BLOG: 5 tips for auto videos on social media

AKRON — During the recent Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas, I had a chance to stop by Eric the Car Guy's session, where he spoke about posting automotive and automotive aftermarket videos online, especially in regards to YouTube.

Since he has 680,000-plus YouTube subscribers with more than 111 million views, it's clear he knows a thing or two about success.

There are some social media sites that are visual-based, and much of your audience on these channels tune in for visual content. Whether that is posting photos to Instagram or videos to YouTube, visual-based content can drive success for your company's social media success. From Eric the Car Guy's session, I pulled five big takeaways about posting videos online.

• Respect your viewers' time: We live in a fast-paced world. People have a lot going on at one time and can only give a certain amount of time to one thing. Because of this, short videos are better than long ones. If it takes too long to get to the point, it's possible your viewer has already clicked out and onto something else. Keep that in mind when editing a video. Eric the Car Guy also said to think about whether the video is understandable — even without sound. Say you were doing a demonstration on changing your oil. What if a person watching didn't have access to sound, but still wanted tips?

• Entertain your viewers: In these blogs, I always talk about how social media is about engaging your customer. Just because you are creating a video, doesn't mean that element should fall off. Eric the Car Guy said when you are trying to grow your business with video, avoid making a commercial — unless it's funny. People are not checking into your tire shop's YouTube page to see the commercial they just saw on television. They are there for something different, so give them just that. If you entertain your viewers, then they won't realize you sold them something, Eric the Car Guy added.

• Think globally: Whether you are a one-shop outlet or multi-national company, thinking globally can help your business. As with the first tip, making videos that are not dialog-dependent can reach larger audiences. If you are doing demonstration videos like changing your tire or how to check the different fluid levels in your vehicle, it may be helpful to consider translating it into other languages. If your shop is in an area where you hear a lot of different languages from customers, adding those languages to your online presence can help position you better in your community.

• ROI, YouTube style: One of the biggest complaints about social media I hear from the industry is that it does not have a return on investment. There is an ROI, just not in the standard way you are used to, which I touched on in the last installment of the social media blog series . However, with YouTube, it's a bit more traditional. As you grow your presence on the social media site, you can start making money by the ads that run with your videos. Eric the Car Guy said that YouTube makes 45 percent of the revenue from the ads, and the brand gets 55 percent. This is part of why thinking globally can benefit your company on YouTube. While you may think that as a single tire shop you don't want to reach a global audience, the more eyes on the videos, the more money you can make. Plus, it is still viable information for your customers, so it's a win-win.

• Don't feed the trolls: Eric the Car Guy said that with a YouTube channel, there are going to be “haters” that come to your page and speak negatively. He said he takes haters as a sign of success and advises not to stoop to their level. Additionally, although they may be speaking negatively and in an unprofessional manner, there may be some truth to what they are saying. Spin the negative into a positive by taking a step back and see if there are ways to improve the videos you are making.

Eric the Car Guy advises that if you do post a “bad” video, it's not the end of the world. It can be beneficial because you can use it as a learning experience to shape future, better videos. It also helps you to understand your audience better because you can see what they don't like so you can cater content to what they do like.