Fleet wrapping is gaining momentum and becoming a popular choice as businesses look for creative ways to promote their brand and reach a wider audience. By using vehicles as a medium for mobile advertising, companies not only increase visibility but also carry out transportation or delivery tasks, serving the dual purpose of marketing and logistics. If you're a professional installer aiming to expand your services, we've outlined everything you need to know about fleet wrapping and how vehicle wrap businesses can grow beyond individual clients to include large-scale fleet projects.
What is Fleet Wrapping?
It is imperative to first understand what fleet wrapping entails. If you have been working on small-scale private projects before, fleet wrapping is a whole new and much bigger game. It is a branding strategy where companies apply identical custom-printed vinyl to their vehicles or vans, effectively turning them into mobile advertisements. High-resolution vinyl graphics are installed across the entire fleet, transforming the cars into moving billboards. These vehicles are then driven or parked in areas with high foot traffic or customer concentration to maximize visibility and marketing impact. These wraps can be easily removed when you want to change the campaign, serving as constant business for a professional installer.
Installers Planning to Venture into Fleet Wrapping
Transitioning from smaller jobs to fleet wrapping means adopting a more strategic approach. It opens the door to bigger opportunities and broader exposure. Here’s everything you need to know about it:
Design a Business Plan
You must have a clear roadmap defining your goals and plan for profitability before you enter the fleet wrapping industry. What should you focus on? Understand your target market, assess competitors, and detail services that you plan to offer, including design, printing, and installation. You also cover startup costs, pricing strategy, marketing approach, and projected revenue. Outline both short-term actions and long-term goals in your business plan to build a sustainable and professional fleet wrapping operation.
Get Ready for Greater Investment
Fleet wrapping involves a higher level of investment, given the larger scale of the work. Unlike standard vehicle wraps, fleet projects require bulk materials, additional workspace, and often longer installation timelines. Many clients also expect a full-service solution, which means offering graphic design services or partnering with a designer to create consistent, brand-aligned visuals across multiple vehicles. You must also offer printing services, adding value for clients, and making the workflow more efficient. With this level of service, you will not be just an installer but a reliable partner facilitating brand visibility and commercial marketing.
Improve Your Skillset
Large-scale vinyl application is no child’s play. You must master the techniques and also have skilled labor that can wrap around vehicles of different shapes and sizes. See, for example, the Red Bull fleet wrap. It involved complex 3D elements and contoured surfaces that required not only wrapping expertise but also fabrication skills. The wrap must appear consistent across multiple vehicles, hence, you should be adept at surface preparation, panel alignment, and graphic matching. Get the necessary tools and equipment, too.
Post-Installation Services
Fleet wrapping is a long-term project. Your work is not done after successfully completing a job. Aftercare is an essential extension of the service, not an afterthought. You should inform your clients, both verbally and in writing, about how to properly maintain their wrapped vehicles. This includes using mild, pH-neutral soap, avoiding high-pressure washes near edges, and steering clear of abrasive brushes or automatic car washes. You may also offer routine check-ins or repair services to position yourself as a long-term partner, demonstrating both quality and professionalism.
Benefits of Fleet Wrapping for Businesses
There are plenty of benefits for businesses looking to enhance their brand presence and marketing efforts. One of the advantages is brand visibility, as fleet wraps ensure that your name is consistently seen by a large audience wherever the vehicles travel or are parked. It is reported that a fleet wrap can generate between 30,000 and 70,000 impressions daily, boosting overall exposure.
It is also a cost-effective method to market your business or product compared to other advertisements, such as radio, TV, or billboards, as fleets offer a lower cost per impression and are only a one-time investment, excluding the maintenance. Moreover, fleets also give a professional appearance and leave a lasting impression on the minds of onlookers. Imagine watching an anaconda wrapped around a bus for the Copenhagen Zoo ad or the National Geographic advertisement featuring a shark’s mouth on a bus door opening to take you in.
Logistics and Pricing of Fleet Wrapping
There are several stages involved in the implementation of fleet wraps, and it is essential to define what you plan on achieving with them. These include:
- Creating a design concept that aligns with the company’s goals, ideally developed in collaboration with a professional design team. For example, Amazon’s clean and minimalist fleet advertisement, aimed at reinforcing brand trust and recognition, uses consistent dark blue wraps with the signature smile logo to show reliability and professionalism across all delivery vehicles.
- Next, vehicles need to be measured and scaled to see where the graphics will be positioned, and proper material needs to be selected to guarantee durability and an exceptional finish. For instance, FedEx carefully wraps each vehicle in high-quality vinyl to maintain a uniform appearance across its global fleet while withstanding constant use and varying weather conditions.
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High-quality printing media is the most common choice for fleet wraps due to its flexibility and vibrant color reproduction. The design is printed onto the vinyl and installed, but planning is important for large fleets so that the vehicles are not out of service for long. To keep this in check, Comcast schedules its fleet wrap installations in phases to minimize downtime. This allows the vehicles to remain operational while still receiving consistent branding updates.
The Cost Factor
The cost of fleet wrapping also depends on the size, type, and number of vehicles in the fleet. The complexity of the wrap design and the vinyl material used also add to the overall expense. The expertise and location of the installer can influence pricing, as more experienced installers in certain areas may potentially charge higher rates.
Pricing for fleet wrapping is usually calculated on a per-square-foot basis. Some businesses may charge for design work on a complex project, but many offer discounts for wrapping multiple vehicles. This can make the overall project more affordable. Though the average cost may vary widely, it typically ranges between $1,500 and $5,000 per vehicle.
The Return on Investment of Fleet Wraps
Wrapping a set of cars shows excellent ROI, but how exactly is that calculated? There are many ways to determine the return on investment, including tracking the number of impressions, measuring conversions such as visits to a website, or calculating revenue after accounting for the expense of fleet wrapping. Here are some real-life examples:
- Servpro, a property restoration company, uses a large fleet of bright green vehicles wrapped with bold, consistent branding. The visibility generated by these wraps has led to a steady increase in inbound calls and job bookings.
- Valente Chiropractic wanted to gain traction for the chiropractic services provided by them and invested in a $3000 custom wrap. The result was over $20,000 in revenue over a year.
- 1-800-GOT-JUNK? This junk removal service built a highly recognizable brand with its clean, blue-and-white fleet wraps. Their vehicles were strategically parked in visible areas, serving as ongoing local advertisements, becoming one of their most effective lead generators, contributing significantly to their marketing success.
Is Fleet Wrap Installation Lucrative?
If you're moving from private jobs to handling fleet wraps, you'll need the right skills, solid planning, and a strong business model to make it profitable. Businesses in logistics, construction, home services, and delivery increasingly invest in this type of marketing; hence, demand for professional fleet wrapping services remains strong.
Fleet wraps often command higher prices due to scale and complexity. The profit margin can be significant, especially if you get repeat business. Once established as a fleet wrap installer, you can expand by offering related services like graphic design, wrap maintenance, or even branding consultation. This is regular business as fleet vehicles get damaged, rebranded, or replaced over time. A reliable installer who builds trust can become the go-to for replacements and updates, creating a steady revenue stream.
Wrapping Perfection and Reaping Profits!
Despite the initial investment, fleet wrapping is considered a cost-effective advertising solution compared to traditional advertising methods. Vehicle wraps generate a 96% recall rate among viewers, which translates into more customers for businesses. As the demand for commercial fleet wraps increases, installers may have to develop larger capacities to cater to these businesses and move beyond individual customers. You can definitely be one of them!
