Discover how a family-owner auto body business enhanced their online presence and implemented new ways to communicate with their customers with Hibu’s digital marketing services and expert support.
Overview
Columbus Auto Body Works has been part of the New Haven, Connecticut community for over 94 years. Today, Mary Ellen DiLauro owns and oversees the business that was started by her great-grandfather, Vincenzo DiLauro, in 1928. A true family business now on its fourth generation.
At its heart, Columbus Auto Body Works is a service provider. “We’re helping people.” Mary Ellen said. “Nobody wants to get in an accident – and if we can help that experience be less stressful, then that’s what we’re here for. That’s what we want to do.”
Of course, you can’t keep a business going that long without learning to adapt to changing times. Each new generation has had to face unique challenges... including this current one.
The Challenge
Columbus Auto Body Works had to keep their current customers while also attracting new ones. “There’s a lot of competition, a lot of body shops in the state. And everybody’s so high tech now—on their phones, on social media, that younger generation we needed to connect with.” In addition, after her father’s passing, Mary Ellen found that much of her audience thought they were closing down.
So, Columbus Auto Body Works was facing three major challenges—finding a way to stay in touch with your existing, older audience, reaching new younger prospects, and communicating clearly to both groups that they were (still) very much open for business.
The Hibu Solution
Before partnering with Hibu, Columbus Auto Body Works was relying on printed calendars as its primary advertising. They needed to make the move to digital marketing. Hibu’s initial solution was two-fold, Hibu established a strong online presence with a new website, managed listings, and enhanced SEO to dominate search results. In addition, Hibu launched targeted search and display ads designed to reach both older and younger customers.
Best of all, Hibu did all the work, so Mary Ellen and her team could focus on taking care of their customers. “It’s nice to have somebody to think about this and do all this because running a business... I mean, there’s so many aspects that I have to deal with daily,” Mary Ellen said. “And to have somebody take care of the whole marketing thing, the website, it just takes the stress off of our backs.”
The Results
Customers are now reporting that they see the company listed and ranked highly on Google. “Hibu has let people know that we are still here. We continue to grow stronger.”
The demographic of Columbus Auto Body Works customer base has shifted and expanded. “We are definitely reaching a younger group of customers. I’ve seen the return on investment that I wanted to see. With our new demographic, we see more return and referral business than before.”
In addition, the business has added automated email and text marketing, making it easy to engage and retain all their customers, older and younger.
In a 90-day period, Columbus Auto Body's digital marketing from Hibu generated:
- 634 total leads
- 1,213 ad clicks
- 1,318 website visits
- 72 website engagements
Hibu is a leading provider of digital marketing solutions to local businesses across the US. With Hibu, your business has a truly integrated marketing program designed to increase your visibility online, drive visitors to your website, and generate leads. Visit Hibu.com or call us at 855-409-6569 today to get more from your digital marketing.
