As of 2021, 46 percent of the money spent globally on advertising flows through online channels. Online ad spend is expected to more than double TV ad spend. This means that businesses in every industry are focusing more on digital advertising than ever.
This year, it’s less about how flashy your auto repair shop website or brand efforts are and more about how much users can engage with your business through your digital advertising efforts. Digital advertising includes things like website development, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, and pay-per-click advertising.
Until recently, auto repair shops have been slow to adapt to the fast-paced world of digital advertising. But now, as you and your local competitors gain a firmer grasp on the world of online marketing, it’s time to secure your long-term success. Let’s look a little closer at the world of digital advertising in 2021 and how your auto repair shop can maximize your marketing success.
In 2021, websites are more powerful than ever as drivers of digital advertising success. Your website should function every day as its own advertising campaign, working round-the-clock to support your auto shop. When you and your team sit down to strategize for this and next year’s marketing campaigns, make sure to start from your website and work your way out.
Content is a key aspect of any powerful digital advertising campaign, and having your website act as a central location for drivers to find that content empowers your marketing strategies. Whether you post instructional videos, articles, journal-style updates, pictures of your shop, or any other content, make sure it can be found easily from your website.
Also, it’s important to make sure your website maintains up-to-date links to all of your social media platforms. Then, anytime you post to your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, or YouTube accounts, make sure to always link back to your website from those posts.
Learning about your target audience in the auto repair industry is critical to doing good business in 2021 and coming years. While you may think your audience is virtually anyone with a vehicle, your competitors may know some things you don't about your potential customers, which give them a sales advantage over you every year.
The best way for your auto shop to identify its target market in 2021 is to pay close attention to your customers, learning about their backgrounds and interests. Find out what aspects of your services are appealing to them, and how you can improve less-appealing aspects. Closely examine their demographics and figure out the most common ages and interests among your potential customers. This will help you decide where your marketing dollars can be best spent – for instance, younger audiences use platforms like Instagram, while older audiences may spend more time on Facebook or Twitter. Afterward, investigate your competition, both locally and regionally, to see how they structure digital advertising based on their own target audiences.
Once you have a better understanding of your audience, you can structure your digital advertising to appeal more specifically to them and shift your marketing budget to target where they spend more time online.
Ultimately, you and your team understand your customers and your business better than anyone else. Because marketing for the auto repair industry is so strongly linked to location, you should already have an idea of what forms of digital advertising will work best for you.
Strategies that worked well last year can still promise results this year – with some minor tweaking to keep up with the times. Some additional marketing strategies you might try in 2021 include:·
According to Campaign Monitor, most small businesses plan to increase spending on digital marketing, social media, and email marketing next year. Those same businesses say they plan to decrease spending on things like traditional marketing and event marketing. In other words, the digital advertising world will continue to grow – just like your auto repair shop.
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