Content marketing can be a tricky concept, but when it comes to local car washes this surprisingly simple strategy can yield significant results. In essence, content marketing is all about providing great informational ‘content’ that paints your car wash in the best possible light and transmits the value and message of your wash into different digital spaces.

Specifically, the objectives to content marketing are twofold:

  • Increase your web visibility or ranking on platforms like Google by feeding search algorithms great quality content—particularly when it comes to linking that content to your specific location for hyper-local searches (your town / zip code).
  • Increase consumer engagement with your car wash by showing off the human element behind it. Make a personal connection with your digital visitors that ultimately leads to more visitors, more memberships, and a growing customer base.

To give you some examples of how content marketing might work, here are three very practical ideas for local car wash owners and operators to explore:

1. Tell Your Story

Content marketing (also called information marketing) is all about providing great information that your customers are interested in reading. This makes storytelling a great fit.

Take some time and write a few hundred words about how your wash got started, the people or technology behind it, what your wash’s mission and goal might be, or major accomplishments your team has achieved. You can do the same for major fundraising events, additions, or other changes around the wash.

Be accessible, friendly, and be sure to post the stories with good photos on social media (Facebook especially) or on the About, Blog, or News pages of your website. Users scrolling through will get to see the human side of your car wash, which can be important for building connections and customer loyalty. After all, if a customer is comparing two washes in depth there is a good chance they’ll end up picking the one with a meaningful story to go along with it.

2. Take a Video Tour

Content marketing includes more than just written text. In fact, video can and should play a huge role in your car wash marketing strategy. The trick, however, is to speak clearly and avoid low quality video (low definition / shaky / high background noise) or cheesy / gimmicky scripts.

Use a high definition recording device along with stabilization equipment and take a relaxed tour of your wash with the equipment on and running (be sure to follow all safety procedures and stand clear of moving equipment). This can give consumers a better idea of what your site looks like as well as the quality of the equipment inside, even before they ever pull in. You can also take video from different  events, or have an introduction video for different promotions or new services.

Video is the perfect accent to a well-built website and can be hosted on services like YouTube, embedded on your website, and then shared and re-posted to Facebook, Twitter, and/or company newsletters. Just be sure to back it up with great supporting text and captions.

3. Answer Burning Questions

Burning questions are attention grabbing topics that consumer are interested in reading. Posting good blog articles on these topics can attract significant readership, provide triggers for social media updates, and demonstrate to search engines that your website tends to provide high-quality, in-depth content and therefore should be ranked higher than your local competitors.

This may include articles such as:

  > “Are our car wash brushes safe on car finishes?”

  > “What effect does road salt have on your vehicle?”

  > “Is our car wash environmentally friendly?”

  > "Do you really need to use a wiper bag?"

  > "Is our car wash safe?"

  > "What is the best tire pressure for gas efficiency?"

  >  “Does rain harm your car's finish?”

Be sure to always attribute your sources and reference your city and state, in order to localize your article for search engines. Also, be careful not to copy other people’s writing (plagiarize) or post your articles on two different urls. Besides raising copyright concerns, copying content results in ‘duplication penalties’ and is frowned upon by most search engines.

Remember, with local search listings more competitive than ever and up to 85% of consumers checking reviews before they visit a local company, having good content on your side is vital. To learn more about car wash marketing tips and tricks, browse our archives here, or visit the Tommy Car Wash Systems' webstore to check out some of the best car wash parts and equipment on the market today.

Tommy Car Wash Systems