Amanda Williams-Beckett: From the Lot to the Neighborhood - Marketing the Modern Car Wash

ICA | October 16, 2026

Amanda Beckett, Director of Marketing for Wild Water Express and Ocean Express Car Washes in Southern California, joins Rich DiPaolo to talk about effective car wash marketing—from the messages customers see on-site to digital, traditional and community-based strategies. Amanda explains why clearly communicating value is critical to converting retail customers into members, how operators can balance digital and traditional marketing, and why defining your goals should come before deciding how to structure your marketing team or use AI. She also shares why every car wash location is its own “mini brand” within its community and offers practical examples of community marketing that can build lasting customer connections.

Key Takeaways:

Clarity and consistency matter on-site. Don’t simply promote an unlimited membership—clearly communicate its value and why it matters to the customer.
Connect your on-site and off-site messaging. Customers should encounter a consistent message whether they’re at the wash, seeing a billboard, receiving a mailer or encountering the brand in the community.
Use a mix of digital and traditional marketing. Social media, Meta and Google remain important, but Amanda says there is still a place for traditional channels such as billboards and mailers.
Know what you're trying to accomplish. Before building a marketing team, hiring vendors or deciding what AI can handle, establish the primary goals.
AI should support the strategy—not define it. The balance between AI and human involvement depends on the brand, its goals and how much of a community-oriented voice the business needs.
Every wash is part of its local community. Even within a larger chain, individual locations have different customers, interests and community priorities.
Listen to your site-level employees. Site managers, leads and employees often know their communities better than anyone at the corporate level—and can identify which local partnerships will actually resonate.