Is there anything more frustrating than knowing you are better than your competitors and watching them get the work? Kim and Brian Walker say the fix is getting your marketing right. They know the struggle firsthand: before launching Shop Marketing Pros, they owned an auto repair shop and had to figure out marketing on their own.
In episode 94 of Maximum Octane, the Walkers, who also host The Auto Repair Marketing Podcast, talk with Kim Hickey about why they left shop ownership for marketing, why owners must manage people and money, the danger of generic content, knowing your audience, and why every owner should understand marketing reports.
What You Will Learn
- Kim and Brian’s backstory
- Why did Kim and Brian decide to leave their auto shop and start a marketing business
- As a business owner, you must become a people and money manager
- What message do you send when your marketing content isn’t unique
- Know your audience and create content accordingly
- Why every auto repair shop owner should learn about marketing
Kim and Brian’s Backstory
The Walkers open with their backstory. As shop owners, they experienced the challenge of growing a business without a clear marketing strategy. Learning to do it themselves eventually led to a new career helping other shops.
Their story is a familiar one. Many owners open a shop because they are excellent technicians, then discover that being great at repairs does not automatically fill the bays. Word of mouth carries a new shop for a while, but growth eventually depends on being found by people who have never heard of you. Owners in that position often try a mix of tactics, such as a website from a template, a few social posts, and the occasional coupon, without a plan connecting them. The Walkers’ path from that struggle to building a marketing company is a useful reminder that marketing is a learnable skill, not a mystery.
Why They Left the Shop for Marketing
Around the 7 minute mark, Kim and Brian explain why they decided to leave their shop and start a marketing business. Their experience gives them a rare perspective: they understand both the daily pressures of running a shop and what it takes to market one effectively.
That dual perspective matters when choosing a marketing partner. A provider who understands how a shop actually works knows that a phone call is not the same as a booked appointment, that a customer with a no-start has different needs than one shopping for brakes, and that the service advisor’s conversation is part of the marketing funnel. Owners evaluating agencies can ask whether the team understands car count, average repair order, and how the front counter converts calls. If those terms need explaining, the partner may struggle to connect marketing activity to real shop results.
Become a People Manager and a Money Manager
The Walkers make an important point: as a business owner, you must become a people manager and a money manager. Many owners come from the technical side and are most comfortable fixing cars. Growing a business requires leading a team and managing finances, including marketing investments.
Mike Bennett covers this transition in Learning to Get Out of Our Company’s Way.
For marketing, the money manager role means treating marketing as an investment with a budget and an expected return, not a bill you pay and hope for the best. Set a monthly figure, decide which channels it funds, and review results on a regular schedule. The people manager role matters too. The best marketing in the world falls flat if the phone is answered poorly, appointments are hard to schedule, or the customer experience in the shop does not match the promise in the ad. Marketing brings customers to the door; the team decides whether they come back.
What Generic Content Says About Your Shop
Around the 16 minute mark, the Walkers discuss the message you send when your marketing content is not unique. Many shops use the same stock photos, canned blog posts, and generic social posts as hundreds of others. Customers notice. Generic content suggests a generic shop. Original content, featuring your real team, real customers, and real expertise, sets you apart.
Google also rewards original, helpful content, as explained in its guidance on creating helpful, reliable, people-first content.
Original content does not require a film crew. A technician explaining a common failure on a vehicle you see often, a short walk-through of your inspection process, a photo of the team at a community event, or a plain-spoken answer to a question customers ask every week all count. These pieces show real expertise and real people, which is exactly what generic content lacks. A good rule of thumb: if another shop could post the same thing with its name swapped in, it is probably not helping you stand out.
Know Your Audience
The Walkers stress knowing your audience and creating content accordingly. A shop that serves busy families should speak to convenience and safety. A shop that specializes in performance vehicles should speak to enthusiasts. When content matches the audience, it connects.
Ways to learn about your audience:
- Review your customer data for vehicle types, ages, and locations.
- Ask customers why they chose you and what matters most to them.
- Look at which posts and pages get the most engagement.
- Talk with your advisors about common customer questions.
Audience knowledge also shapes where you show up. Busy parents may find you through a map search on their phone, while fleet managers may want a direct relationship and clear invoicing. Enthusiasts may follow a specialist on social media for months before booking. When you know who you are talking to, you can choose channels, messages, and offers that fit instead of trying to be everything to everyone. Many shops discover that narrowing their focus brings in more of the customers they actually want.
Why Every Owner Should Understand Marketing
Around the 30 minute mark, Kim and Brian explain why every shop owner should learn about marketing, even if they hire someone to do it. Owners who understand marketing reports can ask better questions, hold partners accountable, and make smarter investments. They also value the role of a customer success manager who helps clients understand their results.
ATI’s The Key to Attracting Your Ideal Customer and The Digital Effect: How the Internet Is Impacting Your Shop are useful companions.
Understanding reports does not mean learning every metric. Owners mainly need to know which numbers connect to revenue: calls from marketing, appointments booked, new customers, and the average repair order those customers bring. Impressions and followers can be useful signals, but they do not pay the bills by themselves. Ask your provider to explain each report in plain language and to show how the numbers changed after specific actions. If a report leaves you more confused than when you started, that is worth raising.
Common Marketing Mistakes Shops Make
One of the most common mistakes is marketing only when the bays are empty. By the time car count drops, it is usually too late for new marketing to fill the gap quickly. Consistent effort, even at a modest level, builds momentum that carries a shop through slow seasons. Another frequent mistake is chasing every new platform at once. A shop that does a few channels well, such as a strong website, an accurate business profile, and steady reviews, usually outperforms one spread thin across everything.
Shops also undercut their marketing with poor follow-through. Ads that send people to a website with outdated hours, a phone that goes to voicemail at lunch, or no follow-up after a first visit all waste money already spent. Finally, many owners never ask existing customers for reviews or referrals, even though satisfied customers are often the most persuasive marketing a shop has. ATI’s guide to responding to negative reviews covers one piece of that puzzle.
How to Put This Into Practice This Month
Start with a quick audit. Search for your shop the way a new customer would and note what you find: your website, your business profile, your reviews, and your social pages. Are the hours, phone number, and services accurate everywhere? Do the photos show your actual shop and team? Next, list your three most common types of customers and write down what each one cares about most. Use that list to plan a handful of original posts or pages over the next month.
Then set up a simple tracking habit. Ask new customers how they found you, record it, and compare that information with your marketing reports at the end of the month. Even a basic spreadsheet will show patterns over time. If you work with an agency, schedule a review meeting and bring the questions below. The goal is not to become a marketer yourself but to become an owner who can steer the marketing with confidence.
Marketing Questions to Ask Your Agency
- Is our content original, or is it shared with other shops?
- Who is our target audience, and how does our content speak to them?
- Which metrics in our report matter most, and why?
- How are calls and appointments tracked back to marketing?
For more marketing strategy, listen to Jimmy Lea in Seven Proven Marketing Methods and Carrie-Lynn Rodenberg in Stop Guessing at Marketing.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should an auto repair shop spend on marketing?
There is no single right number. Budgets depend on your market, competition, growth goals, and how established the shop is. A newer shop trying to build car count usually needs to invest more than an established shop with a strong customer base. The more useful question is whether your marketing is producing a measurable return. Set a budget you can sustain, track where new customers come from, and adjust spending toward the channels that bring in profitable work.
What kind of content should an auto repair shop post?
Focus on content only your shop can create. Short videos of technicians explaining common repairs, photos of your real team and facilities, answers to questions customers ask at the counter, and stories from community involvement all work well. Seasonal reminders tied to your local weather and driving conditions are useful too. Avoid generic stock posts that hundreds of other shops share. Original content builds trust with customers and helps search engines understand what makes your shop different.
How do I know if my shop’s marketing agency is doing a good job?
A good agency can explain, in plain language, how its work connects to calls, appointments, and new customers. Ask for regular reports that track those outcomes, not just impressions or clicks. Check whether your content is original to your shop, whether your listings are accurate, and whether the agency responds to questions promptly. If results are unclear after a reasonable period, ask what is being tested and what will change. Partners who resist accountability are a warning sign.
Is it better to do marketing in-house or hire an agency?
It depends on your time, skills, and budget. Many shops handle simple tasks in-house, such as responding to reviews, posting photos, and asking customers for referrals, while hiring specialists for websites, search, and paid advertising. Even if you outsource most of the work, the owner should still understand the strategy and the reports. A blended approach often works well: the shop supplies authentic stories and photos, and the agency turns them into consistent, well-targeted marketing.
Why are my competitors getting more customers if my shop is better?
Customers cannot judge the quality of your repairs before they visit. They judge what they can see: search results, reviews, website quality, photos, and how easily they can book. A competitor with stronger visibility and a clearer message often wins the first visit, even if your work is better. Closing that gap usually means improving your online presence, collecting more reviews, and communicating what makes your shop different in ways customers can understand.
Resources and Links From This Episode
Connect With the Guests
- Kim and Brian: Website, The Auto Repair Marketing Podcast, LinkedIn, LinkedIn
