Auto repair PPC works well because today’s shopper (for anything, not just automotive services) does the majority of his or her research online. Your PPC ads can make a difference early in the customer journey.

If you’re going to play in the marketing arena, you want to know your hard-earned dollars are going to bring you lots of new customers, right? Enter pay-per-click advertising. Now, more than ever, auto repair PPC is a marketing strategy that works well for auto shops looking to increase car count and grow revenue.

PPC is the solution for putting your auto shop’s name and message in front of people who are searching for your tire and auto services now.

How PPC/Google Ads Works

Pay-per-click marketing (also known as PPC ads, Google Ads, SEM, sponsored ads or paid search) is marketing your shop in Google, specifically in the top part of the search results page that loads after Googling a particular keyword or phrase like “oil change near me.”

With PPC, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad and visits your website, so you’re not wasting money on people who have no interest in auto services.

Ad messages are customized for your specific services so that Google knows to show them to people who are searching online for things that you provide (i.e. tires, new brakes, oil change, etc.).

7 Reasons Why Auto Repair PPC/Google Ads Makes Sense for Your Auto Shop’s Marketing Strategy

1. People are spending more time than ever online looking for auto service and tires. Consumers are savvier now more than ever before thanks to the vast amounts of information on the Internet. They research a lot before they buy, too. The majority of shoppers will visit a business after finding information online about the availability and price of the item or service they’re searching for, as well as the location of the business, according to iResearch Services.

2. Search engines are the #1 tool for consumer research. Customers begin their search for products and services with, well … online search engines.

The Internet’s vast amount of information has made people into natural Googlers. We can Google anything and everything, and it has become a major habit for people to search tire and auto repair services in their local area from Google.

Just for tires, there are more than 100 million online searches in the U.S., according to research on Google Trends (Think With Google).

3. PPC drives up in-store purchases and leads to a 20x’s greater chance of a sale. Because of the targeted nature of PPC ads, paid search is one of the fastest ways to increase your car count; the ads are extremely relevant to the needs of the people the ads are being served to.

When someone calls or walks in your door because they found you through your PPC ad, the chances of turning them into your customers are much higher because they found you in their moment of need.

4. Auto repair PPC strategy can avoid wasted dollars. A word of caution: It’s very easy to waste dollars in PPC. Therefore, a thorough understanding of the auto repair industry and consumer behavior as well as an in-depth knowledge of the best keywords that convert is key.

A well-built and frequently monitored PPC campaign will help you not waste your marketing dollars on people who aren’t looking for your services. This area isn’t really for novice marketers, and thus we recommend the help of an expert in order to maximize ROI.

PPC is built for people with an intention (that is, in this case, intention to buy your tires or automotive services). With PPC you’re not hoping your ad lands in front of people who will remember you when they need your services, whenever that may be.

This is the case with TV commercials, outdoor billboards, Facebook ads, etc.. These channels can’t tell you for sure that the people who see your ad are in the market for vehicle maintenance or repairs.

Thus, PPC has the benefit of strategic placement, which cuts waste and greatly improves the chances of positive ROI from the campaign. Because Joe searched “best transmission repair shop monroe nc,” we know he’s likely looking for a transmission repair shop in Monroe. With other channels, for example, we can’t know for sure that the people seeing the ads need a new transmission (or even own a car).

5. The cost of leads brought in through PPC can be very ROI-friendly.

Once a campaign has had some time to optimize and perform well, the cost-per-lead (leads being the people who call in or submit a form on your website after they click on the PPC ad) can be worthwhile.

For example, if it costs your campaign $40 to generate a lead, but those clicks are bringing in customers who spend an average of $250 per service at your shop, then the campaign is likely paying off.

6. PPC can be personalized to strategically market a service or product of your choice in the geographic areas that you want.

Let’s take wheel work as an example. If wheel jobs are lucrative for your shop and something you’ve wanted to bring in more customers for, search ads on Google might be perfect. The trick is doing some research for your market to see what the demand for wheel work is like in the geographic areas you want to drum up business in. (This applies to any specific service or product an auto shop could want to market on search.)

7. Sales generated from auto repair PPC can be tracked, so you can know exactly what your campaign is bringing you. Technology is a beautiful thing. Website order tracking and phone call tracking can let you know what sales were brought in from your PPC campaign. Tracking codes help website traffic and orders be attributed to PPC, while unique phone numbers assigned to ads help you see which ads are compelling users to call you.

If you need help looking at options for setting up and/or tracking your PPC campaign using reliable website coding and unique phone numbers, drop us a line. We’ll be happy to consult you on some of the best technology for measuring your PPC campaign’s performance.

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Final Thoughts about Auto Repair PPC

When executed properly, PPC can be a worthwhile source of leads for tire and auto service businesses, especially for those in competitive markets where they don’t show up high in organic search results (non-paid presence in Google). If you don’t show up in the top 3 Google Map spots in your local market’s Google searches for your automotive services, paid search is an especially attractive choice for online advertising for your shop.

Next Steps For Your Auto Shop

Curious about what a PPC campaign could price for in your market and how many customers it would likely bring in? Reach out for a no-obligation quote!

If you’re already running PPC — whether via an agency or by yourself through Google Adwords — and want a second opinion of how your campaign is doing compared against our historic data and benchmarks for real PPC success, we’d love to give you a free analysis.

The Conceptual Minds Difference in Auto Repair PPC

Conceptual Minds has experience running millions of dollars in auto service and tire PPC campaigns, and our Google-certified team uses some of the best technology in the industry to do it.

Our 10+ years of experience in auto shop marketing has taught us a lot. Our clients reap the benefits of that learning and data compilation; they get better-performing PPC campaigns than they’d get with an agency that doesn’t understand the nuances of marketing auto repair and tire services.

Need digital ads that have messages that engage users and create measurable results? We can do that.

We handle the heavy lifting on tracking and making sure the campaign is running at its best, and we provide monthly reports and insights that shape our strategy with your PPC campaign, and our experts are a phone call away when you have questions.

FAQs

Q: I’m interested in auto repair PPC, but not in a long-term contract. What kind of commitment does Conceptual Minds require for PPC?

A: Great question! We hate trapping clients in long-term commitments, so we don’t do it. Plain and simple. It takes about 4-6 months for the technology and optimization to start working its magic so we that’s generally the term of our first agreement.

That being said, clients usually see great results and choose to continue their PPC campaigns with us after the short contract is up! (Sorry, the shameless brag seemed relevant here.)

Q: How long does it take for PPC to pay off?

A: No two PPC campaigns are alike. It can take up to three or four months for your campaign to start paying off, but that’s where industry experience comes in.

Our time in automotive PPC has given us clear indicators of what works and what doesn’t, and how long a campaign usually takes to get liftoff and start paying off in ROI.

We do a lot of due diligence in setting up a campaign so we know what the expected outcome is, and the numbers are reliable because of the high quality and large amounts of PPC data we work with.