marketers will need to create interactive campaigns that focus on user engagement as well as clickthrough rates (CTR). The tool that can help them do this is internet video.

The killer app
Until recently, online marketers had no "killer app" for connecting consumers emotionally with brands. Online text ads can drive site traffic, but less often do they motivate site visitors to become loyal customers. With the visual storytelling power of internet video, car marketers can differentiate themselves from the competition by providing consumers with ads that they actually want to watch. 

According to Borrell's projections, local auto advertisers will be the most enthusiastic adopters of video, allocating up to 76 percent of their online marketing budgets to video and paid search by 2012. With video, car dealers can offer personal narratives about their businesses and establish a level of trust with their consumer base that is impossible to obtain with a print, television or online text ads.

Similarly, automakers can provide on-demand access to video vehicle reviews that entertain as well as inform. These videos give more than just specs and prices; they let viewers experience what it's like to sit in the driver seat of that new Audi or Toyota. TurnHere has produced several of these kinds of videos, using real consumers as the hosts for each vehicle review. Imagine the impact of a video hosted by a soccer mom that shows how much room there really is in the trunk of a new model.

The high level of consumer engagement with video means that car marketers can boost their conversion rates, not just their CTR. A January study conducted by The Kelsey Group found that 55 percent of consumers visited a business' website after watching an online video ad, while 30 percent went to the business' store and 24 percent actually made a purchase. These numbers suggest that video not only generates site traffic, it also drives revenue.

How can car marketers create effective online video advertising campaigns?

For one, they need to get away from the flashy, hyper-produced car commercials that are so common to television. The interactive nature of the web means that consumers want to feel more connected to what they see. As a result, car marketers need to create video that features real people (not actors) telling real stories about cars, their features or profiles of car dealerships. By producing video that is authentic and documentary in style, car marketers can engage consumers on a more personal level and minimize the distance between themselves and viewers.

Because online video doesn't require employing scriptwriters, special effects and painstaking post-production, car marketers can produce successful video campaigns at a low cost. A single filmmaker is the only crew needed to produce an impactful video.

Finally, online videos can run longer than typical pre-roll ads and live in standalone players. The "My Cadillac Story" video series is a good example of this. As a form of branded entertainment, these Cadillac videos can engage viewers better than pre-roll ads that might disrupt the entertainment experience. Higher entertainment value means that companies like Cadillac can create videos as long as two to three minutes. And the initiative appears to be working: For the month of January, visitors to the MyCadillacStory site spent up to 33 percent more time on Cadillac.com than did visitors who hadn't first seen the story microsite. The data, provided by online search firm Compete, implies that video enhances user engagement with a brand: an effect that will lead to stronger sales and increased customer loyalty.    

As the internet evolves, car marketers will need to become more discerning with their online ad spending. Specifically, they will need to decide how much to invest in online video versus textual or graphics-based forms of advertising. America's broadband internet users now spend nearly half of their spare time online (according to research firm Media-Screen), and roughly 54 percent of this online time goes toward activities related to entertainment and communication. This means that about 90 million consumers have adopted both the technology and behavior necessary to support a thriving online video environment. Companies that capitalize on these changes --- from car dealers to travel companies to real estate firms -- will see the greatest returns on their interactive marketing dollars.

Bradley J. Inman is founder and CEO of internet video firm TurnHere. Read full bio.