Capturing Better Stock Photos At Your Car Dealership

The vehicle photos that car dealers take and upload to both their website and online advertisers, such as Auto Trader, are what makes them stand out from the competition, as the stock and premises will be completely unique for each dealer.

With each image representing your car dealership online, careful consideration needs to be taken to ensure you’re professionally advertising your stock and your business to appeal to car buyers and drive online enquiries.

As the weather improves at this time of year with drier and sunnier spells, there won’t be a better time to re-evaluate your image process and retake any photos that aren’t quite meeting the high standards you’ll want to set for your dealership.

Take this opportunity to thoroughly clean your cars inside and out, remove any scratches or dents on the exterior, and read our advice on how you can improve the quality of your stock photos without having to bring in a professional photographer or purchase expensive equipment.

Branding
Including your logo on each image you upload will boost awareness of your brand and help online visitors to trust that you’re a legitimate dealership, which can be a key concern for car buyers when browsing vehicles online.

Consider taking your photos in front of your dealership where there is clear signage that indicates who you are to prospective customers. If this isn’t an option, your logo can also be added to the corner of your images before you post them online. Even branded number plates can help to build trust with hesitant online car buyers and encourage them to get in touch for a test drive.

Angles
The consistency of your vehicle images will have an instant effect on online car buyers when they land on your stock page. If all your vehicles have the same angles on display, then this will immediately signal that your dealership pays attention to every detail, enticing prospects to want to buy a car from you.

With the same angles being used for each vehicle, you will also make it easier to browse through your stock and speed up the buying process for any car buyers who already know what make and model they are looking for.

Lighting
Although the sunshine offers more light in your stock photos, bright and overcast weather is more suited for capturing vehicle images. Too much sunlight can make vehicle details harder to see, which is why you’ll want to keep the sun behind the camera when taking photos if it’s a particularly sunny day, while making sure no shadows are being cast on your vehicles.

By capturing your stock photos in natural light rather than using artificial lighting, your images will more closely resemble the way the cars look in real life, which means no surprises for car buyers when they arrive for a test drive. Consider taking the time to pinpoint an area on the forecourt where you can get natural light with no nearby shadows and always taking photos from this same spot for consistency.

Surroundings
Avoid over-editing images with template backgrounds and other digital manipulation, as these types of images may not look genuine to prospective buyers, so it might be more effective to simply capture better photos of the actual vehicle in the first place.

You’ll want your images to have a clean background, as a busy environment can distract online car buyers and take attention away from the advertised vehicle. Parking your cars in front of a wall or a large open field will minimise distractions and keep your prospects focused on the stock. Keep an eye out for seasonal changes in your photos too, such as snow or leaves on the floor, as these can age your images and make vehicles appear less desirable if they’ve clearly been sitting on the forecourt for a long period.

Interactive Images
The showroom experience can be recreated on your car dealer website with 360° images, allowing online car buyers to make their way around your stock at their own pace from the comfort of their home. The freedom to explore your vehicles online with interactive images can boost your sales, as your stock becomes available to view 24/7 at all angles.

Our Spin360 mobile app provides car dealers with the tools to create their own 360° images, which can then be uploaded to your car dealer website if it’s powered by Dragon2000. Spin360 will guide car dealers carefully around the vehicle exterior with their phone to produce accurate and steady footage, while the interior images can be captured with our recommended camera to cover the entire vehicle. If you want to find out how your vehicles could look with 360° images, experience the Spin360 demo on our website.

Dragon2000 have been helping car dealers and garages drive their businesses forward for three decades with our dealer management system, car dealer websites and mobile apps. Speak to our sales team today by calling 01327 222 333 or emailing sales@dragon2000.co.uk to find out how we can help your business increase profits and reduce costs.