I had a call from a client in the auto repair industry. He asked if I’d be willing to talk to a fellow owner of several shops about a sales performance issue at one of their locations. He’d fired an agency, and after a few months, his new agency wasn’t faring any better, or at least the shop wasn’t. He didn’t want to change agencies; he just wanted an outsider’s perspective. So, of course, I was happy to talk with him.
SEO Audit Conversation
The initial focus was on the repair shop’s SEO performance. He wanted to know if there was something about the optimization for that shop that would cause it to underperform the other locations. On the surface, this seems like the right question. And, it was something to look into.
So, I agreed to draft a proposal for an SEO audit. But before we did that, I wanted to better understand the markets and the marketing they were doing for each location because he mentioned a couple of things that stood out to me.
Likely A Market Issue
First, there was an assumption that the demographics of the poorly performing shop should lead to higher revenue. Of the three repair shops, its area had the highest average household income: about $250k.
The second thing mentioned was the type of promotions. They were discounts, free oil changes, and other price-driven incentives. But, no matter how good the promotions were, they didn’t drive new customers to the shop.
I thought this might be a case of being too close to the issue to see it clearly. If you are familiar with the core market in the automotive repair industry, you might sense where I am going with this.
The short version is, high income does not universally equate to a good target market.
For auto repair services, vehicle ownership and age in the area are key factors. To a large extent, they make up the addressable market. The best average age range of the vehicles is 6-12 years. At that age, they are owned (not leased) and require regular maintenance and repairs. Owners also tend to look for non-dealer resources due to cost – either real or perceived.
High-income households’ vehicle ownership is not a good profile for an auto repair business. They have newer vehicles. The younger cars tend to be under warranty, are often leased, and owners feel more comfortable going to the dealership for repairs and maintenance.
Local Auto Repair Market Analysis
Before we ran the SEO audit, we conducted some research. We ran an in-depth review of the areas around the three repair shops. The report showed what our instincts and experience hinted at. The markets were substantially different. From the demographics, to the presence of high-end dealerships, to the density of repair shops-to-population, the high-income area screamed for a completely different approach to local marketing strategies.
So, we’ll conduct the SEO audit. But SEO wasn’t the core issue.
Serve The Repair Shops’ Actual Customer Base
From a marketing perspective, this is where it gets interesting and fun. The high-income market is not concerned with discounts and free oil changes or tire rotations. Their vehicles are high-end and, even if older, well cared for. They want great service, convenience, expert certified mechanics, and confidence that the person taking care of their vehicle actually cares about their vehicle.
To attract these customers, highlight offerings that appeal to them. Look at things along the lines of:
- Online scheduling and visibility into car history – Convenience.
- Transparent, full diagnostic reports with each visit – Trust.
- Concierge benefits – Service.
- Friendly, courteous staff – Respect.
Essentially, when a high-income customer is in the shop, they have to feel like they are the only customer. To a greater extent than others, they need to feel special. A discount won’t overcome a perceived issue or inconvenience.
Importance of Trusted Agency Partnerships
The other aspect of the conversation that struck me is that his exchange with his current agency didn’t seem to transcend digital marketing, and in particular, SEO. I kind of get that. That’s the agency’s scope. And, to be honest, our tertiary review showed they were covering the bases quite well. I would not encourage him to leave them.
My suggestion to business owners is to strongly encourage your marketing partners to look outside their scope. Agencies are reluctant to do so at times because it might look like they’re trying to place blame elsewhere. But this isn’t about blame. It’s about helping clients succeed. And sometimes clients have to help agencies to help them.