With a low-cost of entry and low concentration of big firms in key markets, the commercial and residential cleaning industry is a lucrative endeavor for small businesses.
Although the industry is relatively recession-proof, successful entrepreneurs know that marketing and growing a cleaning business is critical to its survival.
Whether you’re thinking of starting a cleaning business, or just need an injection of fresh ideas, here are eight surefire ways to grow your cleaning business, as recommended by some of the cleaning industry’s top marketers and small business experts.
Marketing Strategies for Cleaning Services That Will Skyrocket Sales
Small commercial cleaning companies may feel overwhelmed in an impersonal big-business world when it comes to marketing and advertising. However, there is an opportunity here to differentiate your cleaning company. If you ask a business their worries about hiring a commercial cleaner, they will tell you it’s the threat of theft and unreliability.
Knowing those pain points can help you determine the best marketing strategies for cleaning services that cater to commercial companies. Leveraging that information, here are ten ways you can market your commercial cleaning business:
Share your story
Sharing some more personal details of your business helps to set you apart and make a connection with your potential customers. Are you a family-owned and run business? Did you start out minuscule and grow to become a robust team? Do you have some anecdotes of lessons learned and funny occurrences? These are all ways to connect that will enrich your story and make your marketing efforts stronger and more tangible! Remember, your clients may be business owners or small businesses too, so you have common ground.
Showcase your values
Consider something you do that exemplifies your business ideals. Is your company certified “green” for environmentally-safe cleaning practices? If so, concern for the environment may be something you have in common with your clients, and since not all commercial cleaning companies are certified, that’s a great discussion point for social media, your blog, and advertising! Talk to them about the products and methods you use; it’s part of your story. Think about what other aspects of your business practice showcase your values and have great appeal for marketing!
Use local SEO data to boost traffic and increase leads
According to Entrepreneur, local SEO is more important than ever and only growing as Google works to support smaller businesses in their locations. That means it’s a fantastic time to maximize your impact by incorporating more location-specific words and phrases in your marketing strategies. It also means that your online profiles on Angie’s List, Thumbtack, Google+, Facebook, Yelp and others are completely up-to-date and comprehensive with your services, keywords, areas, businesses you serve and contact information. Local SEO can work to drive more digital traffic and leads directly back to your website without you even needing to pick up the phone.
Use data to target your ads
Facebook advertising is very effective for many small businesses and can provide a real boost by putting target audiences to work. Zero in on specific locations where you see the potential and want to grow your business or see an emerging demographic! If you’ve identified your most profitable customers already, you know what types of customers to target in which areas, and how to best make these ads work for you. You can also work with Groupon and Yelp advertising for targeted ads.
Demonstrate your expertise
Many local newspapers and magazines enjoy highlighting local success stories and sometimes even have a guest or regular “ask the expert” columns in their business sections. If you are a strong writer or have one on your team, consider pitching this to some media in your area. You have a lot of experience to draw from and knowledge that would be beneficial to other business owners who don’t have a clue where to start in hiring a commercial cleaning service. They’d love to know what options are out there, what is affordable, and what is effective. Especially if you have an active blog, a lot of topics you are already using for marketing could easily apply to broaden your reach to local business media and boost your leads!
Incentivize referrals
Everyone knows how crucial referrals are to any small business, especially other business owners, to make your customers feel valued. However, we all know how incredibly busy small business owners are! Be extra sure that you are paying attention to referrals and not letting acknowledgment slip through the cracks. One way to do this and promote even more referrals is to have an incentive system in place. If you offer a discount for tracked referrals, you will ensure you never miss an opportunity to show your current customers some extra gratitude and provide them with even more reason to recommend you to others in their networks.
Smarter Ways to Market Your Cleaning Service
Whether you run a dry cleaning service, carpet cleaning or professional home and office cleaning business, you need an effective marketing plan to generate leads, bring in new customers and foster a strong relationship with current clients. How should you best target your advertising dollars to get the most favorable ROI? Here are some best practices to get you started.
Identify Your Target Market
Before you can develop a marketing plan, you need to identify your customer. Most local business is generated around a specific geographic location. Is your dry cleaning business located on a busy thoroughfare between residential neighborhoods and office complexes? Offer a quick overnight special where busy people can drop off and pick up their dry cleaning on their way to or from work.
Which neighborhoods in the area are more likely to prefer your method of carpet cleaning? Are they more interested in quality or price? What office buildings may need professional cleaning services? If you can identify the type of services your target customers are looking for, you can more effectively tailor your services — and your marketing plan, to meet their needs and desires.
Flyers and Door Hangers
Colorful flyers and door hangers can be easily distributed to apartment complexes, office buildings and local neighborhoods. Send out a stack with every cleaning team (or delivery person) with instructions to spread them around job sites. Chances are where there’s one customer, there are many others who may need your services. Offer an introductory special for new customers and put your contact information in large, bold type.
Talk Directly to Your Ideal Client
This strategy will help you generate new, IDEAL clients for your business with better-converting ads… And, you will be able to write them FAST.
Sell The Benefits, Not the Service
Whatever you are selling, sell the benefits, not the features. This is a marketing rule. Sell the benefits of your cleaning services.
Build Brand Recognition
It’s worth the extra expense to provide your employees with a uniform, and paint your company vehicles with your business name, logo and contact information. It not only generates a much more professional image, but neighboring homeowners and businesses will see your vehicles and uniformed employees while they’re on the job. The resulting effect will be just as if the customer had personally recommended your business to them.
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