The right marketing strategy is essential if you’re looking to increase your revenue, build your brand, and make meaningful customer relationships. Here are 20 actionable steps to give your carpet cleaning & floor care business the marketing boost it needs in a brief period.
Promotional Merchandise
One of the oldest, most cost-effective ways to market a business is by offering promotional merchandise such as pens or keychains with your service’s logo and contact information printed on them. Not only are these gifts that customers will appreciate after receiving your services, but they also serve as shareable items that could potentially reach more people than most ads would.
Get a Good-Looking Van and Detail It!
If you run a carpet cleaning business, having your van detailed is one of the simplest ways to let others know about who you are and what you do. A neat-looking van communicates professionalism, and even when parked outside a house for the day or driven around, it serves as an effective advertisement for your high-profile business. Additionally, having a reliable van makes equipment transportation to job sites much more accessible.
Get Your Carpet Cleaning Business Certified
Gaining certification from associations such as ICRA, IICRC, ARCSI, or LMCCA has many benefits in marketing yourself professionally. Having these certifications allows you to advertise and present yourself as an expert within the industry by displaying them on any brochures or banners you print out. Getting certified by LMCCA or IICRC also adds you to their premium directory of cleaning businesses; thus, potential clients searching for accredited companies will quickly find yours.
Using Eco-Friendly Products
As we enter an age of increased environmental awareness, it is wise for businesses to leverage this expectation by utilizing 100% natural solutions and disinfectants when cleaning or maintaining their operations. Doing so will appeal to customers who prioritize eco-friendly products and allow you to market yourself as a business that takes environmental pollution seriously.
Getting Your Carpet Cleaning Business Listed On Online Directories
For any small business, being listed on reputable online directories like Facebook, Google, Foursquare, Yelp, and YellowPages is essential for bringing in more customers. Beyond that, listing your business on niche directories such as Angie’s List or carpetcleaningdir.com can help those actively looking for carpet and upholstery cleaners find your business before they find the competition.
Selling Relevant Add-Ons
You can go beyond just providing cleaning services to your customers by giving them helpful DIY tips and selling them complementary products such as carpet cleaning solutions or blotting paper that they could use after you’ve gone. Consider incorporating cross-promotional initiatives with labels or prints featuring your business name and logo on related products. This gesture helps create positive associations with your brand while providing valuable items that may help bring in more customers.
Hiring a Model
Before you dismiss this idea as expensive, let’s look at a quick example – imagine you saw the following four comments:
- What a great job!
- That was well done!
- [Business Name] did such a fantastic job here!
- Nice work!
Most people would probably pick comment number three as it stands out from the rest. Not only does this person have an attention-grabbing profile picture, but they have also cleverly mentioned their business name in the ‘Name’ field – potentially driving people to search for both their employee and their company online. In one simple action, they achieved clever marketing while subtly boosting interest in their brand – without breaking the bank! So if hiring a model is too expensive for you right now, try to feature someone with a memorable face in ads/profile pictures associated with your business instead.
Targeting Different Types of Customers
Figuring out which type of clients need your services most is an effective exercise that can help you tailor your marketing strategy. To start, create an Excel sheet linked to your customer database (given the number of customers many businesses have, doing this manually is impractical). Categorize your clients based on their type (e.g., home, hotel, salon, etc.). Afterward, identify which category has the most customers and pay attention to classes that haven’t been explored for potential data-driven marketing opportunities. Consider the example of a business whose majority of clients are restaurants–this demonstrates that these eateries likely require their carpets cleaned more frequently than other establishments. Therefore, contacting nearby restaurants that don’t yet use your services and advertising that many local restaurants regularly clean their carpets may incentivize them to do the same. Additionally, if there’s no representation in fields such as car showrooms in your customer database, consider reaching out to dealerships/museums in the area and directly pitching your services; this could potentially open up a new customer base.
Opportunities Everywhere
Creative and effective marketing requires taking advantage of all current happenings around you or the local community. This can be anything from funny events being talked about to changes in weather patterns. He is thinking outside the box and finding ways to link any circumstance with carpet cleaning makes for more successful campaigns. For instance, Randall Linton recounts his experience capitalizing on a freak storm by using it as an opportunity to market himself smartly [1]. Capitalizing on any occasion or occurrence can give way for increased lead volume if explained adequately and convincingly enough.
Responding to Reviews Online
Responding adequately and politely to reviews–good or bad–left behind by customers serves as a reflection of how well the business treats its clients. In cases where mistakes were made genuinely from one’s side, it is crucial to apologize earnestly while reassuring customers that efforts will be taken to rectify it as much as possible. If possible, consider offering promotional coupons, which may help maintain customer relationships even after negative experiences occur.
Direct Mail Marketing
Direct mail campaigns, such as sending out brochures or promo codes via postal services, are commonly used by several businesses to grow their clientele. Most mail methods aren’t too expensive either, so they can serve as good alternatives if one wants a different approach to gaining more customers–experimentation never hurt anyone! Depending on how long you’ve been running your business, chances are you’ve already sent out mail containing a promotional code or coupon and evaluated how helpful it was for growing revenue and brand recognition [2].
Bulletins & Notice Boards
Finally, even though something like placing notices on bulletin boards might seem simple and basic compared to digital options like direct mailing back-in-the-day notices placed onto general notice boards around town reached many people, leading them to be better informed! This strategy can quickly send your message into communities if done correctly! This method still works today since graphic designs attract more attention than plain text written over poster board paper.
Flyers
Handing out flyers about your carpet/house cleaning business effectively spreads the word and ensures that your message stands out. A cleverly designed brochure can make people more likely to read it, so plan carefully when creating yours. For some ideas, look at what other businesses have come up with!
Segmented Emails
Creating emails tailored to their readers’ interests will always yield better results than generic messages. By segmenting your emails according to age groups or other relevant criteria, you can curate content that will resonate differently with different audiences. Be sure to do some research before you get started.
Sponsoring Events
If budget allows, consider hosting or sponsoring an event like a marathon in your local area. This will enable you to get your business’s name and logo seen by many people who may remember it for future reference. Alternatively, sponsoring smaller events such as school fundraisers can garner similar exposure for your company.
State-of-the-Art Equipment
It’s true what they say: “a workman is only as good as his tools.” Investing in quality equipment gives you an edge over competitors and lets potential customers know you take pride in having the best available. Before moving forward with this approach, ensure the price isn’t too prohibitively high.
Keeping an Eye on Your Competitors
Staying aware of what other companies in the industry are doing marketing-wise can help inform tactics you choose to use yourself, giving new ideas and inspiration while avoiding direct copycatting of their campaigns. It also helps prevent being left behind if they roll out something new and exciting!
Online Services To Adopt
For help marketing your business, there are plenty of services available online – here are a few popular options in each category:
- Custom Promotional Merchandise: 4imprint and Vistaprint
- Listing & Reputation Management: Synup Lite
- Email Marketing: MailChimp & Autopilot
- Direct Marketing: Dynamicard & TMR Direct
Discuss on Forums
Are you looking for more information about how to market your carpet cleaning business? Look no further! Head over to the TruckMount, Kleen Kuip, and Cleantalk forums – each of these has sections/threads that discuss carpet cleaning business marketing, with many people sharing their experiences or valuable tips on how to make your upholstery/carpet cleaning/floor care business stand out.
