Instagram Marketing Strategy For Diesel Truck Repair Shops

Ignite your online presence and attract more customers with our Instagram marketing strategy tailored for diesel truck repair shops.

Turbocharge your Repair Shop with Our Instagram Marketing Strategy

At Fullbay, we know a thing or two about social media fame. As of mid-2023, we had over 2,000 followers on Instagram—putting us only roughly 269,998,000 followers behind Taylor Swift. Sometimes, we amaze ourselves. 

But even if your heavy-duty shop isn’t quite as prominent as a well-respected truck shop software brand or the world’s biggest pop star, marketing on Instagram is a fantastic way to get the word out about your business. You’ll give potential clients a chance to peek into the glamorous world of truck and trailer repair while finding new ways to connect with your most dedicated customers—all while avoiding many of the expenses associated with “traditional” marketing. And since Instagram is currently the world’s fourth-most-popular social network, you’ll always have an audience.

Of course, success on social media takes more than simply being #blessed. You’ll also need to think about how you can utilize these platforms as effectively as possible. Read on for everything you need to know about maximizing your brand visibility on Instagram while outranking your competitors.

Getting Started with Instagram Marketing

While taking your first steps toward building your shop’s Instagram presence, you should:

Create an Instagram Business Account

Setting up a business account for marketing on Instagram isn’t too tricky. But before you begin, you’ll need a phone with the Instagram app and a personal Instagram account. 

From there, go to your profile and find the three-bar menu button in the upper right corner. Then, tap “Settings and privacy,” “Account type and tools,” and “Switch to professional account.” At that point, Instagram will guide you through the process of setting up a business profile.

Once you’ve established your new Instagram profile, it’s time to start putting content on it. The first additions you should make to your profile include:

• A bio (complete with relevant keywords)
• Up-to-date contact information
• A recognizable profile picture

Define Your Target Audience

Every business has a “target audience,” which is a group of people that’s especially likely to be interested in its products or services. Naturally, you should craft your heavy-duty shop’s Instagram marketing strategy with your own target audience in mind.

To truly understand your shop’s target audience, do some market research before launching your Instagram account. This process allows you to clearly identify the preferences and pain points your potential customers share, making it easier to create marketing campaigns designed to attract them.

Consider Content Strategy and Branding

Since Instagram is almost entirely built around visual content, how your content looks is just as important as what it focuses on. To create a consistent, recognizable brand identity for your shop:

• Plan ahead. A strong theme can go a long way when it comes to reinforcing your image on Instagram. You’ll need access to a digital design tool to create a theme of your own.
• Share the right types of content. No business wants to blend into the crowd on Instagram—and sharing unique content that highlights the most exciting things about your business will help you avoid that fate. For heavy-duty shops, sharing maintenance tips and behind-the-scenes content is a great way to get started.
• Prioritize authenticity. Many brands focus on sharing professional-looking content while marketing on Instagram. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if your shop’s image is less polished, raw smartphone footage could look more authentic while being just as attention-grabbing. It all depends on your branding strategy.

Tools and Strategies for Marketing on Instagram

By now, you know the basics of Instagram marketing—but much to learn, you still have. Some of the best ways to get results from your marketing efforts include:

Using Hashtags and Keywords

Like many other forms of online marketing, marketing on Instagram relies heavily on SEO keywords. Because of that, it’s important to find relevant keywords to use when you’re marketing on Instagram. Your captions should subtly use these SEO keywords without calling undue attention to these phrases. Otherwise, social media users could feel like your marketing on Instagram is meant for web crawlers instead of human beings.

To become a real social media marketing pro, you’ll also need to understand how to get the most out of #hashtags—words preceded by the hash sign, which you can use to tag content. Wise hashtag use can give your posts added visibility, make it easier for Instagram users to interact with your shop, and even serve as a convenient way to categorize your content. Instagram allows users to include a maximum of 30 hashtags per post, but using three to five relevant, popular hashtags will likely give you better results.

Engaging with the Instagram Community

Instagram is a social media app, and any social relationship is a two-way street. Here’s how to engage with Instagram users in a few everyday situations:

• If you get a compliment on Instagram, let the commenter know you appreciate it! A quick response like “thanks” is perfect for simple compliments, but it’s best to go above and beyond when responding to people who leave more detailed positive comments.
• If you asked a question in your post and someone responded, it’s in your best interest to respond and thank them for getting involved.
• If someone has a question for you, be sure to give them a quality response as soon as possible. The more helpful and specific your answer is, the better.
• If someone mentioned a friend on your post, you probably don’t need to do anything—unless the person who mentioned their friend also left a comment.

Unfortunately, not every interaction you’ll have on Instagram will be positive or neutral. You’ll also need to know what to do in these scenarios:

• If someone has a customer service issue, responding to them is a must. When the issue at hand is something you don’t want to get into publicly, respond to their comment to let them know you’ll send them a DM. By doing so, you’ll respect their privacy while letting everyone else know you take problems seriously.
• If someone leaves troll comments on your posts, simply ignore or block them. After all, trolls live under bridges—there’s no reason you need to hang out down there.
• If a spammer comments on your post, launch them into the sun (i.e., block and report them).

Holding Contests and Giveaways

Are you enjoying the blog so far? Well, what if we told you one lucky reader will win a FREE CAR?!

…Just to clarify, we’re not actually giving away a car. We were just wondering what you would think if we did.

It’s not hard to see how Instagram contests and giveaways can drive engagement—people like free stuff, and they’re willing to follow your page or engage with your content for a shot at getting it. Depending on what you’re hoping to accomplish with your contests, the entry methods for these events could simply require people to like, comment, and follow or ask them to share their own content with a branded hashtag. 

Utilizing Instagram Stories and Reels

To get the most out of Instagram marketing, you’ll also want to understand Stories and Reels. Stories are time-limited status updates linked to your account’s profile picture—these videos and photos disappear after a 24-hour period. Meanwhile, Reels are standalone videos that show up in your feed as a post.

Stories and Reels allow you to share content in a different way from “standard” posts. They can be more off-the-cuff and less formal than most of your updates. Plus, they’re a great way to facilitate real-time interaction with your followers.

Of course, you might want to keep some of your Stories around for more than one day. That’s where Story Highlights come in—this feature allows you to save Stories in a specialized section on your profile. Story Highlights can also be put into themed groups, making this a great way to share evergreen content with your followers.

Measuring Success and Analytics

Spending time and money on Instagram marketing isn’t worth it if your social media marketing isn’t getting results, and there’s no better way to gauge your results than tracking metrics like key performance indicators (KPIs). Some Instagram KPIs you should follow include:

• Follower growth
• Reach/unique visitors
• Story views
• Engagement with Reels
• Mentions
• Engagement rate

Tracking these KPIs and others will give you a clear picture of how well your Instagram marketing is performing, but there’s a catch—manual KPI tracking is tough. In fact, marketing is generally a full-time job in itself if you want to really optimize. 

Rather than take it on yourself, offload it to a team of experts like Dieselmatic. They know their marketing, and they know the commercial repair industry.

Just keep in mind that like any form of marketing, results are rarely instantaneous. Social media marketing generally takes time and consistency before the ball starts rolling.

Cross-Promoting with Other Marketing Channels

While Instagram is a big part of modern-day marketing, it’s still only one part of your overall promotional strategy. But that doesn’t mean it should stand alone—instead, you can and should integrate your Instagram account with your other marketing channels to create a cohesive brand message. For example, you could use your emails, website, and other social media platforms to direct people to your Instagram account. Of course, you can also use your Instagram to send people to other marketing channels.

Naturally, cross-promotion can go beyond simply promoting yourself. Look for local businesses and industry partners that might be interested in partnership marketing—both on your Instagram account and beyond.

Insta YOUR Gram With Fullbay

Instagram is one of the world’s most popular social networks, so it can be hard to stand out from everyone else. But with these makeup tips, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a world-famous influencer an-

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Anyway, marketing on Instagram is a crucial element of any 21st-century marketing plan. That said, running a successful heavy-duty repair shop takes a lot more than knowing how to promote it online. You’ll also need to track your inventory, create estimates and invoices, and keep customers informed. As you might expect, all these tasks can be time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Fortunately, you don’t need to do this work by yourself—not when you have access to Fullbay’s cutting-edge heavy-duty shop software and the marketing experts at Dieselmatic. 

Find out more about how our products can make your life easier by scheduling a free demo (and following us on Instagram) today!