Repair Shop Advertising

We now recognize that calling our auto repair shop website event calendar a ‘specials’ calendar was a big mistake. In hind sight this powerful auto repair marketing tool should have been called a 'Promotional Calendar'. The emphasis should have been on using it to promote ANY type of daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal, or yearly event and not just discounted services or products. Robert Maxim's auto repair websites event calendar is a very powerful marketing tool and not making full use of it is a serious oversight by auto repair shop owners.

Have you been throwing lots money at auto repair advertising with dismal results? Business growth has stalled? Here are five simple questions you can ask your customers that will save you auto repair shop advertising money and build customer referrals.

The auto repair industry as a whole is fighting a generally accepted bad reputation. Building trust with new customers is tough when the public's poor perception is supported by independent studies. The following three part approach can be very effective in developing your reputation and attracting long term customers: awareness, referrals, and an impeccable track record.

The terms advertising and marketing are often mistakenly interchanged but they have quite different meanings. Understanding their proper definitions can help you define and implement a marketing plan for your auto repair business.

If you think you can ignore social media and ratings and review sites, think again. Check out this short, thought provoking video on the impact of social media on EVERYONE. It asks (and answers) the simple question: Is social media a fad?

Here are some though provoking quotes from the video:

Someone recently asked me to do some auto repair website SEO. I declined. It wasn't that I didn't want to help, but more that no amount of SEO could make their website perform. What was needed was a total rebuild of the website.

Do you dare get your business into the social media arena? Are you afraid you will only expose yourself to complainers? You will be happy to know that by far the greater number of Yelp.com users who post reviews give businesses a thumbs up. While there are no guarantees of five star reviews, the feedback will allow you to improve your service quality. And besides, people are going to talk about you regardless so you might as well participate in the party. Social media may be the best free automobile service marketing idea available.

Developing customer trust starts by focusing on website content and features. Auto repair shop websites need to make a personal connection and communicate trustworthiness to viewers. Building a feeling of trust should be the overriding website design objective.

If you have been wondering if social media could help your auto repair shop marketing check out Yamato Auto Repair's Yelp profile. If you have any doubts that social networking and customer driven advertising can attract new auto repair customers just check out the 49+ glowing, thumbs up reviews these guys have. Why wouldn't anyone want to do business with them. One of the strongest examples of referral marketing I've seen. And best of all, it's free!

Bad economic conditions often force auto repair shop management to look for expenses to cut. Slashing auto repair shop marketing budgets is easy, offers an immediate solution to cash flow problems, but is the worst mistake possible. Outsmart your competition by continuing your marketing - just spend your dollars more wisely. Be primed and ready for economic recovery.