With social media becoming such a big part of our marketing efforts, I thought it would be nice if we shared some ideas and suggestions as to what seems to work best for your shop. I would like to focus on Facebook as it seems to be the most used of all social media sites. To start it off, I will share what I have found.

Pictures are worth a thousand words. It seems that real pictures (i.e. photos taken in your facility rather than stock photos from the net) seem to generate the most interest. I like to use photos of repair jobs that would be intriguing to a lay person such as a cab removed from a ford truck. Anything that catches the eye serves well to keep your name in front of existing customers.

Informative posts such as where to find the correct tire pressure for your vehicle tends to generate the most "shares" which helps get your name in front of potential customers.

When you post to Facebook is just as important as what you post so your post doesn't get lost in the mix of all the other stuff on a persons feed. Facebook has a feature that will allow you to schedule a post to go "live" at a time and date of your choosing. I have found that Saturday afternoon seems to generate the most views however for me, a Monday afternoon post seems to generate fewer "views" but more booked jobs. I assume this is because people may see it on Saturday but by the time my shop opens on Monday it is no longer at the top of their to do list.

Targeting your audience when you "boost" a post is another way of positioning yourself to the correct customers. As an example, I had posting the article from the Washington post not too long ago about the woman who became a mechanic because she felt women were being taken advantage of when it came to auto repairs. I had posted how to prevent this kind of thing like regular maintenance, not choosing a shop based on price and getting a second opinion if needed. I targeted women ages 25-50, that post generated about 15 new customers in 1 week.

For those that don't know, "boosting" a post is simply paying Facebook to put your post out there to people who are not on your friends list. In my opinion it is the best bang for your buck out there for advertising.

What have you found that works? Any tricks you might want to share?

Duane from South Dakota