If a carwash is the only one in the area, chances are that it attracts a fair amount of business on its own. However, most carwash owners aren’t lucky enough to be without competition; and as the number of franchise locations increase, so too will the need for independent carwashes to up their efforts to stay ahead in the cutthroat market.

For this blog post, I will briefly discuss seven ways owners and operators can market their carwashes. In a future issue of Professional Carwashing & Detailing magazine, I will go more in-depth on how to cost-effectively market a carwash.

1. Create a website. There a dozens of free or inexpensive hosting and design services, which make it easy to put together a professional site in minutes.
2. Start a blog. Teach customers how to care for their vehicles, give auto product reviews, and provide interesting tidbits about vehicles and recalls. A great example of how an effective blog can be utilized to expand your content, can be seen on this website for an auto body shop in Tempe, Arizona.
3. Get active on social media. To get the most out of your efforts, focus on sites with a general audience, like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Share your blogs and also general posts.
4. Make sure you have a stellar online review profile. Be sure to monitor your social media and Yelp profiles, and respond to people who comment.
5. Get listed in local directories. It’s free to get listed in many directories, so take advantage of this. If you only focus on one to start with, make it Google.
6. Create a loyalty program. Punch cards are one of the best options, simply because they enable you to give new customers a head start on the path to their free wash.
7. Be active in your community. While it may seem like an expensive venture, you’re basically paying for goodwill. Positive feelings about your business become ingrained in the minds of consumers, and they’re likely to return to your business long after the charity event.

Note: This is a brief synopsis of a larger article that will be published in an upcoming issue of Professional Carwashing & Detailing. While you wait, peruse through the Digital Archives here for more informative articles covered in past editions of PC&D magazine aimed to help your business thrive.

Jason Bekiaris is marketing manager at Dilawri’s Crown Auto Group.

Opinions and information presented in this blog may or may not be supported by the publisher of Carwash.com.