How to Get Towing Leads: Top 37 Towing Marketing Ideas to Get More Towing Cash Calls and Towing Business

 

Updated on January 4, 2024

Leads can make or break any towing business, no matter your location or how long your business has been around. Without a constant flow of fresh towing leads, sustaining your business is impossible. But when you create a tow truck marketing campaign that attracts new customers and brings in towing leads to your business, that’s a recipe for:

• More high-paying jobs
• Consistent work
• Increased revenue
• Expansion of your business

So, we know why generating quality towing leads is important for your towing business’s long-term sustainability, but what’s the simplest way to do it? The answer is good towing marketing and advertising. If you’ve ever wondered how to get more towing business, how to get towing contracts or how to get towing jobs in general, try some (or all!) of the tow truck marketing ideas below.

Share on Facebook or embed on your website

1. Use your website to get more towing leads and towing cash calls.

One of the most important things you can do for your towing business is to build a website. That website will act as your towing business’s online storefront and act as a home base for all of your towing marketing and advertising efforts. Add the URL to your business cards, your trucks—anywhere you’d usually put a phone number. The URL is likely to be easier for people to remember, which means it will be easier for them to get in touch with you.

Your towing website can also help potential customers:

• Learn more about your towing business
• Read about the towing services you provide
• See your service area
• Get in touch with you

Without a website, how are those potential customers going to find your business on Google? How will they know where to contact you? They won’t.

Without a website, your business might as well not exist at all.

Fill out the form below to see how many people are searching for towing services in your area.

 

2. Review your existing towing marketing strategy.

Before you start taking steps to get more towing leads and towing cash calls, take stock of the digital marketing efforts you already have in place. That could include:

• Your Google My Business listing
• Your Facebook business page
• Your existing business website
• The use of SEO keywords in your site’s content
• Any online directory listings
• Any paid ads on Google, Facebook or Instagram
• Any reviews on Google or other review sites

Having any of these things means you’re off to a great start, but don’t worry if you only have one or two—or none. It’s never too late to improve your digital marketing and start getting more towing leads. A good digital marketing company can get you on the right path.

 

3. Know your audience and focus on their preferences.

If you want to appeal to your ideal customers, you need to know who they are. One of the top reasons towing businesses fail is because they never identified their target audience and their pain points. Ask yourself:

• Is your ideal customer male or female? Both?
• Under what circumstances might they need your towing services?
• What might their state of mind be when they contact you?
• Why are they choosing to work with you over your competitors?

Once you have a persona in mind, identifying their pain points can help you fine-tune your marketing strategy. To figure those out, consider surveying your customers, talking with your sales team, or analyzing your competition’s marketing strategy.

 

4. Identify market trends and study your competition.

Before revising your tow truck marketing strategy, don’t forget to analyze your competition. They might have already figured out some tricks you can apply to your strategy and make it more effective.

• Identify your competitors and pick a handful to focus on.
• Are they direct or indirect competitors?
• Take stock of their pricing, services, work hours, discounts, and more.
• Study their branding and look for ways they’re interacting with their customers.

Once you’ve compiled all the details, ask yourself if you can adopt or adapt any of their strategies and make them work for your business.

 

5. Explore partnerships.

It all comes down to networking and the connections you have within your community. Are there other small businesses you can team up with? A mechanic or collision repair center? A property management group? And event service that often handles on-site or off-site parking? All of these could be valuable sources of towing leads and towing cash calls.

 

6. Survey, listen, monitor and learn.

This tip isn’t as difficult and involved as it sounds, and it can make a huge difference in the quality of the towing leads and towing cash calls you bring in.

Survey: Survey, or research, your customers and competition to stay on top of market trends.

Listen: Listen to your customers and ideal customers to figure out what they want and how you can best provide that towing service to them.

Monitor: Monitor market trends, consumer behavior, and the results of your existing marketing strategies to figure out what’s working and what isn’t.

Learn: Learn by analyzing your marketing strategy at key points during the year to continue advancing your business.

 

7. Identify your ideal customer.

For most tow truck companies, a stranded motorist is their ideal customer. They don’t just need or want towing service—they’re likely in an emotional state because they’re stranded and need help. Knowing that, you can capitalize on the situation and be their knight in shining armor, there to save the day.

 

8. Be where your ideal customers are looking.

Most towing leads and towing cash calls are the result of one of two things: a motor club membership or your branding.

Becoming a member of a motor club is simple, so the area to focus on is your branding. Your ideal customers are out on the road, so make sure they recognize you when they see you. Brand your tow trucks and make it easy for them to recognize you and remember your business name. That way, when their car breaks down and they need a tow, you’ll be the first towing company they think of.

 

9. Don’t rely on motor clubs alone.

Like we said above, becoming a member of a motor club is simple, but not every driver is a member or has roadside assistance through their insurance. However, everyone does have a smartphone, which means they’re likely to search for “tow trucks near me” when they’re stranded and need help.

If you want to show up in search results when they make that search on Google, focus on your website and SEO. SEO will help you show up at the top of search results, and your website will give that stranded motorist all the information they need to contact you.

 

10. Give an affiliate marketing program a try.

Affiliate marketing programs are performance-based, which means (in most cases) you’ll pay an amount that corresponds with how successful the program was. Most of the programs operate on a pay-per-sale/click/impression basis. If you have it in your budget, consider using one of these programs to bring in more towing leads and towing cash calls.

 

11. Brand your tow trucks.

Every tow truck in your fleet is basically a billboard on wheels, so make sure your branding is on point and noticeable. To do that, cover these two areas:

Color: Choose a distinctive color that will be associated with your company—make sure it isn’t already being used by any of your competitors!

Logo Visibility: Put your business name on your trucks and make sure it’s visible! You want people to be able to read it from a distance and while they’re on the road.

 

12. Make the phone number on your trucks smaller.

If you’re one of the tow truck businesses that have super-sized phone numbers on your vehicles, it’s time to rethink your strategy. People will see the number, but are they more likely to remember a string of 7 to 10 numbers or your website?

In the long run, you want people to recognize your business name, not your phone number. So having a website that matches up with (or is super close to) your business name will make it easier for them to find you and get in touch.

 

13. Put a good review strategy in place for your towing business.

Reviews are important for every business, but they’re especially important for towing businesses. Before a potential customer calls you, they’re likely to read what other people are saying about your quality of service, your professionalism, your punctuality and more. Here’s what you can do to start bringing in more positive reviews:

• Emphasize the importance of great reviews.
• Ask the customer for feedback directly.
• If your customer is happy, ask them to leave a review online.
• Send your customers thank-you notes.

 

14. Generate towing leads by canvassing the area.

Canvassing to get more towing leads and towing cash calls might seem like an old-school marketing trick, but your ideal customers are more likely to work with you and remember you when they connect a face to your business. If you want to give canvassing a shot, try doing it on weekdays before people hop in their cars for a weekend outing.

For the best results, remember to:

• Always be polite and courteous, even if you don’t get the reaction you want.
• Set a goal for each interaction: get their contact information, leave a business card.
• Have a script ready so you’re better prepared.
• Follow up with potential customers after getting their info—you could add them to your mailing list.

 

15. Send direct mailers to get towing leads.

Here’s another tow truck marketing idea that will stand the test of time: direct mailers. Compared to the chaos that is most email inboxes, old-school mailboxes are seeing a lot less action, which means your letter or postcard is much more likely to be read.

According to the Direct Marketing Association, the average cost per lead for direct mail is $51.40 for a general mailing list and $54.10 for postcards.

 

16. Use pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine marketing (SEM).

A good PPC and SEM campaign is one towing advertising strategy that’s been proven time and again to generate towing leads and towing cash calls.

While Google is the most popular search engine for PPC and SEM campaigns, thanks to its widespread popularity, don’t forget about Bing. It’s not as popular but still has a wide user base—many of which could be your customers.

Still on the fence about using PPC and SEM for towing leads? Check out these stats:

• For every $1 spent in Google Ads, businesses make an average of $2.
• About 41% of clicks on a search results page go to one of the top 3 paid ads.
• More than 85% of people use the internet to find local towing businesses.
• Visitors who come to your website via PPC or SEM are 50% more likely to make a purchase.

Reach out to get a free quote on PPC and SEM for your towing business.

 

17. Use local SEO for towing lead generation.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is still king in the digital marketing space. It’s what will move your towing business to the top of page 1 on Google and keep it there, ahead of your competitors. If your campaign is strong enough, SEO alone can generate the majority of your towing leads (but we still recommend reading the rest of these towing advertising ideas)!

A good first step is setting up your Google My Business account. From there, you can advance to backlinking (linking out to other towing sites with high authority) and content marketing (sharing towing-focused content with your potential customers).

It’s always a good idea to let an SEO expert get you up and running. They’ll also be able to make recommendations for your SEO campaign that will improve its effectiveness over time.

Reach out to get a free quote on a local SEO campaign for your towing business!

 

18. Facebook + Instagram advertising can get you more towing cash calls.

Advertising your towing business on Facebook and Instagram can be a cost-effective method of bringing in more towing leads, provided you put the right strategy in place and know how to navigate the ad builders on these platforms. If you don’t, consider working with a pro!

You can target your ideal towing customers by their location and other pages they’ve liked—such as your competitors’ pages.

Displaying ads to this audience has the added benefit of creating and boosting awareness of your towing business. If people see your logo and your ads all over the place, they’re more likely to remember your business name when they need towing services.

Reach out to get a free quote on Facebook and Instagram advertising for your towing business!

 

19. How to get towing jobs through strategic alliances.

Another great way to get more towing leads is to partner up with other businesses in your area. That could be AutoZone, O’Reilly Auto Parts and others. Creating a partnership means they’ll recommend you to their customers, display your business cards or other marketing materials, and provide a steady stream of towing leads. So, get to networking!

 

20. Download storm-chasing apps.

Ready for a more creative towing marketing idea? Download a storm-tracker app that notifies you every time a severe storm passes through your service area, then go and canvass those areas. Since storms tend to leave hail damage in their wake, your timely arrival is more likely to get you customers who need their cars towed for repairs now.

 

21. Content Marketing = Towing Marketing

Creating towing content for your ideal customers is a great way to get more towing leads and towing cash calls. Consider writing blog posts and articles that you can post on your website, and make sure to make it easy for your audience to share that content on social media.

Here are some topic ideas:

• What to Look for in a Trustworthy Towing Company
• How to Find the Best Towing Company in Your Area
• How to Find Towing and Recovery Jobs Near Me
• How to Become an Automotive Roadside Assistance Provider

 

22. Email Marketing = Towing Marketing, Too!

Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing, and there’s a reason it’s still used: it works. For every dollar you spend on email marketing, you’ll make (on average) a $40 return on investment.

Because most towing businesses overlook the benefits of email marketing, it’s a great towing lead generation option for your towing business. For instance, businesses that stay in touch with their ideal customers via email generate 50% more sales-ready towing leads and spend 33% less money on making sales.

 

23. How to generate towing leads at automotive trade shows.

Attending automotive tradeshows should be high on your list of tow truck marketing strategies. They not only provide plenty of solutions for how to get more towing business, but also let you observe your competitors, create new business partnerships and boost brand awareness.

To make the most of your tradeshow experience, your booth should provide something valuable to visitors, such as a freebie or another incentive, like coupons, giveaways, contests and more.

Finally, make sure you’re collecting information from visitors and following up with them.

 

24. Get towing advertising ideas from your chamber of commerce.

If you haven’t already joined your local chamber of commerce, attend their next meeting and start networking with other local business owners. In particular, try to connect with property managers, mechanics, and owners of businesses with limited parking—they’re likely to send more towing leads your way!

 

25. Give telemarketing a chance.

Though telemarketing was once a choice channel for towing lead generation, many people now block unwanted calls on their smartphones. However, there are still companies out there that will telemarket for you and set up appointments with potential customers.

 

26. Manage your reputation online and offline.

Remember when we said 85% of people search online to find local towing services when they need them fast? Those same people are also researching your reputation to find out what your past customers are saying about the quality of your service and your prices. Did you show up on time and do what you said you were going to do?

Offline, you can use word-of-mouth to your advantage. Ask your satisfied customers if they can think of any neighbors, friends, family, or acquaintances who might need towing services. Give them plenty of business cards to pass around, and ask if you can put a temporary sign in their yard with your business name and phone number after you complete a service for them.

Online, list your towing business on review websites and ask your satisfied customers to leave a review on Google. Doing so makes it more likely that you’ll bring in more towing leads.

Reach out to get a free quote on reputation management!

 

27. Ad retargeting is a fresh towing marketing idea.

Have you ever searched for a product online then noticed ads for it following you around the internet for days? That’s retargeting, and you can do it for your towing business.

Whether you want more towing leads or towing cash calls—or both!—retargeting is a great way to keep your towing business and services in front of potential customers who have already shown interest by visiting your website.

With Townsquare Interactive you can get a free quote on retargeting!

 

28. A unique selling proposition will make your towing business stand out.

If you want to stand out from your competitors, your towing business needs a unique selling proposition, or USP. That USP could be your level of service, your experience in the industry, your competitive prices, your reputation, your employees, your guarantees—anything that sets you apart from your competitors. Once you’ve figured out your USP, use that selling point in your towing marketing materials!

If you’re not sure where to start, take a look at how your competitors are generating towing leads and towing cash calls. What’s their USP, and how can you beat it? What would matter more to your customers and the community you serve? Here are some USP ideas to get you started:

• Eco-friendliness
• Specialized services
• Towing capabilities
• Guarantees
• Level of service and friendliness
• Professionalism
• Availability

 

29. Use Google’s Local Service ads to get more towing contracts.

Google’s Local Services ads are a type of pay-per-lead ad, and they appear at the top of the search results page where they’re most likely to be seen. Those towing ads get about 13.8% of clicks—that means if 50 people in your area search for towing services on a given day, at least 7 of them will click one of those towing ads and turn into a towing lead or towing cash call.

How much more money would you make per month with 7 more towing jobs per day?

Wondering how to get more towing contracts? Fill out the form below to learn more about using Google Local Services ads for your towing business.

 

30. Co-market with a relevant business.

Co-marketing means you’re partnering up with another likeminded business to share lead generation opportunities. For example, you might want to team up with a mechanic or collision repair company and offer a discount to customers who use both of your services. In the end, this kind of combined marketing can lead to many more towing lead generation opportunities.

 

31. Increase referrals to get more towing leads.

Referrals are a great way to capitalize on word-of-mouth marketing. Offer your existing and past towing customers an incentive to refer their friends, families and neighbors to your business, and give them a discount on future services in return. Since people are far more likely to use a business that a friend recommends to them, this is one towing marketing idea you shouldn’t pass up.

 

32. Create helpful YouTube videos about towing.

YouTube is a hugely popular platform with a wide swath of demographics, so why not use it to your advantage? Make an account (it’s free!) and start posting videos about towing. The videos can document your day-to-day activities, follow a job from start to finish, or illustrate the different warning signs that a damaged car shouldn’t be driven. These videos will build your credibility as a tow truck business and make it easier to build trust with your viewers.

In the video description, include your contact information and a link to your website so they can learn more.

 

33. Create a towing-focused Facebook group.

Having a dedicated Facebook business page for your towing business is a must, but creating a group page for your business is a good idea, too. Post helpful content (maybe something you wrote for your content marketing efforts!) and interact with group members to start building trust and brand awareness in your audience.

 

34. Take pictures of completed jobs.

A picture can say a thousand words, so make sure you’re taking before and after photos of every towing job you take on. It’s a great way to show the quality of your work, and it gives you great content to post on your website and social media.

 

35. Use LinkedIn to attract commercial towing leads.

LinkedIn is more than a great place to establish yourself as a towing expert and reputable towing business—it’s a great place to generate towing leads and towing contracts. How? Do a search for local businesses and property managers you can connect with to discuss your towing services.

 

36. Send out press releases about your towing business.

Press releases are a great way to share new and exciting developments about your towing business. Are you offering a new towing service? Expanding your service area? How about a discount for repeat customers or those who refer their friends? Write a press release that outlines these new items and send it off to your mailing list to start generating towing leads.

 

37. Sign up with Townsquare Interactive.

The team at Townsquare Interactive specializes in creating tow truck marketing campaigns that generate towing leads and towing cash calls for businesses across the country. All of our dedicated marketing specialists and teams of subject matter experts can provide personalized suggestions for how to take your towing marketing campaign to the next level.

Fill out the form below to learn more about our towing marketing packages and jumpstart your towing lead and towing cash call generation.