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We recently held a marketing roundtable for our GEAR Network members. Everyone who attended walked away with some great ideas to help their automotive business. It was also interesting to see how many people are still curious or unsure about venturing into video marketing.
For today’s blog, we’re jumping into an overview of video marketing. We’re focusing on why you should be using it, how you should use it, and when you should use it for your automotive repair shop.
An Overview of Video Marketing in 2022
You’ve probably heard that video is king. It’s something that marketers and other industries have been pushing since around 2017. But is that still true?
Yes, especially when it comes to marketing your auto repair shop! There are many reasons why this is so important, but the biggest reason boils down to one simple fact: people like video.
Here are just a few statistics from SmallBizGenius that show how much people like videos:
Video on landing pages has shown to increase conversion by over 85%.
Over 500 million hours of video are watched on YouTube each day.
45% of people watch an hour or more of videos on social media per week.
69% of people prefer video when learning about a service or product.
Nearly 90% of marketers are satisfied with their social media video marketing ROI.
It’s not just the big brands that have realized this; small businesses all over the world have started heavily using video marketing as well. Why? Because it works! In fact, videos work better than any other form of digital advertising when it comes to conversion rates and ROI (return on investment).
If that doesn’t convince you, let’s look at other reasons why you should be using video marketing for your automotive business.
Why You Should Use Video Marketing for Your Auto Repair Shop
Some of the biggest reasons that you should be using video marketing include:
Building trust with your audience.
Conveying personality and team culture.
Getting more website traffic.
Easily shareable and effective.
Building trust with your audience. While the industry has grown a lot in the last decade or so, the sad fact is that there are still some stereotypes that can affect the image of your shop and its business. By showing potential customers what goes on behind the scenes (think maintenance tips that help them avoid costly repairs down the road), you’ll help educate your audience. Plus, they’ll have more trust in your business and be more likely to spend their money with you.
Conveying personality and team culture. Video marketing is so helpful in sharing your team and culture with potential clients! You can easily put together videos of technicians introducing themselves, sharing big moments with your team, and giving clients a glimpse of what it’s like to work for your shop. Team culture is a big issue right now, and many of the younger generations are taking notice of how employees are treated. Be proactive in sharing about your team and you’re likely to see more engaged and loyal customers in the long run.
Getting more website traffic. This one is a reiteration of the statistics mentioned in our overview – people like video! That means when you share your videos, you’re more likely to have an engaged audience that click through and visit your web pages compared to a simple graphic or text-only post. I always recommend testing this for yourself by posting about the same topic twice, once with a video and once with either only text or a simple graphic. Track your engagement and web traffic from each – you may be surprised with the difference.
Easily shareable and effective. The best part about video is that it’s a marketing strategy that can easily link to other platforms to increase its effectiveness. You won’t just be creating a video to share it once on YouTube. You’ll be using that same video (or even different clips of it) to share across Facebook, Instagram, on a blog post, on your LinkedIn – anywhere you are actively posting as a business.
If you haven’t been using video marketing, it’s easy to see why your auto repair shop should be using it. But how? If you’ve never made a video before or are camera shy, this next section is for you.
How You Should Use Video Marketing for Your Auto Repair Shop
You’re ready to jump on the video marketing train and start seeing its impact on your ROI. Great! But how do you make these videos? Should you invest a small fortune into a video company to make them for you or maybe invest into professional equipment?
The answer is neither. Sure, down the line you may work with a company or invest into a specific piece of equipment. But you don’t need it to start using video marketing in your business right away. Instead, start making videos with your iPhone or GoPro – whatever equipment you currently have – right now.
You might be nervous about being in front of the camera, but you won’t get over that anxiety until you start filming. You might have to take a few takes, but simply doing it is half the battle. Maybe start small with sharing a few maintenance tips with one of your top technicians, then the next week you can film a tutorial with a car you currently have in the shop.
I’ll be honest, your first few videos aren’t going to be the best. But they’re going to be authentic and you’re only going to get better with each one. And the point of this is to simply start – you can worry about editing or anything else after the fact.
A few tips for filming your first set of videos:
Take some time to brainstorm what you’ll be filming and create a simple list to keep track as you film.
Don’t feel pressured to script yourself out. Write out a few key points you want to touch, but otherwise let your personality shine through.
Get the team together to have a few sets of extra hands and voices. By involving them in the process, they’ll get more comfortable making videos as well.
Consider using a tripod or purchasing one to make it easier on yourself. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars – whatever works best for your phone will do.
Don’t get caught up in the mistakes. Take a breath and keep going!
You can upload the footage to your computer and use software like Canva (it offers free and paid versions). Or simply use the editing tools on your phone to cut out any bad parts or splice it into smaller segments for different platforms.
Wherever you’re sharing it (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc.), I highly recommend selecting adding closed captioning. It will make your video accessible for everyone and appeal to all those millennials who like to watch their videos without sound (me!). Then, consider where else the full video or snippets of it can be shared, like:
Facebook
YouTube
Blog posts
Email
LinkedIn
Instagram reels
TikTok
Pinterest
And beyond!
That means a single video can be shared on over eight platforms – extending the reach and making it more likely to have a higher ROI when combined with a call-to-action (CTA).
Still not sure when or what to film? Let’s look at some great times to use video marketing for your shop next.
When to Use Video Marketing for Your Auto Repair Shop
The simple answer is to use video marketing whenever you can. There are three main categories to think of when planning your videos:
Authority
Testimonial
Culture
Authority. These are going to be videos that you film with your team to show that you’re the expert when it comes to your clients’ cars. Regularly show your audience that you are the expert by sharing things like maintenance tips, tutorials on certain services, and behind-the-scenes of big projects. If they see you and your staff sharing information that educates them as a car owner, they’re not only going to appreciate that information but start to see you as the ultimate authority. So, the next time their engine light turns on or they hear a weird noise while driving, they’ll be turning to your shop for help!
Testimonial. These are exactly what they say – videos of your clients talking about why they love working with your shop. If you hear a client talking about your shop, ask them if they wouldn’t mind filming a quick testimonial with you. Some will say no, but you’ll be surprised at how many will say yes. I suggest having a few questions thought out that you can always ask. It will help standardize these videos and make it easier to combine them in the future. Testimonials are important for every business, and they tend to have an even bigger impact when they’re videos.
Culture. We mentioned these when talking about why you should use video marketing for your auto shop. These are going to be the videos that give your clients a behind-the-scenes look at working with your team. It can be videos of your employees introducing themselves, videos of birthday celebrations, or even videos of team hobbies or after-hours events. These videos will also help your team feel more comfortable in front of the camera while increasing the trust and authenticity your clients feel – a win-win if you ask me!
And there you have it, a simple guide on why, how, and when to use video marketing for your auto repair shop. Video is going to continue to be the king of content these next few years and you are missing out if you’re not taking advantage of all it offers for your marketing strategy. Just remember that the hardest part is simply doing it – you’ll start feeling like a video natural in no time!
Have more questions about video marketing? You can reach out to me (Lex) at lex@wearetheinstitute.com.
We also highly recommend the team at Shop Marketing Pros if you're looking to hire a marketing company. Brian and Kim have spoken at our MARS events in the past and we truly see them as marketing professionals working to help the industry.
Or consider scheduling a free business assessment with our team. Our expert will go over every aspect of your business and help you put together a plan to get your business where you want to be. Just click on the banner below to schedule your assessment today!
