When Mario Jauregui purchased this run-down old shop near Downtown Modesto, CA in 2015, he had a vision. He liked that the business had some positive history in the community and the original name had brand value, as the shop has been sitting in the same location since 1969 and always been family owned.
When it came to renovating and reopening the shop, Mario wanted to preserve some of the history while upgrading as much as possible to make it a modern facility. When it came to branding and marketing, he sought the help of Keith Lindsey at NextGear Marketing, who he has been working with as a marketing advisor for many years through the course of multiple business ventures. Together, they decided it was worth keeping the Ralph’s name attached to the business rather than rebranding from scratch with a new name.
NextGear created a new logo design for Ralph’s Transmission that had the ideal retro/modern style to represent what this renovated shop would be all about. The new slogan spoke to the strong roots of the business and the level of service Mario wanted to provide: “A Commitment to Quality Since 1969.”
NextGear helped create a full suite of marketing materials for Ralph’s, including brochures, receipt holders, stationery, direct mail postcards, signage, print advertisements and billboards. Billboards were placed all throughout the Modesto area in prime locations with two simple messages. One featured the slogan above. The other highlighted their strong 3 Year, 100,000 Mile Warranty program.
The look was clean and powerful with bold colors, and the marketing messages were direct. Those billboards and other key advertisements helped draw a lot of attention to the “new and improved” shop that many people probably forgot was still around.
Now, it was onto the online marketing. Mario signed up for the Standard Web Content Package from NextGear Marketing. Keith personally writes a blog post each week for Ralph’s Transmission, which is then also shared on their Facebook page. The messages are positive in nature and have covered a variety of subjects that relate to what’s happening at Ralph’s. Mario took some great pictures around the shop that Keith has been able to integrate into each blog post for an even more personal touch. They are currently working on having each employee fill out a personal questionnaire provided by NextGear, so that employee profiles can also be posted regularly on the blog.
In addition to the weekly blogs of the Standard Package, Mario opted to upgrade his plan with a monthly press release. Keith writes each article and coordinates the placement through PRweb.com. These press releases, in conjunction with the blogs, have put so much great content online about Ralph’s Transmission that the organic search results continue to rise. As of this post, Mario now attributes more than 40% of his business comes from Internet leads.
“It’s amazing what can happen with a fully integrated marketing approach. And in the months since we started the blogs with NextGear, we’ve seen the impact with a stronger online presence,” Mario says. “I can only imagine how things will continue to grow as more and more content is added through our blog and through these press releases.”
Ralph’s Transmission is just one of many success stories that NextGear Marketing has helped write for automotive shops throughout the country. It illustrates the power of marketing and how dynamic web content created through blogging can really make a major impact. To learn more about our web content packages, contact Keith Lindsey at 714.348.0642 or fill out our contact form.
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