Fixed Ops Journal - December 2022 - F18

FIXED OPS JOURNAL
Videos cultivate relationships with customers
T
ikTok videos aren't just for entertainment
anymore. Th ey're also
revenue-generating and brand-building
tools, as Madeline Nelson at Prestige
Auto, a Kia and Mitsubishi dealership
in Eau Claire, Wis., can attest.
Take a recent humorous video fi lmed by Nelson,
digital marketing coordinator and chief
TikTok guru for the store, owned by Prestige Auto
Corp.
Th e 16-second video, which promotes a $5
discount on oil changes for female customers on
Tuesdays until year end, has attracted about
14,100 viewers as of mid-November.
Furthermore, the number of oil changes
jumped 16 percent during the fi rst month the
video was posted compared with the prior
month, she says.
" Th at was one of our more eff ective TikTok
videos, " Nelson says of the video, which featured
Adam Missfeldt, quick-lube manager and a resident
character in the service department, and
Annalese Willmarth, a service adviser.
" It didn't generate game-changing revenue,
but it shows our service manager that TikTok
videos work.
TIKTOK
continued from Page 17
people with glimpses of what goes on in a service
department.
" It's a great way to increase transparency, "
she notes. " Most people don't get to see how
vehicles get fi xed. It's like a very short reality
show. "
Funny videos, serious business
While content on TikTok may seem frivolous,
dealers must be serious about it to make it work.
Rubinstein says some dealers hire a full-time
employee to both create video content for a
dealership TikTok account and also book business.
Booking
business can be accomplished by
turning commenters - people who remark online
about TikTok videos - into customers. Th is
is done by responding to them in the comments
section that accompanies each video. Th e content
manager could, for example, thank a commenter
for their response then ask if they need
their vehicle serviced, Rubinstein says.
" It's a free and organic way to boost business, "
she says. " But you need someone to manage that
process for your dealership, as well as handle the
dealership's TikTok account. "
PAGE 18 DECEMBER 2022
"
" We can post inventory
videos all day, but they
don't perform as well
because they don't have
as much personality
and humor, which is
what Gen Zers like. "
Madeline Nelson, digital marketing
coordinator, Prestige Auto
" It's a motivator to keep on doing videos, " she
says.
From a larger perspective, TikTok videos also
enhance the dealership's brand by featuring
both humor and relatable, funny employees.
" We can post inventory videos all day, but they
don't perform as well because they don't have as
much personality and humor, which is what Gen
Zers like, " she says. " And many young people on
TikTok represent the next generation of car buyers
and to an extent, they lack brand loyalty. If we
can create humorous videos, we're more likely to
stay top of mind for that younger crowd. "
Furthermore, younger people care more about
a company's culture than its products. If they see
people in videos they can relate to, and the
workers present the store as a fun place, they're
more likely to remember the dealership when
they're old enough to buy a car or need to get
one serviced, she says.
It takes Nelson about 10 minutes to shoot a
video, using nothing more elaborate than a decent
cellphone camera. It takes about another 15
minutes or so to edit it, she says.
Where does she get ideas for video content?
She talks to service advisers about upcoming
service specials and then " twists it " into a creative
concept, perhaps centered on a currently
popular song or a quote from a trending TV
show or movie .
" I can take just about any of those things and
make it service-related to a certain extent, " Nelson
says. " I also continually track videos to see
which ones do well. "
- Ken Wysocky
count, Rubinstein points out.
" Some technicians don't mind that because
they think it's cool, " she explains. " On the other
hand, sometimes it's hard because they're busy
turning wrenches. "
Pay to play
Dealers also can use a paid campaign that's
managed by companies such as Rubinstein's Retail
Resilient. Here's how it works: When TikTok's
algorithms identify viewers that are in the
market for, say, an oil change or a tire rotation, it
serves them an ad in their TikTok news feed that
includes video content, plus a link to a dealership's
website booking tool.
Dealers who opt for this service pay TikTok for
a pay-per-view program that costs anywhere
from 5 to 10 cents per 3-second video view, Rubinstein
explains.
When Rubinstein asked attendees at a recent
In other cases, technicians can make videos
and post them on their individual TikTok accounts.
But in that scenario, the technicians
have to contact customers to book business because
the access to them is available only
through the technician's individual TikTok acDigital
Dealer seminar how many of them were
using paid TikTok campaigns, only one person
out of about 100 people in the audience raised
their hand.
" People have no idea what they're missing out
on, " she says. " Th e dealers using TikTok know
there's a shift occurring in the marketplace and
they want to dominate their markets before it
becomes too prevalent. " 
"
Fixed Ops Journal - December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - December 2022
