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          My generation was fortunate to grow up during an era of emerging technologies and we were able to experiment with them as they came to the surface. The most prominent of these technologies, without a shadow of a doubt, would be computers and the Internet.

            While growing up and advancing through school, most of what I learned came from textbooks. Then, we were given computers and the Internet, which turned into a phenomenon of ‘how did I live without this?’ It was an explosion of technology; people across the globe had access to just about any information. It was limitless what we could do, and what did I want to do? I wanted to make light sabers for the short films I created with my friends.

            Thanks to the Internet, after a not so short period of time, I was able to teach myself Adobe After Effects and then turn that knowledge into fun features for my short films. They featured a lot more lasers, explosions and light sabers. Every good film needs explosions, right? Kind of, depending on the look and effect of the explosion it could very well be pointless. I was not alone in my aspirations and being self-taught with Adobe After Effects. People the world over were doing the same as me, teaching themselves and seeing what came of it. This became noticeable when YouTube became so prominent. However, no matter how much experience you had with the program, the effects almost always felt amateur and flat. I don’t want to use the word “boring”, it’s such a terrible word, plus how can an explosion be boring? The fact of the matter is, some of the effects and animations kind of were.

            The reason the effects were flat, fake looking, and boring was because everyone had learned After Effects the same as I had. We were animating things without knowing the proper way. Adobe had unintentionally bred an army of animators with no background on animation. Behind a computer screen, you think to yourself I want an object to move from point A to B within a 1-second timespan. The computer will do as it is told and move the object from A to B in that 1-second and that’s it. In life, things do not simply move from one point to another, they flow, wiggle, bounce, jump, run and creep. In life, there is expression and emotion in movement. This is the first thing many cartoon animators learn while in animation school. However, when you are self-taught, you don’t have someone to tell you these things and correct your errors. Humans relate to emotions and sense it in so many ways. Seeing someone walk slowly, shoulders slumped and their head lowered you would get the sense that they’re sad or upset. While in the inverse, if you see someone strolling upright with their head held high, you will get the sense of their confidence or happiness.

            We are still a ways away from being able to tell a computer to create exactly what we’re looking for with our animations. For now, I continue to look every day for new ways to add life to my animations. I look for ways to add expression, exaggeration to every movement, to make something as simple as moving from one point to another relatable and attractive to the eye. It is my goal everyday to put life into my work, so my question to you is; what can you do to add life to your work?

If you would to like to hear more Best Practices from our Design Team, contact us today!

Okay, check it out.

In my last article I wrote about how most dealerships come across a little conceited online, but say that they are a customer-centric organization.

I mentioned that it's alright to talk about yourself, but ONLY in a way that demonstrates maximum benefit to your customers.

Well now I'm going to reveal how to kick your website up a notch and dominate the web, (and your market).

Like I was saying, people don't care about you nearly as much as they care about themselves.

That means that the name of the game is presenting information on your website that people care about.

But how can you produce content and information that EVERYONE will find interesting?

It's more simple than you think.

Unlike traditional media, your website has the power to cover a wide array of topics that address the needs and wants of different customer segments AT THE SAME TIME.

How do you get started? Fhugetaboudit, it's easy peasy. 

1.) Look at your current customer portfolio and identify the variety of customer segments that you already serve.

These could include Seniors, Young Families, Bachelors, Bachelorettes, College Students, Union Workers, Military/Veterans etc.

2.) Create a list of topics that those various segments would find interest. Use logic and common sense. 

What I mean by that is this:

If you want to create content topics geared toward Seniors, think about the things that they are interested in. 

a.) Vehicles that are easy to get in and out of (maybe just had a knee surgery or something)

b.) Vehicles that can tow a travel trailer

c.) Vehicles with a little more luxury (they're done raising children and have a little more money to keep for themselves etc.)

Do you see where I'm going with this?

Once you've identified the topics for each segment do this:

3.) Identify the objectives for each piece of content that you want to create.

If it's a video, figure out what the call-to-action will be so that you can track the effectiveness of it.

If it's a blog, think of the path you want that customer segment to take and what action you want them to complete.

Here's why this is important:

Everyday, millions of automotive shoppers around the globe go online to find information that addresses their concerns or answers their questions.

Right now, there aren't really any dealer websites that provide the content that automotive consumers are looking for.

You're giving the OEMs and other third party websites the power to scoop up qualified vehicle shoppers and distribute them how they please. Most of the time, to your competitors.

By segmenting your content, you're empowered to reach various people with the topics that they care most about. 

In my next article, I'm going to reveal why this strategy works so extremely well and why you HAVE to start doing it.

Want help identifying your customer segments? Send me a friend request and we can set up a time to get connected.