09/29/08

We've reported this trend recently, but it's worth underscoring: An estimated 25 percent of U.S. auto dealers are using online video, AdAge quoted AutoTrader.com.

Why? Because it's cheap to produce, and most importantly, dealers can measure results. Average cost of a walk-around video of a car is about $80, compared to a $2,000-$15,000 price for a 30-second spot on TV.

We would caution, however, that as online video becomes more and more pervasive, it will raise consumer expectations, production values and price. And you'd better be on the ground floor of that if you want to catch the elevator up.