In order to grow in today’s cleaning industry, it’s important to advertise cleaning services. No matter the size of your cleaning organization, there is always room for expansion. Whether you’re advertising is in the form of a billboard, Google Ad, or even your local paper, there are many different outlets to choose from when showcasing your services.
At the same time, advertising like this can be expensive. You don’t want to spend all your earnings on attracting business since you still need to make a profit. It’s important to look at each form of advertising from all angles. While billboards may attract attention, the information shown may not be as easy to remember if you’re driving or talking on the phone. Advertising, like pay-per-click ads on Google, can have a good return on your investment and you can also put a cap on how much you spend, however, if you’re in a competitive area, even that can get pricey.
Here’s the good news. You can get the word out about your commercial cleaning business without spending a dime. It might take you a little time, but 15 minutes here and there adds up, and before you know it, your business name will be on everyone’s mind.
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How to Advertise Cleaning Services Without Spending Money
Now we aren’t saying you shouldn’t pay for advertising ever. Sometimes there can be ways to get the word out about your services and contribute to your local community. For example, putting your ad in the playbill of a high school theater performance or buying ad space in the program for a nearby animal shelter charity ball are great ways to both advertise your services and support the local community.
This kind of advertising is especially powerful because the people who will see it will want to support the businesses that also contribute to something they care about.
But what about spaces where you can advertise cleaning services for free? Here are some effective ways you can start advertising for free today.
1. Social media. This is probably not very surprising. Nor should it be. You don’t have to have a verified account or 10,000 followers to make social media work for you. You do, however, need to make it entertaining and interesting. Start engaging by commenting and liking posts from other people and businesses. Give a shout out to your favorite local pizza place or minor league sports team. Make short videos that will help people deal with some of the common cleaning issues they come across. The point here is that if your social media is “just” your place to advertise cleaning services, it won’t get you very far. If you offer helpful info and engage with your community, however, it can work wonders.
2. Nextdoor. The website Nextdoor is “where communities come together to greet newcomers, exchange recommendations, and read the latest local news. Where neighbors support local businesses and get updates from public agencies.” If you look around, you’ll see cleaning services being offered from businesses of all sizes. By actively interacting on social sites such as Nextdoor, you can spread the word about your own organization and start setting yourself apart from the local competition.
3. Flyers. The good old-fashioned flyer still works and will get you out into the community to network with other business owners. With websites like Canva or BeFunky, you can create nice flyers without any graphic design experience. Head to your nearby copy shop to make 50 copies and then start hanging them up to advertise cleaning services. Pro tip: Don’t put them up on utility poles or similar surfaces. Go into other businesses around town like the deli, coffee shop, hardware store, library, bookstore, mechanic, or anywhere else you can think of, and ask if you can put a flyer up. Many local businesses have window space or a community board where they allow flyers. Even some large corporate businesses allow outside flyers to be hung.
4. Your email signature. This one is small, but once it’s done, it’s done. You never have to put any more work into it. Make sure your email signature has the name of your business, a very short description, and contact information (including your website). Then, every time you send an email, there’s a little advertisement going out, too.
5. Ask happy clients for reviews. Whether we like it or not, your potential clients will look at Google reviews and sites like Yelp before they get in touch with you. Don’t ignore the potential here. Generally, happy clients will want to help your business succeed, so asking them for a review is crucial. There are a few things to keep in mind, however. You can’t bribe them or ask them for a “good” review. Nor is it a good idea to harass them about it. Ask once, maybe twice, and drop it. Also, ask people who you feel sure will give you a good review. And while you’re at it, be sure to respond to every review that comes in, both positive and negative. We’ve written before about how you can turn a bad review into new business if you handle it well. You can read about that here.
6. Take advantage of SEO. SEO, or search engine optimization, simply means you set up your website or blog to use keywords to get your website in front of the right people. For example, say you’re located in Tulsa, OK, and someone searches for “office cleaning Tulsa.” If your website doesn’t have anything about office cleaning or your location in Tulsa, your business may not come up on the search. If it does, it may be well below other commercial cleaning businesses in the results. You can hire a professional to fix this issue for you, but if you want an easy way to do it yourself and at least point your business in the right direction, be sure to list your work on your website. Break it out into distinct spaces, like office cleaning, retail business cleaning, professional restaurant cleaning, and so on. Additionally, make sure the locations you service are listed. Something like, “Providing office cleaning in Tulsa, Sand Spring, and Sapulpa.”
7. Develop a relationship with your local news reporters. Here’s another way to advertise cleaning services that’s really under the radar, but could get you a lot of free publicity. Will news reporters want to talk to you very often about business? Maybe not, but when that story comes up and they need a professional to offer perspective, you’ll be the one they call.
And don’t forget, sometimes the best advertising is simply doing a great job!
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