Boosting Awareness and Engagement for an Auto Care Company

Client: Bend Express Lube

Bend Express Lube had over 20 years of experience and two locations in Bend, Oregon, with great weekly promotional events, but few locals utilized them. Both locations were locally owned and offered routine oil and filter change services and car washes. They wanted to amplify brand awareness and boost their local marketing reach.

Challenge: Great Deals, Low Awareness

With other oil change services getting most of the customers, Bend Express Lube wanted to increase local awareness and customer turnout for their weekly promotional events, Military Mondays and Ladies Day Tuesdays. The primary challenge was that they weren’t getting a ton of new customers because few people were aware of their offering, and larger competitors were getting a majority of the sales—even though Bend Express had better pricing.

To effectively reach their target audience and drive consumers to the shop, they brought in Mailbox Merchants to help find a solution that utilized a blend of traditional shared mail tactics and digital marketing strategies.

Solution: Multi-Channel Marketing to Stand Out Locally

To address their challenge of not standing out amidst competitors and lacking brand awareness, Mailbox Merchants developed a triple-channel marketing strategy to help the automotive oil shop stand out. The team combined shared mail, digital display advertising and pre-roll video for maximum effect. 

Setup

We identified Bend Express Lube’s most effective trade areas, designed promotional materials for all three channels and helped them set an appropriate budget that would offer the most effective results and highest ROI.

Execution

• Digital Display Advertising — Online ads were displayed on websites, apps and social media to engage potentially interested buyers
• Pre-Roll Video Advertising — Video ads were set up to play before video streams to enhance consumer interest and stand out against competitors
• Shared Mail Advertising — Shared mail advertisements were sent to consumers, complete with promotional coupons, to enhance local brand awareness and increase foot traffic

Results: Amplified Customer Awareness and Engagement

The integrated, triple-channel marketing campaign successfully drove awareness and customer engagement for Bend Express Lube's promotional events. Weekly promotional periods picked up, and they finally started to stand out amidst competitors.

Key outcomes included:

• Amplified Customer Awareness: The digital display and pre-roll video ads achieved a click-through rate (CTR) of 0.27%, indicating strong engagement from the target audience.
• Increased Foot Traffic: The promotional coupons in shared mail effectively drove customers to the shop, with 107 digital conversions tracked directly to Express Lube Shop's location.
• Higher Event Response: There was a notable increase in customer turnout on Military Mondays and Ladies Day Tuesdays, showcasing the effectiveness of the integrated campaign in driving specific event participation.

The case of Bend Express Lube demonstrates the power of combining digital and traditional advertising methods to create a comprehensive and effective marketing strategy. By strategically targeting the right audience, designing impactful advertisements, and optimizing budget allocation, we were able to significantly boost awareness and engagement for the client's promotional events. This integrated approach can serve as a model for similar businesses looking to enhance their marketing efforts and drive customer response.