These days, it’s not enough for your ag dealership to rely on co-op video. Learn about the benefits of video marketing for agricultural equipment dealers and how Kirkpatrick Creative can get you started on the path to curating the content that will get you more sales.
Benefit #1: Emotional Appeal
More than any other medium, video allows you to reach people emotionally. By presenting a face (or faces) for customers to associate with your dealership, you’re making a human connection that is much harder to establish through text or even photos.
Content marketing is a key focus on most marketing plans today, but I believe it has an even stronger fit within our agricultural space. We have always been a tight industry that revolves around relationships. We want to know the people we are doing business with, [and] we want to understand them so we can build long-term relationships. Farmers need to trust the brands they choose to play a role [in] their operation. They need to know that these brands deliver solutions to their challenges and can trust them to do the right thing.”
—Jeff Walter, President & Chief Integration Officer of Rhea + Kaiser
For example, unscripted walkaround videos made by people in your dealership come off as trustworthy because the people in them are authentic and relatable. These make so much more of an impact than corporate-produced commercials because the people in those aren’t farmers like you and your customers—they’re actors! They don’t know what it’s like to get down in the dirt and sweat through their clothes, and that’s why those ads don’t resonate emotionally with the salt-of-the-earth types who are actually going to seek out your dealership.
Your dealership’s videos should let viewers know how your equipment is going to make their life better. How renting an excavator is going to save them the headache of dealing with a contractor. How the latest tractor model is going to help them spend less time working and more time watching their kids grow up. Overly-produced videos of smiling folks riding tractors on already-mowed lawns aren’t going to do that as effectively as a real person explaining the benefits of a particular piece of equipment.
Not confident in your ability to make walkaround videos? Try testimonials! These videos let real customers explain why visiting your dealership is a good decision. Testimonials resonate with consumers because word of mouth is important: we humans can’t help but trust recommendations from others. Video testimonials appeal to emotion far more than simple text reviews do: through video, viewers can watch a happy customer working on their land while they explain how your dealership helped them.
PRO TIP: For walkarounds and testimonials alike, B-roll with drone footage is inspiring and breathtaking. Kirkpatrick Creative’s drone footage can demonstrate the effectiveness of your agricultural equipment—think amber waves of grain and lush, green lawns—with ease for a jaw-dropping effect. Check out our 2019 production reel below for examples:
Benefit # 2: Engagement that Lasts
Videos are great for having conversations with your customers—in real time and months down the line. Here’s how it works.
When you post a video showing off some equipment, viewers can ask questions in the comments. But those questions aren’t limited to the day the video is posted: they can be asked days, weeks, and even months later—any time a consumer stumbles upon it. This allows you to serve your customers in an easy, accessible way no matter when they decide they want to know more.
The more you engage with your viewers, the more they will feel that they can trust you. You can position your dealership as a helpful guide, which means a lot to people who are unsure about making a big purchase or renting the right machine for their latest (or very first!) project. Seeing equipment in action will help them make the decision to act. Then, you can seal the deal by answering their questions. Now those uncertain viewers will feel confident about coming to your dealership and buying or renting from the expert who helped them.
Another bonus? Others can hop in and answer questions, too! When you’ve built a loyal following, you may find that past clients are happy to answer novices’ questions and make recommendations for them—advocating for your dealership in the process.
PRO TIP: Take engagement a step further with influencer marketing. The relationship we’ve built between Ryan Kuster of How Farms Work and RhinoAg, for example, has been incredibly effective. Not only do farmers trust ag influencers similarly to how they trust a friend, but with the right contract, you can reap the rewards of video made by the influencer, saving you time and money.
Benefit # 3: Efficiency for All
With well-produced video, customers can see your equipment in action no matter where they are. This allows them to browse and shop at any moment they choose, not just when they have enough of a break in their schedule to come see you in person. You can even simulate demos of your equipment to show viewers what it would be like to sit in the operator’s seat!
Video marketing can also save you time and money by maximizing your creative assets. For example, you can:
- Embed your videos on your website or in marketing emails
- Promote your work on social media, increasing engagement and reach
- Create GIFs and images from existing videos for use elsewhere
Suddenly, you have all kinds of content to play with—all from video content you’ve already created.
PRO TIP: Even if you only have a smartphone, you can shoot quick, informative videos showing off your equipment. This helps increase your authenticity: nearly everyone in the world has recorded a video on their phone, so it’s pretty relatable! However, don’t make the mistake of relying only on smartphone videos. Finding the perfect balance between authentic and professional is where a skilled advertising team like Kirkpatrick Creative comes in.
Benefit #4: Education is Key
Did you know that farmers’ preferred social media platform is YouTube? That’s where they go to get information about products, methods, and other goings-on in the ag community. If you take nothing else away from this article, take note of that: your dealership MUST have a presence on YouTube.
Videos are great for educating consumers because they allow you to show off the benefits of your products, rather than attempting to convey that information through text (flat, uninteresting) or in person (difficult to guarantee). And remember, you don’t always have to shoulder the creative burden: in testimonials and influencer videos, you can demonstrate your best equipment without having to come up with all the content on your own.
In short? Videos—whether they’re walkarounds, testimonials, or created by influencers—help establish your dealership as a voice of authority in your field, leading to loyalty from your customers and a broader audience.
PRO TIP: In terms of a customer’s journey to making a purchase, video can accommodate each step of the buying funnel. The information required at the awareness, consideration, and decision-making stages can be obtained from great videos about your products—but don’t give up completely on other forms of media!
Video Marketing for Agricultural Equipment Dealers
Your agricultural equipment dealership needs to invest in video marketing because it:
- Educates your audience, positioning you as an authority in your field
- Appeals to your audience’s emotions, putting you in a great selling position
- Promotes engagement with your audience, doing a mix of both of the above
- Is accessible to potential customers at any time
Cultivating the perfect mix of video marketing for agricultural equipment dealers is something Kirkpatrick Creative has done for years. We measure the effectiveness of everything we do, and we’re not satisfied until we’ve found the smoothest, most effective path possible to getting your dealership more sales. It’s what we like to call advertising engineered to work.
Ready to get started creating videos for your dealership? Contact Kirkpatrick Creative today!