How to define your auto repair shop target market

Identifying your auto repair shop’s target market is a big first step to reaching the right customer. Your target market reflects the ideal customer you’ll need for your automotive shop business to be successful.

Once you’ve defined your auto repair shop’s target market, it’s only up from here. You can start collecting contact information like email addresses, phone numbers and social media preferences to get customers in the door and understand their needs better.

What are the steps to identify an auto repair shop’s target market?

A target audience refers to a specific group of consumers interested in your product or services. This group would likely be more receptive to your business’ advertising on social media and email marketing campaigns without unsubscribing.

Follow these five steps to define your target audience will help business owners develop a marketing plan that engages potential customers and even impresses existing customers. Whether they need a major repair or a simple oil change, targeting the right demographic makes a difference.

1. Do your research

An auto repair shop has a broad audience because people of all ages and professions have vehicles. You will have people who pay for the full costs themselves, repairs covered by insurance companies or businesses with company cars. You will also want to research the ages, income and locations of potential customers in your target audience.

You’ll also need to narrow down based on the repairs you perform and vehicles you service.

2. Do more research

Once you have the information above, your research can get even more specific. Maybe you have a customer base that only comes in for repair services. Could they turn into a customer who does routine maintenance and comes in more regularly?

Research doesn’t stop at Google. You will need to talk to your current customers to learn more about what your small business is doing that is working.

3. Determine your customer type

Your target market could encompass a wide net of women and men, professionals and blue-collar workers. Or, your marketing could target a specific persona, such as a corporate lawyer in their 30s that is single, makes $160,000 a year and has an older luxury car constantly in need of service.

Developing these types of personas could come from reviews on Yelp, customer referrals or the analytics from your search engine optimization (SEO). Remember that if a consumer contacts your auto repair business or comes in for a quote, they could be your type of customer.

4. Activate your auto repair shop marketing strategy

This is where it can get challenging for small business owners, but we’ve got you covered. Launching an auto repair shop marketing strategy for your local business will take time, but it can bring long-lasting results if you do it right. Enrich your website with local SEO keywords so you can be found on major search engines.

Take action on those marketing ideas from your business plan to see how they work — direct mail, business cards or SMS advertising. Shop owners can also strengthen their brand through word-of-mouth with referral promotions and loyal customer promotions. These marketing efforts can help you understand your target market and increase your customer base.

5. Continue to review your target audience

Over time, your company will grow, and your digital marketing strategy will need to change or get an upgrade. As seasons shift or your local demographic changes, you’ll need to review your target customers. Do you need new certifications? Are your marketing tools out of date? Has your shop been getting first-time customers or only loyal customers?

Look at your business and all the information you’ve collected on your target market, customer base and consumer profiles. See if there have been any changes to your local customers, reviews, pricing and the competition.

You want to keep revenue growing with new business. This requires a periodic review of your marketing strategy to see if you need to adjust the SEO on your business page or content marketing efforts to get qualified leads.

Maximize your auto repair shop revenue with Broadly

Identifying the right target market for your auto repair shop will be the difference between you and an auto services shop down the road.

Broadly can help your auto repair shop define your ideal customer and target audience. The platform has the tools for building a more robust online reputation that includes testimonials, higher search rankings and a marketing plan that gets you there.

Start advancing your business’s online presence today. Broadly helps thousands of companies like yours reach new customers and keep them coming back.