Digital Marketing for Your Cleaning Business in 5 Easy Steps

This article about digital marketing for your cleaning business is by Ryan Gould, Vice President of Strategy and Marketing Services at Elevation Marketing.

How long is a cleaning business without consistent clients really going to last? It doesn’t take a marketing genius to answer that question. Word-of-mouth still seems to be a fantastic way to get plenty of leads, as 92% of people trust recommendations from those they know. However, as a business owner, you know you can’t risk keeping word-of-mouth as your only source for generating consistent leads.

Instead, it’s best to diverge your lead generation efforts in a few different directions. Digital marketing, specifically, can attract leads to you in all-new ways using the power of the Internet. Here are some things you need to consider to increase your conversions within your cleaning business:

1. Know Which Types of Clients You Want for Your Cleaning Business

Let’s face it, with nearly 4 billion Internet users worldwide, the only way to get your audience funnelling your way is to create a precision-targeted digital marketing campaign that makes it obvious you’re the right choice for all of their cleaning needs, despite the aggressive competition.

Before we get to the advice for attracting online leads, it’s important to know what types of clients you wish to draw into your sales funnel. There are many different types of cleaning businesses and they appeal to a broad range of people, such as business owners, residential homeowners, property managers – the list goes on and on.

Creating Buyer Personas

With such a large target audience, it’s important to create a Buyer Persona by drawing up sketches of your ideal customers. A buyer persona is important because your communications need to be finely tuned and targeted if you want them to have the best effect.

Knowing that your ideal prospect earns over $150K per year, has worked with an average of three cleaning companies in the past and has yet to find one that’s reputable, reliable, and consistent with their premium services, you’ll know exactly how to reach out and touch prospects like those with precisely targeted messaging.

Feel free to name your persona and assign him or her a photo. Then list the person’s hobbies, buying habits, income, challenges, dreams, and anything else that can help you fully envision your ideal client-to-be.

Focus on the problems your personas are going through, such as trouble finding an office cleaning crew that will show up regularly.

A headline for your buyer persona might then read, “Finally, A Reliable Executive Cleaning Service You Can Count On.”
Use your buyer persona to craft all your marketing messages, and be sure to update your persona over time, as few buyer personas remain static year by year. A refresher every six months or annually will help keep your marketing campaigns engaging and converting long into the future.

2. Google Adwords

With 80% of Internet users searching for a small business before making a buying decision, it pays to get on Google’s first page for your “hot” keyword terms. These are phrases like “Cleaning Service in Austin, Texas” or “Janitor for weekly service in Boston” – the very terms your prospects will be typing and speaking into their computers and phones to find a pro to tidy up.

You can use Google’s Keyword Planner to find the terms people are using, but you can also test various terms to see how they perform. You might already know the key terms to use from your other marketing efforts. Adwords can help you get on page one for those terms quickly.

There are essentially two ways to get on the first page of Google. There’s organic search engine optimization (SEO), which takes into account a number of factors like your traffic, the quality of your content, and the quality of the other sites who link to yours. It can take some time to rise through the ranks organically. And there’s Google Adwords — it can get you on page one in a single day, provided you use the right keywords and have the budget to bid high enough for prominent placement.

As for your ads, focus on the benefits, not the features of your business. In other words, no one really cares if you have a team of janitors or that you use high-quality cleaners. They want to know that their windows will be sparkling clean, that they’re getting the best value for their money, and that they don’t have to lift a finger to keep their home, office, or industrial space orderly all year round. For example, “Want a Sparkling Clean Office? Get a Free Estimate!”

Most of all, find out how you’re different from your competitors occupying the same space and draw your audience’s attention by listing those benefits with your Adwords ads.

While not cheap, Adwords can deliver instant leads, and your efforts are completely trackable. You can send your Adwords leads to a landing page that then gets them to call or captures their email address so that your leads can be contacted whenever.

3. Facebook Ads

If your audience isn’t searching for a cleaning business on Google, chances are they could be using Facebook to find the ideal cleaning business. While your ads will be clearly marked as ads, they’ll show up right in your audience’s newsfeeds, and precision targeting your ads on Facebook is a breeze.

You can aim your ads at people using a variety of demographics.

Like Adwords, your ads can show up instantly and begin attracting leads the moment they go live. You can also track and test your results, just like Google’s ad platform. The downside, like Adwords, is that Facebook ads can quickly eat your lunch if you don’t know what you’re doing. That’s why it’s advised that you start slowly and track your results along the way. When you find what works, replicate your efforts for even greater lead generation effect.

4. Improve Your Online Reputation

You should already have a Google My Business listing, as that is a great way to get an organic listing for a cleaning business quickly. When completed, your listing will show interested prospects in a single glance your business name, address, hours of operation, phone number, frequently asked questions, and more.

Your listing will also get your business listed on Google Maps, which will help people decide if you’re close enough to serve their needs. Most importantly, your listing will showcase your Google reviews, along with your star rating.

The more Google reviews you have, the more leads you will attract. After all, when given a choice between a business with one star and one with five, which do you think your prospects will choose?

To gather online reviews, send your satisfied clients to your Google listing and tell them to leave their thoughts. Be careful about compensating people for “positive” reviews, as that can get you in hot water with the FTC. However, it is perfectly acceptable to ask for reviews, as long as you don’t directly influence the review or star rating in any way.

When you get enough positive Google reviews, feel free to start sending some satisfied clients to Facebook, then Yelp, and other review sites, but Google should be your priority, as over 70% of people trust Google reviews as much as a recommendation from a friend or colleague.

5. Organic SEO

Once you have a Google My Business Listing, you should already be ranking in your area for some keyword terms. With Organic SEO, the goal is to get your website ranking on Google’s first page for your primary keyword terms.

Make sure each page has title tags and descriptions. These will show up as the titles and descriptions of Google’s search results. Your content should be fresh and engaging and formatted so that it’s easy on the eyes. Your website should be optimized for mobile devices and should include all the information people need to make a positive buying decision.

Google has a vested interest in making sure its users get the best content when they search. Your cleaning business website should be attractive, full of unique information, and a joy to read. Manage that and you’ll have visitors galore. Then you can capture those leads on your website to boost your cleaning business like never before.
Online booking is even better — it allows the customer to complete the booking themselves.

Conclusion

Your business is sure to scale quickly when:

• You’re clear about who you’re marketing to
• You have Adwords and Facebook ads in play
• You’ve improved your online reputation
• You have an organic SEO campaign in motion

However, make sure you never sacrifice quality.

The best digital marketing campaign in the world can’t make up for poor service.

As you scale, always keep an eye on quality. You’re sure to scale while leaving an army of satisfied clients in your wake. In addition, never discount the possibility of hiring someone to do your digital marketing for you. You can focus on what you do best – providing the best cleaning services possible to clients in your area.

Ryan Gould is Vice President of Strategy and Marketing Services for Elevation Marketing. A strategic marketing and branding expert, Ryan helps Elevation’s clients solve their problems and achieve their business goals. He does this through integrated marketing solutions distinguished by research, storytelling, engagement, and conversion. Ryan has a proven track record of energizing brands and having worked with a variety of Fortune 500 companies.  Ryan is a respected expert in achieving consistent results through creative design, thought-provoking narratives and innovative problem-solving.

Want to learn about how cleaning business software can help you scale your business and make you more profitable? Book a free, private demo of Vonigo.