Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Offline Media Needed To Steer Prospects To Site.

Posted by JerryC-PA on 11/28/2010 at 3:07 PM ET 125 Points
I specialize in auto electrical repair, a very narrow niche in the industry. My target customer has been to at least one auto repair shop and is not satisfied with the repair. Historically my customer would find me on the recommendations of repair shops who know and trust me, or by word of mouth. Recently with the addition of my webpage they find me by their own research. I get about 10 hits a day and by my estimation 5% call to discuss their problem and then bring the car in. I would like to direct more of this type of customer to my site and I am hoping you guys could offer some suggestions.
So my main prospect is out there realizing he has a very difficult car electrical problem and he doesn't know who can fix it, and he hasn't heard about me yet. Where should I be advertising?
Thanks
Jerry
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 11/28/2010 at 3:42 PM Member
    Jerry

    One thing you might want to think about: Looking at your website I can imagine owners of cars with intermittent or complex electrical problems feeling very frightened when they look at some of the pictures you have of stripped-out interiors and dismantled dashboards.

    It's like hospitals showing pictures of patients undergoing gory surgery on their home page. They don't - they show smiling patients being tended by caring nurses, and people going home well, not being carved up.

    Please feel free to test my theory before adopting it but I think someone with a power window problem would react better to a short video clip of an attractive model - or even a video customer testimonial - showing the window going down and up and the customer saying "I'd been to several other repair shops and I can't believe Jerry actually fixed the problem they couldn't solve for me". That might lift your website visitor conversion rate to 10% or 30%... You could go from a call every second day, to two or three a day!

    As we often say on this site - Tell the prospect all about the benefit, not about the process or product.

    Hope that helps.

    ChrisB


  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 11/28/2010 at 3:53 PM Member
    Guy you need to see your glass as more than half full. You are getting 10 hits and 5% or two calls 3x a week and you don't see the value in that or think that is wimpy?

    So lemme ask-- what is your close ratio of those 3 calls a week? Your logic is more hits = more calls. Maybe, but as the song goes "it ain't necessarily so".

    Your goal is sales not inquiries. Think about those calls and your assumptive close. You should be assumptive. They are in pain and you will handle the problem.

    2nd, why is your target someone with a bad mechanic first then you? Shouldn't your message be-- get it right the first time? I think you are limiting your play field by targeting those already been to a repair shop. Wouldn't your numbers improve if they came to you first-- and only you? Think of how many marginal shops "luck" into getting it right the first time.

    I'd target drivers with electrical problems -- period. "try me first, or try me 2nd". I like you are targeting other repair shops.

    When I was single and a dingbat about cars-- I was totally lost when my local guy said "this aint my thing". Panic is the word-- I was a road warrior and a day without a car cost me $$, not just an inconvenience. (a shop that caters to women would be an added bonus -- not to stereotype, but I need someone to dumb it down without treating me as a dummie and I was loyal to them for it). I don't know cars, but I am smart enough to make the income to pay your bill.

    I would continue with your limited success and target those shops that the word "electrical" strikes fear.

    Add services like driving the person home and pick up when repair is done. Laugh all you want, but the mechanic I would die for did this for me-- and turns out he was a darn good one.
  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 11/28/2010 at 4:04 PM Member
    Let me rephrase as I didnt' say that right:

    Add services like driving the person home and pick up when repair is done. Laugh all you want, but the mechanic I would die for did this for me-- and turns out he was a darn good one.

    The reason I went to this guy first when single was he clearly stated he'd drive me home.

    I had one more thought after re-reading your post. You ask for offline media. A fave OLD book is "minding online gold with an Offline Shovel" -- google it!
  • Posted by mgoodman on 11/28/2010 at 4:29 PM Accepted
    Have you tried search advertising? This sounds like a perfect situation for that. People are looking for someone like you. They go to the web and search for "car electrical problem" or some similar keyword/phrase.

    It's a narrow niche, for sure. But you can have your ad only show up within 10 or 20 miles of your location, and you only pay when someone actually clicks through to your landing page or website. If someone near you searches for "car electrical repair" (or any similar phrase), they see your ad. And if they like what they see, they click.

    I don't see how this one can miss! And it will be a lot more affordable than mass media for this very-niche service.

    If you're already marketing to potential referrers (e.g., local mechanics, repair shops, etc.), and you want to reach consumers directly, this is probably your best bet.

    (Need more info? Contact me using the email address in my profile.)
  • Posted by JerryC-PA on 11/28/2010 at 5:14 PM Author
    Chris B.
    I'm working on toning down my pix.

    Carol
    I'm very happy with those 3 calls a week, out of the 10 hits those 3 are the ones that call and after speaking with me about their problem, bring in the car. 100% close?
    My goal is NOT inquires, it is those who have been educated and know they need me. They learn this by trying to get the car fixed other places. I target them because once they find out it's not a run of the mill problem they don't mind paying me to fix it.

    Mgoodman,
    I wonder about search advertising, specifically how ppc would compare to my organic results. I don't think there is much competition in this little niche. I seem to come up in the local results every time I search one of my keywords. Although I am probably biased. I'll research it more for sure.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 11/28/2010 at 5:28 PM Moderator
    One of my clients who has excellent natural search ranking found that adding search advertising increased total traffic (and conversion). This may or may not be true for you, but it's not terribly expensive or difficult to try it and see.

    If you get more traffic and more calls (and more sales) when you add search advertising to your natural search ranking, then you keep doing it. If not, you drop the advertising and just stick with the organic results.

    You'll know if it's worth it within a few months.
  • Posted by telemoxie on 11/28/2010 at 6:56 PM Member
    have you considered promoting your company to other noncompeting specialist firms, such as collision repair, installation of custom sound systems, etc.?

    Some of these could become good sources of referral business.
  • Posted by JerryC-PA on 11/28/2010 at 8:29 PM Author
    Telemoxie,
    I'm always in touch with the auto repair professionals, they are my core business. Since I noticed more people finding me online (good paying jobs by the way) I figure I'll expend a little energy trying to point them to my site via offline advertising.
    Jerry
  • Posted by mgoodman on 11/28/2010 at 8:39 PM Moderator
    I still think offline advertising is not likely to be profitable for you because the market is so narrow. It's a small niche you seek, and there's no medium that's targeted at that niche. In fact, there's no good way to identify prospects the market until they are aware of the need.

    If you create awareness among a broad market, chances are pretty high that 99% of your money will be spent on people who will never need your services.

    This is one situation where mass marketing just doesn't make sense. What am I missing?
  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 11/28/2010 at 9:14 PM Accepted
    I think other than someone with an electrical problem, the core lead-in channel is repair shops of various kinds with no existing specialist auto electrician in-house.

    An offline campaign that targets THEM would be worthwhile. Direct mail, followed up with a phone or in-person call would work.
  • Posted by JerryC-PA on 11/28/2010 at 9:18 PM Author
    M
    I don't think you're missing anything. I think I was hoping that asking a group of marketing professionals would yield an exact answer, a magic marketing formula. If mass marketing is out, can you think of any mini marketing? I can double my net with 4 more good jobs a week.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 11/29/2010 at 7:47 AM Moderator
    Try a small campaign using Google Adwords. If it works, you'll be very glad you tried it. And if it doesn't work, you can stop after a few months and know that you gave it a fair shot. It won't cost you a lot unless it's wildly successful.

    I think our consensus advice to you is that your niche doesn't lend itself to direct consumer advertising using mass media. It's best done by going through your network of referrers.

    If you want to go direct to your end-user customer, it has to be search advertising and/or local directories -- the places people go when they learn they have the problem.

    If you need more, feel free to contact me via the email address in my profile.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 11/29/2010 at 8:39 AM Accepted
    Have you interviewed the leads calling you? How did they find you? Where else did they go for information? Who else did they contact? Why did they call you? Perhaps you can find a common thread that they all initially tried (if you weren't their first call) and market yourself in that location.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 11/29/2010 at 4:01 PM Accepted
    Dear Jerry,

    First up, thanks for your e-mail. That was very kind of you and my offer stands.

    Secondly, I'm not sure what kind of geographical spread you tap into with the work you do, but my gut says most of it comes from within a 75 to 100 mile radius. With this in mind, here are a few humble thoughts on offline ways to drive business. There's no hard sell here, use the ideas you think might have merit and discard those that you think suck:

    1. Leaflet drops (or LIKES on Facebook and Twitter
    sites) to West Chester University, University of Delaware, Wilmington University, and local technical colleges (students, alumni in the area, staff).

    2. A calendar for 2011 that you give away to new and current customers. You still have time to crank this out and I can put you in touch with a great printer in your area (with whom I have NO affiliation but who specializes in print on demand for small businesses). Calendars put your name in front of people for a whole year, and depending on the images (NASCAR, famous quotations, seasonal scenery of Eastern PA, "How to" and "Did you know?" style content) they can be made to appeal to a broad audience.

    3. The newsletters of local churches. Lots of people ignore this style of marketing, but it reaches a niche, LOCAL audience and it's CHEAP.

    4. Leaflets in local eateries (cafés, coffee shops,
    bakeries etc.,) in and around West Chester, Doylestown, Wilmington, Kennett Square, and so on. It might also be worth connecting with the social media sites of Wawa https://www.facebook.com/wawa?v=wall

    5. Sponsoring a local charity (such as the Ronald McDonald House), or hooking up with the local and seasonal car rallies in and around West Chester. If you've got a muscle car that you could enter, again, it's another way to create visibility. This is great for events covered by local TV and radio because PR doesn't come across as outright selling.

    6. Leaflet drops to local convenience stores, auto repair shops, gas stations, and the like, with the same in return: they carry your leaflets, you carry theirs.

    7. Approach local radio, TV, and press and volunteer
    to be the host of a guest slot or column and use this
    to position yourself as the resident expert. Think of The News Journal in Wilmington or NBC 10's "The 10 Show"
    in Philadelphia. These kinds of outlets are a great source to show your expertise, you offer expert content (which is always in demand because it's interesting) and this kind of exposure generates lots of free publicity and visibility. Think "Click and Clack" on NPR and you'll get the general idea. Entertain people or educate them and you create HUGE share of mind. And the thing here is that NO ONE else in your niche is doing this, so you'll OWN the niche, again, increasing your positioning as an expert.

    We gain authority status in one of two ways: we are appointed as experts, or we claim expert status.

    So, I hope these few ideas of are value. If I can help with anything else, let me know and again Jerry, many, many thanks for your e-mail.

    Kind regards,

    —Gary B.

    Gary Bloomer
    The Direct Response Marketing Guy™
    Wilmington, DE, USA



  • Posted by telemoxie on 11/30/2010 at 7:27 AM Member
    sorry to not be politically correct, but if you are promoting your services to people in the automotive industry, shouldn't you consider a calendar with pictures of pretty young girls in bathing suits and sexy outfits? Isn't that a proven way to keep your message in front of your primary target audience?

    You can do this in a high class, professional and creative way. For example, what would happen if you scheduled some photo shoots at your client's site? Could you get some local PR by holding open auditions?

    Every year, marketing people talk about the Super Bowl ads. If you asked your target market about their favorite Super Bowl ad, I would bet a lot of money that they would vote for the Go Daddy ad campaign.
  • Posted by JerryC-PA on 12/2/2010 at 6:42 PM Author
    A sincere thanks to all.
    With all of the input you contributed I've set to work. The first thing I did was started an email marketing campaign. And my first email went out earlier today to about 15 of my garage clientele. In it I asked if they would give me feed back on why they deal with me and offer suggestions on what I could include for shops that may know of me but don't deal with me yet. Note that I don't understand the email marketing program that tracks my campaign, nor do I know how to produce a good looking email yet. I think I'll get it though.
    Right now I'm studying ppc advertising, I do think this is a good option and it's easy to try. I think I will be able to recognize results very quickly if it works. And I have a credit from google for 100.00.
    I designed a vinyl sign in white letters to stick to my car rear windshield that says, "Car Electrical Trouble?" Call 610-344-7796 along with my logo. I plan on installing these on any car I can. I will be tracking the phone # on a site called patlive. I was thinking of small signs (24"x18") but I don't think they would be legible.
    I'm working on pictures for my site to tone down the "car torn apart" look, and trying to move toward what a regular guy may feel more comfortable with. I have a few pix of unusual cars I've worked on like London Taxi's, and nice looking Rods. I don't want to remove all the "car apart" pix though, because the professional garages I will be targeting in my email marketing car really associate with them.
    I hear and appreciate everything everyone has said, and I'm excited about my new plan. It's a little hard fixing cars, writing email copy, designing signs and taking pictures, but it is pretty satisfying. And I'm sure it will be exciting too when it starts paying off.
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