When you’re running an auto repair or tire shop, marketing might not be at the forefront of your to-do list. And while putting all of your energy into the day-to-day tasks, management, and customer service is great, it’s still important to invest some time into effective marketing strategies for auto repair shops.

Here are three simple, but effective, marketing strategies that we recommend for auto repair shops specifically.

3 Simple Marketing Strategies to Help Auto Repair Shops Succeed

Controlled Review Building

Obviously, we don’t mean for you to play “Big Brother” with your reviews. It’s important that you see any positive and negative reviews posted by your customers. This is because it helps you to understand how you might improve their experience, learn from your mistakes, and make any changes that will better your business in the future.

However, controlled review building is where you publish positive reviews where your potential customers will see them (i.e. your website, your Google listing, etc.) In addition, you make sure to privately address any unsatisfied customers who have left negative reviews.

Because your customers can research all of their options before choosing an auto repair shop, word-of-mouth and reviews are super important for your shop’s reputation. Customers place a lot of trust in reviews these days so ensuring that your auto repair shop is well-reviewed is an effective marketing strategy.

Optimize for Local Awareness

Reach customers in your area by optimizing your auto repair shop’s website for local awareness. You can do this by:

• Creating a Google My Business account

• Creating a Yelp listing

• Targeting specific audience-types on social media

• Sending print ads to zip codes that are closest to your shop

Once you’ve completed these, continue to monitor your listings for ongoing conversations, reviews, and more. Also be sure to upload current images of your employees and auto repair shop in order to create more awareness and increase exposure.

Targeted Promotion

This marketing strategy ties in to some of what we mentioned about creating local awareness. However, sending targeted promotional material to your customers is about more than just ensuring you have the right zip codes covered. It’s also about being consistently present, top-of-mind, and speaking directly to your ideal customer.

When you create an online ad (or a physical one) think about what your ideal customer is looking for. Do they have a lot of trouble with their tires? Are they looking for deals on oil changes? Are they searching for an auto repair shop they can really trust?

By addressing these pain points and speaking directly to what’s on their heart, you’re promotions will become highly targeted and a lot more successful.

In addition, you can use targeted promotion to reach out to your existing customer database. For example, if you have a customer rewards program in place, you can remind your existing customers about rewards points they haven’t used yet. Or you can send them oil change reminders, Happy Birthday messages, discount codes, and more!

Your existing customers will appreciate the reminders and will be encouraged to come back to your shop again and again for their auto needs.

Make this year your most successful year yet with marketing strategies that actually work.

Use each of these marketing strategies for auto repair shops to capitalize on your marketing dollars and bring more customers into your shop. Using these strategies will help you to target the right customers and turn them into loyal patrons.

Choosing BAYiQ is another smart way to amplify your marketing strategies in 2019. Click to schedule a demo today to learn more about the expansive benefits and features tire dealers are getting with BAYiQ.