Do Your Marketing Strategies Differentiate You from Other Cleaning Companies?
Part 2 of 3
Marketing is a funny thing. You need to market your company to get it out there, but marketing is not always easy, nor does it come naturally. As we mentioned in part 1 of this series, there are three main strategies to help you market your business:
2. Digital Marketing
3. Print and In-Person Marketing
Let’s continue with #2.
Strategy 2: Digital Marketing
Digital or online marketing is the best way to get your business out there today. According to a Forbes study done in 2015, 80% of consumers will research a company online before making any kind of purchase. These digital marketing tactics will ensure that those consumers will see your business first when they search for cleaning companies:
Have a Website Good Enough for the Front Page (SEO)
Your website is the first thing most potential customers will see. How does your website look? Is it user-friendly? Does it provide your potential customers with the information they need to make an informed decision? If you don’t have a great response to any of these questions, it’s time for a website overhaul. There are thousands of resources online for creating, editing, updating, and improving websites. Here is a great resource for creating your own website. If doing this on your own isn’t an option, take some time to find a good web and/or graphic designer who is well-versed in website hosting and platforms, and who is available for help with questions or updates to content. Having a quality website is important for many reasons, but if you want to really do well at digitally marketing your company, you must have somewhere for people to go when they see your ads. This is where SEO (Search Engine Optimization) comes into play. SEO is all about getting your website to the top of search results (on search engines like Bing or Google). The higher you are in the search results, the more visitors you’ll have to your site.
Facebook Ads
The most popular form of digital marketing these days is Facebook Ads. If your business isn’t on Facebook, you better stop reading now and go create a page! Even despite recent issues, Facebook is still the leading social media site on the web. Here’s why:
- Most homeowners in the US and Canada have a Facebook account
- Because so many people are on it, Facebook knows more about your potential customers than you do, and an ad for your business will be seen by your targeted audience – no more wasting money on sending ads to the wrong people
- Facebook focuses on local business, giving you the option to either deliver ads to a specific zip code or to a radius around the area you want to reach
- Facebook is flexible – you can make changes to your ads at any time
- Facebook ads are still relatively new and cheap to use
- You probably have a Facebook account, so you’re already familiar with the UI, and because you use it regularly, you won’t be adding anything else to take up your time during the day
Google Adwords
Another great option out there is Google Adwords. While it isn’t as cheap or easy to manage as Facebook ads, it focuses more on the one thing no one else does: intention. If you go to Google to do a search, you are searching for something intentionally, not just randomly. You’re asking a specific question, looking for specific information, and seeking out a specific service. Because of that, your business advertisement will only be seen by people who are intentionally looking to hire a cleaning company.
- Advertise locally or globally – everyone with an internet connection uses Google to search for something
- Choose the type of ad that best suits your business – YouTube videos, graphics displays, text-based search ads, in-app mobile ads, and more
- You can follow-up on the ads you have posted, so you can see how effective the ads really are. If something isn’t working, you can tweak the ad
- You determine your budget for marketing – if a campaign isn’t working, you can cancel your campaigns at any time because there’s no contract
- You can request a follow-up from Google to either help you get started or answer any questions you have
- There’s even a training course available, so you can be sure you’re using Adwords in the best ways possible
Other Social Media sites
Facebook and Google are both widely used, so they’re good options for finding a broad base of customers. But as shocking as it may be, there are still people out there who aren’t using either site, so you have to know where to look, especially for those customers who are looking for your specific niche of cleaning services. Sites like LinkedIn, Instagram, Angie’s List, Yelp, Thumbtack – they all have different, more unique ways to get your business out there. These sites won’t provide the SEO that Google and Facebook will, but if you have the time, you can find some seriously loyal clients via these sites.
PPC Advertising
If you see some websites and think, “There’s no way I’m doing all of that…,” then you may want to consider hiring a company to do your marketing for you. There are companies out there created to handle things like Adwords and social media accounts – you want to look for a reputable, well-reviewed marketing company that focuses on “PPC” or Pay Per Click advertising. Many companies, especially those that don’t have the time or personnel to handle online media, have had solid results going this route.
Get Good Online Reviews
While having excellent customer service and a plethora of services to provide are both wonderful offerings for your customers, no one will ever know about them unless you gain good online reviews for your business. Online reviews are what people see when they do their online research – they’re looking for the good, the bad and the ugly, and will judge whether your business is a good fit by what they see.
Schedule Time for Email
Thus far, we’ve been discussing how to bring new leads to your website and converting them into customers. But what happens if a potential lead comes to your site, checks everything out but doesn’t make a move forward? Unfortunately, almost 95% of people don’t bite the first time around, so you need a way to bring them back, and that’s where email marketing is essential. You can remind these leads that you still exist, and you can also provide solutions to their problems before they even ask. The first step is to start writing emails – there are a lot of good resources out there on how to write solid marketing emails. Another route you can take is by using a software program with a built-in ’email machine’ – a way to create and send an email campaign where you can reach a lot of potential customers and focus on what they really need.
Serve Your Clients More Effectively!
Contact Janitorial Manager Today
If you are looking to enhance your cleaning business so that you stand apart from your competition and bring in the leads from doing digital marketing, you need a program like Janitorial Manager. Our software was specifically built to handle all aspects of your business in one, easy-to-use software that won’t break the bank. Give us a call or schedule a free demo today!