12 Ways To Get More Auto Detailing Customers

[thebamboo23]

So you’ve finally bought all the products and tools to clean any car that comes your way.

Your polo shirts are looking great with your logo on them.

And lastly, you’ve made your business cards, social media pages and nice looking website.

FANTASTIC.

But guess what? You’re still not a business.

You still need the most important part to running a business: people handing you over their hard earned money for your services.

Which brings us to the question that everyone loves to ask: “How do I get customers? Word-of-mouth? SEO? Handing out business cards?”

First off, there is no silver bullet you can do that will bring in loads of customers. Although there are systems and platforms that can help you reach large audiences (which I highly recommend).

In order for any of these methods to work, you need to have an overall strategy in place with specific goals. If not, you’ll be running around like a headless chicken.

1) Facebook Ads

There are currently over 1 billion users on Facebook… Take that in for a second. There are 1,000,000,000 people who are actively on Facebook.

Do you not think your customers are there? Because they are most definitely on Facebook. Detailers need to start taking advantage of the platforms that are given to them i.e. Facebook ads platform (Power Editor not the boost button).

Facebook is great because you can be LASER targeted with who sees your ad.

Want to target an audience from the age of 37 to 60 who are all men that live in a specific zip code that recently bought a sports car? Yeah, you can do that.

2) Google Adwords

Unlike Facebook, Adwords doesn’t allow you to target people by age, gender and interest. However, you can target people who are actively searching for a specific solution to their problem.

The people who are searching on Google for detailing services want to give you their money. They're saying, “I have a problem I need fixed on my car. Who can help me solve this in my area?”

3) Retargeting

Have you ever visited a site that you wanted to buy from but ended up skipping out on the purchase? And know it seems like you see that same item all across the web?

This is called retargeting (some call it remarketing). It’s a small piece of Javascript (referred to as a cookie or pixel) that follows you around the web showing very specific ads to you.

Considering that only about 2% of your sites traffic buys from you on their first visit, retargeting helps you reach the other 98%.

4) Referrals / Word-of-Mouth

Getting your current customers to refer their friends to you is one of the best ways to bring in high quality customers.

This is best done when you have some type of referral system set in place to incentivize your customers to refer friends. This can be save $20 off your services, $20 gift card to Amazon, $20 cash, etc.. You should test it with your customers and see what works the best.

5) Search Engine Optimization

There are over 3.5 billion searches a day in Google. The amount of searches that are made in a month for detailing related services will dramatically change by city and state.

Before you put in a lot of time and effort into SEO, dive into the Keyword Planner provided by the Adwords platform. You’ll be able to see how many times your services are searched for every month.

This is a great strategy because once you have all the SEO best practices in place, you’ll be able to get “free” customers through your site.

6) Influencers

Are there companies or individuals that have a strong following that also have your ideal customer audience?

You have to figure out a plan to get them to talk good about you and your detailing services. This could be by offering them a free service or giving away a service to one of their fans. Be creative, be helpful, and DON’T be pushy.

7) Instagram

One of the best platforms to show off your work is Instagram. This is especially true when you have dramatic results like a 50/50 on cleaning leather seats or performing a paint restoration.

You don’t have to have a fancy camera or professional photography skills. As long as your photos aren’t shaky in low lit rooms, you’ll be fine :-)

The hashtag feature is also very beneficial. For example, if there’s a local car show in your area, you can use the name of the car show in your posts so others can see your photos.

8) Partnership

Instead of going out and finding customers on your own, why don’t you team up with a company or individual that has your ideal customers?

Are there local repair shops that only work on German vehicles? Are those the customers you want to reach? You can either offer the repair shop a percentage off your services or detail their customers’ cars on site at the shop. In return, the repair shop can refer you to their customers.

9) YouTube

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world. Just like SEO, there are tactics and strategies you can take to get your video to the top of the results.

You should go into the Keyword Planner and make sure there are a decent amount of searches per month before you spend a lot of time on there.

One of the best things that can happen is that your YouTube videos will come up in the Google search results when someone types in ‘[your city name] detailing services’

10) Direct Mail

This method is probably the most well known of them all. You can target a specific area with high quality mail. Although I would not recommend this if you’re on a tight budget.

The only type of mail I would recommend is lumpy mail. But there is simply too much risk to this type of marketing strategy. Your copywriting skills need to be great, your offer needs to be mouthwatering, and the target group needs to be super duper specific.

If you’re just blasting a postcard with high quality photos of cars you’ve worked on, you’re going to get bad results.

11) Sponsorship

There will be 2 primary sources of sponsorship: offline and online. Online could be forums or even other companies that have your targeted audience.

So if you want to focus on interior cleaning, you can sponsor a veterinarians homepage to drive some of their traffic to your landing page. Just make sure their site gets well amount of traffic to make it worth your time, effort, and money.

An offline sponsorship could be a car show or event that your ideal customers will be attending.

12) Forums

Have you searched in your city for local car forums? There’s usually 3 types of forums you’ll find that can help you get in front of more people:

Car club forum
Forums for big cities
Make or model forums
The best way to go about this is by commenting and helping others with their car care questions and problems. The more you answer around the forum about your topic of expertise, the more people will take notice of you.

Conclusion

Hopefully after you’ve read this list, you’ll have a better understanding of what you can do to get more customers.

One big rule of thumb that is applied to all of the methods that were stated above is TEST EVERYTHING.

You may be seeing good results with your current process, but who’s to say your results can’t get better by ongoing tweaking and testing? Testing is the key to success.

Let me know which methods you’ll use in the comments below!

[Niko Molina]

Great post Bamboo! Will keep this all in mind once I pull the trigger for my business.

[thebamboo23]

Glad to help, Niko!

[EXTJosh]

This is a great write-up, very helpful! I always enjoy reading about how you guys have had success in detailing. It's nice to hear from the "guys on the ground" (to supplement all the how-to books out there). Question--Can you please elaborate on #6 'Influencers'? Maybe provide an example of what you're advising here? Who are they and who are their "fans"? Thank you!

6) Influencers

Are there companies or individuals that have a strong following that also have your ideal customer audience?

You have to figure out a plan to get them to talk good about you and your detailing services. This could be by offering them a free service or giving away a service to one of their fans. Be creative, be helpful, and DON’T be pushy.

[Showtime]

Another great resource I have found is Angie's List. It is a paid service on the customers end, so they are "higher end" customers who are LOOKING for your service. They are cult-like in that they give indepth reviews and look over minor details! I have found that simple things like having my own power/water, being on time, being in uniform, and being clean and presentable (even though I have a mountain man beard) all weigh in hugely!

I am a paid subscriber with Angie's list. I pay a hefty monthly fee for special features and listings, but in the 2 weeks I have been a paid member, I have more than paid for 6 months advertising with them.

[MikeC]

This is a great write-up, very helpful! I always enjoy reading about how you guys have had success in detailing. It's nice to hear from the "guys on the ground" (to supplement all the how-to books out there). Question--Can you please elaborate on #6 'Influencers'? Maybe provide an example of what you're advising here? Who are they and who are their "fans"? Thank you!

A friend of mine is a physical trainer/massage therapist. My wife also works in a high end salon. They keep an ear open for potential clients. The trainer is able to put some business cards out for me.

[EXTJosh]

A friend of mine is a physical trainer/massage therapist. My wife also works in a high end salon. They keep an ear open for potential clients. The trainer is able to put some business cards out for me.

Ah, makes sense. Thanks.

[tigerwash]

GREAT info!

[Kengo123]

great post oscar

How do you go about "retargeting?"

Also, about how much can I expect to spend on facebook ads for it to be effective? Like how much per day or campaign? How exactly does it work? I know it's all dependent on my situation and area blah blah, but in general how much does facebook ads cost? If you have any sources that I can read and get some info from, that'd be great too.

Lastly, how well has it worked for you, and how much did you have to spend daily or per campaign? What has been your most effective method?

Thanks dude

[thebamboo23]

This is a great write-up, very helpful! I always enjoy reading about how you guys have had success in detailing. It's nice to hear from the "guys on the ground" (to supplement all the how-to books out there). Question--Can you please elaborate on #6 'Influencers'? Maybe provide an example of what you're advising here? Who are they and who are their "fans"? Thank you!

So I'm gonna be real general here to keep it simple.

There are always local fitness accounts (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter) that have a strong following.

The audience is engaged with the people running the accounts, they trust what they say, etc...

The idea is to get those admins (influencers) to talk about your business to their.

Maybe this can be by:
- Sponsoring them
- Offering a free detail for a shoutout
- Giving away a detail to one of their fans
- The list goes on...

Another great resource I have found is Angie's List. It is a paid service on the customers end, so they are "higher end" customers who are LOOKING for your service. They are cult-like in that they give indepth reviews and look over minor details! I have found that simple things like having my own power/water, being on time, being in uniform, and being clean and presentable (even though I have a mountain man beard) all weigh in hugely!

I am a paid subscriber with Angie's list. I pay a hefty monthly fee for special features and listings, but in the 2 weeks I have been a paid member, I have more than paid for 6 months advertising with them.

I'm glad this works for you

Just for future readers: what works for one business will not automatically work for your business. If possible, always try out your marketing/advertising at a small scale.

If and when it works, dump more money/effort into it.

great post oscar

How do you go about "retargeting?"

Thanks for the compliment

Retargeting is kind of an advanced tactic.

But made simple:

Facebook gives you a java code (pixel/tag/cookie/whatever name you give it) that you place on specific pages that will track the visitors.

Here are some resources:
- https://retargeter.com/what-is-retar...w-does-it-work
- How to Retarget Content to Facebook Custom Audiences | Social Media Examiner

Also, about how much can I expect to spend on facebook ads for it to be effective?

Like how much per day or campaign?

How exactly does it work?

I know it's all dependent on my situation and area blah blah, but in general how much does facebook ads cost?

If you have any sources that I can read and get some info from, that'd be great too.

These are all really great questions.

Here are some really great blogs that focus on social/Facebook ads:
- JonLoomer.com - For Advanced Facebook Marketers
- Home - RickMulready.com
- socialmouths - Kick-ass social media and business advice for real entrepreneurs
- Social Media Examiner: Social media marketing how to, research, case studies, news and more! | Social Media Examiner

Send me an email and we can talk more about a Facebook strategy for your business

Lastly, how well has it worked for you, and how much did you have to spend daily or per campaign? What has been your most effective method?

Thanks dude

I've ran it for clients, not my own detailing business.

Although I will be doing it in the near future and will be sure to tell you how it goes :-)