As repair shop owners just getting their feet wet with social media marketing for repair shops, we run into the constant struggle of lack of ideas.
The first few weeks of uploading images and sharing videos makes things pretty easy and fun but what happens once the ideas stop coming and the images become repetitive. What then?
This is a common problem we all run into and the first thing we do is put off updating our pages and simply conform with the few hundred followers we already have.
Huge mistake.
Your Facebook page probably obtained followers for one of the following reasons:
- You ask your customers to follow you
- Your friends and family follow you
- Paid Facebook advertising
- Your followers share your posts which allows for their friends to find you
Whichever way you’ve acquired them, they want to have a reason to continue following you, otherwise they’ll just end up forgetting about you altogether. So what can we do to stay relevant and have them engage with you?
To have followers keep you in the back of their minds and always have something to post, here are a few tips.
Offer Something Useful
Let’s face it, the reason why most repair shops fail at Facebook marketing is because they post way too much information about themselves and not enough vital information about the industry.
Most of your customers that are on Facebook, use it on their phones and like you, they don’t have time to read about a local repair shop yapping about themselves every chance they get. These people want interesting posts, vital everyday tips that will help them learn a thing or two about automotive repair.
Keep it brief and people will at least skim through it, like it and some will even share this information.
Think about the Images you Post
It is your job as the person in charge of Facebook marketing for an auto repair shop, to add images that say more than long posts ever will.
High-quality images of your shop, technicians with satisfied customers and even your equipment performing regular maintenance work will give your followers the chance to get an inside look at your shop.
No need to hire a professional team of photographers, with an iPhone 6 you can take great pictures and have new images to post periodically.
Don’t bombard your Facebook with pictures of your shop, though. The occasional picture will do but share an image that’s relevant to the post. If it’s a post about 3 reasons why oil changes are necessary why not add an image of someone struggling with trying to change their own oil or an oil change meme?
Promote Engagement
Don’t use Facebook to make you come off as a company that cares only about advertising specials and selling directly.
Facebook is all about branding, creating familiarity and engagement. Ask questions and offer polls that invite fans to like, comment and share.
Treating Facebook as a way to interact with your followers instead of a hub for selling (even though it is indirectly) will give you the opportunity to slowly grow your brand. By asking questions at the end of every post and staying active by replying to every comment you get, your fans and followers will get the feeling you’re connecting as a friend and not a business.
Last but not Least
There are a few mistakes found on many repair shop’s Facebook pages that can hurt your business in the long run. Here are a few other tips to keep in mind.
- Include your hours of operation.
- If you have a website, include it on your about section of your Facebook business page, as well as other social media accounts you may have.
- Offer a special or discount to the clients that give you a review on social media. You’ll be surprised at how many people fail to book a product or service because the lack of reviews.
- Subscribe to bigger repair shops, rival repair shops or any garage you follow. Try and emulate what they do.
