These days, just about everyone uses social media to support their business marketing strategies. When used properly, social media can successfully boost your website traffic and customer base. But how should a body shop use social media to be effective?
All it takes is a smart plan and dedication to make your body shop’s social media effective. Here are the Stratosphere Studio tips for doing it right:
Be on the right networks for your body shop. Not every social media outlet works for every shop. I would highly recommend Facebook, but the rest of the networks are up to you. Being on Google+ can help your search engine rankings, Twitter is good if you can manage constant interaction, LinkedIn is awesome for business connections, and YouTube is ideal for hosting videos. Instagram would be great for the shop that likes to visually document custom work—especially now that the program allows for video captures. Some shops might even benefit from Pinterest or Tumblr. It’s all about the personality of your shop and the amount of time you have to dedicate to social media.
Make time to update regularly. The biggest benefit to social networking for businesses is that it creates a wonderful platform for customer engagement. People are plugged into their favorite social networks for a good portion of the day, which gives you many opportunities to stay in touch with them. You need to update at least daily on a network like Facebook or Google+. For Twitter it’s even more frequent than that. What’s most important, though, is that you respond right away if anyone posts a comment on your page. Make your page a reliable form of communication and people will be more inclined to care about it.
Make your posts dynamic, interesting, and relevant. Try to refrain from posting anything random, like posts about cats, goofy eCards, or anything political or religious. If there’s a good eCard about auto body work, then…okay. Your posts need to pertain to your business. Use social media to your advantage by getting people engaged. Post strong calls to action, links to every blog article you write, and photos of your shop. Invite questions and provide thoughtful answers. Another effective strategy with social networking is to create contests. For instance, the 500th person to become your fan could win something from you. It could be a service you offer, a t-shirt, or something else. The more you put into your social media presence, the more you’ll get out of it.
Need help with your body shop’s social media? At Stratosphere Studio, we specialize in digital marketing for auto body shops and offer a variety of affordable services, including blogging, social networking, website design, search engine optimization, and more. Tom, our company’s founder, once owned his own auto body shop before using his marketing expertise to help other body shops. We’ve even been featured in Fender Bender for our knowledge of body shop marketing. If you need an agency to help your body shop, give us a call today or click the link below.
