Auto Repair Shop Marketing: 14 Tips to Attract & Retain Customers

If you own an auto repair shop, you might not have a marketing team. In fact, you might be in charge of all the marketing efforts at your business, as well as payroll, accounting, and the actual work you do for clients.

Marketing can understandably fall to the bottom of your to-do list. But, with technology, business owners can streamline their efforts and launch powerful campaigns that attract and retain customers.

In this post, I’ll explain how to market an auto repair shop using tips and strategies to boost your campaigns. I’ll also highlight some digital marketing strategies you can use to grow your audience online.

But first, let’s start with the fundamentals.

How to Market an Auto Repair Shop

Here are the steps you should take for any marketing campaign.

1. Find your target audience.

It’s hard to market your shop if you don’t know who you’re selling to. Your ideal customers are called your “target audience,” and your marketing content should be made with them in mind.

You’ll need to look for trends in your customer demographics to identify your target audience. What kinds of vehicles do your customers drive? Where do they live? What issues bring them to your business? Answer these questions so you can shape your brand around your customers.

For example, if you offer detailing or custom bodywork, your target audience might be different from a regular auto shop’s. You should promote these services so customers know why they should visit you.

2. Determine what sets your business apart from competitors.

In any business, it’s important to identify your direct competitors. Not only does this help you understand what you’re up against, but it can also inspire your marketing campaigns. If you research what works for them, you can adopt it at your business and reap those benefits, too.

Don’t just look at what the big automotive brands are doing. Look at local competitors to see what they do well, where they come up short, and how your business can outshine them.

For instance, does another tire shop offer complimentary pressure checks and air fills with any tire service? If not, use that to set your shop apart from the rest. If you identify these differentiators, you’ll find effective ways to market your business.

3. Define your brand’s voice and tone.

Creating marketing material is easier with a clear brand voice and tone. It personifies your company, making your messages feel like they come from a human, not a business. People are more likely to trust other people than they are to trust a sponsored ad.

If your business restores classic cars, maybe you let that influence your tone. If your business operates in New England, you might use local lingo that’s different from what a business in Miami might use. It’s all about knowing your audience and how you want them to view your brand.

The best way to establish your brand voice is to think of your company as a person. Are they casual or more formal? What kind of attitude do they exude? Are they funny, or are they more matter-of-fact? Are they playful or more serious?

Ask yourself these questions to determine your brand’s voice and tone. Then, keep this “person” in mind every time you promote your business. Don’t mix different voices to match different audiences, or you’ll look disingenuous to loyal customers.

4. Adopt marketing tools.

If you know your target audience and how to reach them, you can use marketing technology to automate your delivery. In other words, you can launch multi-media campaigns without hiring a marketing team to create content.

Instead, you’ll have all the tools to build an effective marketing campaign and an AI assistant to teach you how to use them. This technology will help you promote your business on social media, Google, YouTube, and more, all from one convenient platform.

Here are a few marketing tools that any business owner should try:

• CRM
• Social Media Management
• Email Automation
• Workflow Automation
• Campaign Management

5. Measure your performance.

Marketing is a science. We don’t get to play with beakers or test tubes, but we do run tests and measure our results. As a marketer, it’s our job to see if our content works and resonates with our audience.

You can do this through two types of data: quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative data is statistical information about your business, like the number of products you sell most and how many calls you receive daily. It’s empirical evidence that measures your business’s performance.

Qualitative data is subjective. You get it from sources like surveys, reviews, and asking customers for feedback. There’s no numerical value attached. The marketer (or an AI tool) reviews the sentiment behind the feedback, which provides more context around your quantitative data.

You can use this information to measure your marketing campaign’s performance. If you’re unsure where to start, revisit your campaign’s goal. Look for metrics that support it and set benchmarks called KPIs, or key performance indicators. For example, if I launched a social media campaign, I might measure engagement on my posts and clicks to my website.

Pro Tip: Use this Google Review Link Generator to ask customers for Google Reviews.

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s dive into the specifics. We’ll review a list of effective marketing strategies for auto repair shops.

Auto Repair Shop Marketing Strategies

Below are ten ways to market an auto repair shop. I recommend starting with one or two and adding strategies more over time. This approach will help you measure your success and identify the best practices for your business.

1. Design a memorable logo.

Your logo is one of the first things people see when discovering your business. It represents your brand and who you are as a company. Your logo should be memorable and reflect your business’s values.

Logos for auto repair shops typically have:

• Simple, easy-to-read typefaces
• Colors like red, blue, white, and gray (but they don’t have to)
• Movement in their design or a visual representation of vehicles

The good news is you don’t have to hire a graphic designer. There are plenty of free tools that can design a logo in minutes. Here’s one we created for this post:

Pro Tip: Add your logo to your marketing content to increase brand awareness.

2. Create a catchy slogan.

You might be familiar with a few automotive slogans. For instance, Midas has “Trust the Midas Touch,” and Meineke has “On With Life.” These are great examples of what your business slogan should be: short and easy to remember.

When writing your slogan, remember your brand values and what differentiates you from your competitors. Also, consider what has an emotional impact on your audience. For example, AutoZone’s slogan, “Get In the Zone,” creates a sense of urgency that entices consumers to act.

Your slogan will complement your logo. The more people see it, the more they’ll remember your business. Ensure it stands out and resonates with your target audience.

3. Build a website.

Websites play an important role in digital marketing. They’re an access point for your brand, allowing customers to learn more about your business online. While social media helps you grow your audience, websites convert that audience into clients and sales.

Your website will also help you get discovered on search engines like Google. You’ll rank higher on search results pages and appear more often when people search for businesses in your area.

When creating a website, it should be easy to navigate, and it should direct people to your most important pages. Whether selling through an online store or looking to book appointments, consider how people will interact with your website and the natural flow between pages. Chances are, if you don’t like the look and feel of it, your customers won’t, either.

4. Claim your local listings.

Local business listings are how customers discover you on directory sites like Yelp, Angi’s, and Apple Maps. They provide a snapshot of your business, including your phone number, address, website, and customer reviews.

That last one is particularly important. Most directories use customer reviews to display the “best” businesses in your area. The more positive reviews you have, the more likely you are to appear in search results.

5. Update your signage.

Marketing isn’t just online. Print ads and signage are two effective mediums for advertising in your local community.

Branded signs should clearly state what your business does, stand out from the building’s exterior, and be noticeable from the street.

They should also be:

• Bright, either with color or lighting
• As large as you can get away with
• Simple, using no more than 2-3 brand colors
• Easy to read from afar, with limited details and shading
• Descriptive, with words like “Oil Changes,” “Tire Rotations,” and “Tune-Ups”

Pro Tip: You can use tools like Canva to design signs for your business.

6. Ask for customer reviews.

Customer reviews matter whether you market your repair shop or not. 75% of people regularly read online reviews, meaning customers care what others say about your business. If their perception is positive, that will lead to more people trusting your brand. If it’s negative, that can be a tricky obstacle to overcome as a small business.

If you do get a negative review, don’t ignore it. Think of it as an opportunity to appease an unhappy customer. If you’re successful, others will notice and appreciate your commitment to customer satisfaction.

7. Launch a paid ads campaign.

Paid ads are online advertisements that appear based on search results. You can find these on Google, YouTube, Gmail, and social media websites.

Here’s an example of what one looks like for an auto repair shop:

Notice how Jiffy Lube tops this list despite not having the best reviews. That’s because it’s paying for this top spot so it can appear before its competitors.

You’ll need a Google Ads or Meta Ads account to use paid ads. These platforms will not only help you design ads but also assist with placing them. Their built-in AI ensures you manage your budget effectively and choose the right channels to engage your audience.

8. Post on social media.

You can take two angles with social media: paid and organic. Organic promotion is the natural promotion of your brand, where you don’t pay to boost your content. Instead, you rely on your followers (or algorithm) to share it organically with others.

One way to do this is to teach your followers something, like changing a tire or checking their oil. We do something similar on our social media pages when we provide tips on how to run a small business.

Paid social media means you are paying to expand your reach. It’s a good way to get more people to see your content, but remember that these people may not be familiar with your brand. Your ad’s copy, placement, and positioning will all be important in getting your message across.

Thryv’s social media ads specialist, Haley Buffington, offers the following advice:

9. Start a blog or vlog.

Blogs are another way to connect with customers online. You can use them to promote your products and services directly or to entertain and educate your audience.

As an auto repair shop, you could write a blog about car maintenance and basic repairs. Anyone can Google these solutions, so it wouldn’t take work away from your business. It would, however, foster trust with customers by showing them that you’re willing to offer simple solutions for free.

Another option is to start a vlog or video blog. This approach works well in the auto industry because you can show how to fix or repair something in a vehicle.

Here’s an example of a mechanic who teaches you how to change a spark plug:

Digital Marketing for Auto Repair Shops

Digital marketing is any content that you find online or on a computer. We covered a few of these strategies above, but here’s a list of things you can do to boost the online presence of your auto repair shop.

• Build a website.

• Optimize your local listings.

• Collect and respond to customer reviews.

• Advertise on social media, search engines, and directories. 

• Write a blog.

• Post on social media.

• Create a YouTube video. 

• Record a podcast.

• Participate in community forums.

Marketing for Mechanics

Marketing your shop doesn’t have to be difficult, but it does have to be something you invest in over time. One campaign isn’t going to move the needle. You have to engage people consistently if you want to build strong relationships and foster trust.

These marketing strategies will give you options for interacting with customers. Start with the fundamentals, then move on to the more advanced tactics once ready. In time, you’ll develop a powerful marketing mix that attracts and retains loyal customers.