Digital marketing solutions for the collision repair shop

Nov. 1, 2019
Digital marketing solutions for today’s is critical in ensuring your business has the best chance possible of being found and standing out among the long list of shops competing for attention in online searches.

Accidents can happen.

A customer failing to choose your business for repairs is an accident you can easily avoid.

No matter where we are today, we’re always connected. That connectivity has led to an evolved consumer. That evolved consumer is changing the ways we as collision repairers market our services.

While word of mouth is still the most effective form of advertising for collision repair, many have failed to grasp that word-of-mouth is now online. The recommendations and reviews of the interconnected internet, drive customer research and ultimately the final repair decision.

Digital marketing solutions for today’s is critical in ensuring your business has the best chance possible of being found and standing out among the long list of shops competing for attention in online searches. The standards for having a strong digital presence are constantly changing, and reputable companies who offer these services stay up to date on trends that explain what people are searching for on Google, how they are using social media to find out more about a business and how they are responding to what they find. There is a lot more that goes into a shop’s digital presence than simply having a website.

One important focus of a digital campaign is called PPC or pay-per-click. When a business runs a PPC campaign, they enter a bid for their ad to appear in one of the top spots on Google’s search result pages when a user enters a keyword into the search box that might have something to do with their business. If their ad shows up in one of those top, sponsored spots and a user clicks on it, the business pays Google a small fee. For example, it may cost the shop $2 if a user clicks on one of their sponsored ads, but if the click results in a new customer choosing to bring their vehicle to that shop, the click has paid for itself.

The agency handling the campaign for the body shop looks at three main characteristics that impact ads submitted for PPC campaigns: ad relevancy, ad copy and estimated CTR, or click-through rate. This is the analysis of how many clicks each PPC ad receives after it has been displayed in Google’s top search results a certain number of times. If adjustments need to be made to improve the CTR, the agency steps in and makes changes that will yield better results and get the most out of the campaign budget set aside by the business.

SEO, or search engine optimization, is another key factor in a successful digital marketing campaign. Each online search engine “crawls,” or scans, each website to assign it a place in a list of search results. A well-designed website will have a strong architecture (minimal white space, clean code), back-linking (links to off-site reviews, business pages and directory listings) and fresh content including keywords that provide a closer match to a user’s search term. Reputable digital marketing agencies implement SEO best practices to make sure the shop’s website gets the best visibility across all search engines.

A shop can also gain better visibility by using social media to gather more leads, generate more website traffic, improve SEO rankings and strengthen their reputation. Engaging with users on social media demonstrates the desire and ability to utilize modern methods of advertising and networking, appealing to a generation of users who use social media just as much or more than Google for finding out more about a business. Part of a digital marketing campaign includes posting regularly on the shop’s behalf across all relevant platforms and using the advertising feature to increase their brand exposure.

Landon Horst from Lichty Brothers, a collision center located in East Earl, Pennsylvania, has seen the difference a clean, modern website has made for their business:

“The average customer that ends up on your website has been researching different businesses and is afraid of being taken advantage of and trying to avoid additional pain. We partnered with a solution provider to build us a website that was easy to use and contained all of the relevant info customers needed to see that would make them feel comfortable with us as a business. We have had customers bring us a car to repair solely because we have a similar make/model repair shown on our website. I have also had customers specifically reference the look and feel of our website when explaining the main reason they chose our shop.”

Horst goes on to talk about why it is important for a business to keep their website updated with relevant content and images.

“It is crucial to make your website fluid,” he explains. “Never design it and then walk away. It can be a challenge to keep it updated, but so important. What will people think if you have cars, blog posts and business descriptions that have not been updated since 2006? They will wonder, ‘What other areas of the business aren’t kept current?’ or ‘Are you properly equipped to repair my new car?’”

A body shop can get started by researching digital marketing companies and their offerings, particularly ones who specialize in the automotive industry. Looking for a professional group with an automotive background can give a shop an extra competitive edge because their campaign will be driven by individuals who understand the market and audience better than others. Shops should also have an idea of how much they want to spend going into it based on their market, something an agency can also help with if they aren’t sure. Growth targets and the desire to maintain or expand are also factors to consider when deciding on an appropriate budget.

At first, investing in a digital marketing plan may sound expensive and risky. It may seem like something that is not needed because there is a perception that traditional methods, such as being referred to by word of mouth or strategically-placed signage, for example, seem to be working well. Then there are scenarios like Anna’s. She focused on shops with a prominent digital presence, shops that competed to win her attention while she did her research online. There may have been other shops in her neighborhood that could have done a good job repairing her car, but without a strong digital presence (or one at all), they would inevitably be overlooked.

An investment in a solid digital marketing strategy will secure a business from flying under the radar and missing out on opportunities to expand their customer base and remain visible as modern ways of choosing a business continue to center around the ease of shopping around and sharing information with others online. Digitalization has defined our future, and businesses who make the choice now to begin networking and reaching customers through the channels discussed in this article will gain a competitive edge in the market over those who do not.

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