When we first started AP Media in 2010, we didn’t set out to specialize in the collision repair industry – we set out to specialize in digital marketing. Fate would have it that two of our first accounts were Mark’s Body Shop in Baltimore and K&M Collision in North Carolina – two independent shops with a strong focus on the consumer above all else.
Our early education in the industry came from these two shops, and if any of you are aware of Mark’s and K&M, you’ll know that they have a very strong set of core beliefs at the heart of the way they do business. They take great pride in their independence. They believe that their customer, the vehicle owner, is the top priority. And as a result, the quality of the work has to get as close to perfection as humanly possible.
Not only did we take this on as the way body shops should do business, we also took these principles and made them our own. And we take pride in striving for perfection, and the customer is number one. The growth of the businesses we work with is the purpose of everything we do, and the key to that growth is to understand and serve the needs of the consumer.
If you don’t understand the consumer’s needs and their process of buying your services, you’ll never know how to attract them to your shop, and you may never be in the right place at the right time when they need you. Because the collision repair buying process is very different from most other industries.
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Creating A Marketing Strategy for your Auto Body Shop That Works!
1. THAT GROWS
YOUR BUSINESS
Creating An Effective Marketing Strategy
for your Auto Body Shop
Sykesville, MD | absoluteperfectionmedia.com
2. Brent Betts
Senior Digital Marketing Consultant
Google AdWords Certified
18 years in Digital, Print and Radio Marketing
Today’s Speakers
Lee Emmons
Chief Marketing Officer
Google AdWords & Google Analytics Certified
12 years in Digital Marketing, Video Marketing &
Production, and Web Design
3. Today’s Agenda
1. Introduce AP Media and our start in the collision repair industry
2. Understanding the unique buying process of the collision repair customer
3. Key elements of an effective marketing strategy
4. Share case studies assessing ROI
5. Q & A
4. Absolute Perfection established in 2001 and our media
division launched in 2010.
Recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest
growing 5000 privately held companies two years in a
row
Our media division features a team of experts that
develop websites, search engine marketing, social media
and reputation management programs, and produce
video content, with several staffers certified in Google
AdWords, Google Video and Google Analytics
5. Two of our
first and
largest body
shop clients
Shops
shared a
common
philosophy
Valued Independence
The customer is top priority
We
developed
our niche
strategy
Results
We have immersed ourselves in the collision repair industry
and consistently generated results for our clients
helping them significantly grow their business
Our Start in the Collision Repair Industry
Focus on reaching consumers,
driving conversions to our clients
and growing their business
6. • How many of you had a digital marketing strategy in the past?
Who’s tried it and did it work?
• Who here owns a body shop?
• How many of you believe those marketing efforts DID NOT work or
DON’T KNOW if they worked?
• How many of you had a digital marketing strategy in the past?
7. • What is the collision repair customer’s buying process?
• How can you influence that process?
• If you are skeptical that internet search IS NOT an important part of the buying process,
look at the numbers from just two of the keywords used to search for your services.
If you aren't going after people performing these
and other searches in your market, think how
much potential business you may be missing?
In the past year in the US…
90,500 searches
for the keyword
"auto body shop"
27,100 searches
for the keyword
"collision repair"
Source: Google Ad Words Tool, last full year July 15, 2017
Understanding the Consumer
8. Automotive Service Searches
Monthly aftermarket service searches on Google
Source: *Road to Winning Drivers – Aftermarket Service, July 2013 – Google Internal Data
Understanding the Consumer
70,000,000
These MASSIVE Automotive Consumer Service Behavior numbers
ARE FURTHER EVIDENCE of how these consumers
will research for auto collision when needed
This opportunity represents
customers
a month525,000
Their referrals make up another
customers
100,000
9. I just wrecked my car!
Understanding the Consumer
This is an emergency situation and the
consumer needs solutions immediately!
10. AdWords campaign
matching keywords with
relevant searches
Google My Business and
Local SEO tied to your
Google listing, maps
location and reviews
Organic SEO Results based
on how relevant your
website is to consumer
searches
Search Engine Results Pages
50% of adults DO NOT distinguish
paid AdWords ads from other results
Source: Ofcom - Adults’ media use and attitudes Report April 2016
11. • Your website has to be correct before you start driving
traffic to it. The consumer experience on your website is
almost as important as the experience in your shop
• Easy to navigate and optimized to direct people to
encourage consumers to contact you
• Speed optimized for minimal load time, consumer experience, and
improving ranking
• If you don’t have a mobile friendly website, you’re years behind
your competition
Your Website – The Cornerstone of Your Strategy
12. Screen shot of conversions from GA
What’s the role of Social Media?
• Platforms like Facebook, while not directly resulting in
generating leads, can reach a lot of consumers in your local
marketing area and extend your brand cost effectively,
especially compared to other more expensive media
branding platforms like radio and TV
• Strong branding recognition will make it more likely
consumers will click through on your links on search
engine marketing results pages
Source: Wordstream Customer data, Feb.16, 2017
Click through
rates can
increase
2 to 3 times
more*
14. This car purchasing behavior will carry over and influence
how the same consumers search for auto collision needs
Source: *Google/Ipsos Connect, Mobile Video Study, U.S., n=2503, adults aged 18-54, Feb. 2016.
**Google/Ipsos Connect, Mobile Video Study, U.S., n=195, adults aged 18-54, Feb. 2016.
1 in 3 Adults watches auto content on YouTube once per month in the U.S.
Mobile video particularly drives in-market consumers to take action. After
watching content about vehicles on a smartphone 1 in 4 visited an auto dealer
Automotive buying consumers increasingly turn to video during their purchasing process
The Importance of Video
• Video content can enhance every piece of your digital marketing strategy
• Videos showcasing your shop is more effective at building trust and confidence
than text listings and content
• Plays a key role in AdWords display advertising, YouTube and relevant websites.
• Makes your website more engaging and improves
search engine optimization
Having video on a
landing page
increases
conversions
by 80%**
Sources: *Animoto, 2015, ** Eveview, 2015
4x As Many
Customers
would rather watch
a video about a
product than read
about it *
15. Conversion Tracking - Critical to Measuring Success
Question: Who knows how many phone calls and lead forms are generated by your
marketing strategy?
• If your marketing company is not tracking phone calls and webforms, you won’t know if
you’re getting anything back from your investment
• Your marketing company should be using conversion data to make adjustments and
improvements to their strategy
If your digital marketer can’t provide this type of
tracking, you will be left wondering or
questioning your ROI!
17. 2014 Revenue when
started: $1.8mil
Revenue Projection
2017: $3.7mil
Success Stories from Our Clients
CASE STUDY #2
Lead Summary (Sep. 2014-present)
696 Web Form Submissions
1,643 Google AdWords Calls
1,229 Google Organic Calls
18. • Empower shops to generate leads by reaching collision repair consumers directly
• Have confidence that investing in the right online strategy will be successful
• Question what new business is being missed without a marketing strategy
• It is critical you work with a marketer that understands how consumers use the web for
collision repair services
Conclusions
20. Thank you for joining us!
The AP Media
Team
Visit us at
Booth 1757
Hinweis der Redaktion
Good Morning everyone and thank you for joining us for our session on Creating an effective Marketing Strategy for your auto body shop. Let’s dive right in so we can cover everything and have time for questions at the end.
I’d like to introduce Lee Emmons, our Chief Marketing Office at AP Media. Lee is truly the pathfinder of our media division and largely responsible for our success in the auto collision industry.
My name is Brent Betts and I am the Senior Digital Marketing Consultant at AP Media. And between myself and Lee, we have a lot years invested in digital marketing and we’re thrilled to be here to talk about our experiences and success with clients in the auto collision industry.
Today we’re going to…
Introduce you to AP Media and our start in the collision repair industry
Look at the unique buying process of the collision repair customer
Cover the key elements of an effective marketing strategy for body shops
Share some very convincing case studies about ROI
And finish with Q & A
Absolute Perfection was established in 2001 and our media division launched in 2010.
We are recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest growing 5000 privately held companies two years in a row
Our media division features a team of experts that develop websites, search engine marketing, social media and reputation management programs, with several staffers certified in Google AdWords, Google Video and Google Analytics
When we first started AP Media, we didn’t set out to specialize in the collision repair industry – we set out to specialize in digital marketing.
Click - Fate would have it that two of our first accounts were Mark’s Body Shop in Baltimore and K&M Collision in North Carolina – two independent shops with a strong focus on the consumer above all else.
Click - Our early education in the industry came from these two shops, and if any of you are aware of Mark’s and K&M, you’ll know that they have a very strong set of core beliefs at the heart of the way they do business. They take great pride in their independence and believe that their customer, the vehicle owner, is the top priority. As a result, the quality standards for the work they do is set extremely high.
Click - Not only did we take this on as the way body shops should do business, we also took these principles and made them our own. The growth of the businesses we work with is the purpose of everything we do, and the key to that growth is to understand and serve the needs of the consumer. We created marketing strategies designed to help serve these shop’s desire for independence. And we take pride in striving for perfection, and the customer is number one.
Click – We have immersed ourselves in the collision repair industry and consistently generated results for our clients helping them significantly grow their business It is critical that you understand the consumer’s needs and their process of buying your services to attract them to your shop. Otherwise, your marketing efforts may never put you in the right place at the right time when they need you. Because the collision repair buying process is very different from most other industries.
So let’s get some input from the audience regarding digital marketing experiences.
A quick show of hands…
Click - Who here owns a body shop? PAUSE……
Click - How many of you had a digital marketing strategy in the past? PAUSE……
Click - How many of you believe those marketing efforts DID NOT work or DON’T KNOW if they worked? PAUSE……
Click - Many body shop owners feel there are so many digital platforms and Click - options (which is very true), Click - and don’t know where to start. It’s not about the platforms you COULD POTENTIALLY USE, instead it’s about your customers and how best to reach them.Start by considering how your customers purchase collision services and then choose the best platforms to influence them during that process.
So if you’ve had bad experiences with marketing in the past, most likely your marketing company didn't work to understand your customer. Chances are they treated collision repair like a more common product rather than the unique type of emergency purchasing situation it is.
Now we’re going to look at Understanding the Consumer:
What is the collision repair customer’s buying process AND How can you influence that process?
We believe many shop owners are skeptical that internet search IS NOT an important part of the buying process, look at the numbers from just two of the keywords used to search for your services
Click - In the past year in the US… Click -90,500 searches for the keyword "auto body shop“ AND… 27,100 searches for the keyword "collision repair“
Again…. These numbers represent just 2 search terms
Click – If you aren't going after people performing these and other searches in your market, think how much potential business you may be missing?
In our experience, it represents a significant amount of new customers and business
A successful marketing plan must have your shop present when the consumer decision is taking place! Be in the right place at the right time!
Looking at consumer searches for automotive service at a much broader scope…
70 million aftermarket service searches take place on Google monthly
Click This opportunity represents 525,000 customers per month
Click Their referrals make up another 100,000 customers
Click These MASSIVE Automotive Consumer Service Behavior numbers ARE FURTHER EVIDENCE of how these consumers will research for auto collision when needed
Click – slide 9
Click - This is an emergency situation! And this consumer needs a solution immediately.
He’s lost the use of his car which completely disrupts his life.
He doesn’t remember the phone number in your radio or TV commercial because there was no interest in your service at that time.
He might remember the name of your shop at most.
Chances are if this consumer has NOT been in an accident in 6 years, this is the first time in the last 6 years he’s ever thought about collision repair services.
It’s a worst case scenario for him having a need with little or no awareness about the process or shops around him.
Now he has to scramble quickly and make an informed decision about his situation.
Click – But before he makes any calls to body shops, the cell phone is one of the main tools available to him NOW…
and he’s going to turn to mobile search to find a body shop that can address his needs immediately.
So…. You need to be in the right place at the right time during this critical stage of his buying process.
How do you appear on his search results page not only at the top, but in as many places as possible on page 1?
Let’s breakdown the search engine results page quickly
Ideally, you want presence in the 3 main elements of search results pages.Click – atop the page is AdWords (paid Search Engine Marketing) matching keywords with relevant searches. These top 4 AdWords results take up the most valuable real estate on the first page results in this desktop screen shot. Click - But on a phone, AdWords results are even more dominant on the screen with just the first ad taking up almost the entire screen. Google offers so much functionality on these ads (click to call buttons, add’l links, location extensions) that AdWords results are superior and more useful than the other search results.
For our consumer 2 slides ago in his emergency situation, an AdWords result with this much information and functionality is more useful to him than the other search engine results.
Click – For those who believe most people avoid clicking AdWords results, Recent studies found that 50% of adults DO NOT recognize that paid AdWords results are different than other search results on the page
Click – The middle of the page is Google My Business and Local SEO segment – While an AdWords strategy is absolutely essential for the reasons you’ve just seen, you should also have a strategy to improve your rankings here. Google is now starting to place AdWords ads in these results increasing the competition and leaving only 2 spots for organic listings. This is another example of how Google is changing the page landscape with AdWords dominating Search Engine Marketing.
Click – Third in the page hierarchy is the Organic results based on how relevant your website is to consumer searches. While still essential to have an effective strategy for these results, the value of being the first organic search result has lost value as you can be #1 in organic, but barely showing up at the bottom of page one before scrolling.
Ideally, you want to have a presence in each of these sections on page 1 pushing out your competitors and providing more opportunities for your shop to reach more consumers.
But before you start driving consumers through a search engine marketing strategy, you need a GREAT WEBSITE – one that is done correctly before you start marketing it.
The consumer experience on your website is almost as important as the experience in your shop.
First impressions mean everything.
You need to give them reasons to trust you and your qualifications. Include examples of social proof like reviews and video testimonials.
Talk about warranties, enhanced services and conveniences you offer.
Use visuals to introduce them to your people and your location. You want your website to make them feel like they’ve been to your shop so they know what to expect.
Make sure your website is easy to navigate and optimized to direct people to encourage prospects to contact you.
Speed optimization is key to your site loading quickly for a good consumer experience and improving search engine ranking.
Click - And of course, If you don’t have a mobile friendly website, you’re years behind your competition.
Over 2 years ago is when Google reported search volume on phones took over search volume on desktop computers.
Even farther back in in 2012, a Google study confirmed consumers are turned away from businesses when your website is challenging to use on their cell phone.
So our guy in the accident a few slides back most likely is not going to FB to find your shop!!
While not directly resulting in generating leads, platforms like FB can reach a lot of consumers in your local marketing area and extend your brand cost effectively, especially compared to other more expensive media branding platforms like radio and TV.
Strong branding recognition will make it more likely consumers will click through on your links on search engine marketing results pages.
Click - IN fact, brand recognition can double or even triple click through rates.
And you’ll see in our example here, a cost effective video ad distributed through FB. For a much lower cost than conventional media, we targeted a very specific demographic in the shop’s service area, focusing on a testimonial message highlighting this customer’s experience. She talks about the shop’s transparency, expertise, and trustworthiness. FB also allowed us to run multiple edits of this video and test different targeting strategies.
Now let’s talk about the effectiveness of video in digital marketing
Video content can enhance every piece of your digital marketing strategy
Videos showcasing your shop is more effective at building trust and confidence than text listings and content
Video plays a key role in AdWords display advertising, YouTube and relevant websites.
Video makes your website more engaging and relevant improving search engine optimization especially for consumers who prefer video content over reading text.
There are a ton of compelling stats about video effectiveness on the web. Here are just a few…
Click 4 times as Many Customers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it
Click Having video on a landing page increases conversions by 80%
If you visit our booth later, you can see several of our videos we’ve produced for our clients.
Now let’s talk about the most critical piece to Measuring Success - Conversion tracking
Show of hands!! Who knows how many phone calls and lead forms are generating by your marketing strategy? PAUSE……..
If your marketing company is not tracking phone calls and webforms, you won’t know if you’re getting anything back from your investment
Just as important, your marketing company should be using conversion data to make adjustments and improvements to your ongoing strategy. Without measuring what’s working and what’s not, you can’t optimize your marketing program.
Ironically most marketing companies DON’T OFFER conversion tracking. But, we believe it’s critical for you as well as your marketer to monitor performance.
Click If your digital marketer can’t provide this type of tracking, Click you will be left wondering or questioning your ROI. You simply won’t know.
Here are the numbers for the first half of this year.
Their digital marketing plan has generated…
186 Web Form Submissions
147 Google AdWords Calls
73 Google Organic Calls
The Incremental Revenue for this shop through the first 6 months of the year is
$733,752
Our second success story looks at a shop’s incremental revenue from 2014 to their projected 2017 revenue after they started their digital marketing program with AP Media.
Lead Summary (Sep. 2014-present)
696 Web Form Submissions
1,643 Google AdWords Calls
1,229 Google Organic Calls
This shop’s 2014 Revenue when they started with us was $1.8 million
There current revenue so far in 2017 is $$3.7 million
These examples are the proof in the pudding on how an effective digital marketing strategy WILL PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT ROI FOR YOUR BUSINESS
So in Concluding our presentation:
We believe in Empowering shops to generate leads by reaching collision repair consumers directly.
You can have confidence that investing in the right online strategy will be successful and…. If you’re not utilizing an online strategy like we’ve discussed today –
Question what new business is being missed.
And realize how critical it is that you work with a marketer that understands how consumers use the web for collision repair services.
So let’s see if there are any questions we can take from the audience….
Thank you for joining us!
We greatly appreciate you spending time with us this morning and hope you gained something from this experience.
Please visit us at our booth located in 1757 where we’re featuring more body shop videos and we can talk further about your shop and your needs.