Now Showing at My Volkswagen Dealership: Das Content Marketing
When your business is content marketing, you tend to be hypervigilant in identifying good and bad examples in the consumer marketplace. The last place I thought to be delighted by solid content marketing was my Volkswagen dealership.
I had taken my Jetta for its regular service. I knew to expect a call from the service manager sometime later, explaining what had been found and the estimated cost to make repairs. What surprised me was an email just after he called, with a video of the two problems discovered during service.
That’s right: My mechanic gave me a video tour of the underside of my car, all while narrating what I was looking at. You can see the video below.
For video to be a successful part of your content marketing strategy, it needs to be smart, sharable and personal. Get away from one-size-fits-all thinking and start creating videos that are targeted to consumers’ individual experiences with your product or service. The result will be deeper brand engagement and super-loyal customers.
What a great way to use content marketing to enhance already stellar service! I don’t know an alternator from an axle and typically just trust that my mechanic knows what he is talking about. He’s always been great about explaining what needs repair, but somewhere after “So this is what I found,” I typically zone out until he gets to the part about what it will cost.
But this video brings me into the world of auto parts and service in a very non-threatening and civilized way.
Imagine how that could work for so many other consumer experiences. What if a bank did videos of seniors showing other seniors how to manage online banking activities? Or what if a local hospital showed videos of how to check kids for ticks or lice and then how to deal with the problem?
My point is that this kind of video – personal and targeted to my and your experience with a service or product – does exactly what content market is designed to do: Engage us more deeply with a brand.
To learn more about what content marketing is…and isn’t, do a quick read of Simple Truths About Content Marketing.
