(Dallas, Texas) August 14, 2006
By Tomer Alpert

(article originally published at iMedia Connection)

SiSTeR Technologies discusses a technique to improve customer experiences on automotive portals, and explains why video showcases are going to be the next standard.

Does your marketing plan use online portals? Do you wish you had a way to distinguish your vehicles from the competition? Are you sick and tired of only having boring text and static photos available to showcase your online cars?

These days, online portals such as Cars.com, AutoMart.com and more are highly competitive marketplaces. Critical to your success on any portal is the number of people visiting your listings, and the amount of shopping time your listings capture. With only price and location info available to sway shoppers, dealers are seeking new methods to attract and drive visitors to their vehicles.

Until recently, the only other ammunition these portal sites provided to dealerships were more photos; the number of possible displays rose from one to four to nine photos-- some are even doing 16! But more is not always the best answer.

Make your mark with video
Emerging video technology is the next weapon in your online marketing arsenal, well suited to help you steal leads away from your competition. Video creates a movie-like experience for buyers, providing a visual event of sight and sound that helps them get a better feel for the vehicle they are considering. Moreover, video presentations can be equipped with audio descriptions, creating a showcase for every vehicle you put online.

You may be looking for validation to this idea. Here are just some motivators:

• According to April's JD Powers and Associates' Online Automotive Review, 80 percent of people under the age of 40 used the internet in their automotive shopping process.
• The Online Publishers Association (OPA) says 44 percent of consumers have taken some action as a result of viewing an online video ad.

New and now
These presentations can keep your visitors engaged and entertained, driving shopper retention on a particular vehicle to five times that of vehicles that only use photos. Videos continue to enhance the consumer experience by reducing the number of clicks to open picture files and limiting the time spent on reading tiny text.

Recently developed video technologies have made these presentations virtually effortless to create-- most require absolutely no extra effort by the dealer, and there are a number of providers that can publish them on your own website immediately. By leveraging these videos on your portals, you find the separation and differentiation you need when caught in a side-by-side comparison.

"Dealers are able to attract additional potential car buyers to their listings by adding multiple photos on third-party advertising sites," says Melanie Kovach, general manager for Automart.com. "But now on AutoMart.com, dealers can shorten the period of time between consideration and purchase by enhancing a user's shopping experience with video clips."

Coming soon
In the near future, Automart's clients will be able to upgrade those clips by adding a short video advertisement to the front and back of each one (wrappers), and they can obtain a premium position by playing those clips on the search results page using SiSTeR Technologies' proprietary Zoomers tool.

According to Melanie Kovach, AutoMart.com has developed an initiative to provide its dealer customers with a solution that enables them to differentiate their businesses by combining the power of TV with the convenience and versatility of the web, at a fraction of the broadcasting industry costs. The company partnered with SiSTeR Technologies' VideoCarLot, and in August, every "Gold" level dealer will have a video built for nearly every one of their online vehicles.

Kovach says, "As a relatively late entrant into the online automotive arena, we are very excited to be the leader and at the forefront of implementing engagement opportunities for our consumers and dealers via VideoCarLot and instant messenger on AutoMart.com."

Value doesn't necessarily mean lower prices; it can also mean having the largest sign and the cleanest, most high tech showroom. Today's online shoppers want to be convinced they are doing business with the right dealership. Video-ready portals will help you convey that message today through simple and powerful technology.

Tomer Alpert is director of business development for SiSTeR Technologies. Read full bio.