Is it possible to increase online service appointments by 300%? I didn't think so but I found out that you can by making some simple changes to your existing website!

Can you increase total service appointments by 10-15% with an inexpensive change to your website? Yes you can.

What would your service business and profits look like if you achieved these improvements over the next 60 days?

Fixed Operations, one of the most significant profit centers for a dealership, is often left behind when digital marketing strategies are discussed. When a dealer realizes this and takes action, the results can be stunning.

 

Most of the online discussions regarding SEO, Video Marketing, and even Pay-Per-Click strategies deal with marketing new and used cars. It is time to wake up the sleeping giant and take our Fixed Operations marketing game to the streets.

Many dealers use direct mail and email to market to existing customers or purchase third party lists to attract new customers. However, the larger opportunity is the thousands of in market consumers that use the search engines to locate and shop for car service and repair facilities. Does social media play a role? Yes it does! The combination of traditional marketing and innovative digital marketing for Fixed Operations is a game changer.

Fixed Operations Visibility Test

Google rewards those who act first and publish optimized content on a particular keyword goal. Add to this fact that independent service organizations like Jiffy Lube, Meineke, Pep Boys, and Discount Tire have been left unchallenged by franchise dealers.

You can conduct a simple test in your own market by inspecting your own search visibility.

For example, if your dealership was in Boston, you would type in these searches to test your organic visibility:

• Boston Car Repairs
• Boston Tire Stores
• Boston Brakes
• Boston Oil Change

And type in these phrases to test your Pay-Per-Click (SEM) visibility:

• Tires Stores
• Discount Tires
• Oil Change Coupons
• Brake Stores
• Muffler Shop

Of course you can also add service searches that include your OEM brand. If you do a search for "Honda Brakes Queens", "Honda Radiator Queens", or "Honda Oil Change Queens" you can see that Paragon Honda is #1 in organic ranking for their service microsite. Fixed operations content publishing strategies can yield an annuity of leads with very low maintenance.

Google Instant will show you suggestions for what consumers are typing in your marketplace. How did your testing go?

• Is your dealership showing in the Paid Search area (SEM)?
• Is your dealership showing the the Google Places area?
• Is your dealership showing up for videos, press releases, blog posts, or microsites in the organic SEO area?

If Fixed Operations is a major profit center for dealers why is Google Adwords, Google Places, and Google Organics often a low priority in Fixed Operations budgets?

Leveraging Video - Thinking Out Of The Box

How many search optimized videos have you created to promote your service offerings?

Checkered Flag in Virginia Beach is a dealership that invests in video and their value messaging is strong. Check out their video enhanced landing page for their body shop:

Virginia Beach Body Shop.

When you start to publish videos on Fixed Operations, not only do you service landing pages come alive but your videos can also be found in organic Search. Here are two examples of videos that were created to increase search visibility for oil changes:

• Checkered Flag
• Rairdon Group

If you search "Virginia Beach Oil Change" Checkered Flag's video is on Google Page One. Search "Jeep Oil Change Seattle" and the same result occurs for Rairdon's video. These were the search phrases that these videos were optimized for.

For fun, search in Google: "Virginia Fiat 500" . You will find a video I recorded last week. Can you see how video marketing can increase the visibility for the cars you sell and the services you offer?

Any single video may be only viewed a few hundred times a year, but what happens when you publish a dozen videos, two dozen videos, each optimized for a particular keyword? The combination of videos, blogs, microsites and content optimization together can yield an annuity of leads and business for your Fixed Operations profit center.

Fixed Operations Workshop in Orlando

At the 2nd Annual Automotive Marketing Boot Camp I will be leading an extended session on Fixed Operations Digital Marketing. I will be sharing my proven marketing strategies specifically designed for Fixed Operations for the first time!

Attendees are advised to bring their laptop computers and a login to their website and/or microsite because changes that will be implemented right in class will start to improve dealership search visibility. As part of the workshop I will be demonstrating the tool, techniques, and strategies that can be implemented to:

• increase service appointments
• increase overall service revenue
• engage the independent service centers in your market
• Increase the paths to your dealership website for service inquiries

Fixed Operations Directors and Marketing Directors should be attending the Boot Camp and this is just one of the reasons why you should register. Your investment to attend the Boot Camp will be well rewarded in the next 60 days as dealers implement winning marketing strategies for SEO, SEM, Video, and online service appointments. Are you ready to make super-charge your fixed operations business model?

As an added opportunity for Boot Camp attendees, Rob Fontano from John Marazzi Motors in Florida, will be demonstrating his video marketing techniques in a separate presentation during the CAR-MERCIAL Technology Showcase.

 

Learn from the best and find out why John Marazzi's video publishing strategy is a winning marketing investment. Video search marketing is affordable and scalable once you understand the strategy.

Boot Camp - April 16-18th in Orlando

Make the decision to invest in Fixed Operations Marketing and register for the 2nd Annual Automotive Marketing Boot Camp today. April 16-18th in Orlando. http://www.automotivemarketingbootcamp.com