Photos can elevate or diminish the impact of a dealership’s website. Ideally, car dealerships want to integrate high-resolution, professional imagery to ensure that every vehicle in the inventory is marketed and depicted with the most visual interest possible.
Some dealerships might not be too concerned about the images they use. Maybe they designate a team member to snap shots of inventory. Yet, poor pictures can repel buyers and perhaps even move them to a competitor’s landing page. Quality photos are an asset, but how can dealerships find studio quality car photos?
Why Dealerships Should Use a Car Stock Photo Agency
According to the 2021 Cox Automotive Car Buyer Journey Study new car buyers spent five hours and 22 minutes researching online. While this is less time than buyers spent researching online from the previous year, they are still spending hours reviewing resources and data online. Interestingly, the report explained that when inventory became crunched, third-party sites became less of a focus while dealership sites became visited more frequently.
tAs the inventory shortage and the chip crisis might continue to plague the market, dealership site visits might continue to be relied upon as buyers try to locate the best deals for the cars they want. For this reason, dealerships might focus more on the impact of their website.
Buyers who want a popular vehicle model might research which dealerships have this vehicle on the lot and if that model has the features they want. Are dealerships providing as much insight about models as they could?
Ultimately, if a buyer cannot find the information they need at one dealership, they could move on to a competitor’s site. Vehicle images that include insight about both the interior and exterior of the car could be valuable to consumers. In addition, some might enjoy more immersive photo experiences that give them even more visual feedback about the model.
A car stock photo agency like EVOX Images doesn’t just provide the standard images of the exterior and interior of a vehicle. The photo library offers an extensive variety of studio quality car photos including spin imagery and animated images, too.
Use Spin Images to Encourage Exploration
Images can elevate the dealership’s website, and they also can keep consumers interested. Dealerships might include a standard slideshow to help buyer’s understand the interior and exterior features of a specific vehicle model.
While a slideshow is impactful for buyers who want to see close-up shots of different elements of a particular vehicle, integrating interactive photos can be especially impactful to hold a visitor’s interest. Interactive photos include exterior spin photos and interior panorama photos.
These images show a vehicle in 3D and are fully interactive. Using either a fingertip (for mobile devices) or the mouse, consumers can rotate the vehicle to view its exterior from every angle. Spin photos can be rotated in 360 degrees.
Panorama photos are interior spin photos. These images give consumers the feeling as though they are sitting in the front seat looking around the vehicle. Panorama photos also are navigated via a fingertip or the mouse.
Spin photos can simulate the walkaround experience or the feeling of sitting in the car at the dealership. These experiences can be used from any location, which means that at-home shoppers don’t have to visit a dealership to explore new models.
Use Animated Photos to Catch the Attention of Site Visitors
Dealerships can use spin photos to encourage site visitors to interact on the page, but sometimes dealerships just want to grab the visitor’s attention. Animated photos load automatically and create an impactful element to a website. EVOX Images offers many different types of animated photos including:
- Colorized drive-ins
- Colorized drive-in / spin
- Colorized fly-around
- Colorized spin
These photos show a vehicle model driving into the photo, rotating or appearing from different vantage points. As the vehicle moves, the paint trims change to show the model in all the different color options.
These photos can help buyers understand the car in motion. In addition, buyers also can view the car in every different paint trim to help them find their ideal color.
Animated photos work well as a hero image. However, dealerships also could integrate these photos on the page of a new model to grab the visitor’s attention.
Using Photos to Help the Budget Buyer
The price of new and used cars has increased. Kelley Blue Book reported that the average sales price of a new vehicle has surpassed $48,000.
While there are several budget-friendly models available from different manufacturers, some buyers also might focus on less expensive trim options to save money and keep the purchase on budget. The base trim of a model is the lowest priced option and doesn’t include any upgrades or added features, but dealerships might not include photos of this trim.
It isn’t atypical to see a new model on a dealership site with a note below it stating that it costs more than the starting (base) MSRP. While the photo of the upgraded model might be impactful, that photo might not help the budget buyer who wants to know what the base trim looks like.
Dealerships might consider base trim photos for new models. EVOX Images offers a base trim library that can be used to give buyers insight about the exterior and interior design of the lowest priced trim.
Use Studio-Quality Video to Provide a Vehicle Virtual Tour
Dealerships don’t necessarily need to include only images on their site. They might also consider integrating car stock videos, too. Videos add another element of interest and excitement to a website, but they also can serve as a vehicle virtual tour for buyers shopping at home.
EVOX Images offers numerous studio-quality car stock videos. These videos can offer details about specific features or just give buyers an overview about the vehicle. Some videos are short and show fly-around footage of a particular model. Others include professional narration.
Dealerships also could use video footage to create compelling online ads or social media posts. Video provides yet another medium for understanding a vehicle’s features and overall design and appeal.
Studio Quality Car Photos for Augmented Reality
Another compelling feature that can elevate a dealership’s website for at-home buyers is the inclusion of augmented reality experiences. Many businesses include augmented reality experiences to let customers preview or even try-on products without leaving home.
Augmented reality preview experiences have been used by Ulta to let customers try-on makeup. The experience requires access to the user’s mobile device camera; they can select any product and see it appear on their face.
Other companies have used augmented reality for customers to preview paint colors on walls. In addition, IKEA lets customers preview products in a room of their home.
Dealerships can create an augmented reality experience that lets consumers drop in a car model into their environment. Depending how the experience is designed, customers might be able to walk around a to-scale 3D depiction of a car, look inside or even change the paint color.
EVOX Images provides studio-quality images that are compatible with augmented reality and virtual reality. Dealerships can access these images for many different makes and models.
Photos Can Enhance the Shopping Experience
Since many buyers might now focus on dealership sites when researching vehicles, the impact and overall design of a dealership’s website might be a crucial element for engaging buyers. High-quality images can be used to create interactive and engaging online experiences for consumers shopping at home.
Dealerships who are looking for studio-quality car photos can explore the extensive image libraries available via EVOX Images. Find spin photos, base trim libraries, animated images and even professional videos to engage and captivate consumers.