Getting customers to come into your shop is one of the most difficult and expensive things you will ever have to do as a shop owner. Typically you will spend four cents out of every revenue (sales) dollar on marketing and hours upon hours in creating campaigns, doing follow-up, managing and measuring the results, and at the end of it all you are very likely to tell me you need more cars. Though many of us still hold on to an earlier time of direct interaction with our customers, and marketing that was straightforward and honest (and mostly ended up in the trash), the ways that we engage our customers in today's service world demand that we step out from behind our counter and try new ways of attracting and retaining customers. Not for the sake of new, but for the much more practical reason that this is where our customers are. It is where we have to go to find new customers and what we have to do to retain the ones we already have. Welcome to the world of social media marketing.
People are not opening that big yellow book when they need tires or their car serviced; the internet, mobile technology and social media have changed all of that. You need to hop on that bus and ride that change to the new and exciting places it will take you. The links below will set you on the shore of the vast ocean that social media represents. All you need to do is steel yourself for the journey ahead, and jump on in. A world of new and different customer interactions is waiting.
Some important names that could assist you in launching your social media marketing efforts and your broader automotive vision for the future:
Getting started with Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/business/
Getting started with Twitter: https://biz.twitter.com/en-gb/marketing-twitter
Getting started with Instagram: https://business.instagram.com/gettingstarted/
Getting Started with Pinterest: https://business.pinterest.com/en
Getting started with Google and Google +: http://www.google.com/+/brands/index.html
Getting started with LinkedIn: https://smallbusiness.linkedin.com/small-business-marketing
Another far-reaching impact of mobile technology is search engine optimization, or SEO. Many of us are only just now getting used to the idea and theory of SEO and its driving viability on the search engines consumers often use in locating service providers. With Siri, Cortana (Windows), and Google Now (Android), we have to look at restructuring our SEO efforts to include the impact of mobile technology on our local search engine optimization. A.J. Kumar of Entrepreneur magazine says, "Siri can call you a cab after a night on the town by automatically processing information about local cab companies in response to the query, 'Call me a cab.' Automating the search process means you never look up 'cab companies in your area' in the search engines, avoiding the traditional search engine results pages and pay-per-click advertisements entirely, therefore limiting their importance and influence." In other words, the website you have worked so hard to set up could be invisible to mobile applications, which is huge. The very strong trend is toward people (your customers and potential customers) signing on to the internet through a mobile device. If you are not being seen, it is very difficult to attract new customers and just as difficult to retain the ones you currently have.
The rules of marketing are in the midst of huge change. Our visibility on the internet and on our smartphones seems the only viable path to automotive salvation. Marketing remains critical and as difficult a decision as it has always been. The technology that goes into running a successful shop today changes nearly as fast and with the same regularity as the technology you see in the cars we are working on. Just like with those cars, the job demands that you update those tools every once in a while. Technology lights the way; we need to embrace it and invest in it, both with resources (money) and with our time.
A great and affordable (free!) starting place for your digital journey would be a partnership between Google and the Small Business Administration (The federal General Services Administration), where they "have partnered to educate local businesses about how to succeed online. Each video describes how a small business owner successfully uses the internet to grow his or her business. It's important to be where your customers are...online!": Tools for Online Success
Social Media Marketing, by its very nature, is living, breathing and hopefully finds a way to be engaging. Considering how our customers and would-be customers search for goods and services, our very worst action in this environment is to do nothing and to be invisible and to those looking for the services we provide. We have to be where our customers are and seen as a provider of the services they need. Even being a bit off center and seen in a negative light (bad review) is better than being invisible. If nobody is seeing you, you have no chance to grow, you have no chance to prosper, and you have no chance of attracting new customers. If you are not attracting new customers, you have no chance of survival.
What does a shop owner have to do to get started with social media marketing? What does a shop owner have to do to make him or herself more visible? The answer to these questions is both easy and very complex. The easy part is deciding that you want to be part of the conversation and fundamentally change the way you communicate, engage, acquire and retain customers.
As with any marketing, it is best to start with a plan that has a framework, a budget, and clearly defined goals. Since social media marketing will only represent a portion of your total marketing effort, your plan needs to seamlessly integrate with your broad marketing plan and even complement those efforts.
Here are 8 considerations to get you started.
1. Set reasonable goals and meet them – ROI, Timelines, and Areas of improvement
2. Create a budget and live by it: Marketing (all forms) should be 4% of total sales
3. Integrate Social Media marketing efforts with your existing marketing plan:
4. Measure it so you can manage it- Know where you are and where you want to go
5. Know who you are trying to reach and where to reach them - Demographics
6. Be part of the conversation on Social Media and let it go wherever it goes:
7. Focus on quality content versus quantity - That saying about first impressions…
8. Be willing to learn and be willing to try something new – Make some mistakes!
Because most shop owners are very busy and because social media marketing requires time, attention to detail and follow-up, I strongly recommend hiring a professional to develop, implement and oversee a plan unique to your operation. That doesn't let you off the hook. Somebody needs to communicate the vision and values your shop represents (honesty, quality, price, convenience, etc.), and somebody needs to set the expectations and budget and somebody needs to oversee performance. That somebody is you!
It's 8:00 o'clock. Do you know where your customers are?
