5 Steps to Build an Auto Body Shop Marketing Plan
BodyShop Marketing is the premier authority on digital marketing for independent and family-owned auto body shops. With nationwide chains and corporate collision centers taking over, it’s hard for local body shops to gain a foothold in the market.
The team at BodyShop Marketing offers end-to-end digital marketing solutions to help these smaller businesses combat the intense competition from large corporations and franchises. As a full-service auto body shop marketing agency, BodyShop Marketing knows how to develop a comprehensive and successful marketing plan that delivers maximum ROI and performance.
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Understanding the Customer’s Needs
The first step to building an effective marketing plan for an auto body shop is defining the target market and understanding customers' needs. Many business owners make the common mistake of trying to run their body shop without considering these critical factors. A great way to start is by answering a few questions:
- What is the ideal customer in terms of age range, income, location, challenges, and pain points?
- What specific services does the shop offer?
- What type of digital marketing goals does the business want to achieve?
- What are the business’s specific objectives for future growth?
- How can the shop provide superior customer service?
- Why should a potential customer choose this body shop instead of a competitor’s?
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Determine a Specific Digital Marketing Strategy
In the past, digital marketing consisted of banner ads, email campaigns, and a website. Now, the options are virtually endless. Standard choices include:
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaigns
- Local SEO
- Website design
- Social media marketing
- Content marketing
- SMS campaigns
Generally speaking, omnichannel campaigns deliver the best performance. For body shop business owners who don’t have the experience necessary to choose the ideal strategy, working with professionals like the team at BodyShop Marketing is an excellent choice.
This family-owned agency offers multiple packages and customized strategy building, including services like website design, SEO, geofencing, PPC and retargeting, reputation management, and more. Owner Daniel Burkholder is also an expert in marketing on social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram and emphasizes that this is an aspect of digital marketing that auto body shops can't afford to ignore.
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Set a Budget
Another key element of building an auto body shop marketing plan concerns finances and budget. Large corporations and collision centers have thousands or even millions to throw into their advertising strategies.
However, local and independent shops have less capital. While the exact number varies from shop to shop, a good target is usually 3% to 6% of gross sales. BodyShop Marketing recommends sticking to the budget and performing routine audits to eliminate wasted ad spending on methods that aren’t producing results.
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Build a Plan for Online Presence Management
Every potential customer wants to have confidence in the business's credibility, reputation, and trustworthiness before they hand over their hard-earned cash. This is known as social proof, and customers find it in places like a body shop’s Google Business Profile, their social media pages, website, review platforms, and more.
Auto body shops that don’t have a solid plan for managing their online presence may not get the results they want from their marketing efforts. While establishing a positive reputation in the local community is effective, it’s only half the equation.
Here’s where the benefits of partnering with professional marketers become clear. BodyShop Marketing's digital marketing services include AutoBoost, an innovative approach to online presence management. It includes on-page, off-page, and local SEO techniques, including customized content marketing and Google platform optimization.
An additional service that goes hand-in-hand with AutoBoost is AutoLink. This chat widget for websites allows shop owners to engage directly with customers and includes a powerful software tool for proactive reputation management.
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Measure Performance and Progress
One of the most valuable pieces of advice that BodyShop Marketing gives to clients is that effective marketing is an ongoing process. Just like running a business, it requires constant work and effort.
After developing and launching a marketing plan, it’s essential to benchmark progress and monitor the performance of each campaign. Which strategies are working and delivering results, and which ones aren’t? Auto body shop owners can track metrics such as:
- Conversion rate
- Cost per conversion
- Bestselling services
- Customer lifetime value
This process requires long-term data collection and analysis. With help from the BodyShop Marketing team, independent and local shop owners can take advantage of the critical insights this data analysis provides. A body shop marketing plan involves gathering, analyzing, and leveraging the most important pieces of data. This allows for continuous evolution, improvement, and refinement of marketing plans for maximum performance and revenue growth.
About BodyShop Marketing
BodyShop Marketing offers elite digital marketing solutions tailored exclusively for local, independent, and family-owned auto body shops. With a comprehensive approach to advertising and marketing, owner Daniel Burkholder fully understands the commitment, tenacity, and hard work it takes to run a successful body shop.
The team strives to help all clients become as profitable as possible and aims to help 43 independent auto body repair shops drive enough growth to double their monthly revenue by the end of 2024.
For independent shop owners who want the industry’s best and brightest to help them build a custom auto body shop marketing plan, all it takes is one call. Reach out to Daniel Burkholder, owner of BodyShop Marketing, by calling 855-667-9648 and book a free, no-obligation consultation now to start on the path to future growth and success. Or schedule your FREE consultation right here: FREE CONSULTATION.
