Social media isn’t just for kids and “hip” brands. It’s also an excellent source for growing your business and even winning cleaning contracts.
Social media gets a bad rap. Even though it may seem like the virtual version of hanging out at the mall with a bunch of teens (and yes, it can be), it’s also a wide-open marketing platform. Savvy business owners are taking advantage of that to find and win cleaning contracts in their sleep.
What? How is that even a thing? You can’t very well talk to customers and sign cleaning contracts while you’re sleeping. Or can you? Social media doesn’t sleep. It works overtime and holidays without question. It’s working while you’re eating dinner or watching the big game on Sunday night. And if you play it right, all that time, your message is going out to the universe. Your next customer, who happens to be up at midnight, sees your post on LinkedIn or Twitter, and makes a mental note to call you.
This isn’t wishful thinking; it really happens. It could happen to you. But first…
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Tidying up your social media to win sparkling new cleaning contracts
Let’s talk about social media. There are all sorts of social platforms out there. Each one has a unique approach and audience. LinkedIn is all about business. Twitter is more like talking to someone at a crowded party. Facebook isn’t as popular with “the kids,” but according to Sprout Social, 74% of adults visit Facebook daily.
Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, is pretty popular across age ranges under 50. YouTube gets more traffic than Facebook. Then there are platforms like Snapchat and Tik Tok and Pinterest. It’s not impossible, but it is unlikely that someone would be looking for a commercial cleaner on Tik Tok or Snapchat. Pinterest is ideal for crafts and hobbies, but you may be a bit less likely to find an audience there that’s interested in cleaning contracts.
Social media may be free, but it does take time, so it’s smart to narrow your focus to those platforms that will best serve you. For our purposes here, we’re going to stick with LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
YouTube certainly has a valuable place in that mix, but it takes a little more effort since it requires you to make videos. You may find it’s well worth your time to build a YouTube presence. Right now, though, we’re going for the easier wins. These five steps will get you moving in the right direction.
1. Determine who your audience is.
Are you trying to reach a general audience? Do you specialize in cleaning medical facilities? Or maybe you offer additional services outside of commercial cleaning, like lawn care or basic maintenance, that would be an ideal match for a property management company. When you know what audience you’re trying to reach, it gets a lot easier to plan and carry out your strategy.
2. Determine where your audience is.
This may take some research on your part, but which social platform does your audience use more frequently? There’s no rule against posting on multiple social media platforms, but you can maximize your efforts by meeting your audience where they are.
3. Be social.
Here is the cardinal rule of social media etiquette: Be social. This is about building relationships. It’s okay to show off your work (before and after images are great). It’s okay to share what you do. But no one wants to read post after post that sounds like a sales pitch. Share good news about your current clients’ businesses. Promote charitable events in your community. Highlight the positive work one of your colleagues is doing. This works across platforms, whether it’s Twitter or LinkedIn. Be the company that people enjoy following.
4. Don’t forget to promote yourself a little.
Yes, this sounds completely opposite of the last tip. It’s not. Why? Two reasons. One: every time you post, you are promoting yourself. You’re establishing your company in the public realm and getting your name out there. You’re sharing the culture of your company with your online community. But to succeed at growing public interest for cleaning contracts with your company, you need to, now and then, promote yourself more directly. What does this look like? If you’re posting every day (and that’s the goal), you might have a promotional post once or twice per week. These are the shameless promotions, by the way. The posts that say, “Look at the great work we could be doing for you!”
Here’s a good example on Facebook from the Philadelphia-area business, Lee’s Commercial Cleaning, LLC. The pinned video post is eye-catching, and they promote their “top-of-the-line fogging technology” without coming across as boastful.
5. Be thoughtful in your posts.
No matter where you share, be thoughtful. You won’t help yourself – or anyone else – by posting malicious or mean-spirited posts. It’s okay to have an opinion on things, but not at the expense of someone else. Just remember the golden rule as told by all our grandparents: If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything.
This holds true for comments on other people’s or business’ posts, as well. Again, it’s okay to have a civil debate about the best way to sanitize an office, for example. But making derogatory remarks won’t win you any cleaning contracts. In fact, it could be a good way to lose business.
As for winning those cleaning contracts in your sleep? You may need to handle the details when you wake up, but that’s the easy part!
One last thing. Even though social media is free, you can still get a lot of mileage out of it. Post regularly, be involved in your online community (which, in this case, reflects your real-life community), and be yourself. Remember, you get out of this what you put in.
Bid on jobs, manage projects and inventory, and so much more with Janitorial Manager. Get in touch with us today to schedule a free demo to see all the great features!