Local auto repair shops generally have engaged owners who enjoy working in the bays, greeting customers, and working side by side with other mechanics. They know that the most important factor in their shop’s success is happy customers who are willing to refer friends and family, leave reviews, and continue to return for maintenance and repairs.
Auto Repair Shop Customers
Repair shop owners also know that they have to continually reach out to new customers. The key vehicle age range for repair shops is between 6 and 12 years, and people are keeping their cars longer, holding on to them after the manufacturer’s warranty expires. When this happens, they are looking for a local shop that can provide better service, has closer ties to the community, and stands behind their work.
This is where a holistic approach to digital marketing for auto repair shops makes a difference.
Auto Repair Customer Journey
Rare is the customer who buys a new car and does not take advantage of the manufacturer’s warranty and the dealer’s add-on services. During this time, they do not pay for the repairs, and may have maintenance services covered as part of the car purchase. Unless they purchase or lease new vehicles every 3-5 years, they will go from paying nothing for service to footing the entire bill.
When a vehicle reaches six years old, the owner is hit with sticker shock for repairs and service. It is not necessarily that the dealership is expensive, though it may be. It is that the customer suddenly becomes responsible for the out-of-pocket cost of maintaining the vehicle.
This is when they start hearing their neighbors when they talk about “their mechanic.” Conversations they’ve ignored for 5 years suddenly become more interesting. They begin recognizing alternatives to the dealership. And when an oil change is needed, or a repair comes up, they will actively look for a local car repair shop.
For local mechanics, providing great service, being visible in the community (offline and online), and appearing to prospective customers when they are looking for repairs are critical to growing and maintaining their business.
The Digital Marketing Approach
Local shops and their owners are part of the community. When we work with shop owners, we emphasize the importance of their offline connections while leveraging digital marketing channels. When developing a digital marketing plan with this approach, you blend your offline activity and community connections with online channels.
One of the first things we look at when working with an auto repair client is their reputation. No matter how good your targeting and messaging are, if you have no reviews or too many bad ones, there are likely some housekeeping issues to address before you spend more money on marketing. So, we’re going to assume the shop is honest, qualified, and respectful, and has good relationships with its customers.
Social Media and The Auto Repair Shop
There is so much involved with the social media channels. One of the more common mistakes we see is a shop posting only about the shop. They may post every day, but their posts tend to focus on offers/discounts, the services, or news about their business. This is a SOcial MEdia approach, and has nothing to do with the customers.
Why do Prospective Repair Shop Customers Use Social Media?
For people who have not been to your shop, social media is how they get to know you. This is where they see how involved you are with the community. It’s where they can get a sense of your “personality” and what is important to you as an owner. Social media is where people either start to get comfortable with you or are put off by you.
Our Approach to Social Media for Repair Shops
The short answer is to be involved. Share information about local events and businesses. Participate and share your positive experiences with the community and local schools. Sponsor local groups. Most shop owners are already involved in the community, but they tend not to share that on social media.
Share your personality. In marketing, they call this the Brand Voice. In a small business, we call it being ourselves. The idea is that when someone reads a post, even if your shop’s name isn’t attached to it, they have a sense it came from your shop; at the very least, they are not surprised to hear it was you. This may be humour, or expertise, or care, or… whatever is recognizable as you.
In moderation, share social proof. These are usually in the form of customer reviews. If someone posted a review on Facebook, Google, Yelp, wherever, let the people on social media know. Don’t overdo it, but periodically, letting people know you do good work in the eyes of other customers is important.
Self-promotion and Social media advertising are why you are on Facebook/Instagram, X, LinkedIn, etc. But, there are limits to how much you can focus on the SOcial MEdia aspects of it. For paid advertising, if you are not active in social media organically, don’t waste your money on advertising. People will go to your profile, and if you are not engaged, they’ll likely move on.
Share promos and services organically on your social channels. Regarding advertising, we find it helpful to keep shops top of mind and to highlight seasonal service recommendations. Particularly with Facebook, you have a lot of targeting and creative options. There is no single right way to go about paid advertising. So, work with your marketing person or agency to develop the right balance and plan for social media advertising.
Auto Repair Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
When car owners enter the auto repair market (cars coming out of warranty), they will likely have questions about maintenance, regular service, and how to care for their car. Google is likely their go-to for finding information, and appearing in search results (SEO) may be your first opportunity to introduce yourself to a prospective customer.
When looking for immediate service, SEO helps by pushing your shop to the top of the search results and the maps/pack section. This is where most of the “action” related results appear – where people will make an appointment.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) – AI
Artificial Intelligence/LLMs are all over the news. From ChatGPT to Gemini to Claude and many others, AIs are becoming the first line of inquiry for many people. However, deep optimization for AEOs is challenging for many businesses.
An in-depth discussion of LLMs is beyond the scope of this article. But we did a recent write-up on LLM optimization and understanding here. The good news is that sites with proper SEO are well-suited to take advantage of LLMs. Mostly, they need to add some clarifying code snippets (llms.txt and JSON) to make it easier for the LLMs to consume the information, particularly during discovery.
PPC Advertising for Auto Repair Shops
Pay-per-click advertising has come a long way over the past 25 years. What we call PPC advertising today would not have been recognizable as such when the industry started. It is important to acknowledge that because there are different flavours of PPC advertising, and you may have one type in mind when you hear (or read) it, and your friend may have a different type in mind. It is important to have a shared understanding of PPC Advertising when developing your paid advertising plan.
Since the majority of people will think of Google Search when discussing PPC ads, we’ll look at the main components of Google’s PPC offering for local service businesses.
Local Service Ads are among the most recent versions of Google Ads. It is separate from the Google Ads platform and is built specifically for local businesses. The price is based on a cost per action – usually a call, and the rate is set by an “auction.” It can be very expensive vs the search cost per click in regular search. But the calls are direct to your shop, and more likely to be higher-quality leads. These ads appear at the top of the search results when someone searches for something Google thinks is relevant to your offerings.
Google Search – PMax and Search – has morphed into a multi-channel ad platform. While you can create keyword lists, Google is downplaying that mode of targeting in favor of signal-based targeting. What this amounts to is that Google AI is taking more control over when and where your ads are presented. Depending on your category, Google AI can do a much better job than manual bidding. But sometimes you get junk.
Tracking Your Repair Shop Digital Marketing
We are going in a direction that requires better feedback on our marketing efforts. While leads and calls are helpful, tracking to the actual revenue is far better. Fortunately, the Auto repair shop industry offers quality options for tracking marketing-to-revenue. Vendors like ShopGenie(Tekmetric), Kukui, and others provide direct links from marketing activity to revenue.
To understand user behavior for conversion, Google Analytics provides reporting tools. Properly set up, GA can track the source and activity of people on your website. When combined with shop management software, you can confidently track the results of your digital marketing efforts.
Working with an Agency For Digital Marketing
As a repair shop owner or manager, you spend most of your time in the bay or with customers. If you decide to work with a digital marketing agency, look for one that is focused on small businesses. While auto repair shop marketing is helpful, a good digital marketing agency with experience in local marketing is even more important.
Shameless self plug – Fanatically Digital is both an SMB local-business-focused agency and has experience working with auto repair shops. If you want to discuss your digital marketing, contact us here.