You may have relied on word-of-mouth marketing to create initial buzz for your shop. But that tactic will only take the growth of your business so far.Â
It’s time to build an effective automotive branding strategy and expand your potential customer reach.Â
Let’s look at six ways you can elevate your shop branding approach.
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The advantages of automotive marketing
To generate customer leads, increase sales, and raise awareness of your company, you must have a strong marketing plan for your auto repair shop branding.
Understanding your target audience is a key first step in building this plan.Â
Who is your automotive business target audience?
When developing a marketing strategy for your automotive business, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of your target audience. Before drafting your marketing strategy, you need to conduct some research to identify your customer base.
The following are some examples of target audiences:
Think about the differences between these prospective audiences. Luxury car owners and commercial truck drivers will have very different maintenance and repair needs.
Take time to study these personas before you begin to build your messaging.Â
Automotive branding solutions
Here are a few ideas to keep in mind when you develop a marketing plan for your automotive business:
1. Send regular emails
You can communicate directly with consumers by using email to stay in touch. However, it’s only successful if you adhere to a few best practices, such as:
Divide your target audience into groups
Use tags to categorize the characteristics and routines of each consumer as you construct your email list (i.e., oil change customer, sports car owner, auto repair customer, etc.). Only then should you send emails to the segments to whom they pertain.
Offer greater value than advertisements
Customers like offers, but you should not keep bothering them with marketing messages. Distribute more useful and meaningful thought leadership in your email marketing messages. Avoid too many promotional and sales-focused adverts.
2. Write easy-to-read website copy
For website users, too many words are overpowering.
If you find that your website needs a lot of material, divide it up into one to three-sentence sections. Large,wordy chunks are hard to read, appear cluttered, and take up space that could instead feature video clips or discussion forums.
Describe yourself… What essential services do you offer? Stating your unique selling proposition helps your business appear competent and effective.
In light of this, keep your website’s content focused on your audience. Any writing on your website should focus on the needs of your consumers, how you can address those needs, and why they should choose you over your competing shops.
3. Encourage social media engagement
Use your social media platforms to distribute both educational and interesting material. You are not required to use every social media channel.
However, as part of your automotive marketing plans, set up at least a Facebook profile and keep your page updated with relevant information for your target audience. Not all of your material needs to be about auto repair. It could be about anything having to do with:
- Tips for safe driving
- Advice on car maintenance
- Customer feedback
- Assistance with community projects
4. Reward customers for social interactions
Increase your level of engagement. Social media mentions that are favorable to your brand are beneficial to sales. They are a type of free advertising because they present your company to a crowd without requiring any effort or money from you.
Encourage your consumers to use social media to check in and mention your shop when they visit. Give consumers incentives, like check-in offers or contest entry, to promote their appointment on social media. Your auto repair shop branding will greatly benefit from these shout outs!Â
5. Establish a referral program
Another effective branding approach is to design a referral program that rewards your current customers for referring others to your shop.
For instance, you might conduct a referral challenge during a specific period (say, the summer months), where the individual who made the recommendations would receive a gift card or a certain percentage off their next repair for every three new customers they brought in during that period.
The simplest way to keep track of customer referrals is to teach your service advisors to formally inquire of each new customer who enters the store whether somebody suggested them and, if so, who. This will help with your auto branding.
6. Interact with your community
Getting involved in your local community is one of the most rewarding and practical methods to draw in new clients. Consider all the many activities that take place in your community, town, or city in a given month: cook-offs, networking events, football games, animal shelter adoption displays, and so on.
For instance, if you and your group are huge football fans, you can work with a nearby high school to support their squad. Explore sponsorship opportunities, such as featuring your shop branding on the players’ helmets. Distribute shop vouchers to the crowd at these events.
The nicest aspect of getting involved in your community is being able to serve others. When you genuinely want to help others, you will experience such a profound sense of joy when you witness people benefitting from your help.
Not everything is about attracting new clients. It’s about making a difference in the communities you call home. Nice things will come back to your shop if you regularly perform good deeds.
Wrapping up
Implement the branding strategies in this blog post to bolster marketing strategies, reach new customers and create a staple presence within your local community.Â
