How Automotive Marketing Drove 7 Years of Growth for an Independent Workshop

If you're running a workshop and want to grow your sales and your business, strategic automotive marketing is essential. It's tempting to want fast results—but here's the truth: you can see early signs of success in just two to three months, with more substantial progress from six to twelve months. However, the most significant growth—such as doubling your team or expanding your premises—typically requires a few years of consistent effort.

One independent automotive workshop is living proof. We've worked with them for seven years, starting in 2018. In that time, they've grown significantly—not just in reputation but in team size, expanded facilities, and achieved strong marketing performance. The results speak for themselves. This kind of sustained success comes from an integrated approach to automotive marketing—not just single-channel tactics (such as Google Ads alone).

It All Started with Strategy

We laid the foundation for growth through:

• Strong brand positioning – High-quality car servicing backed by expertise with genuine customer care.
• Niche targeting – Focusing on select car brands to concentrate the marketing investment on attracting the right audience.
• Targeted marketing plan – A highly targeted plan tailored to a niche audience, using a balanced marketing mix that includes Google Business, website, blogs, SEO, social media, Google Remarketing, PR, and events.
• Consistent action – Week in and week out, we've undertaken marketing activities, reported monthly, reviewed performance, and continuously identified and implemented progressive improvements.

For a single-location, independently owned workshop, these results outperform the industry.

• Google Business Calls: 2,367 calls over 12 months (average of 197 per month) —is over 4× the industry average of 50/month (Birdeye)
• Organic Facebook Reach: 6.88%—higher than the typical 2–5% range
• Facebook Engagement Rate: 1.13% per impression—placing the business in the top tier of automotive Facebook performance
• Almost doubled its team size—with a growth of approximately 85% since 2018
• Won two business awards in their regional awards
• Built a trusted brand, supported by inbound call volume from Google Business alone and strong review performance

Most independent workshops lack the time and expertise to manage and execute marketing at this level.

That's where we come in—the expertise and a fully integrated system with a proven track record of achieving visibility, consistency, and measurable growth.

• Google Business Calls: 4× industry average (Birdeye)
• Phone Leads: 30% faster conversion, 28% longer retention (Invoca/Forrester)
• Facebook Engagement: 1.13% vs. 0.15–1.0% average
• Organic Reach: 6.88% vs. 2–5% average
• Posting Consistency: 3x/week since 2018—generating 5× more engagement (Buffer)
• Integrated Approach: According to Boston Consulting Group, integrated, data-driven marketing strategies deliver 20–40% higher ROI—and that's exactly what we implement.

Want real growth for your workshop? Our automotive marketing services gets results—call us today on 07 3446 5837 or email us here.

Maria Anderson is the Founder & Managing Director of Sustainable Marketing Services, a multi-award-winning Brisbane marketing agency known for integrating brand, marketing, digital, PR, and social to deliver measurable, sustainable growth.

A data-driven strategist with over 25 years’ experience, Maria is a Certified Practising Marketer (Australian Marketing Institute) with a Bachelor of Business (Marketing and Public Relations) and Diplomas in Sustainability and Financial Services. She helps businesses launch, grow, and protect their brands through results-focused, sustainable marketing strategies.