An independent automotive repair and maintenance shop in Boise, ID.
Background
In 2017, new ownership took over Naylor's Auto Repair, which was started in 1992 by Glen Naylor whose family was well known in the Treasure Valley automotive industry and racing scene. Since 1992 Naylor's had been a 3-bay shop located on a residential street in Garden City, and in 2017, had one service advisor, one mechanic, and an apprentice of sorts. Revenue from 2014-2016 hovered around $200,000 annually.
In 2018, Naylor's moved to a 6-bay shop with Cole Rd. frontage near Costco and employs 4 technicians, 2 service advisors, a service manager, and a part-time operations admin. Total revenue in 2022 was $1.6M.
This case study details the marketing strategy and tactics that powered this growth.
What we Do (Product Details)
Automotive Repair
Preventative Vehicle Maintenance
Vehicle Diagnostics
Wheel Alignment
Tires
Oil & Lube
Transmission Services
Suspension & Shock Services
Brake Repair & Service
Who we Serve (Target Audience)
People who value safety, performance, and longevity of their vehicle.
The ideal customer for Naylor's Auto Repair is someone who invests in preventative maintenance. Business and government fleets often possess this value, but both organizations and private vehicle owners appreciate our commitment to professional service and transparency in recommendations and inspections.
While we have the knowledge and capabilities to service all vehicle makes and models, we are especially proficient in Japanese import brands (Toyota, Lexus, Honda, Acura, Subaru, Mazda, Nissan) and American-made brands (Ford, Chevy, GMC) be it cars, trucks, diesels or hybrid.
Marketing Strategy For Growth
Brand Refresh
Keeping the Naylor's name was a strategic decision. Due to the reputation of the Naylor family and the towing company of the same name (no longer affiliated with the repair shop), people had a sense of having heard of us even if they'd never even driven by this tiny business.
The previous owners didn't have any digital branding assets. What was "out there" was only the sign on 34th street, and photos of it on the website and Facebook. It was a primary-color blue.
For a logo, we opted for a font that had some similarities to the sign and stuck with blue but opted for a bit more unique shade that might someday be thought of as a "Naylor's Blue."
Google Review Push
Not only does Naylor's value customer feedback, but we also have an appreciation for the impact Google Reviews can have on both our ability to be found in Google searches (especially local and map searches) and our likelihood of converting new prospects into customers.
Naylor's service advisors consistently ask customers for Google reviews and use an automation in the CRM to request reviews with a direct link to where a customer can leave a review to reduce friction in the process.
Currently Nalyor's has an average 5-Star Google Rating with 374 reviews. This statistic is featured prominently on the website and updated regularly based on number of total reviews.
NAPA Auto Care Center
Naylor's is a member of the NAPA AutoCare Program which offers a variety of marketing benefits including being listed as a preferred NAPA provider as well as a two-year warranty honored nation-wide at any NAPA AutoCare Center.
Cole Road Signage
As a NAPA Auto Care Center--an affiliation we established to lend brand recognition and provides other resources for training, marketing, and more--we took advantage of a marketing co-op budget to offset the cost of a new (LARGE) sign on Cole Rd.
Events - New Driver Safety
Naylor's offered an educational event for young and otherwise inexperienced drivers to learn how to avoid roadside breakdowns with basic maintenance tips, as well as how to safely change a tire and handle other potential roadside incidents.
The event was offered at the end of summer as many teens were getting ready to head to college when many young drivers would, for the first time, travel a considerable distance and be without the immediate assistance of parents.
It was an important distinction for the Naylor's team that this was not an event that was marketed to directly to women and girls. EVERYONE can benefit from learning basic vehicle safety!
Ongoing Digital Marketing Tactics
Website
Foundation of Naylor's digital marketing strategy. Website is built in an easy-to-update content management system that integrates with HubSpot CRM.
Web Content
New content is added to the website frequently in the form of blog posts, new service pages, updating and adding new sections to existing pages.
Social Media
Organic social media posts on Instagram and Facebook includes content such as Google reviews, team highlights, automotive tips and advise, and special offers.
Text & Email
Text and email campaigns to re-engage previous customers. One example is the "slow day" text letting past customers know of immediate openings.
SEO
Content and metadata optimization for target keywords identified as having high search volume in our area; performance auditing and error management; off-page tactics such as link building.
Google Ads
Google search and display ads targeting keywords focused on auto maintenance and repair in Boise. Monthly spend was recently increased from $1k to $1,600.
Social Ads
Meta ads (Facebook & Instagram) at a $300/month budget focused on brand awareness and audience reach that is not achievable through organic means.
Community
Online promotion and cross-marketing of event sponsorship, raffle donations, events (new driver vehicle safety), and memberships in community organizations.
Marketing Budgets
We base our marketing budget on an average range (4-8%) recommended by an automotive industry business development organization. Naylor's is currently allocating 7% of revenue to marketing.
Most costs in the marketing budget are fixed and predictable monthly or annual costs making it easy to plan and track. Room in left in the budget for additional opportunities (community, events, sponsorships) or special campaigns (i.e. seasonal loss leader offers).
The SEO & social media are fulfilled by an agency at a set recurring monthly cost.
Digital ad spend has fluctuated over the years and was recently increased when a new hire increased capacity.
Fractional CMO cost is average of what I bill Naylor's monthly my time in meetings and overseeing the marketing strategy fulfilled by others.
Swag and Community involvement decisions are mostly left to Naylor's management (which means it is golf-related as often as possible).
Recurring networking cost is new in Q4 2023
Results
Marketing KPIs
Since the majority of our marketing investment is in digital, the metrics by which we measure success center around growth in web traffic--particularly organic and paid (Google Ads) sources--and the leads that come from our website and Google Ads.
Organic traffic has consistently grown year-over-year (see reports in image slider below).
Google Ads have also been a consistent source of leads. Google Ads leads can be tracked by traffic to website from paid sources, as well as click to call conversions directly on our ads, but a number of other appointment calls can be reasonably credited to Google ads based on service managers asking call-ins how they heard about Naylor's.
Year to date, 227 repair orders for NEW customers have been credited to online leads sources accounting for just over $193,000 in revenue.
2023 Q3 (Jul-Sep) compared to 2022 Q3
Naylor's Website Traffic 2022
Total Traffic (sessions) 2022: 17,939 (+121.44%) Average monthly traffic: 1,495 Organic 10,615(59.17%)
Naylor's Web Traffic 2021
Total Traffic 2021: 8,101 (+68.49%) Average monthly traffic: 675 Organic 2,486(30.69%)
Naylor's Web Traffic 2020
Total Traffic 2020: 4,808 (+108.86%) Average monthly traffic: 401 Organic: 1,644(34.19%)
Naylor's Web Traffic 2019
Total Traffic 2019: 2,302 (+54.19%) Average monthly traffic: 192 Organic: 1,029(44.70%)
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