If you were the General Manager of an auto repair shop, what marketing idea would you take on a test drive?
To help you find the right marketing tactic for your auto repair shop, we asked marketing experts and business leaders this question and to share their best marketing ideas. From educational blog content to focusing on time-based events, we have several great ideas that may help you better market your auto repair business.
Here are nine marketing ideas for auto repair shops :
- Market With Vendors
- Educational Blog Content
- Monthly Newsletter
- Offer Auto Repair As A Subscription Service
- Speed Test
- Roll Into Rideshare
- Make Leaving Positive Reviews Even Easier
- Focus On Time-Based Events
- Test Drives
Market With Vendors
Comarketing with vendors is a great way for an auto repair shop to boost their visibility both on and offline. For example, Cruise America often welcomes auto repair shops as an extension of our nationwide network of rental locations and we periodically do co-marketing like press releases to support their business. Think about the vendors of an auto repair shop, and get creative about co-marketing opportunities.
Randall Smalley, Cruise America
Educational Blog Content
Auto repair shops and SEO auto repair companies like ours share one thing in common: consumers generally don’t trust us. The lack of trust stems from a lack of understanding about the services being offered and performed. To overcome this obstacle, auto repair shops should consider creating and publishing educational content around their core services. This educational content can address customers’ frequently asked questions or a variety of other auto repair-related blog topics. By creating this content, auto repair shops can earn the trust of current customers as well as attract prospective customers through organic search.
Thylan Le, Markitors
Monthly Newsletter
Most shops are not continuously engaging with their past or current customers. To reengage with this audience, the shop needs to remain the first person they think of when an auto repair problem comes up. By having a monthly newsletter that goes out to all current, past, and prospective clients, you can provide them with simple maintenance tips they can do themselves. For example, at the start of spring, replace your windshield wipers because the rain is coming! This is also a great opportunity for you to inform your readers of any specials you may have or any community events you are participating in. Start today with this simple marketing strategy to grow your business.
Steve Feld, Biz Coach Steve
Offer Auto Repair As A Subscription Service
Selling auto repair service is challenging. Customers typically want an immediate repair so they can get on with their lives. However, responding to emergency repair requests is a tough way to run a business. The marketing idea I recommend is to offer a flat rate recurring subscription: auto repair as a service, including customer convenience (e.g. pick up and drop off the vehicle and owner).
Bruce Harpham, Technology Marketing Consultant
Speed Test
A marketing tactic that would be fun to try in an auto shop would be a speed test to see how fast your team can fix your customers’ cars! Many people hate taking their car in for serving because of the time commitment, but this puts a unique spin on it. With this technique, you can quickly become the go-to place for people to get their car serviced due to your speed and customer-centric processes.
Loren Howard, Prime Plus Mortgages
Roll Into Rideshare
As a content marketer for an eCommerce business, I know the value of getting the right message in front of the most eyeballs! If I was the GM of an auto repair shop, I’d start a program for rideshare drivers. I’d offer them a discount for repairs and maintenance in exchange for putting a marketing message in their vehicle where riders could see it. It would say something like, ‘Enjoying the smooth ride? XYZ Auto Shop takes care of this vehicle and can take care of yours.’ Then include a website address, phone number, and QR code (so they can just scan it with their phone to get your info).
Francesca Nicasio, Payment Depot
Make Leaving Positive Reviews Even Easier
Sometimes, customers can be overjoyed with the level of service if a repair job is completed early, under budget or you found some other way to exceed their expectations. While they may share their excitement with you in-person, it’s often a hassle and many extra steps for them to go online and leave a review. You can facilitate this for them by including a quick link in an email invoice, including a small QR code when they come in to pick up their vehicle, or finding other ways to make it easier to leave reviews. Google Reviews help set businesses apart at a glance when searching for trusted companies and can help you appear higher in local results. Make the most of them if you haven’t taken steps to do so already!
Colton De Vos, Resolute Technology Solutions
Focus On Time-Based Events
By collecting marketing data from your clients ahead of time, repair shops can directly focus marketing efforts on time-based events – one example being upcoming rain or snow conditions. During these periods, you can market tires, maintenance and general safety checks to customers based on the safety of their loved ones. Rather than being an expense they have to pay for but can afford to wait on, these items become essential purchases. Not only does this work extremely well from a sales point of view, but it also shows the shop cares about their clients.
Jeff Welch, Grab the Axe
Test Drives
Test drives give automobile companies a good chance to directly talk to the customers, discuss their requirements, understand their budget and the opportunity to seal the deal. As a General Manager, you must create a questionnaire for your customers and let them fill it as soon as they complete the test drive. During the trip, you may ask them about their priorities related to the vehicle they want to purchase, the timeline for making the purchase, the vehicles they like and the vehicles they had. You may also promote your latest models and vehicles as per the customer’s budget instead of sticking to describing the features of the current vehicle (the one your prospect is test-driving). However, respect the first choice of your customer and give details about this product in a brief too. You can also talk about financing options your agency might provide to the buyer.
Caroline Lee, CocoSign
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