I get it, you’re busy taking care of all the details you have to manage in this industry. There are things you know and do really well, and that’s where you likely, by nature, gravitate toward. Given the nature of the collision repair industry, we simply cannot do everything that needs to be done ourselves. If we try to do it all it’s like stepping on one side of a balloon. You can’t do that and make the balloon keep its original shape. Push down on one area and another area of the balloon expands outward. Push that bulge back down and what happens? It bulges out somewhere else. Keep trying and eventually it breaks. You simply can’t do it all, and if you try, things will fall through the cracks and other things won’t be done as effectively as you’d like. The answer… Outsourcing.
Outsourcing is something you should consider. Perhaps you outsource now for mechanical repairs, calibration, PDR, hail damage or other vehicle operations. What about marketing? Have you considered outsourcing when it comes to your online marketing? I suggest that you should.
“…You can’t just build a website or have a social media presence and expect people will just come to them. It doesn’t work like that.”
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This Is Not The Field Of Dreams
Over the decades I have toured about 1,600 shops across the country and spoken to thousands of others. When it comes to marketing, I hear a lot of the same types of issues and challenges. Time is the biggest factor. Shops often throw something together and hope for the best and move on to what they think is more pressing, and, more often, focus on areas they are more comfortable with. From what I have witnessed, that is not usually getting the job done. One of my favorite quotes that I came up with years ago is “this is not like the movie “Field of Dreams”. You can’t just build a website or have a social media presence and expect people will just come to them. It doesn’t work like that. It takes a true professional, like my company Optima Automotive, to do what we do best for you.
Another of my favorite sayings is that you don’t want me touching a car in your shop. Not even to do an oil change. That’s your area of expertise, not mine. By the same token, I don’t want you touching “my” Internet! That’s my turf and I have a team that really gets it, has a wealth of experience in this industry with over a thousand very satisfied clients. Why not outsource to a company like ours that really has their act together that can partner with you to maximize your chances for success online? You do what you do best, and an experienced company like Optima Automotive will do what they do best on your behalf. It simply works.
Some companies allocate very little of their resources to marketing, either financial or intellectual. Others cut their marketing budgets during COVID and haven’t returned to their pre-COVID budgeting. Back in August of 2018, in BodyShop Business magazine I wrote on the topic of marketing budgets. You can see that article HERE. My main point in this article was that we’ve done extensive research on marketing expenditures. When businesses cut marketing, their exposure in the community is left to happenstance and reputation. That’s never good by themselves.
“You need to spend money on marketing, not just any marketing, the “right” marketing.” |
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You need to spend money on marketing, not just any marketing, the “right” marketing. You should spend where you see a return on your investment. We see as much as $10 or more for every dollar spent. Study after study, from places like The AdCouncil and Columbia University, have verified this. Businesses that spend at least 10% of their revenues on the right marketing are, much more often than not, leaders in their market areas. This is not my opinion, it’s based on actual research. Further, those businesses that spend 5% of their revenues on marketing are receiving a relatively successful ROI, but, as you might expect, less than those who spend 10% or more. It should come as no surprise that those businesses that spend 3% or less on marketing see their local area market share stall or shrink.
The RIGHT Marketing
It’s important to remember how I stated it, the “right” marketing. If you aren’t a marketing expert yourself, and if you don’t have any true marketing specialists working for you, how do you know where and how to allocate dollars for marketing? You don’t, really. That’s when outsourcing to marketing professionals you trust makes sense.
Online marketing is a big part of this. Find a professional, like my team at Optima Automotive, who really knows online marketing, has strong reviews and testimonials and, preferably has experience in the collision repair industry like we do. You don’t want to waste your valuable time teaching a marketing pro about your industry. Let the experienced, outsourced pro who knows this industry tell you what you actually need. That’s a winning formula and frees you up to do what you do best.