You worked hard to build your business’s reputation and now before your eyes, your auto repair shop has a sibling — your website — that needs the same attention to upholding your good name.
When you first opened your auto repair shop you focused on relationships with customers — building trust, being transparent and providing value. After all of this, you were thankful for the trust placed in you and your business. Nowadays, your business goes beyond the bricks and mortar of your business and extends into the virtual world. And your digital marketing strategy should follow the same philosophy of customer service you built when you started the business.
There are two paths an automotive repair shop owner could take when starting a business. One is to follow the advice of consultants who promise to rapidly build your business, perhaps through bulk marketing or sales techniques. Such claims could mislead potential customers about your true capabilities, your true experience and your complete value proposition. If you've been in business awhile, you can see these guys coming a mile away. You know by now that the better path is a sustainable approach, one that nurtures long-term relationships, attracts referrals and generally builds trust.
The number one, most important goal of a business should be to earn trust over time. You cannot fake trust, manipulate a relationship to increase the amount of trust or accelerate the build up of trust that you are creating. Trust is an organic, holistic thing. It comes from within your business, lives among your employees and grows out of the strength of the relationships you build with people
The same goes for digital auto repair shop marketing. This relationship of trust with search engines and authorities on the Internet takes time. Search engines have moved into a new realm of ranking websites. They’ve shifted away from strategies that could potentially mislead customers, and have begun to employ strategies that help users find exactly what they seek (and hide those attempting to manipulate search results).
In a similar way, the power of sharing information has shifted away from the auto repair shop to the consumer. That is why strategies to increase sales are losing their effectiveness and transparency is king, both online and inside the walls of your auto repair shop.
Trust through authenticity
If you, an employee or a sublet vendor violates the trust of the customer, your integrity is penalized. The same applies to your digital marketing when a whit hat, organic strategy is implemented. Organic marketing is created from within your business and can include blogging, social media and reputation management. You could lose the trust of a customer if you don't stand by the claims you make. Or, if a poor customer review that goes unanswered. The same trust must be developed with search engines. Building successful relationships of trust over time requires authenticity and authority. This is true what hat SEO.
Trust through authority
Authority at your shop includes industry specific organizations that you have aligned yourself with. In my experience, AAA-approved auto repair shops, Better Business Bureau and Bosch Service Center are the most notable for specialized auto repair shops.
Digitally, these alliances come in the form of significant industry specific websites and directories. For the high-end European car repair shop, bimmershops.com and its network of directory sites is most notable. Companies like demandforce and CustomerLink have built their own networks that include lateral industries. Paid or free listings on these sites add instant credibility to your business online.
Trust through content
Building trust through content comes by being consistent. Think about times you get an automated attendant on the phone and struggle to work through multiple recorded menus versus actually talking to a human being after the first few rings. If there are no human beings to interact with or they are not of high caliber, you cannot build credibility and trust.
Including a blog on your website allows you to have a conversation with customers online. Introduce your staff and business owners, quote your customers. Talk about your expertise and give customers answers to the questions they ask when standing at your service counter.
Gone are the days of syndicated copy and cookie-cutter content. Engaging in your marketing and creating an engine to implement it from within your company is the only successful path. Human beings are required at your store and within your digital marketing presence.
When the salesman calls and offer you the first page of Google, remember this: Regardless of the advertised price, building trust cannot be bought. It comes by building a relationship over time and giving as much as you receive.
Let us know what you're doing to build trust with search engines. Leave a comment below.
