Auto Repair Marketing Ideas That Drive More Bookings Year-Round

Every business experiences lulls at some point during the year, when fewer new customers are coming in. You don’t have to simply accept it, though. The right auto repair marketing ideas will keep bringing in new bookings year-round.

Fill your bays by following this auto repair shop marketing guide, with ideas from local SEO to retargeting campaigns.

Master Local SEO To Win The "Near Me" Search Battle

The best way to market an auto shop is with local SEO, first and foremost. Right now, there are probably customers in your area who need the services your shop offers. They can’t become customers at your shop if they don’t know your shop exists, though.

So, how can you make sure they find you? By ranking in online search results.

Local search engine optimization, or SEO, is a collection of tactics to help your business appear high up in the results for searches from nearby customers related to your business. For example, a customer in your area might search for “brake replacement near me” and see a list of local businesses that offer that service. You need to make sure your business is on that list as high up as possible. Try these steps:

• Set up your free Google Business Profile.
• Add your business name, address, phone number, and hours.
• Make sure all your business details are consistent everywhere online, including your website and other directories, to build trust.
• Carefully select one primary business category and up to nine secondary categories that describe your business and the services you offer.
• Add local keywords throughout your website and profile.
• Include high-quality photos of your shop and employees to help humanize your business.

Over time, these local SEO efforts will boost your business’s ranking in searches from nearby customers for the services you offer. Local SEO can continually bring in new customers when executed correctly. Your goal should be to dominate relevant “near me” searches for auto body shops so interested customers see your business before any of your competitors.

Fuel Your Shop With High-Impact Seasonal Promotions

Changing seasons can often mean shifting rates of bookings for auto repair shops. You might notice that you get fewer appointments in early winter or mid-summer, when customers are busy and saving their discretionary money for travel or the holidays.

Some dips in bookings during these seasons may be unavoidable, but marketing for auto repair shops can help get more cars into your bays. You might just need to pick more effective seasonal auto repair promotion ideas.

Winter Preparation Promos

In winter, for example, focus your promotions around encouraging customers to get their vehicles ready for winter. If your shop operates in an area that gets snow or ice, customers must have the right tires, enough antifreeze, and strong car batteries to avoid problems while winter driving.

Run a promotion offering discounts on these essential winter services. Send emails or texts to let your existing customers know about the promotion, and consider running paid ads to get the word out to new potential customers as well. Capitalize on the urgency that customers have to get these vehicle winterizing tasks done before the weather becomes a problem to encourage prompt bookings.

Summer Road Trip Promos

You can apply a similar strategy to summer. Run promotions that speak to customers who are likely to be traveling by car during these warmer months. No one wants their vehicle to break down while they’re on a road trip, so encourage them to book an appointment with you to make sure their vehicle is ready to go.

You might offer free summer inspections or bundled fluid flushes to help bring in customers during this low season.

Turbocharge Your Reputation With Automated Review Requests

Online reviews are the word of mouth of the digital age. While people may still ask their friends or family for business recommendations, they also rely on online reviews to sort trustworthy businesses from ones they should avoid. Over 90% of customers say online reviews affect their purchasing decisions, and 86% may not do business with a company that has too many negative reviews.

So how do you collect more positive reviews? Providing excellent service may not be enough—customers often need some prompting to leave reviews. Instead of manually asking customers, though, try automating your review requests with these steps.

1. In your CRM or marketing automation software, set up a new automation that goes out to customers shortly after their last service appointment at your shop.
2. Write a message asking customers to share their honest opinions about their experiences with your shop.
3. Use automation features to personalize the message with each customer’s first name and appointment details, when available.
4. Include a direct link to your online business profile review page to make the process as simple as possible for customers.
5. Thank customers for taking the time to share their thoughts.

Automating this process will save you time while hopefully keeping the positive reviews rolling in.

You can’t automate the entire reputation management process, though. Make sure you’re still responding to as many reviews as possible with personalized, professional comments. Address the reviewer by name and vary your wording from response to response so they feel more genuine.

When you’re responding to negative reviews, don’t be argumentative or defensive. Be understanding. Offer possible solutions and, when appropriate, suggest moving the conversation to a private channel. You’re not just trying to resolve that unhappy customer’s experience—you’re also showing potential customers your professionalism and commitment to customer service.

Keep Them Coming Back With Retargeting And Loyalty Rewards

Some business owners focus so much on bringing in new customers that they neglect their existing customers. That’s a costly mistake. You may need to spend five to seven times as much to attract a new customer compared to retaining an existing one.

Try these customer engagement tactics to keep your existing customers coming back for more appointments:



• Stay in touch over email and text messages (SMS) to keep your business on customers’ minds.
• Send maintenance reminders when it’s time for customers to bring their vehicles back in, such as six months after their last oil change.
• Offer loyalty rewards for customers who stick with your business, like every fifth oil change free.

You can automate a lot of these email and SMS marketing campaigns to help save time. Just try to personalize your messages whenever possible so customers feel a stronger connection to your business.

Driving Long-Term Growth With A Multi-Channel Strategy

As a busy business owner, you may be hoping for one perfect marketing strategy that will keep customers pouring into your auto body shop. Unfortunately, that’s simply not realistic. The best marketing approach to drive long-term growth is a strategy that incorporates several channels, from online search and paid ads to email and SMS.

Don’t focus on just new customers or existing customers. Find a balance between attracting new customers in your area and keeping your existing customers engaged so they come back for additional appointments. Make sure you track the return on investment from each strategy so you can learn what works best for your unique shop, too.

The good news is that you don’t have to manage all this marketing alone. Optimize Digital Marketing has a team of experts ready to design and implement customized marketing strategies for your auto body shop. Whether you want help with social media marketing, digital advertising, or reputation management, we’re here for you. Contact us today to learn more about how Optimize Digital Marketing can grow your auto repair business.