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September 11, 2015 at 8:54 am #992804Up::0
I run a mechanical repair workshop in Perth just out of the CBD I have been there of 13 years now.
We run Google add words and have just started with Facebook advertising and advertise with shopper dockets.
Google adwords works for us but its getting more and more expensive, I have done a marketing course about online marketing and I pick some very good ideas and improving my online marketing.
Shopper dockets, I have been marketing with them for longer and they have worked good over the years but in the last year or so they have been steadily declining to a point that they are costing me money.
So the dilemma get rid of Shopper dockets and put all my eggs in one basket and market with only online.
Whats your thoughts?
Cheers
DarrenSeptember 11, 2015 at 9:39 am #1188247Up::0Hi Darren. Looks like your metrics are telling you that the old way isn’t working as well any more. You’ve monitored it for a long time to see out any blips and routinely seen the graph falling. It’s hard sometimes, when something has a history of working, but we have to let go. You need a good ROI on all advertising unless you’re going for a more intangible brand awareness. I sense yours is more clear cut: advertise > custom > metrics?
I think I’d want to see online working well before making changes. But that crossover period appears to have passed where you’re now forced to take the online plunge. One thought is that many times in business I’ve been deciding either method A or B. Very often, the answer has turned out to be something different. It’s called the ‘Illusion of Choice’. Maybe there’s another offline method? Or different online methods?
Facebook – social media requires, above all, consistent output and long-term commitment. It can be hard at first if the results don’t come in to give early validation. My hairdresser does well. She put photos on Facebook of all the styles for constant exposure. Before and After pics are very powerful. Would that work? Here it is broken. And here it is repaired. Images speak a thousand words and it builds trust.
September 12, 2015 at 4:03 am #1188248Up::0Hey Darren,
Seems to me that you have a good business plan in place and that after years of testing your methods are not proving so effective.
I can relate to this as I have been in the same position as yourself. Also being that the mechanical business itself has quite a lot of competition.
I would suggest to move away from Google Adwords for now and concentrate more of your time, effort and money on marketing to social media. It can sometimes take time to build your rep. but if you set yourself up with correct branding and offers it can pay dividends.
With Facebook advertising, you need to start with small bid amounts on each ad then increase your spend as you see results. At least with facebook advertising you can really target specific people who are more likely to need your services.
Make really attractive images and rotate them. Split test everything until you start seeing results.Whatever you do with Facebook advertising, Do Not press the boost button. So many of my clients thought this was a get out of jail free card. It most definitely is not. All the best!
September 12, 2015 at 4:31 am #1188249Up::0Thanks Paul and Col for your ideas
After reading your responses and reading a bit more on marketing on the Flying solo website ( Love this website ) Marketing is a very individual thing to your business and no 2 business are the same, but I am a mechanic who is trying to be a marketing manager, my head is spinning gees I love running a small business.
Has anybody got any info on CEO company and what are their experiences with them. Should I be giving these guys a piece of my marketing pie.
Don’t be afraid to put your 10 cents worth in I keen to hear from others and their experiences.
Regards
Darren:)
September 14, 2015 at 3:55 am #1188250Up::0Hi Darren,
Being a tradie and a small business owner you do have to also be a marketing and sales manager.
Strategically you need to focus on both new and existing customers. Think about your existing customer database – How can you better use them to grow your business before you look to attracting a new client. Secondly how can you attract new business within your local area?
Facebook is amazing for attracting local business but I do think that perhaps you are not utilising it correctly as when done well you should be getting a large number of new enquiries.
You also cannot put all your eggs in the one basket – happy to chat further if you would like to come up with a marketing strategy that is both affordable and works for your specific business. Uses both an online and offline strategy and is affordable in receiving the results you are looking for.
September 14, 2015 at 4:06 am #1188251Up::0Reach out to your existing customers, the best and cheapest marketing, and new client base is from referrals. Or of course repeat business.
My advertising costs are extremely low, because of referrals and repeat business.
September 14, 2015 at 4:59 am #1188252Up::0Hi Darren,
I’d take the shopadocket money and use it to have a professional improve your Adwords. I’d bet there are some immediate improvements that can be made to make them more profitable. Then you have a bit more money to play with to test new initiatives.
Good luck!
Dave
September 14, 2015 at 11:29 pm #1188253Up::0I agree with Bert…leverage the clients you already have, it’s a much cheaper option.
Do you send out reminder emails or make calls to customers when they’re due for their next service? Offer them incentives if they refer someone?
Wendy
September 15, 2015 at 2:55 pm #1188254September 16, 2015 at 8:25 am #1188255Up::0Get your customers to leave reviews on your Facebook page! It can work wonders. (You will have to offer them a little incentive of course eg. 10% discount on the next service). Ditch the dockets but don’t rush into getting a SEO, get good copy writing done and that’s as much SEO as you need in my opinion. But your best strategy is to rank well on sites like truelocal.com.au -get your customers to leave reviews there too.
Maria
September 16, 2015 at 8:35 am #1188256Up::0Maria Grant, post: 220905, member: 70764 wrote:don’t rush into getting a SEO, get good copy writing done and that’s as much SEO as you need in my opinion.Copy probably makes up about 5% of what’s involved within a typical SEO campaign.
September 16, 2015 at 9:33 am #1188257Up::0Maria Grant, post: 220905, member: 70764 wrote:. (You will have to offer them a little incentive of course eg. 10% discount on the next service).A happy client will leave a good review without an incentive, why are you suggesting they need an incentive
September 16, 2015 at 10:16 am #1188258Up::0Darren J, post: 220688, member: 68696 wrote:Has anybody got any info on CEO company and what are their experiences with them. Should I be giving these guys a piece of my marketing pie.
Hi Darren,
How about you post your website address on FS and ask for some SEO ideas?There is always something that can be done to improve relevant generic SE referrals. You may get lucky with a single freebie suggestion that makes a huge difference to you.
If I search Google for, “motor mechanic perth CBD” I only see two mechanic’s sites listed. The rest are largely directory and job sites. When you see the likes of Yellow Pages, True Local, Gumtree and Seek in top 10 location based search results, it is a signal to me that this may be a relatively easy search market where you can kick one of their pages out of the top 10 results.
This is a terribly rough and crude estimate but it is a first check that suggests it may not be very difficult for you to attract a bunch of new clients with SEO.
I’m guessing that in your trade, mobile search could be very important. In case you don’t know, this year Google implemented a number of changes to how it ranks its search results that are related to mobile searchers and everyone’s location.
If you look for SEO support you would want an SEO to be assessing mobile and location attributes of this new search method as well as desktop search results.
What sort of SEO support do you want?
I find these days that many small business folk want some accurate and credible SEO advice and a list of tactics that they can implement themselves followed up with some regular SEO performance assessments.
There are many SEO people around who want you to spend money on activities like social media posts and link building. Do not fall for these sorts of entreaties as at this stage, they have no direct impact on SE rankings.
Regs,
JohnWSeptember 16, 2015 at 10:24 am #1188259Up::0Maria Grant, post: 220905, member: 70764 wrote:. (You will have to offer them a little incentive of course eg. 10% discount on the next service).Sorry, but I was still thinking about this one, I know the last service I had was over $700, so that would have being a $70.00 price tag on a good review, Do you think that is good value ??????
September 16, 2015 at 10:26 am #1188260Up::0Well 10% was just an example that my hairdresser used. It is up to you what particular incentive you provide, don’t just guess it do some serious calculation. I meant to say that even when customers are happy with the service they are not very likely to leave a good review, without you asking for it. I guess just asking them to say a few words about their experience will work. But offering an incentive will see a much better result. At the end it comes down to your service. ( Be careful though, customer who had a bad experience is 5 times more likely to leave a review than the person who had a good experience. )
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