How to use text marketing for your car wash

In the last 15 years, car wash facilities have seen a 69% increase in car owners using their services instead of washing their car themselves. The industry is continually experiencing growth with an estimated 8 million cars being washed each day!

But with a majority of the nation’s car washes using in-bay automatics, there’s much more to each facility than traditional soap and water. From wax and other exterior treatments to interior detailing, there’s plenty of material for your car wash to market.

Whether you’re looking to increase sales, drive more traffic to your wash, or spread awareness about your services, text message marketing is the perfect way to connect quickly and directly with your customers. Looking for some more inspiration— wash this way and we’ll show you!

Help drive business during slow hours

Text messages are delivered almost immediately and generally read just as fast. For messages with a specific call to action—come get your car washed for half price—this kind of immediacy is key.

Creating a sense of urgency with limited time offers gives you the chance to intentionally drive people to your carwash during notoriously slower periods of time. With the average response time for a text message 6,000% (60X) faster than email, the chances of people reading your offer before it’s too late is much higher.

Entice new customers with deals

Economists are overwhelmingly in agreement with the idea that people respond to incentives. A low-cost, low-commitment way to entice new customers to check you out is by offering an incentive to join your text marketing program.

For example, you can give customers their first wash free when they join your contact list. From there, you have the foundation set for building customer loyalty by continuing to send valuable and timely texts to your contacts.

Reward existing customers with loyalty perks

Carwashes see a wide variety of customers, but the bulk of sales tend to come from “regulars.” According to OneDesk, two-thirds of all American car owners wash their vehicles twice a month.

Despite only constituting 28%, heavy users make up 66% of the total car washes your business does! The moral of the story is, once you’ve got people in the door, it’s important not to neglect them.

Loyalty programs are a great way to maintain the standard of customer service that brought customers to you in the first place and to convert more users from medium to heavy.

Segment your contacts based on geography or consumer behaviors

With text marketing, you can segment your audience based on interests, behaviors, geography, and more. This added layer of personalization enhances the customer experience with little to no lift on your end.

With hundreds of locations spread out across multiple states, Delta Sonic Car Wash can attest that this tool is essential for keeping offers personal.

Integrate with your POS system for ultimate efficiency

Folks who are on the go appreciate any measures that help them save time. In the winter when you’re washing upwards of 800 cars a day, anything to speed up the process is appreciated.

Utilizing a text-to-pay system can be a great way to keep things moving in the bay and avoid unnecessary stoppage before the tunnel. With our API integrations, the possibilities are limitless when it comes to what existing business systems you can connect with SMS. Plug our platform into your POS and automatically send out payment links.

Let your customers know when their car is done by sending them a text

Speaking of efficiency and customer satisfaction, texting is a simple solution if you’re looking to better serve customers who opt for interior cleaning or other specialty services. By texting customers when their vehicle is done and ready for pickup you substitute overcrowded waiting areas for happy, untethered customers!

How to grow your audience

When it comes to turning your audience into contacts, the more you advertise your text marketing service the stronger return on investment you’ll see. As you watch your contacts grow you’ll begin to gather insights into the content they find valuable. Through the polling feature, you can even solicit feedback in real time.

Other tips for growing your contact list include:

• Putting your number or short code on your receipts along with a short message prompting customers to opt in
• Utilize a web form on your site
• Put table tents with your information by your registers/checkout areas
• Getting involved with local events/car dealerships and advertising there
• Pinning your information to the top of your social media profiles
• Creating branded promo material (like ice scrapers or emergency car kits) with your number or shortcode.

Getting your carwash started with text marketing

If you’re ready to give text marketing a try, we encourage you to sign up for a free trial account with us. You can preview the platform and see how easy it is to send text campaigns.

Our incredible support team is available seven days a week to walk you through the process—from uploading contacts to sending your first campaign!