The beginner’s guide to promoting your workshop on social media

As a successful workshop with lots of loyal customers, is it necessary to promote your business on social media? You may think that maintaining a presence on several different social platforms is time-consuming, or that they won’t be effective or necessary in attracting new custom. But if that’s your view, it might be time to reconsider. Just as big automotive brands, suppliers and manufacturers use social media to engage their customers, independent workshops are now finding they can do the same.

Social media channels are free to access and set up, making them one of the cheapest and most effective ways to market your aftermarket business. More and more, motorists see them as a must-have, rather than a luxury, for any business they entrust their vehicles to. They’re not merely a brand-building tool, but are used to fulfil customer needs (such as for essential information) quickly and automatically.

In the first of a series on digital technologies, we’ve put together some advice to help workshops connect with their customers successfully, without requiring a prohibitive amount of time.

Choose your channels wisely

There are an ever-increasing number of content platforms (there’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Pinterest – and those are just the big ones), and when choosing which ones to be a part of, we recommend a ‘quality over quantity’ approach. If you’re short on time when it comes to your marketing, then focusing on producing content for one channel is probably best. If you’ve already set up several pages, but find you only get engagement on one or two, don’t be afraid to delete the channels that aren’t performing.

When selecting your channel, it’s also important to think about what type of posts you want to put out and where you might be able to connect with customers. Focusing on imagery rather than technical details? Then Instagram is probably the best choice for you. Want to share business information with as wide a group as possible? Then a Facebook Business page might be the best option.

Whichever channel you choose, make sure you set up a Business or Professional account – rather than a personal one – to get access to the tools and analytics you need to drive your business forward online.

Make sure your details are up to date

The bane of social media is missing or out-of-date information. You’ve probably experienced this when browsing other companies’ pages – don’t let yours fall into the same trap. The key is not to assume that once you’ve set up a page, the information you added will be correct forever. Check regularly that your basic profile info – website URL, contact details, business address, opening hours, services offered – are still correct. This isn’t just important for those who connect with you on these channels, but people who are searching for you via Google, as these pages will appear there too.

Make sure your profile picture includes a clear and correctly-cropped logo, and that the imagery you add is consistent. This will help customers identify you more easily, even when switching between platforms, since they instinctively recognise your visual brand – especially useful if there’s another business with a similar name. To make sure your logo is the right size for each platform, take a look at this image size guide.

Post at the right pace

Once you’ve set up your accounts, it’s time to start posting! You may be enthusiastic at this point, but remember that once you start, you can’t stop. If your initial flurry of activity doesn’t continue beyond a few weeks, it will reflect poorly on your business’s online persona. It’s better to come up with as many post ideas as you can, but then space them out using a scheduling tool such as Hootsuite.

How do you work out what to post about? It is all about testing and learning. A good tactic is to post a range of different content and look at the analytics to see which posts get the most likes, shares and comments. Eventually, you’ll start to get an idea of what works and what doesn’t.

Some starter ideas for posts include:

• • Pictures of your team working on a project in the workshop so customers can become familiar with the mechanics who’ll be working on their vehicle.
• • Pictures or videos of a project you’re particularly proud of – perhaps with a quote from a satisfied customer.
• • How-to posts that help customers to perform basic maintenance tasks themselves. This will show that you’re a trustworthy workshop that isn’t afraid to share important information.
• • Driver safety tips, such as tyre and oil checks, advice on driving in the bad weather, etc.

Connect with your customers

Sharing content is a great start, but you only get business value once people actually look at it. Once your account is active, encourage your team to share the page with their friends and networks so you can gain followers. Many social networks permit you to run competitions where followers enter by sharing your posts – so consider putting up a voucher or discount as a prize to get the engagement going.

Monitoring your messages is also important – since this is where you’ll be responding to potential customer questions, or even picking up bookings. As with any customer interaction, responsiveness is key. Set yourself 10-15 minutes every day to check your accounts and make sure any messages are responded to.

Link up with partners

When you start out on social media, you don’t have to go it completely alone. Social media is all about community, after all! Search for well-established pages in your market or local area, interact by sharing and commenting on other people’s posts, and with luck they’ll start to reciprocate, helping you gain more followers in a wider network. The more genuine your interactions, the better – you don’t need to be proposing a business exchange, you can just offer some advice, support or a relevant personal experience.

Getting in touch with your suppliers, partners and manufacturers to see what support they can give you is also a great idea. The DENSO team help out with useful materials, such as product images and industry information, that you can share from your page. Just get in touch with your DENSO representative to find out more about the support we can offer you.