Most people don’t think of janitorial cleaning videos as a good way to get leads, which is precisely why they’re so powerful.
Janitorial cleaning videos may be part of your training program. They can be incredibly helpful in onboarding new employees and helping them get familiar with your work. But there’s a good chance these videos aren’t part of your commercial cleaning marketing plan.
Why would they be? You don’t want to teach people how to clean their own offices or make their floors sparkle like only you can. Or do you? If people are thinking about hiring a commercial cleaner for their facility, they will do two things: ask professional colleagues for recommendations and look up commercial cleaners online. Word of mouth marketing is, of course, one of the best ways to bring in leads.
Even with an excellent recommendation, however, people still want to look you up and learn more about your business. That’s where your website and social media pages come in handy. It gives potential customers basic information, such as who you are, how long you’ve been in business, what kind of work you do, and how you interact with your current customers.
In all of this, one of the things that helps you stand out from the competition is your expertise. But you can’t just say you provide expert cleaning services or excellent carpet cleaning or the most detailed office disinfection procedures. Anyone can add that kind of statement to a website. What you can do is show that you really do have the expertise when you share janitorial cleaning videos.
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Making janitorial cleaning videos work for you
Don’t worry; janitorial cleaning videos don’t need to be a big, expensive undertaking. Most of us probably don’t have professional audio and video equipment sitting in the back of our closets. There’s nothing wrong with professional videos, and they can certainly give you a nice finished product, but thanks to smartphones and video editing apps, you can make a decent-quality video with what you already have.
The big thing to keep in mind here is that these aren’t training videos. Those are great for helping you train your team, but it’s doubtful that your potential customers are going to watch them. Nor are these commercials. Again, those can be great additions to your marketing strategy, but we’re trying to find new leads here. What you’re going for is something that shows your skills and methods, and is also entertaining.
Here’s a good example from Mr. Jeff Custodian. While this is more of a “training” video, it’s also full of personality and down-to-earth cleaning tips.
In New York, Riverdale Cleaning and Maintenance Services put together snippets of “Extremely Satisfying Cleaning Videos,” and it really is oddly satisfying to watch.
Y and M Maintenance in Toronto has some short before-and-after videos on Instagram that succinctly showcase their work in commercial and medical settings.
One thing that these videos all have in common is that they appear to be filmed on simple smartphones, proving that what’s important is not the equipment you use, but how you take advantage of simple things like in-progress videos and before and after shots.
Let’s dig in a little, though, and find out what could make a video enticing to potential customers. Outside of the commercial cleaning industry, people aren’t interested in the minutia of cleaning office phones or hot to tie off trash bags so they don’t fall into the containers.
What people want is something interesting, something entertaining, and from your standpoint, something that makes them want to hire you. Beyond that, however, there are a few things that successful videos have in common, even if you’re just using a smartphone.
1. Lighting. No, you don’t need professional lighting, but you do want your subject to be visible. Make sure the video isn’t so dark that you can’t see the before and after work. Similarly, ensure you don’t have an overwhelming amount of backlighting that turns your subject into a featureless silhouette.
2. Sound. If you’ve seen more than a few videos, you’ve no doubt come across some where you can barely hear the audio. It’s either so quiet that you can’t make out what someone is saying, or there’s so much background noise that everything blends together. Wind is also a big culprit for outdoor videos; clear sound can turn suddenly into a muffled, staticky mess as a strong breeze blows across the microphone. Some outside sounds won’t ruin your video, but you should make sure they don’t drown out or overwhelm any dialogue.
3. People. Except for you or your employees, try to keep other people out of the video. It’s a simple way to respect their privacy. This may not be difficult if you’re filming a point-of-view version of carpet cleaning, but it is something to be aware of. This is especially true if you’re filming in a location with children. In fact, if you work in schools or medical facilities, you may not be allowed to make janitorial cleaning videos. Check with facility management first to make sure you’re in the clear.
4. Background. This gets overlooked a lot, unfortunately. There are all sorts of undesirable backgrounds in videos. You can probably imagine what some of the worst of these might be, but more subtle things can appear, too. Personal information left on an office desk, the company’s name or other information that identifies the client, or proprietary information are just a few examples.
5. Review your video. There’s an understandable excitement to completing a janitorial cleaning video and feeling anxious to post it online. Stop yourself. Watch the video. See if you need to do any editing or cut it short or do it over entirely. Then stop again. Show it to someone else. Watch it again the next day. If you go through all of this and then still feel like you’re ready to post it, go ahead. But don’t let the excitement of the moment push you into posting something you may later regret.
Once you have your janitorial cleaning videos out there in the world, be sure to share them. They won’t help you find new leads if no one ever sees them. Use your social media channels, post them on youtube, make sure there are links on your website. In other words, you’ve done the work. Now make it work for you!
It’s time to take charge of your cleaning services with Janitorial Manager, where you can manage cleaning jobs, communicate with clients, and so much more. Schedule a free demo today to learn more!