How to Successfully Run Automotive Repair Ads Online

It is impossible to ignore the importance of digital marketing in the advertising industry. Its ability to target an audience based on interest, demographics, behavior, and even location make it one of the best ways to reach new shop customers and drive sales.

Here’s how you can get started:

1. Determine the Channel You’ll Run Ads On

Do you know what advertising platform works best for your tire or auto repair shop? For those who haven't had the time to research digital advertising platforms, paid search, social advertising, and display ads are the three main channels.

To determine which type of online advertising method will be best for your business, here is a more in depth look at each:

Paid Search

Paid search is when you pay search engines, like Google or Bing, to advertise your content on the search engine results page (SERP) for relevant keywords in the car repair industry. For example, when someone searches the keyword ‘auto repair shop’ you want your business to show up in the results.

Consider utilizing platforms for free keyword research tools to streamline the process and make it easier to execute.

Paid Social Advertising

Paid social advertising are the ads you see while scrolling through social media, such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Not only is this one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your business but over 80% of the population uses social media, making it a great way for your shop to get in front of potential customers.

Each platform uses the pay-per-click payment model, meaning you only pay when a user takes the desired action. Additionally, social platforms allow you to choose your goal when targeting an audience such as brand awareness, lead generation, website traffic, and more.

Display Advertising

Display advertising uses banners and pop-ups on various digital mediums, like websites or social media, to entice users to click. After clicking, users get redirected to a landing page designed to drive a specific action, such as scheduling a service appt or contacting you.

There are typically four different forms of display ads to consider:

• Banner ads- These ads usually appear at the top or in the margins of a webpage.
• Interstitial ads- These ads pop up before redirecting you to the page you initially clicked.
• Rich Media- These ads are interactive and can include video, audio, or clickable elements.
• Video ads- These are instream ad units, typically dedicated placements, like pre-roll, that allow you to promote your product through video.
  
  

Which is the Best for My Auto Repair Shop?

Without testing, there is no way to guess what strategy will be most effective for your business. With that said, numerous marketing experts say these five digital advertising platforms are best for marketing small businesses:

1. Paid social advertising on Facebook
2. Paid social advertising on Instagram
3. Paid search advertising on Google
4. Display advertising through the Google Display Network
5. Paid search advertising on Bing
   
   

2. Create Effective Ads

Choosing the medium where your ads will appear is just the first step of the process. The success of your automotive repair ad will rely heavily on the time, thought and creativity put into creating it.

A well crafted ad will accurately reach it's ideal audience with a visually appealing design that utilizes strong, targeted messaging. Here's what that looks like:

Nail Down Your Target Audience

Over 70% of customers prefer personalized ads as opposed to generalized ads. This means that by targeting a smaller segment of your audience, you have a better chance of getting them into your shop. When deciding how to segment your audience, consider things like:

• Demographics, such as age, gender, and education.
• Location, such as specific counties, cities, and even a mileage radius around your shop address
• Behaviors, such as prior purchases, areas of interest, or hobbies.

Automated marketing platforms, like BayIQ, provide reporting tools such as the customer mapping feature that can help you locate where the bulk of your customers are located.

Craft a Targeted Message & Attractive Design

After you know who you’ll be targeting with your automotive repair ads, next you’ll need to focus on creating an eye-catching design with catchy copy that will resonate. Considering the sheer volume of ads out there, sometimes it can be challenging to cut through the noise and reach the audience you need to.

Following these basic guidelines will help you be successful:

• Utilize easy-to-read typography - Use contrasting colors to make the text pop
• Determine your offer or hook that will capture your customer’s attention
• Less is more, don't go overboard. Give them just enough info to pique interest.
• Incorporate team member photos if possible. If not available shop photos are the next best image you can use
• Include your logo or business name and a clear call to action (CTA)
  
  

3. Choose Your Budget and Push Your Ads Live

One of the hardest parts of creating your automotive repair ads is over, now all that's left is to choose the budget that you’re willing to spend, push it live, and see how it resonates with your target audience. To determine an effective budget to run with, you’ll want to take a look at your overall marketing budget to figure out how much you can allocate to paid digital advertisements.

And depending on the channel that you want to run ads on, there are a few different factors that you can consider when putting your budget together as well:

• For paid search: What your competitors are spending and what the CPCs (cost per clicks) look like for your chosen keywords.
• For paid social media: Most companies spend 15% to 25% of their existing marketing budget on social media marketing efforts.
  
  

Analyze the Responses

Throughout the initial testing phases of your ad campaigns, you’ll learn a lot about your audience. Based on the responses you get from your ads, you can effectively adjust the messaging and creatives, where you’re running your ads, and even the budget to see the most success.

See Results with the Help of BayIQ

A successful online automotive repair ad involves careful consideration of different channels, strong copy, eye-catching design, and a specific audience. One of the best ways to identify groups of people who might be interested in your shop is to look at your company's past sales and customers. This is where additional marketing practices, like customer loyalty programs, can come in handy.

With BayIQ's fully automated marketing software and customer loyalty program, you can collect valuable data about your market to help you build your target market and lock in successful targeting parameters.

Additionally, with BayIQ you can fully streamline your marketing efforts with automated text and email marketing, online reviews, a loyalty program, and even reporting to help you analyze your customer base. Take your marketing efforts to the next level with BayIQ.