How to master used car marketing and sell your used cars faster

Introduction

Used car marketing isn’t just about putting a listing online and waiting for inquiries. In today’s hyper-competitive market, dealerships need a proactive strategy to move used inventory quickly and profitably. Margins on used cars are razor-thin, and every extra day in stock eats away at your earnings.

As one former sales manager told us:

“Typically the margin on the used car itself is very narrow. Around 1% to 5%, with 5% being really good. So you're relying on selling paint protection, GAP insurance, finance, and that sort of thing. It all comes back to profitability... buying the right car, stocking the right car, and retailing it well and quickly. It’s all about speed.”

That speed is critical because the silent killer of used car profitability is overaged stock. Most dealerships operate with a stocking policy (e.g. 60 to 90 days) before price cuts or wholesale kicks in. As another dealer explained:

“One of the biggest pain points is overaged cars, caused by holding vehicles in stock too long. We have a 60-day stocking policy, because any car sitting 60+ days starts causing problems. You keep dropping the price to get rid of it, which directly hits profit. Usually if it hasn’t sold by then, you either bought it at the wrong price or it’s just an undesirable car. You’re better off retailing out of it in 60 days than holding it for 100 days hoping someone buys it.”

Every extra day a used car lingers on your lot chips away at margin through depreciation, financing costs, and reduced demand. Worse, it ties up capital that could be invested in faster-moving stock.

This is why used car marketing isn’t just window dressing, it’s a crucial lever to protect profitability. Done right, it cuts down “days to sale” by connecting the right buyer to the right car faster, keeping vehicles fresh and margins intact.

This guide will explore how dealers can market used cars smarter. From nailing the basics of presentation, to harnessing video and AI for scale, to diversifying channels beyond just one site. Along the way, we’ll include insights from dealership and OEM veterans on what works and pitfalls to avoid.

The brilliant basics

When it comes to used car marketing, success starts with the fundamentals. As Simon Culley (Mazda UK’s Digital Customer Experience Manager) said on the Under the Hood podcast, nailing these "brilliant basics" is often the difference between cars that sit and cars that sell.

Let's look at each of these basics and how to get them right.

Capturing high-quality photos

Online, your photos serve as the showroom for a used car. If images are blurry or incomplete, shoppers will scroll past your listing. To make a strong first impression with photos, follow these tips.

Use a consistent, well-lit backdrop

Shoot every vehicle against a clean, uncluttered background with good lighting (natural daylight or a well-lit indoor area). Consistency looks professional and builds trust. If weather or lighting is a challenge, consider a dedicated photo booth or backdrop to ensure reliable results year-round.

Alternatively, AI solutions such as Phyron’s Enhanced Stills can also help by automatically removing busy backgrounds, upscaling image resolution, and aligning every photo with your brand identity. This means your stock is always presented professionally, no matter where it’s listed.

Show every angle a buyer cares about

Think of how a customer walks around a car in person and mirror that online. At the very least, look to include:

✓ Shots of all sides
✓ Front and rear 3/4 angles
✓ The interior from the driver’s and passenger’s perspective
✓ Rear seating
✓ Dashboard and steering wheel
✓ Infotainment screen
✓ Instrument cluster (with mileage visible)

Plus details like the trunk, engine bay, and wheels/tires. Aim for 20–40 photos per vehicle to cover everything.

Plan the order carefully

The sequence of photos matters. Most platforms use the first image as the thumbnail, so lead with a front ¾ shot that shows the car at its best.

From there, take customers on a logical walkaround: exterior first, then interior, followed by close-up details. Avoid jumping between angles or starting with an unusual shot, which can confuse or turn off shoppers.

Prioritise efficiency

Strong processes save time and sell cars faster. Each vehicle should ideally be photographed once and uploaded without delay.

By combining disciplined processes with AI-powered tools - like the Phyron App - you can ensure cars are listed quickly, consistently, and to the highest standard.

The key takeaway?

Photos are key online. Clean, bright, and complete images drive clicks, calls, and showroom visits. Blurry or incomplete sets push customers toward the next listing. Whether you invest in staff training, appoint a dedicated “photo champion,” or equip your team with the right tools like the Phyron App, the goal is the same - faster listings, stronger first impressions, and more sales.

Using video to engage and educate buyers

If photos are your showroom, video is your virtual test drive. It brings a vehicle to life, helping shoppers picture themselves behind the wheel and trust what they see. Dealers who add video to their listings consistently see higher engagement - more clicks, longer view times, and faster sales.

And yet, despite how powerful video can be, most used cars are still marketed with nothing more than static photos and plain text, while new cars almost always get polished video campaigns. That’s a missed opportunity. Buyers don’t lower their expectations just because a car is pre-owned, they still want the excitement, reassurance, and connection that video creates.

Here’s how to make the most of video in your used car marketing strategy.

Tap into the emotional side of the sale

Cars aren’t just transport. They’re tied to lifestyle, pride, and even identity. Yet too many used car listings strip them down to sterile photos and spec sheets.

Video reintroduces the emotional element, the same way major automakers do with glossy ads for brand-new cars. A few well-chosen clips, supported by music, narration, or text overlays, can transform a vehicle from “just another listing” into something buyers can imagine as theirs.

Or as Phyron’s Chief Innovation Officer, Jens-Peter Sjöberg, puts it: “Storytelling is what connects customers with vehicles, turning a specification sheet into something they can imagine themselves driving.”

Show more, say more

Even short clips - 30 seconds to two minutes - can deliver huge value. Think of them as answering the questions buyers would normally ask in person: What’s its condition? Is it spacious enough? What does the infotainment screen look like?

Demonstrating these details up front builds confidence and reduces friction when buyers reach out.

Meet buyers where they are

Shoppers don’t just browse dealer websites anymore. They’re on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, and these platforms prioritise video.

By sharing your content across multiple channels, you meet buyers in the spaces where they already spend their time. A short, engaging clip in someone’s feed might be the nudge that brings them back to your listing.

Scale without slowing down

The challenge has always been scale: filming, editing, and uploading for every car used to be impossible. Now, AI-powered tools like Phyron can transform existing photos and vehicle data into polished, branded videos with music, overlays, or voiceover - automatically. That means every car on your lot can get a new-car-quality presentation, without slowing your team down.

The key takeaway?

Video sells because it informs faster, connects emotionally, and builds trust. In today’s digital-first market, offering video isn’t just a nice-to-have - it’s quickly becoming a baseline expectation. Dealers who embrace it, whether manually or with automation, consistently stand out and move stock quicker.

Creating clear and compelling descriptions

Great photos and videos draw buyers in, but your listing description is the silent salesperson online. As Simon Culley, Digital Customer Experience Manager at Mazda UK, explained to us on the Under the Hood podcast, customers are time-poor and digitally savvy. They make snap judgments in the first three seconds, so listings must be sharp, transparent, and engaging.

Here’s how to create descriptions that move your cars quickly and protect profitability.

Grab attention fast

Think of your title and first lines as the forecourt walk-up, they need to grab attention instantly. Avoid vague phrases like “Great Deal.” Instead, highlight tangible buyer benefits such as: “12-Month Warranty, Full Service History.”

Build trust with clarity

Buyers expect the digital experience to match the showroom. That means clean, consistent details — mileage, service history, VIN, condition, warranties — with nothing hidden. If information is incomplete, buyers hesitate, stock ages, and profits slip.

Educate the buyer quickly

Descriptions should work hand-in-hand with video to answer key questions upfront. A concise, transparent listing supported by short video “does the showroom walk-through,” helping customers feel confident enough to inquire sooner.

Get it right first time

Poor photos, missing details, or rushed listings lead to rework and wasted time. AI and automation can prevent these pitfalls by checking images, generating accurate details, and publishing cars faster, which is crucial when margins are often just 1–5%.

The key takeaway?

A clear, benefit-driven description isn’t just text on a page, it’s the window sticker that sells before the test drive. When paired with strong visuals and video, it builds trust, speeds up inquiries, and protects slim margins by keeping stock moving before it ages.

Getting your cars online quickly

In used car sales, time is money. Every day a vehicle isn’t advertised is a day of holding costs and depreciation. Many dealerships find that from the time a car is acquired to when it’s retail-ready and posted online, a week or more can slip by. To speed this up:

Streamline reconditioning

Work with your service department or vendors to get trade-ins and auction buys inspected, serviced, and detailed quickly. Set an internal goal (for example, have every car frontline-ready within 48–72 hours). Fast reconditioning means you can start marketing the car sooner.

Don’t wait for perfection to list

Once a car is safe and mostly presentable, get it online. If you’re waiting on a minor part or a wheel refurbishment, note that in the listing (“Alloy wheel being refurbished; will be fixed before delivery.”) rather than delaying the listing entirely. It’s better for shoppers to see the car with a small note than not see it at all. Often the car will sell while that last item is being finished.

Make speed a mantra

Emphasise to your team that getting cars online fast is a top priority. The sooner a vehicle is visible to buyers, the more days you have to sell it before it ages out or needs a price cut. If you can consistently list cars faster than your competitors, you capture interested buyers first.

The key takeaway?

Speed beats perfection. Every day a car isn’t online is lost profit, so aim to recondition quickly, list early (even if minor work is pending), and make fast turnaround part of your culture.

How to build beyond one channel

AI is already beginning to dynamically tailor content based on geography, buyer profile, or inventory age, meaning that automotive video can become less generic and far more relevant. For instance, a family browsing SUVs might see safety and space features highlighted, while a performance buyer sees speed and handling.

AI agents

The next evolution is intelligent agents that guide buyers through their journey. From recommending models and answering finance questions to managing post-sale support, AI agents have the potential to make car buying smoother and more intuitive than ever before.

For forward-looking dealers, these innovations are less about novelty and more about competitive advantage. The ones who move early won’t just keep pace with buyer expectations — they’ll define them, shaping what the future of car buying looks like.

At the heart of it all, though, is one constant... the buyer. The technology may be new, but the goal remains unchanged — to create experiences that capture attention, build trust, and make the path to purchase as seamless as possible. The dealers and OEMs that understand this will be the ones who turn innovation into real impact.

Conclusion

In today’s competitive car market, automotive video isn’t just an add-on. It’s the centrepiece of a winning retail strategy.

As this guide has shown, when used across the funnel — from discovery through to decision — video doesn’t just grab attention, it builds confidence and accelerates purchase intent.

The most successful dealers aren’t always creating the most content. They’re creating the right content. That means matching format to the funnel, aligning creative with buyer expectations, and using automation to produce consistent, high-quality automotive video at scale.

If you’re just getting started, begin with one or two high-impact areas — like automated inventory videos to showcase your stock, or paid video ads to drive engagement — and expand from there.

The results speak for themselves. Take Lipscomb, a UK retailer that adopted Phyron’s App and Inventory Videos - within just three months they boosted enquiries by 125%, transactions by 25%, and total transactional value by 40%. By automating video creation, they cut manual work, sped up listings, and attracted more engaged, high-intent buyers.

Video is the bridge between interest and action. With proven results from dealers like Lipscomb, the technology is here, the buyers are watching, and the opportunity is wide open. Now’s the time to make automotive video your most powerful tool for engagement and conversion.