There are many ways that auto shops can market to different types of customers. In order to do this, they should be focusing on improving customer experience, creating tailored strategies for each customer type, and collecting the right metrics.
On May 31, we hosted a webinar on marketing. Our key presenter was Jeff Tremper, who is the Founder and Executive Vice President at Throttle, a company that helps marketing programs for auto shops succeed. He discussed how to create a winning marketing strategy, giving tips on how to integrate with R.O. Writer by Matrix Imaging Solutions (Throttle).
Learn 4 key takeaways from this webinar on finding the right location
- Learn how superior customer service is essential to retaining customers.
A good customer experience is what builds trust. Your customers need to be happy with your products before anything else can happen. Try to improve your store services before moving on to marketing so when you do, it will be more successful.
Furthermore, marketing efforts that go beyond the shop doors can be a success. When you take small steps to improve your customer experience, you’ll see more success in your marketing as well. Some of these small steps include paying attention to accurate information, deleting coupons, and getting rid of confusing codes.
When R.O. Writer’s repair shop management is combined with Throttle’s marketing platform, it provides tools for excellent customer service, such as Digital Vehicle Inspections vehicle-specific services created out of manufacturer recommendations.
- How to invest in your business with a marketing budget
A marketing budget is critical to follow through with your brand being top of mind for your customer. It shows that you are committed and will make sure that the next service visit for your customer is met with a thriving, successful business.
a successful marketing strategy requires dedicating 7 to 8% of your annual revenue for the year. This way you can establish a game plan that caters to your customer experience from new and existing customers to lost customers.
How a marketing budget for repair shops helps to increase customer loyalty
With R.O. Throttle, you can keep track of your customer interactions as well as financials. The integration with Throttle’s marketing solution allows general managers at auto repair shop software like ours to view our transactions in a single feed and receive comprehensive reports of our customer communication.
- Create a marketing strategy that includes 3 audiences: new customers, existing customers, and lost customers.
Jeff also discussed the importance of having a marketing strategy for three different customer journeys. For example, there is one for unmotivated customers and another for those who are loyal.
Both direct mail and guerilla marketing cards can be effective in supporting an auto shop’s target audience. Facebook advertisements can also be targeted by location to reach new audiences. Consider your current customer demographic data to learn who you should be targeting.
Develop a marketing plan for the existing customers in your area
People who were visited by your company should be contacted with surveys and other post-visit materials to keep them returning. The best way for marketing to the customers you already have: focus on keeping your brand top of mind by using channels like email, direct mail, and text message reminders together.
Your lost customers can be any type of people that you have already done work for, but then stopped communicating with. When it comes to marketing to these lost customers, your first priority should be those paying the most. You could use techniques such as social media engagement and phone calls for communication.
A consistent, omnichannel approach to auto repair shop marketing is necessary. R.O. Writer’s Bodyshop Management software and Throttle’s marketing platform integration can help make this a reality. With this set-up, for instance, you can send out timely messages to each unique customer. The integration also lets you utilize other retention opportunities for existing and lost customers, such as fleet and state inspection reminders.
How repair shops can use customer journey mapping to strategically promote themselves
- Use marketing KPIs to find your best location
It is important to know how well your marketing strategy is working. When you are trying to determine indicators of success, Jeff recommends tracking a few specific metrics such as
Geo-targeting marketing: Where are the cars?
Develop a layered marketing strategy to find the right location
Learn what brings in traffic to your site
Find a detailed list of the best email/mail addresses
Read about how you can use a combination of Rate of return and the Risk-adjusted rate of return.
Where is the best location for marketing?
With R.O. Writer and Throttle, you can clean up your email list, maintain every customer record, and perform all business transactions in one user-friendly tool.
Throttle allows businesses to reach different customers using a variety of marketing touchpoints.
Find out how to find the perfect place for your auto repair shop
To learn more about how Throttle-R.O. Writer’s partnership can help kick-start your efforts, you can watch Jeff’s presentation or contact our team at sales@rowriter.com.
