Working in the collision industry for over four decades, we’ve seen many marketing trends come and go. Digital marketing, however, has become a pillar of success in the collision industry, and now with social distancing in the mix, customers are even more likely to choose online communication as the main way to interact with your business. As lifecycle marketers, we understand how important it is to maintain customer relationships post-repair, but we also recognize the role marketing plays in leading more new customers to your door.
This is where search engine marketing, or SEM, can come in handy and complement your existing/traditional marketing strategy. Since SEM is a vital piece of your marketing puzzle, it can accomplish three main goals for your body shop:
- SEM can make your shop more visible to your local customers.
- SEM helps you rank higher in the search results.
- Monitoring and measuring your SEM campaigns can provide quick results, but also contribute to your long-term marketing goals.
Rank First on Google
The modern customer is always online. People are searching for products, services, and brands via Google and other search engines, and they will research your shop online before deciding to give you a call or drive up to your shop.
By combining optimization and paid advertising, SEM allows you to show up higher in those search results, when people in your area search for any of the services you offer. SEO tactics such as keyword optimization and clean landing pages work best hand in hand with paid search to give you a strong position in the SERPs. The beauty of it all? SEM campaigns are easily adjusted to your own budget and your own expectations.
This builds brand visibility, authority and trust, especially if you rely on a mix of traditional and digital marketing methods in your arsenal to build your reputation in your community.
Be Where Your Customers Are
SEM is not limited to Google or Bing, as you can advertise your shop almost anywhere in the online realm. This is the beauty of SEM, as it allows you to be where your customers are and reach them when they are already motivated and need your services.
You can combine pay-per-click Google campaigns with Facebook and other social media ads. Most importantly, you can create hyper-targeted ads that appear in the local search results and capture the attention of your local audience at the right time – when they already need your body shop.
Measure and Fine-Tune SEM Performance
Taking such a comprehensive approach to SEM can seem a bit daunting, and optimizing your SEM efforts is indeed complex and industry-specific. Measuring and fine-tuning your marketing performance correctly requires in-depth industry knowledge, understanding your customers, and a range of analytics tools, all of which we here at PSG provide for our clients.
One of SEM’s greatest perks is that it’s measurable and quantifiable, allowing you to monitor the performance of every ad and every landing page and adapt your approach to improve their results.
You can have tangible, measurable results that you can use to boost your digital presence even further over time. The results include higher website traffic and engagement, improved shop visibility, and more customers reaching out and driving up to your collision shop.
Wrapping Up
Digital marketing is an important element of success in the collision industry, and SEM plays an increasingly important role in your shop’s ranking and customer engagement. For those who want to have a more prominent presence online and engage their customers despite social distancing, SEM should definitely be at the top of your list.
