Awhile ago, when I was with HomeNet Automotive, I wanted a demo video of a live video walk-around for myself as I was 1) playing with a new camera and 2) trying out some new features within HomeNet's software.

I enlisted the help of a training and sales manager at a Ford dealership near where I live (and one I happened to be visiting that day) to do a quick one for me. I uploaded it and used it a couple of times but then promptly forgot about it.

After that, the GM brought his Dealer Principal over to visit me at the HomeNet Automotive booth at the Digital Dealer Conference & Exposition. Of course it was very cool that I was able to demo that new feature using a walk-around video shot by his employee and at his dealership. 

He seemed more concerned with whether his employee had gotten permission to do the video (which he had), let me do my demo and arranged a meeting for after the conference to do a proper, and more thorough, demo.

The video was a walk-around on a new 2010 Toyota Venza. It was taken a little over a year ago. This 4 minute video "could" have been installed in their inventory feed and attached to all 2010 Toyota Venzas they had in stock then, and in the future, automatically. It wasn't edited and was just uploaded straight. I did input descriptions and tagged it appropriately, however.

Where I'm taking this is that I happened to look at that video's stats recently. Keeping in mind that this video was never advertised, promoted or put on any website other than my personal YouTube account (that really doesn't have many videos on it). It's never been given any exposure whatsoever but amazingly, in a years time, this simple walk-around video has received almost 8,000 views!

Think of how many it "could" have generated if integrated into their inventory and utilized on their website or microsites.

This dealership got 8,000 eyeballs on one of its cars without even trying. How many eyeballs could they have had if they'd tried?