In this 6-minute read:
- Unique marketing ideas for your auto repair, service, or tire shop
Do you find yourself scraping the bottom of the well looking for ideas to market your auto services business? Check out our list of marketing ideas to get the creative juices flowing again and kick your marketing campaign back into gear.
Marketing is a crucial part of any business, and we want to provide resources that your team can use to continue to grow your customer base and have fun doing it!
With Womply Email Marketing, you can turn customers into regulars and get more repeat business with targeted emails that send automatically when customers transact with you. Learn more when you sign up for Womply Free!
Fun ways to market your auto services business
From swag bags to online advertising campaigns, there are tons of different ways that you can market your auto business. Take a look at these ideas and give a few of them a try. See what works best for your team and customer base. You may find a hidden gem that you hadn’t thought of.
Network / Establish partnerships
Don’t take your local community partners for granted. Look for opportunities in your community to partner up with other businesses. If you are an auto repair shop you might reach out to some local auto dealerships and let them know that you have availability to take on their overflow. This will keep their customers happy not having to wait forever to get their repairs done and help your business out at the same time. In turn, you can also send referrals their way when your customers are shopping around for something new.
Another great opportunity is for auto repair businesses and dealerships to partner with auto parts stores. Repeat business generally to their store may result in better deals with loyalty discounts, and you can also refer business back and forth to one another.
Word of mouth and referrals are still a huge part of getting new business, so take the time to establish one or more professional relationships like this.
Incentivize customer referrals
Create some kind of customer loyalty or referral program that rewards your customers for their referrals. You could have a referral card that your customers sign and give to their friends. When their friends come in with the card, you could give them and the referring customer some kind of discount or freebie.
Learn more with this guide: How to create a customer loyalty program today
Create a good website
This one may seem like a no-brainer, but it is so important to have a good website. What we mean by a “good” website is that it provides value to the customer beyond just a way to get in contact with you.
A good website for an auto services business will share information about your company and who you are, it will have a comprehensive list of the services you offer (and maybe even include prices), and it will have your contact information and hours that you are available. A great website may even have an online booking platform for customers to schedule appointments with you, depending on the services you offer.
If you need to get started on a new website, check out some of these resources:
- How to build an effective auto services website: top features
- How to build your own business website (step-by-step walkthrough)
- 5 best DIY websites for small businesses on a budget
Be a subject matter expert
As a professional in the auto services industry, you have specialized experience and expertise that you can and should share with your customers. Use that information to market to and establish trust with your customer base.
By sharing helpful tips and advice on your website, social media channels (including YouTube), and email campaigns, you can establish yourself as a subject matter expert that your customers come to when they are facing an issue with their vehicle. If they’ve found your tips helpful and need additional help, you’re likely the first person they’ll call when they need some professional assistance.
Go deeper: Best practices for running YouTube channel for your business
Get your swag on
Customers love freebies, and if you have an awesome brand, you should cater to this by giving away swag with your logo on it. Things like air-fresheners, pens, keychains, bumper stickers, and license plate covers are great swag options to share with your customers.
This may not directly convert to leads, but it’s an awesome way to show appreciation to your customers and get your brand out there. The more frequently someone sees your brand, the more likely they are to call you when they are on the hunt for some auto services.
A couple of good sites to purchase customized swag from are anypromo.com and 4imprint.com.
Create unique offers
Along with freebies, everyone loves a good deal. Identify opportunities where you can offer some savings to a specific customer-type (college students, teachers, military, healthcare workers, etc.). If your business is located in a college town, you can create fun discounts for college students – like a free Starbucks gift card with every oil change or bundling a few services for major savings.
For Teacher Appreciation Week or World Health Worker Week you can offer discounts to those specific professionals to show appreciation for them and provide incentives to do business with you. This also helps show that you care about your community and want to help these workers.
Set up remarketing campaigns
Remarketing campaigns are awesome for brand awareness. This type of campaign allows you to target potential customers who have visited your website (or a specific page on your website) so that you can make sure they are seeing your brand. This allows you to reach people who have shown interest in your services but maybe weren’t quite ready to buy in.
This is especially great for auto dealerships because customers tend to do more research before making a large purchase. So while they are in that research phase, you can make sure they are seeing your brand frequently, each time bringing them closer to working with you.
Google Ads and Facebook ads both have remarketing capabilities.
Learn more about Google remarketing ads: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/3210317?hl=en
Learn more about Facebook remarketing ads: https://www.facebook.com/business/goals/retargeting
Try non-traditional advertising methods
There are several places you can advertise your auto business beyond the traditional print, radio, and billboard ads.
Think of the places online (besides Google and Facebook) that your target audience is spending a lot of their time:
- Hulu
- Spotify
- Pandora
- YouTube
- Quora
These all offer local advertising capabilities, allowing you to get your brand in front of even more people.
Learn more about alternative advertising solutions with our guide: 5 places to advertise online besides Google and Facebook
Keep (or start) using your email marketing software
Email marketing is a great marketing strategy to use in conjunction with any of the ideas we’ve already shared. It’s a great way to promote the discounts and deals that you are offering at any given time and to stay top of mind with your customers.
You can use email marketing to send out reminders about your customer referral program, send a “happy birthday” message, give holiday discounts, or just send a reminder that it’s time for an oil change or tire rotation.
Womply’s automated email marketing engine can help you get these messages set up and sent out to your customers just when they need them most.
Learn more by trying Womply Free!