Looking to boost car count and strengthen customer relationships in 2025? You’re not alone—and there’s a lot you can do right now to make it happen. Across the industry, proactive shop owners are asking: How can I build loyalty and drive more traffic through strategic marketing?
That's exactly what we tackled in Episode 194 of The Digital Shop Talk Radio. Host Lauren Thunen sat down with Danny Webb, VP of Partnerships at Cinch, to discuss how shops can use advanced marketing to stand out, connect with customers, and grow their business.
According to Danny Webb, customers are hit with an overwhelming number of ads daily—10,000 on average.
"People only recall a hundred of those. So it's really important for marketers to be consistent so that their message is seen over and over and over again for recall's sake, but also relevant and timely."
That’s where omnichannel marketing comes in—showing up consistently across email, text, social media, and more to match your customers’ changing preferences. By allowing them to opt in or out of their preferred channels, you create a more personalized experience. This thoughtful, flexible approach not only keeps you connected to a wide range of customers—it also builds trust, loyalty, and long-term engagement.
Just as important, omnichannel marketing reinforces your brand across every touchpoint. Repetition and consistency help your shop stand out. When your message, tone, and values show up the same way it creates a unified brand experience that’s easier to recognize and remember. And in a noisy marketplace, being memorable for the right reasons is a powerful marketing tool.
Personalized marketing builds trust with your customers and makes them feel valued. Danny offered a clear example of what personalized marketing can look like in action:
"Hey, Dave, your 2019 Toyota Tundra requires a timing belt change and the flush needs to occur at this interval. When you were last with us, you were at 50,000 and all of these services are required at 60,000."
Compared to a generic "Time for service!" message. Danny's version shows the customer that your shop cares. However, personalization is only possible with clean, detailed customer data. As Danny put it:
"It's impossible to personalize communication and make somebody feel valued if you're not collecting the data in the first place."
That means regularly verifying names, emails, vehicle history, and mileage. Smart personalization also includes knowing when not to message. Suppressing ads for services a customer just purchased improves their experience and makes better use of your marketing budget. Whether you're looking to bring new customers in the door or keep your regulars coming back, using data to personalize your outreach makes your marketing more effective, efficient, and impactful.
Consistency in messaging starts with knowing who you are. Lauren emphasized that great marketing starts with a clear brand. She encourages shop owners to define their core messaging:
Danny agreed, citing recognizable brand experiences:
"It's like when anybody says, my pleasure, half the world thinks of Chick-fil-A just because they consistently do it across the board, and people start to remember that."
Your shop doesn't need gimmicks; your customers will remember and trust consistency and reliability.
One of the most practical and powerful ways to boost visibility? Danny suggests cleaning up your Google Business Profile profile.
"I would spend time making sure that you really clean up your Google Business Profile. Hours of operation, services that you have, get images up on there of your shop and encourage, of course, at all costs, reviews."
Why? Because Google Business Profile isn't just a listing. It impacts your rankings in local search and even feeds AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Danny notes that after 500 reviews, your shop will come up higher in search results. He also noted Cinch's ability to pull in GMB review data and use it to personalize follow-ups or segment audiences to turn feedback into action.
Many shop owners hesitate to request reviews because of the occasional bad one. But as Lauren shared, when negative reviews are responded to properly, they can build more trust than dozens of five-star ratings.
"Consumers are always going to filter to your lowest star reviews. But if they see that you have a great response and are like, ‘Hey, I'm sorry Judy that you were unhappy with X, Y, and Z,’ that goes a lot farther."
Danny agreed:
"People trust a 4.7 more than they trust a 5.0 because otherwise they think it was the owner's mom who just left 500 reviews and everybody knows that there's cranky people out there."
Make sure you're responding to every review within 3 business days. Tools like AutoVitals can streamline the process, but the key is consistency and sincerity.
Marketing doesn't have to be overwhelming but it does need to be intentional. Danny urges shop owners to make sure that they are putting their own personal spin on their marketing efforts because that's where they'll see results. Whether you start by cleaning up your Google Business Profile or updating your CRM, these small steps can add up to big wins. Tune in to the full episode for more insights on how Cinch and AutoVitals collaborate to grow your shop.