This two-part article originally appeared in the November 2024 and December 2024 issues of THE SHOP magazine and is presented here in one installment.
By Barry Alt
If you’re the owner of an auto restoration, performance, racing or restyling shop, simply being great at what you do isn’t enough anymore. To thrive in the online market these days, your shop must stand out in a crowded industry, attract new customers and keep them coming back for more.
That’s where a well-rounded marketing strategy comes into play.
A well-designed strategy will help you build your reputation, grow your customer base and ultimately make your business successful.
But what, exactly, does a well-rounded strategy look like?
A solid strategy involves integrating the Four Pillars of Effective Business Marketing for auto restoration, performance, racing and restyling shops into your approach.
Those pillars are:
- Branding
- Photography
- Videography
- Digital Marketing & Messaging
BRANDING
Branding is the foundation of your entire marketing strategy. It’s what sets you apart in a crowded market where every auto restoration, performance, racing and restyling shop says they’re the best.
Authentic branding goes much deeper than any logo or catchy slogan. It’s not just about how badass your website is or how killer your brand colors look—it’s all about creating a unique identity that connects with your audience.
In other words, it’s about bringing your shop’s personality to life online and highlighting the reasons behind everything you do for your audience to see.
Branding is everywhere—especially online! Your brand’s personality comes to life with every post you make on social media and with every interaction you have with your clients. Your website tells your brand’s whole story, giving your audience a memorable first impression that will keep them thinking about your shop.
Together, your social media profiles and your website create a unique brand experience that builds trust with your audience and showcases your shop’s awesomeness.
Key elements of branding for auto restoration, performance, racing, and restyling shops include:
Brand identity
This is your business’s overall persona. It’s the big-picture view of how you want to position yourself in the market.
For example, if your shop focuses on high-performance tuning and upgrades, your brand identity might emphasize precision, power and expertise. If you’re a restoration shop, do you restore any vehicle that comes your way, or does your shop specialize in restoring Mopars, vintage Porsches, or Chevy C10 trucks?
Core values
These are the principles that guide how you run your business and interact with customers. Core values might include integrity, customer focus, quality and innovation.
Visuals
Visual elements like your logo, colors, typography and images make your brand recognizable. Keeping these consistent across all of your branding is key to looking professional and being memorable.
Messaging/copywriting
Strong branding hinges on clear, engaging messaging, and copywriting is a big part of this. Whether on your website, social media, email marketing or advertising, your copy must capture your brand’s unique voice and personality.
To make your brand stand out and connect with your audience, keep these tips in mind:
- Be consistent: Make sure all your branding elements—visuals, messaging and tone—are consistent across every platform. This builds recognition and trust.
- Know your customers: Be aware of who they are, what they care about and how they interact with your brand. Tailor your branding to align with their expectations.
- Engage with your community: Branding isn’t just about your online presence. Get involved in your local community by attending events and supporting local initiatives.
- Stay authentic: Make sure your brand reflects your actual core values and mission. Authenticity resonates with customers and helps build lasting connections.
PRO TIP: Re-address and periodically update your branding and messaging to match your audience’s changing needs and tastes. Being flexible helps your brand stay relevant and connected to your customers over time.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Great photos and high-quality images are critical to your auto restoration, performance, racing, and restyling shop’s branding and marketing efforts.
They’re key to creating a strong first impression, catching the eye of your prospects and setting a professional tone for your shop. When people see sharp, clear professionally shot photos of your work, they instantly know you’re serious about the quality of your work.
Eye-catching images on social media combined with great branding and messaging get likes, shares and comments, helping you reach a wider audience.
On your website and in your other marketing efforts, it’s the same story.
Great visuals keep people interested and engaged. You want them to stick around for longer, admiring the work you’ve put into your restorations, custom builds or performance upgrades.
The better the images, the better the chances they’ll choose your shop. As the saying goes, a picture says a thousand words, so make it a good one!
Types of high-quality brand photography for auto restoration, performance, racing and restyling shops include:
Product & build photography
Highlight your auto performance parts or services with detailed, high-resolution images. For example, closeups or before-and-after shots of a high-performance engine upgrade or restoration can showcase its quality and craftsmanship.
Behind-the-scenes content
Share what happens behind closed doors. Photos of your staff at work or your shop’s daily work add a personal touch and show how much effort you put into your services.
Progress pictures
Everybody loves a good story, and what better way to tell a story than by showing off the progression of your latest or past projects with an image gallery full of build steps and completion? Not only do your clients get excited about seeing their cars on display, but your audience will be blown away by the transformations you make to vehicles every year.
Lifestyle photography
Show your team in action or happy customers enjoying your work. These images help potential customers picture themselves partnering with your shop.
Things to consider to take great photos:
- Lighting: Use natural or good studio light to make your photos bright and clear. Avoid dim light or harsh shadows. The more professional your photos look, the less your audience can look away.
- Composition: Frame your shots and use the rule of thirds to create balanced images.
- Background: Keep it simple. A clean background keeps the focus on your subject. For example, if you’re taking a picture of a finished project, try taking it with an uncluttered background. Progress shots look great in the shop, but when she’s all cleaned up, you want to make sure the only thing the audience sees is the beautiful work you’ve completed.
- Focus: Make sure your main subject is sharp. Blurry photos look unprofessional and won’t keep anybody’s attention for very long.
- Professional Touch: Unless you have someone on your staff with major knowledge in photography, we recommend hiring a professional photographer with the training and equipment to get amazing shots and build an archive of high-resolution images that you can use across all your marketing activities.
A note of warning: We would be doing a disservice here if we didn’t warn you about using images you find with a Google search or grabbing pics from paid stock photo sites without paying for and licensing them. Never do this! You won’t believe how many clients send us photos they’ve found on the internet.
Most images on the internet are copyrighted, so using them could result in a lawsuit or fines from stock photo companies. There is no problem using a limited number of licensed photos or even free royalty-free images on your site or social media, as there is a place for them, but we always recommend using your own images.
PRO TIP: Keep the style and quality of your photos consistent across all your branding materials and—when appropriate—include your logo and brand colors on your images, especially for social media posts. This consistency helps create a polished and professional image for your shop’s brand.
VIDEOGRAPHY
While video may demand more effort to perfect than snappy copy or sharp photos, it’s undeniably the best way to showcase your shop’s incredible work or review products on your website.
When paired with high-quality images and compelling text, video becomes an unbeatable tool for capturing attention and driving engagement.
Video is important in auto restoration, performance, racing and restyling shops because it not only increases your visibility and connects with your audience on a much deeper level, but it also improves your relationship with existing clients.
Think about it.
Videos let you show off your expertise in action. Whether it’s a time-lapse of a restoration project, a walk-through of your shop, how you’re performing specific performance upgrades, on-track video or customer testimonials, video can bring more life to your brand.
Videography proves that you know what you’re doing, highlights the great products you carry, and lets potential customers see the quality of your work up close and personal. With a video, they can clearly envision what you can do for them and their vehicles, inspiring them to get started.
Data shows that videos perform well on social media, stopping scrollers in their tracks and prompting them to interact with your content.
A good video will be shared, liked and commented on, getting your shop in front of more people. According to Search Engine Journal’s 2023 Social Media Statistics report, 70% of viewers become aware of new brands because of YouTube videos and viewers are twice as likely to buy something because they saw it on YouTube.
Types of videos to create if you’re an auto restoration, performance, racing, and restyling shop include:
- Behind-the-scenes footage: These videos give customers a look into your daily operations, introduce your team and show the care that goes into your work. They’re a great way to build trust and connect with your customers.
- Project update videos: These are videos you take periodically during a project to update a client, create an archive for the project and share on your site or social media.
- Product videos: These can be video reviews of a new product or service you offer.
- Explainer videos: These are great for breaking down complex services or processes. For example, a video showing the step-by-step process of a popular performance upgrade or custom fabrication on a build can educate potential customers and showcase your expertise.
- Promotional content: Use these videos to promote special offers, new products or unique aspects of your shop. A high-energy video promoting your shop’s latest offerings, or a new service can attract attention and drive action but use them sparingly.
- Event content: These can be videos letting people know to come out and visit you at a car show or event.
Tips for creating great video content include:
- Invest in quality: High-quality visuals and sound make a big difference. Invest in good equipment or get professional help so your videos look and sound professional. Today’s mobile devices are great for taking great videos, but nothing compares to great audio and video equipment designed specifically for the task.
- Tell a story: Whether you’re explaining a process or promoting a product or service, make sure your video tells a clear and engaging story. A well-structured narrative keeps viewers interested and makes your message more memorable.
- Include a Call to Action (CTA): Remember to tell viewers what to do next. Whether it’s to schedule an appointment, visit your website, or call your shop, a clear CTA will turn viewers into customers.
But first, a warning—as with images, videos are also subject to copyright law, so it’s important to proceed with caution. We strongly recommend creating and using your own original video content whenever possible.
PRO TIP: Keep it short and sweet. According to Forbes’s Top Social Media Statistics and Trends of 2024, short-form video clips are 2.5 times more engaging than longer videos, and 34% of consumers appreciate the more genuine nature of the shorter form.
Shorter videos are more likely to hold viewers’ attention and get your message across quickly, so aim to keep your videos concise and to the point.
DIGITAL MARKETING & MESSAGING
Now, let’s bring it all together with solid digital marketing and messaging for your business.
When it comes to making your shop or products stand out when marketing your business and getting customers to act, messaging combined with your branding, photos and video is everything.
Remember, it’s not what you say, it’s how—and where—you say it! Good messaging cuts through the noise, gets attention and convinces potential customers you’re the best choice for them.
Think of messaging as the “voice” of your marketing strategy. It’s what communicates your business’s unique value, the quality of your work or products and why you’re better than your competitors. Your digital messaging should tell your audience that you’re the right choice for their next big auto restoration, restyling or performance project.
Remember, from the tone of your social media posts and the style of your email marketing to the content on your website and the ads you run, your messaging should be clear, engaging and always on brand.
Key elements of effective digital marketing and messaging for auto restoration, performance, racing and restyling shops include:
- A high-quality website: Your website is often the first impression potential customers get of your brand. Make sure it features strong messaging that effectively promotes your shop, reflects your brand’s personality and provides an engaging experience.
- Clarity & consistency: For a more professional appearance, ensure that your message is clear and consistent across all platforms. This includes not only text but your branding, photos and videos that you combine to convey your message.
- Audience-focused: Tailor your messages to your target audience’s needs and interests. Think about what your audience wants to hear from you—be specific.
- Value proposition: Clearly highlight what makes your shop or products unique and showcase why they should choose you over your competitors.
Tips for effective messaging in digital marketing include:
- Tell stories: Storytelling techniques make your messages more engaging and memorable.
- Use data-driven insights: Analyze data to see what works best and fine-tune your messaging accordingly.
- Stay adaptable: Be flexible and adjust your messaging based on feedback and market changes.
PRO TIP: Add quizzes, polls, or interactive features to your digital content. This will boost engagement and provide valuable insights into your audience’s preferences.
By focusing on branding, photography, videography and digital messaging, you can build a strong, engaging digital marketing presence for your aftermarket shop. Each pillar plays a crucial role in attracting and retaining customers, boosting your reputation and ultimately making you more successful.
With over 27 years of experience, Barry Alt leads Motorhead Digital, a digital marketing team focused on transforming the online presence of businesses in the automotive aftermarket. Their signature programs—Location, Site and Marketing Maximizer—are designed to enhance websites, social media and digital marketing strategies, attracting quality leads and maximizing revenue for auto restoration, performance and grassroots race shops. The MHD team can be reached at (585) 766-9785, maximizesales@motorheaddigital.com or online at motorheaddigital.com.