Mediaura CEO Andrew Aebersold is joined by Liz DeHart, the Marketing Manager for Glaser’s Collision Centers. This family business is experiencing rapid growth, in part due to their relationship with Mediaura. Andrew and Liz will discuss the collision repair business and provide advice for other small businesses.
Meet Your New Favorite Auto Body Shop
Glaser’s Collision Centers has been around for 35 years. With 4 locations in the Louisville area, they promote their locally-owned status, because they work with and for the community. They work hard to take care of their customers. Glaser’s realizes an automobile collision is frustrating, but resolving the situation doesn’t have to be.
If you visit their website you’ll find there’s more than just information about the company. Their blog provides helpful tips for someone who has been in an accident and may need some direction as to what they should do next. It comes back to Glaser’s commitment to being more than just a place to get your car fixed.
Glaser’s Collision Centers Growth
Liz explains that the focus from Aaron, the second-generation owner of Glaser’s, is to grow what Glaser’s had and also grow locations. The organization needed to promote brand awareness and support the brand value – via the services Glaser’s Collision Centers provides. There’s also a need for expertise in the digital marketing space. Glaser’s relies on Mediaura for that compliment to its traditional marketing efforts.
As the planning and initial steps were being implemented, the COVID pandemic hit. The company reaffirmed its commitment to growth in the digital space to generate additional market share.
Andrew discusses how Mediaura is a full-service digital marketing agency. They create and manage Google Ad campaigns, provide Facebook and social media platform management, and many other strategies and tactics to promote a brand and its business objectives. Measuring the progress at a very granular level is a key component of communication with clients. They share information and are proud to be held accountable for the results the information indicates. They have the expertise to build websites and apps. It’s really how Mediaura orchestrates a broad spectrum of approaches, with measurable results, that has become their competitive advantage.
Taking the Non-Traditional Path to Growth
Many small businesses, especially in the automotive repair segment rely on traditional means of generating revenue. These often include word-of-mouth referrals from past customers, family, and friends.
Digital marketing is an effective complement to that traditional path. However, as a small business begins to scale, the need for more brand awareness and consistent revenue growth becomes vitally important. Digital marketing can provide this if it’s planned and executed properly.
Glaser’s Collision Centers is a great brand with terrific services to offer. While the pandemic put negative pressure on the growth plans, they seem to have weathered the storm and continued to grow. Liz comments on how they maintained their investments in digital marketing throughout the pandemic. This helped to form an important foundation, allowing Glaser’s to gain market share.
Deciding to Hire an Agency for Digital Marketing
Successful businesses monitor their expenses. However, Liz explains that the management team recognized they weren’t going to be able to handle every aspect of marketing. They wanted to engage a digital marketing firm to leverage the expertise and knowledge Glaser’s Collision Centers needed. Working with an agency enables you to gain exposure to many more capabilities and innovative tools, backed up by the understanding of how to implement and deploy those tools.
“If you’re going to step up and step out, you’re going to need to put that investment in.”
– Liz
Marketing involves dealing with the situation that exists today but keeping an eye on what’s going to happen in the future. You have to always be driving activities that generate the future sales you’re anticipating.
The collision center segment is highly competitive. There’s a mix of local, regional, and national competitors. The larger ones always have the ability to outspend you, in terms of marketing. Being more strategic with the dollars you commit to the effort is one of the advantages of working with a digital marketing agency.
Why Did Glaser’s Collision Centers Select Mediaura?
Glaser’s went through a detailed interview process to get a true sense of what it would be like to work with a specific marketing partner and the capabilities involved. One of the potential vendors was an industry-specific agency. They knew the market segment for auto body repair. They seem to have all the right words, along with the bells and whistles.
However, Glaser’s saw value in the fact that Mediaura wasn’t going to take a template approach because it didn’t fully know the business. That curiosity and commitment would enable Mediaura to evaluate the market differently. Mediaura would take a customized approach, based on years of experience. They were willing to put in the time to learn the market segment and take a new approach. The other benefit, of course, is that Mediaura is also a locally-owned business.
Using the Data to Determine the Right Decisions
As you might expect, the initial numbers (during the pandemic) weren’t exactly stellar, but those numbers yielded valuable data. That data was analyzed and used to quickly course-correct. Those subtle adaptations quickly began to generate better and better results. Mediaura and Glaser’s worked together to focus on the shortest path to achieving results. As the confidence developed, additional tools were incorporated over time. Again, everything was measured and decisions were made according to the data.
Liz and Andrew comment that Glaser’s is experiencing a roughly 10:1 Net ROI on its marketing investments.
The Value of “The Learning Process”
When you invest in working with an outside agency, the risk is that mistakes are going to be made. There are significant benefits in being able to learn from those mistakes. One of the more unanticipated benefits is the fact that both companies learned to trust each other and to work through the issues to generate optimal results. Trust is an important element of any successful relationship.
Liz discussed the advantage of strong communication between the two companies. Mediaura was learning the collision business and Liz was learning more about the digital marketing space. Together, the teams learned much more about how to foster a successful business partnership.
Glaser’s Collision Centers and Mediaura have ongoing strategy meetings to review the data, evaluate new opportunities, and to work quickly to capitalize on those opportunities. The active dialog has enabled Liz to gain a better awareness of how to drive the business. Ultimately, there’s a better sense of having control over the variables and how they can impact the desired results.
Andrew explains how working with a client’s in-house marketing team creates some terrific synergies. A company that has a small marketing department places a tremendous amount of responsibility on those individuals. Partnering with Mediaura can provide insights for effective decision-making. Mediaura can develop and implement tools to help the business excel. Collaboration is a valuable asset. More often than not, the internal team is able to shine because of the services provided by the agency. The combination of outside digital marketing expertise and a thorough knowledge of the inside team’s access to data often yields strong results.
Glaser’s Created a Problem – Recruitment
As the business has continued to grow, like many other small businesses, Glaser’s Collision Centers is now working hard to recruit new employees. Is it a problem? Actually, it’s more of a current challenge.
Glaser’s is actively looking for qualified collision repair technicians! If interested visit Glaser’s Careers page. You can submit an application online.
The business is growing and staffing needs are an important part of ensuring that growth. If you’re looking for a new job in the collision repair and auto body industry, Glaser’s is hiring.
Interested in Contacting Liz DeHart and the Glaser’s Collision Centers team?
Website: https://www.glaserscollision.com/
Phone Number: (502) 266-5905
Parting Advice from Andrew
As the economy begins to emerge, there’s a risk of another COVID-related shutdown. Andrew advises small business owners to not wait until it becomes too late to invest in their marketing. The solutions take time to conceptualize and to implement, properly. It’s going to require time and patience. Mediaura can be a single solution, or the team can augment other efforts already being undertaken.
If you’re evaluating potential vendors, Mediaura can also help to vet tactics and strategies. There’s value in partnering with other agencies when/where it makes sense for the client. You’ll always get an unbiased opinion regarding your options.
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