Five Ways Auto Repair Shops Fail at Local Marketing
Auto Repair Resolutions in the New Year
With every New Year, comes a long list of resolutions that will be accomplished in the upcoming year. But now that we are more than halfway through January, let’s take an honest moment of reflection. Have you been hitting the gym every day like you promised yourself you would? Or did you sneak in a Coca-Cola even though you set a goal not to drink soda in 2017?
If you set any resolutions for your auto repair shop’s local marketing, we hope that you are still chugging along and accomplishing those goals. But in reality, we all know that New Year’s resolutions usually get put aside and are not accomplished.
12 months is a long time, right? At least you had good intentions!
For this reason, the CarCareCONNECT team put together a list of five ways auto repair shops fail at local marketing. This should be your list of what NOT to do in 2017!
- Excuses, excuses. Let’s start with the obvious. We all seem to be better at making up excuses for why we can’t accomplish something than we are with actually putting a plan into action. Skip the excuses and set a timeline that will hold you accountable.
The answer: Make it happen. You are simply wasting time by making up excuses!
- Auto repair shops aren’t taking advantage of free local marketing resources. How can you say no to free? (Especially if the free resource will get new customers into your auto shop!) There are numerous online directories, maps and social media channels that are free for you to list your company on.
The answer: Claim your auto repair shop’s online listings today! Make sure your auto shop is on the map.
- Websites are not mobile friendly. If you visualize the customers that are visiting your auto repair shop, you most likely envision someone with a smartphone glued to his or her hand. For this reason it is important make sure you have a mobile-optimized website that allows for an exceptional user experience on smartphones and tablets.
The answer: Design your website so it looks great on a desktop computer as well as mobile phones and tablets. Organize the website’s content so that the user can easily find what they are looking for without having to scroll and scroll. For example, list your address and an appointment request button close to the top of the mobile-friendly website.
4. Inconsistent contact information and hours. Does your website list your auto repair shop as open until 9 p.m., but your Google My Business listing says you are only open until 8 p.m.? This inconsistent information will affect your ranking in local search results as well as result in a loss of customers to your shop.
The answer: Make sure you monitor every place that your contact information and hours of operation are listed in order to ensure consistency.
5. Auto repair shops aren’t tracking their local marketing success. Even if you have diligently put a local marketing strategy into place, it is important to monitor the success of your efforts. Don’t let all your hard work crash and burn.
The answer: Evaluate what is working and what isn’t working. You may need to tweak your plan along the way. It is all part of the process!
The Moral of the Story
Develop a plan to succeed in 2017 and make sure that you follow through. As you focus on local marketing throughout the year, you will be rewarded with new customers visiting your shop. Don’t let your local marketing resolutions fall apart like the healthy diet that you planned on eating!
Do you want to grow your shop?
Scan your website today for a full report that will provide insight into how your can find more customers online!