Repair Shop Advertising

Here is an auto repair marketing idea that is working well for my auto repair shop clients. Combines inexpensive print ad with related landing page on your website.

Place a small, 2x1 column ad in local paper with link to a corresponding landing page on your website. Keep the ad simple, consistent layout and design, and run it every issue. Anyone experienced with advertising will tell you the secret to a successful ad campaign is frequency and consistency.

Announcing our latest project, DieselVille.com, a directory for diesel repair shops and diesel service shops, dealership or independent, diesel performance shops, diesel parts suppliers and stores, diesel parts manufacturers, and diesel engine and fuel system rebuilders.

DieselVille.com will provide two main benefits for diesel related businesses.

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.