50 Most Important Stats for your 2015 Auto Body Shop Business Strategy

Are you still questioning the importance of implementing a digital marketing strategy? As you enter 2015, I recommend you take a few minutes to read some of the important statistics below.

If you're a single location auto body shop, local, regional or national consolidator, repair network, paint jobber, paint company, equipment supplier, or industry consultant, these 50 trends, statistics and data will help you.

Build your case for making digital marketing a key part of you ongoing business strategy with the important stats below.

Demographics – Who is Your Digital Marketing Target?

• 1.    67% of Google+ users are male (Rocket Post)
• 2.    27% of our population (76 million) are Millennials (born between 1981 and 2000 (leaderswest Digital Marketing Journal) Think about this: Based on accident statistics, this means Millennials will file 2.0 MILLION accident claims in 2015.
• 3.    63% of millennials say they stay updated on brands through social networks; 51% say social opinions influence their purchase decisions; and 46% “count on social media” when buying online. (leaderswest Digital Marketing Journal)
• 4.    89% of 18-29 year-olds are active on social media, as are 43% of adults 65 and older. (Jeff Bullas)

General Digital Marketing Statistics Your Business Cannot Hide From!

• 5.    Nearly half (46%) of people say a website’s design is their number one criterion for determining the credibility of a company. (NewsCred) – How is your shop’s website?
• 6.    Internet advertising will make up 25% of the entire ad market in 2015. (Social Fresh)
• 7.    Videos on landing pages increase conversions by 86%. (Social Fresh)
• 8.    Facebook is the most popular method for sharing interesting content. (Heidi Cohen)

Email Marketing STILL Delivers the BEST ROI!!!

• 9.    Email marketing delivers the highest ROI (about $44 per dollar spent, on average) of any digital marketing tactic. SEO is #2. Banner ads have the lowest ROI. (Mark the Marketer)
• 10.    66% of consumers have made a purchase online as a result of an e-mail marketing message. (Mark the Marketer)
• 11.    Email subject lines matter. Really. 64% of people say they open an e-mail because of the subject line. (Mark the Marketer)
• 12.    Personalized subject lines are 22.2% more likely to be opened. For B2C emails, the words “Alert,” “New,” “News,” “Bulletin,” “Sale,” “Video,” “Daily,” or “Weekly” (though not “Monthly”) all increase open and click-through rates. (Mark the Marketer)
• 13.    Timing is important too. 76% of e-mail opens occur in the first two days after an e-mail is sent. E-mail open rates are noticeably lower on weekends than on weekdays. (Mark the Marketer)
• 14.    Only 8% of companies and agencies have an e-mail marketing team. E-mail marketing responsibilities usually fall on one person as a part of her wider range of marketing responsibilities. (Mark the Marketer)
• 15.    Emails with social sharing buttons increase click-through rates by 158%. (Social Fresh)
• 16.    67 percent of marketers say that email is key for attracting and engaging prospects, and the best path to increase marketing ROI. (Forbes)

While Mobile Marketing MUST Be in Your Plan!!

• 17.    75% of smartphone owners watch videos on their phones; 26% at least once per day. (NewsCred)
• 18.    Over half of all mobile searches lead to a purchase. (Rocket Post)
• 19.    78% of Facebook users are mobile-only. (Rocket Post)
• 20.    E-mail is the most popular activity on smartphones among users ages 18-44. (Mark the Marketer)
• 21.    64% of decision-makers read their e-mail via mobile devices. (Mark the Marketer)
• 22.    Almost half–48%–of all emails are opened on mobile devices. Yet 39% of marketers say they have no strategy for mobile email, and only 11% of e-mails are optimized for mobile. (Mark the Marketer)
• 23.    Mobile is the channel of choice for keep relationships with existing customers alive because it cuts through the clutter of email and social. (Forbes)
• 24.    71% of users access social media from a mobile device. (Jeff Bullas)
• 25.    50% of millennials use their smartphones to research products or services while shopping, and 41% have made purchases using their phones. (leaderswest Digital Marketing Journal)

Content = Digital Marketing Success

• 26.    By 2020, customers will manage 85 percent of their relationship with an enterprise without interacting with a human. (Target Marketing)
• 27.    62% of companies outsource their content marketing. (Iconsive)
• 28.    70% of consumers say they prefer getting to know a company via articles rather than ads. (NewsCred)
• 29.    90% of organizations market with content. 86% of B2C marketers and 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing. (NewsCred)
• 30.    And yet…54% of brands don’t have an onsite, dedicated content director. (NewsCred)
• 31.    Companies will spend $135 billion on digital marketing collateral this year. (Social Fresh)
• 32.    Customer testimonials have the highest effectiveness rating for content marketing at 89%. (Social Fresh)

Should Your Business Consider a Blog?

• 33.    Each month, 329 million people read blogs. (NewsCred)
• 34.    37% of marketers say blogs are the most valuable content type for marketing. (NewsCred)
• 35.    Companies that publish new blog posts 15+ times per month (3-4 posts per week) generate five times more traffic than companies that don’t blog at all. (NewsCred)
• 36.    Blogging increases web traffic by 55% for brands. (Rocket Post)

Why Video Needs to Be Part of Your 2015 Marketing Strategy!!!

• 37.    The use of video content for marketing increased 73% this year; use of infographics grew 51%. (Digital Marketing Philippines)
• 38.    Articles with images get 94% more views than those without. (NewsCred)
• 39.    Posts with videos attract three times as many inbound links as plain text posts. (NewsCred)
• 40.    62% of marketers use video in their content marketing. (NewsCred)
• 41.    Two-thirds of firms plan to increase spending on video marketing in the coming year. (Heidi Cohen)
• 42.    57% of B2B marketers say SEO has the biggest impact on lead generation. (NewsCred)
• 43.    Organic search leads have a 14.6% close rate, compared to 1.7% for outbound marketing leads. (NewsCred)
• 44.    33% of clicks from organic search results go to the top listing on Google. (Social Fresh)

Social Media Marketing….No Options Your Business Needs to Be There

• 45.    “Interesting content” is one of the top three reasons people follow brands on social media. (NewsCred)
• 46.    As consumer use of social media for brand comments and complaints continues to increase, brands are having a hard time keeping up. Only about 20% of consumer comments generate brand responses, and the average response time is over 11 hours. (eMarketer)
• 47.    Nearly three-quarters of US marketers believe customer response management on digital channels is important (so…25% think it’s okay to ignore consumers?); however, just one-third say their company does a good job at this. (eMarketer)
• 48.    Over 70% of US online adults use some form of social media networking. (Heidi Cohen)
• 49.    72% of all internet users are now active on social media. (Jeff Bullas)
• 50.    78% of companies now say they have dedicated social media teams, up from 67% in 2012. (i-SCOOP)

Our 10 Most Read Blog Posts of 2014

With an audience as diverse as Mitchell’s we never know which posts will pique our readers’ interests. So we took a peek into the analytics and found the 10 most popular posts for 2014. If you missed any of these, this is your chance to catch up on some useful information to help you grow your business in 2015. Happy reading and Happy New Year!

#1 - Improving Rental Vehicle Experience in Collision Repair Process - RepairCenter ToolStore's product manager takes a quick look at a critical factor in customer satisfaction. Read it now.

#2 - Auto Body Shop Boot Camp: Making Shops More Productive and Ready for the Future - Held in Chicago, this training course was a big success. Read the recap and watch for similar events near you in 2015. Read it now.

#3 - The Mitchell (m)otorheads - Learn more about Mitchell’s employee race car team. Find out how you can support their work to promote awareness and raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Read it now.

#4 - Auto Repair Estimating Software: The Most Important Tool in Your Shop - In an industry where profitability rides on accurate estimating, this post explores how the right software helps shops reduce errors and contain costs. Read it now.

#5 - Customer Notification re: Open SSL Heartbleed Notification - This post set Mitchell clients at ease by detailing our proactive security protocols to address Heartbleed and other cyber threats. Read it now.

#6 - 3 Customer Focused Ways to Increase Your Shop’s Sales by $50,000 in 2014 - A practical guide to generating bigger profits with a small investment of time and money by capturing more business from existing customers. Read it now.

#7 - Want to Increase Shop Efficiency and Customer Satisfaction? Mobile Apps are the Answer -- Find out how a mobile app designed specifically for auto repair shops can increase efficiency, save money and boost customer satisfaction. Read it now.

#8 - 10 Digital Marketing Actions That Will Help Drive Customers to Your Auto Body Shop -- Learn how any auto body shop, no matter what size, can use digital-based sales, marketing and customer service tools to succeed. Read it now.

#9 - Three Reasons Why You Should Use Social Media to Market Your Auto Repair Shop - Tap the potential of this powerful marketing channel. This short guide has practical tips to help you listen, ask, and contribute in the social media environment. Read it now.

#10 - 6 Ways Auto Body and Repair Shops Can Get More and Better Online Reviews - eMarketing Sherpas’ CEO Frank Terlap shows you how to grow your business by building and managing its online presence. Read it now.

 Did we miss one of your favorite posts? Let us know on Twitter at @MitchellRepair.

When will America embrace diesel passenger cars?

By Greg Horn, Vice President of Industry Relations, Mitchell

The U.S. is unique among developed countries in that consumers demand for diesel-powered cars is practically non-existent. Sure, there are rabid fans of “oil burners” as diesel power plants are called, but they account for a small number of vehicle owners. Consequently, they simply are not offered in the U.S. by many car companies that have robust diesel sales in other countries.

So why don’t Americans like diesel, despite their reputation for exceptional fuel economy? Many blame the ill-fated General Motors Oldsmobile and Cadillac modified gas-into-diesel engines of the late 1970s. The fact that those models self-destructed after fewer than 30,000 miles may well have scared off Americans from diesel power. Others say the old diesels that belched exhaust like a smoke screen from a James Bond car and accelerated like an arthritic snail left a long-lasting negative impression as well.

While those two factors undoubtedly steered generations away from diesel, our federal and state governments’ tax rates also play a role in limiting diesel’s acceptance. The United States federal excise tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel fuel. On average, as of January 2013, state and local taxes add another 30.4 cents to each gallon of gasoline and 30.0 cents to diesel, for a total US average fuel tax of 49.5 cents per gallon for gas and 54.8 cents per gallon for diesel.

The United States is the one of the only developed country where diesel costs more at the pump than regular unleaded gasoline, despite the fact that diesel costs less to refine than unleaded gasoline. So, if it costs less, why is it taxed more and why, when prices fluctuate, does it not rise or fall at the same rate that gasoline does?

The theory behind the different taxation stems from the fact that the U.S. still views diesel as the fuel of heavy trucks, and heavy trucks cause more damage and wear and tear on the highway infrastructure. To compensate for the added wear and tear, the excise tax is higher. In addition, refineries don’t produce diesel #2 for passenger cars in the same volume as unleaded gasoline. This keeps U.S. diesel prices higher than in the rest of the world. It also means that the rate of replenishment differs at fuel stations causing the price of diesel to change at a different rate than unleaded gas.

This is unfortunate and short-sighted. Modern diesel cars behave much differently than those we remember from the 1970s. Diesels today are reliable (including the Opel-based GM diesel engine offered in the Chevrolet Cruze) and offer great torque and acceleration. They are also significantly easier on the ears both inside and outside the vehicle. Gone too are the soot-laden exhaust fumes; today’s diesels have been re-engineered to burn cleaner and, for larger diesel engines, each manufacturer has developed a urea injection system. (Smaller Jetta diesels don’t require urea injections).

The urea additive adds some complications to diesel vehicle ownership since the tank resides in the truck and sprays the exhaust to lower emissions output, creating a “clean diesel.” However, the tank must be refilled every ten thousand miles or so, and while it’s not expensive (about $30 for the liquid and is DIY friendly), if you ignore the warnings about the tank running low, the car will not start if the urea tank runs dry.

So, will it change? If the lobbyists for BMW, Mercedes, VW and GM are successful in their lobbying efforts for a fairer tax rate, running diesel will offer a bigger financial advantage. It’s an advantage that could potentially be better than hybrid running costs. That should bring buyers interested in high mileage and low running costs into dealerships. My advice is to start educating yourself about diesels, because I think we’ll be seeing more of them soon.

Greg Horn is a contributor to Mitchell’s Quarterly Industry Trends Report, an analytic tool for insurance companies, collision repair shops, and their business partners. Sign up for free delivery of the quarterly report to make sure you never miss an issue.

Read more about the industry here:
•    Technology’s Impact on the Auto Repair Process, Interview with Mitchell's Greg Horn
•    10 Digital Marketing Actions That Will Help Drive Customers to Your Auto Body Shop
•    Auto Repair Estimating Software: The Most Important Tool in Your Shop