Auto body repair shops offer valuable services that all drivers need. However, most car owners have a lot of choices when it’s time to take their vehicle in for an oil change or a repair. If you own a garage, you need a marketing strategy that will pull potential customers away from competitors and into your shop. One of the most effective methods of reaching the right customers at the right time is known as geo-fencing.

What Is Geo-fencing?

Geo-fencing is a location-based marketing strategy that sends messages or notifications to mobile phones within a defined area. Using GPS or radio-frequency identification (RFID), a geo-fence activates when someone with a mobile device crosses its boundary. In addition to text messages and push notifications, a geo-fence can also display targeted social media ads and send emails. In other words, a geo-fence allows you to reach customers at a very specific place and time.Geo-fencing can also collect data passively. A geo-fencing marketing strategy lets you find out detailed information about customers, such as how often customers visit or what time of day the largest number of people are in the vicinity of your business. Passive geo-fencing can also track individual customers and send reminders when they haven’t been into your shop for a while. Passive geo-fencing uses Wi-Fi and cell phone data.

Benefits Of Geo-Fencing Marketing For Auto Repair Shops

Most forms of advertising cast a wide net. Radio and TV ads, billboards, online ads, and direct mail all reach a large audience. However, people who live far from your business are not the most likely customers to visit your shop. If you’re advertising to people in another city or county, you may be wasting money that could be better spent on targeted ads.Traditional advertising also fails to reach potential customers at the moment when they need to schedule service or a repair. No one visits an auto repair business just to look around, so if you’re marketing to people who don’t need a car repair or service, you’re wasting money again. Geo-fencing gives you the ability to target people who are already at a car dealership, an insurance office, or a competitor’s garage. These are people who have an immediate need that your business can fulfill.Because geo-fencing allows for such precise targeting of customers, it offers a better return on investment than many other marketing strategies. With geo-fencing, you can spend your advertising dollars on the most effective auto shop marketing and offer customers a more personalized and engaging experience.

Geo-Fencing Strategies For Auto Repair Shops

The following are four ways that geofencing can help you find new customers and bring them into your shop.

1. Geo-fence a dealership.

If your repair shop is certified to work on certain models of cars, geo-fencing allows you to target car buyers at dealerships and used car lots where those models are sold. For example, if your shop works mainly on Japanese-made vehicles, you can target customers at the local Toyota dealership. When potential car buyers enter or exit the dealership, you can show them an ad for a special discount on services for new Toyotas.

2. Geo-fence a competitor’s business.

Geo-fencing can allow you to target your competitor’s customers. These are people who have an immediate need for a service you can provide, but they may be waiting for an estimate from your competitor. By placing a geo-fence around a nearby auto repair shop, you can advertise directly to those customers, offering a special one-day discount or free oil change with any repair. The right ad can motivate customers to see if your shop can give them a better deal than what your competitor is offering.

3. Geo-fence a complementary business.

Another way to use geo-fencing is to find potential customers at other businesses that serve the same customer base in a different way. For example, an auto insurance company deals with car owners who have been in accidents and need repairs. An auto supply store serves customers who are taking care of their cars. Even gas stations can be good to target because they serve drivers who are thinking about their cars as they fill up their tanks.

4. Target nearby customers.

Although car owners don’t usually visit an auto repair shop on a whim, it is still possible to capture nearby foot traffic with the right ads. If your garage is near a shopping area, for example, you can target the whole shopping center with ads that offer a big discount on an oil change - a service that everyone needs regularly - for one day only. Even people who weren’t planning on getting their oil changed immediately might jump at the chance to get the discount.

5. Checking The Results Of Your Geo-Fencing Campaign

To find out how well a geo-fencing marketing strategy is working, you can also create a geo-fence around your repair shop that will track your customers’ movements. By using cookies and other tracking strategies, you can find out how many people visit your shop after crossing another one of your geo-fences. This data reveals how many conversions result from your geo-fencing campaign and which locations are the best to target.

6. Other Uses For Geo-Fencing

In addition to bringing in customers, geo-fencing can also help companies reach out to potential employees. For example, if your auto repair shop is short-staffed, you can create a geo-fence around a competitor’s shop and advertise to their employees. Another way to find employees is to target automotive repair students at a local technical college. Geo-fencing can also increase your security by tracking when people enter and leave your premises.

If you have an auto repair shop, geo-fencing can help you reach customers at the right time and in the right place. However, geo-fencing isn’t the only marketing solution you need because there is no guarantee that every potential customer will opt in to notifications, use your app, or keep their mobile data turned on. The best way to use geo-fencing is to incorporate it into a comprehensive auto repair shop marketing plan.