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Marketing Status Quo

Car dealerships, like many businesses today, dedicate both human and financial resources to maintaining a social media presence—and for good reason. According to the Pew Research Centre, 72% of the public uses some form of social media, with YouTube and Facebook being the most popular platforms.

To manage this essential marketing strategy, your dealership may partner with a social media company to promote your inventory on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, which Pew found is used by 40% of U.S. adults. You may have invested in a marketing package that promises a set number of posts each month, along with options to "boost" visibility. This seemed like a smart move at the time—it lifted the burden of managing social media off your plate and eliminated one more headache. But is it really working?

The problem with traditional social media marketing packages is that they often feel flat, impersonal, and generic. Since they come from an external provider, they may be limited to static images and lack the genuine, human touch that customers crave in today’s marketplace. Furthermore, these services can be expensive, and the return on investment (ROI) may not be as clear-cut as you’d hoped.

Enter Savvy Video Merchandising

LESA provides a powerful solution that saves both time and money, equipping dealerships with the tools needed to leverage video and capture high-intent, low-funnel sales traffic on social media. Our tools are not meant to replace your social media agency entirely. Instead, for a fraction of the cost, they enable you to:

Create professional-quality video content in-house
Distribute that content across three top social media platforms simultaneously
Build and control a custom, personalized multimedia presence
Embrace the shift to video merchandising
Video is essential at every stage of the marketing funnel, from a customer’s initial Google search to their interactions with your BDC. A 2019 study found that vehicle videos were the second most-viewed category on YouTube, just behind video games. However, at the time, only 1% of videos on YouTube focused on vehicles. This represents a massive opportunity and highlights the growing consumer demand for video content. If car shoppers are actively engaging on social media and seeking out vehicle videos, it’s clear that getting your inventory on video and sharing it on social media is a must—ideally, as quickly as possible.

LESA’s Elite and Ultimate video merchandising packages empower you to do just that, with tools like our Dealer Video Inventory, Ultra 360 Spin, Feature Videos, and Automated Social Media solutions. The walkaround videos you create using these tools will breathe life into your dealership website, offering interactive, engaging content while also boosting your site’s SEO.

Our Automated Social Media tool makes it easy to post your video content to the top platforms—Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and now Google My Business—automatically. You can schedule posts based on your criteria, track your posting history, and monitor how your site traffic evolves in response to your campaigns.

With just a few clicks, you'll be posting polished videos across multiple platforms, complete with links that direct viewers straight to your dealership’s website.

LESA makes it simple and flexible to post the content you want, when you want, all in-house. This allows you to strengthen your brand, increase purchase interest, and forge emotional connections through social media engagement that drive referral business.

Even better, posting your inventory videos to three key platforms simultaneously ensures consistency across campaigns, while freeing up your marketing team to focus on other important tasks.

Change Is Easy!

If you're still relying on photos to showcase your inventory, it’s time to make the shift to video. A 2019 Google/Ipsos study revealed that 60% of auto shoppers who viewed online video during their research process visited a dealership or dealer website afterward. This was up from just 46% in 2017.

To start using our Automated Social Media tool, simply select our Elite or Ultimate video merchandising packages, and we'll get you set up. Before you know it, your top vehicles will be front and center on social media, reaching a massive audience of daily social media users.

Our user-friendly Automated Social Media dashboard makes posting easy. You can select when your posts go live, control platform settings (like Facebook and Instagram), remove sold vehicles, and even create a 30-second montage video. Plus, you can prioritize posts by price or inventory age, all with just a few clicks.

Don’t Be Left Behind

As social media platforms continue to prioritize video content, dealerships must adapt—or risk falling behind. Today's customers expect to experience your inventory in every dimension through multimedia, just as if they were visiting your showroom in person. To stay competitive, you must provide as much information as possible in as many formats as possible, offering a virtual showroom experience that drives engagement and sales. Consider how much you invest in your physical showroom to make it a selling point—now realize your website and social media channels attract far more customer traffic!

Industry strategist Cox Automotive reports, “Dealers agree that digital retailing is key to a long-term winning strategy – with 75% acknowledging that they won’t survive without it.”

The Bottom Line

With LESA’s Automated Social Media tool—available in our Elite and Ultimate video merchandising packages—you can create more effective, in-house social media campaigns at a fraction of the cost of working solely with an agency. You’ll also be able to measure the success of your efforts. Leverage the power of video merchandising and content sharing to build lasting customer interest, drive referral business, and thrive in a competitive market.