Can I Grow My Auto Restoration Shop Using Social Media Alone?

Feature   |   Posted: 04/15/2021
Posted by: Motorhead Digital

The internet is full of opportunities for ambitious shop owners – and full of places customers can solve all of their auto restoration needs.

People can get everything they could ever want online. You can buy products, book in for services, check out videos of product reviews, and you can even get virtual tours of events. With all of this easily available on the internet, and consumers now expecting it, it’s become a necessity that all businesses are online.

When choosing how to represent your business online, you’re going to be faced with a lot of choices. One of the first questions you’ll need to answer is: ‘do I need a website or will I just use social media to promote myself?’

Both options have their advantages and disadvantages, but ultimately, a combination of both will get you better results.

Many small business owners believe they can grow their business by using social media alone. 20% of small business owners use social media instead of owning a website.

Today, we’re going to look at the pros and cons of websites and social media to help you decide what’s best for your business.

Can you rely on social media alone to help grow your shop?

Whether your auto restoration or performance shop has been around for a while, or you’re just starting off, having a social media account is a necessary step in growing your business.

But can you use social media exclusively to grow your shop’s business?

Let’s take a look at all the advantages and disadvantages of social media to find out whether it’s a reliable method of attracting and converting prospects into paying clients.

The advantages of having social media profiles

1. Improved brand awareness

By interacting with your audience over social media you’ll be able to increase your brand awareness in the industry. This means that your potential clients will trust you more and be more likely to work with you over your competitors.

89% of consumers have said that they buy from brands they follow on social media – so be sure to post relevant content and engage with them regularly.

2. There’s no contracts

When you create a social media account there’s no long-term commitment. If you don’t like the way a social media platform works then you can easily delete your account and move to another one.

3. It’s free & easy to set up

One of the great things about social media is it doesn’t cost you a dime, unless you pay for advertising. It’s also incredibly easy to set up and use so you can have a working social media profile for your shop in a matter of minutes!

4. Improved customer engagement

By creating and optimizing social media profiles, you could get the attention of quite a lot of people in your target audience. Social media platforms are used by nearly half the population, 3.81 billion people worldwide to be exact.

By being active on social media you’ll be able to chat with your potential clients and build up a relationship.

This real-time customer interaction will help them learn more about your business. It’ll also get you top of their list when they need an auto performance and restoration job done.

The disadvantages of having social media profiles

1. You can’t really customize your profile

You can change your profile picture, upload a new banner, and edit your information but apart from this, there is very little customization available on social media platforms.

What this means for you is your profile looks pretty much the same as everybody else’s.

There’s little space to show off your true individuality – which puts you at risk of being seen as a commodity. If your audience views your services in the same light as your competitors, you’re just going to be battling over price to win their custom.

2. You don’t have control

Unfortunately, you don’t technically own your social media account. It’s owned by a third-party and if something was to go wrong with your account, you could potentially lose your whole business in an instant.

Social media also controls what types of ads and promotions appear on your profile page – which means there’s always the possibility your competitors could end up advertising on your profile.

It’s also important to remember that the social media platform you’re using today might not be around forever. Bebo and Myspace were once considered irreplaceable social media platforms until Facebook took over. It’s quite possible that another social media tycoon could take over again and Facebook and Instagram will be a distant memory.

3. Social media doesn’t guarantee conversions

You’d think with 3.81 billion people on social media all over the world you’d get a good few conversions from your account – but unfortunately it doesn’t really work that way.

Even if you have thousands of people following you online this doesn’t mean they’re going to convert. 46% of people who follow brands on Facebook followed with no intention of making a purchase. They simply wanted a freebie, entry into a competition, or they were recommended by a friend.

Social media really doesn’t help you get that many conversions (i.e. sales and bookings) but what you could do is funnel your social media followers to your website where you can entice them to convert.

Now, let’s take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of owning a website in comparison…

Please head on over to the Motorhead Digital Blog for the rest of this article.

Barry is the founder of Motorhead Digital, providing signature Marketing Maximizer™ programs specifically developed for auto restoration, performance and restyling shops. These programs are geared towards customer acquisition and conversion to keep those project bookings coming. With over 23 years of experience in digital marketing and web development, Barry’s goal is to help clients market and grow their shops through strategic marketing practices. You can reach him at (585) 766-9785, [email protected] or online at MotorheadDigital.com