Digital Retail World Puts New Focus on Vehicle Photography

Photos of the autos you have for sale are more important than ever. More people shop online for cars and trucks than they did just a few years ago, and we hear many make decisions based on vehicle photos.

Yes, sticker price, financing and credit availability matter. But photographic eye candy is arguably what prompts interest.

Online Technology Makes the Photo Process Different

Auto dealers are expected to spend an estimated $9.4 billion on advertising and marketing in 2022, up 8.8%, according to Borrell Associates. That’s a lot of money for an industry segment notoriously careful about advertising expenditures. However, the problem dealers run into isn’t deciding whether to spend on advertising but rather where to spend it.  It’s important to use vehicle photos in adverting but ensure they are high quality.

Across the hundreds of U.S. dealership advertising campaigns we observe and consult on each month, we typically see about half of dealership vehicle inventory photos disabled and rejected by search engines such as Google. The reasons include poor image quality and overlays.

Good Vehicle Photos Aren’t Just Point-and-Shoot

Dealers today have two primary areas of need when building the right vehicle image inventory: the right resources and trained photographers to capture the images. That doesn’t necessarily require a large outlay of cash. Like many other areas of digital business today, there are plenty of apps and software available to enhance photos. Dealers are wise to invest in some photography training for staff, too.

Once the photos are taken and uploaded, there’s one more essential element that today’s apps and software can’t always correct– professional editing. Vehicle images must offer the right angles, light balance, straightness and color corrections. These minor details can mean the difference between someone falling in love with their next BMW or moving on to see a Lexus at another dealership.

Quality control is critical. Whether the photos are of used or new inventory, they must be high quality. And details count. When vehicles come out of reconditioning, those that oversee the digital process s must catch every potential blemish, such as a photo of a vehicle with no bumper – it happens more than you think.
 

Understanding each of these photography best practice areas will be critical to meeting and surpassing monthly sales goals, but they will also help ensure car shoppers remember the superior online shopping experience they had in your digital storefront. The right vehicle photography will keep them coming back, improve sales and ensure you’re not wasting digital marketing dollars each month on search engines.

Peter Duffy is founder and CEO of Dealer Image Pro, a professional dealership photography services provider that offers dealers photography equipment, training, professional editing and quality control.