We'll tell you where to start promoting your car service.
Content
The Three M's Rule
This is a simple but universal marketing technique. It identifies three components of successful communication with clients: Market, Message, Medium.
Market is your target audience, key buyers of goods/services.
Message is your unique selling proposition, the message with which you encourage people to buy your product/service.
Mediums are the channels that are best suited to communicate your offering to your audience.
Having defined all three components for your business, you will receive some kind of guidelines that will tell you how best to promote your car service. Without them, you will move blindly, and the result will be corresponding - there will either be no clients, or there will be, but few and irregular.
The Three M's Rule
How to define your target audience (TA)
One of the most common mistakes made by beginning entrepreneurs is to include absolutely all people who are potentially interested in their products in their target audience.
For example, auto repair shops often target their advertising at all vehicle owners. The paradox is that not all of these people are really interested in the services of the service station. Some have a car, but it is not they who look after it, but their relatives. Others often take taxis. Still others own not a passenger car, but, say, a truck, and it is good if your auto repair shop has everything necessary to serve such clients, but what if it does not? What is the point of advertising to them then?
To get real results, segment, or in other words, narrow your audience. Choose those groups of clients that will be easier for you to interest. And for whom your services will definitely be relevant.
When choosing such groups, write down their portraits. For each one, their own. Portraits should include a set of characteristics common to people from one group. This will make it easier for you to visualize your audience, to see living people in it, not abstract figures. This, in turn, will help to create effective advertisements.
What should be described in a portrait of a car repair shop client:
gender and age;
the type of car the client drives, the frequency of its use, as well as the approximate price, the degree of newness (year of manufacture, used or not);
place of residence;
estimated income level;
which could potentially discourage people from ordering your services;
probable pains, fears, objections;
what a customer might like about your competitors and what you could do to counter that.
Many auto repair shops focus only on attracting male customers, as there is a common belief that men are the ones who drive most often. This is no longer entirely true.
In the US, for example, the number of female drivers in 2019 exceeded the number of male drivers — 116 million versus 113 million, respectively. In Russia and other former CIS countries, there are still fewer women behind the wheel, but their number is constantly growing .
A study by Bosch Auto Service showed that women make up 20% of its clients, which is also quite a lot. Such trends should be taken into account when creating your audience in order to reach as many potential clients as possible.
portrait of a car repair shop client:
Examples of portraits of the target audience of a car service:
" Male, 25-35 years old . Office worker, with an above-average salary, lives in a residential area far from the center. Got his license relatively recently (2 to 4 years ago), bought his own car recently after saving up or received it as a gift/inheritance from his parents. He is well-versed in mechanics, but poorly, knows only the basic terms. Owns a European-made car, used, but in good condition and with low mileage. Interested in saving his money, but at the same time strives to receive the highest quality services. He will choose the car service that will provide him with an appropriate balance between price and quality."
" A woman, 25-35 years old, has children . She drives often because she needs to take the children to school/club, buy groceries, and on weekends go to the mall for shopping or to the cinema. She doesn't understand mechanics, and doesn't want to - she doesn't have time for it. If the client has a problem with her car, she wants to solve it as soon as possible. She is even ready to overpay for the service, because she won't look for cheaper options - she needs a solution as quickly and easily as possible. But her husband, who also drives, may be more demanding when choosing a car service and, at a minimum, will carefully study several different companies, read reviews on the Internet, and consult with friends."
Both portraits create a clear impression of the people mentioned. Thanks to this, we understand that men who match the first description are more likely to respond to advertising promising low prices, discount coupon draws, or other similar promotions. And since such a person is used to saving, he is more interested in having a car repair shop close to home, so that he does not have to spend a lot of money on the road.
Women who fit the second description are more interested in fast service at a time convenient for them. So, this is exactly what you need to offer them in advertising.
How to correctly formulate a proposal to a client
The ODC formula will help with this :
ODC formula
Offer / Offer
The most common mistake entrepreneurs make at this stage is to advertise without a specific offer. They simply state that "we have the best prices", "experienced workers" and "modern equipment".
Such abstract announcements are quickly forgotten in the flow macedonia phone number library of information that surrounds people every day. To be remembered, be specific. Offer people a tangible and understandable benefit.
Examples of such messages:
"When you buy oil at our service station, we will change it for free!"
"We provide all clients with a 60% discount on chassis diagnostics."
"We will carry out vehicle diagnostics in 15 minutes at a time convenient for you."
When choosing a message, focus on the needs of your audience. Remember its profile. If your target audience is people with a low income, then focus on low prices, for example, or the convenient location of your workshop. If you want to attract office workers, then focus on the efficiency of your services, promise to do everything as quickly as possible and without delays. In short, think about what your audience wants and offer it to them.
Important: one advertising message should contain one offer of benefit. If you have several target audiences, create several advertising messages separately for each.
Deadline / Limitation
After offering a benefit, you need to create a sense of scarcity in the client. Convince them that they should not delay their visit to you, otherwise the potential benefit will be missed. This is usually achieved by setting time and/or quantity limits.
For example:
"We are replacing 2 racks for the price of 1! Hurry, the offer is valid from March 5 to March 10!"
"In honor of the opening of our service station, we are conducting a comprehensive car diagnostics FREE OF CHARGE for the first 30 clients!"
"The first 30 service station customers will get a free car wash when changing their oil! The promotion is valid from March 5 to 10."
Call to action / Call to action
A call to action is a phrase or sentence that is used to tell the customer exactly what they need to do to use your service. For example, call, place an order on the website, or come in person. End each of your advertising messages with a call to action that matches your goals.
How to choose the right channels to broadcast your advertising messages
It all depends on the target audience you choose. If you are talking about young people, then the best option is social networks. If you want to attract an older audience (45 years and above), then it is better to use leaflets and distribute them in all ways available to you. For example, you can arrange to have your leaflets posted in the subway or in the elevators of apartment buildings.
Other options for distributing advertising for car services:
placement on street banners;
printing advertisements in newspapers and magazines;
distribution of leaflets through partners (for example, stores from which you purchase tools and equipment);
cooperation with bloggers and guest posts advertising your service on popular Internet platforms (for example, in Telegram channels such as “World of Cars” or “Autoinstructor” );
setting up contextual advertising via Google Ads and Yandex.Direct;
promotion through Google My Business and Yandex.Directory services.
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