Many people just getting into the mobile detailing business wonder what type of marketing works best? Well actually the marketing approach depends on how many customers you wish to have and if you wish to build a route scheduled business or a “call-in” for high-end service type business. I have always preferred the first building routes by day of week and block-by-block. Thus marketing should contain some amount of direct marketing, perhaps mailers by zip code and good community PR.
Ads in the Newspaper do not pay, unless you buy a 1″ X 2″ ad in several places throughout a weekly community paper. Not a daily circulation type paper. The size of your market has a lot to do with the advertising your pick. Radio is killer, but not viable in larger markets for the auto detailing business unless you have 10 units. Need more information to answer your question each market must be slightly modified for best results of course.
Much of your question would be better served once you had a business plan and were pretty certain of the tact you wished to take. If you make a business plan you should have someone review it for you. And be wise enough to realize that even though this is a simple business, you still must treat it like a real company if you are to succeed at it.
Read as much as you can and then go buy some auto detailing industry books, if you find yourself truly interested? You can find books on auto-detailing on Google. You should read at least 2-3 Auto detailing books before you take the plunge into your business, be book smart about auto detailing you will be glad you played it by the book. Think on this.