Should a dealership hire a videographer or use VanillaSky?
Book a videographer for the few cars where a walkaround, engine sound or a person on camera sells the car. Use VanillaSky for every other car on the lot, because it makes the video from the listing with delivery time depending on the queue and concept for $5 and needs nobody on site. Most dealers end up doing both.
Side by side
| Videographer | VanillaSky | |
|---|---|---|
| Input | The car on the lot, on shoot day | The listing link, or the photos and one line of details |
| Turnaround | Days | Depends on queue and concept |
| Cost | Per day or per shoot, plus editing | $5 per car, paid after you have seen the storyboard |
| Can show | Walkaround, engine, interior in motion, people | The listing photos in motion, the numbers in type |
| Cannot show | Cars that were not there on shoot day | Anything not in the photos |
| Branding | Whatever you brief | Your logo, accent colour, headline font, dealer card |
| Formats | What you ask for | 9:16 vertical of every car, with its 12 second cut, included |
| Re-cuts | New edit, new invoice | Included: same clips, new branding, music or voice |
| Scales with inventory | Only with more shoot days | Yes; each listing is its own input |
When to book the videographer
- A flagship car where a buyer wants to hear it start.
- A showroom or brand film.
- Anything with a person on camera.
When to use VanillaSky
- Every car that gets listed, the day it is listed.
- Cars that sell before a shoot day would come round.
- Ads where the price and the mileage are the message.
Questions
Can VanillaSky replace a videographer entirely?
For per-listing social ads, yes. For brand films, showroom tours and anything with people in it, no; those need a camera.
Does the videographer's footage look better?
A good videographer's footage looks better on the cars they shoot. The question is what the other cars get. VanillaSky's videos look like the listing photos in motion, because that is what they are.