Hired a marketing firm for $1,500/mo then switched to a neighborhood kid for $300 and got better results

Thomas Green · 2026-10-01T14:45:11.092238+00:00

Ran my auto repair shop on Michigan Ave for 11 years and always thought you needed a real marketing agency to get customers. Dropped $1,500 a month on a firm out of Southfield for 8 months, got a bunch of fancy reports and "brand awareness" talk but my bays were still half empty. They kept saying it takes time to build a funnel. My nephew's friend, a 22 year old who just does social media for a few local spots, offered to run my stuff for $300 a month. I figured why not, I was already burning money anyway. Within 6 weeks he had me posting actual customer cars with before and after shots, replying to comments, and running a $50 boost on Facebook for oil change specials. Phone started ringing again. The agency never once asked to see my shop or take a single photo of my work. That kid did. I don't know if it's luck or if big firms just don't care about small fish. Anybody else have a similar experience switching from an agency to someone local?

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Hired a marketing firm for $1,500/mo then switched to a neighborhood kid for $300 and got better results | Detroit Biz Owners - Discusd