The top 5 reasons why social media is essential for collision repair marketing

With the many marketing avenues available to business owners these days, you might feel a little overwhelmed.  This is an issue that comes up over and over again for our collision repair clients.  They want to know specifically whether social media marketing is necessary and how it might be important to the overall success of their auto body shops.  These are great questions and we’ve dedicated loads of our time here at Stratosphere Studio towards getting to the bottom of it all.

In one word, the answer to the question “Is social media important for my body shop?” is a resounding YES.  Social networking is essential to practically every business out there that sells products or services.  Don’t believe me?  Here are five reasons why social media is so crucial:

You need to be where your customers are.
When marketing your body shop services, you need to meet your potential customers where they are.  And guess where they are.  Yes, social networks!  Now, of course not every single person out there is on Facebook, but how many people do you know who aren’t?

Social networking allows for customer engagement.
One of the best things you can do to promote your business is to engage with your customers.  I’m not talking about general, sweeping statements about your business, but real, personalized engagement.  Use social networks to address questions, receive feedback (gracefully, of course), and start a dialogue about collision repair and paint work.  These conversations can do so much more for your customer retention than a random print ad ever could.

You can get really creative with social media marketing.
With the many social networking platforms available, you can promote your body shop services very creatively.  On Pinterest, for instance, you could start a board dedicated to custom paint work that you’ve done.  On Twitter, you could start a conversation about PDR techniques.  On Facebook, you could hold a contest and offer a free service to the winner.  The only limit is your own imagination.

Information spreads like wildfire on social networks.
If you want to get the word out fast about a special your shop is offering, an event you’re holding, or anything else, social media is one of the best ways to accomplish this.  Encourage your fans to “like” or share your posts with their friends and watch how quickly this information spreads.

Social media allows you to have an active presence.
Many times, people only think about your business when they really need you.  With social media, however, you can remain an active presence in the life of your customer.  Being careful not to bombard people with too much information, you can stay relevant through helpful tweets, Facebook posts, YouTube videos, and more.

Do you have questions about social media for your collision repair marketing plan?
At Stratosphere Studio, we’ve done extensive research into what marketing techniques work specifically for businesses in the automotive industry, including auto body shops, auto repair shops, and auto dealerships.  We would love to help you next!