5 Steps to Successfully Marketing a Cleaning Company in Any Economy
Modern cleaning services can face unique challenges to keeping business going, particularly when operating in uncertain economies, where customers may be less likely to book with regularity. Even small, local businesses, however, need a solid marketing plan for their cleaning service company to stand out. This article will detail how to market a cleaning services company properly and build sustainable growth regardless of the economy.
#1: Identify and Understand Your Target Audience
When creating a marketing plan for a cleaning company service, you have to know your target audience inside and out.
Why It Matters:
You can't effectively market to everyone at once. Narrowing down and understanding your ideal client (e.g., homeowners, busy families, office managers) helps tailor your message.
So how is it done?
There are several ways that you can identify and understand your target audience like analyzing competitor reviews, conducting surveys or interviews, and finding recurring pain points that are mentioned in all of these places.
When you better understand the audience, their needs, their pain points, and what services or experiences they want to be prioritized, you will be able to focus your marketing efforts on solving those problems, being the alternative to the companies that have let them down or being the alternative to the companies who don't have the services or technology that they really want.
#2. Build a Memorable Brand Identity
In addition to knowing your customers, they have to know you. In order for them to know you, you have to build a memorable brand identity when marketing a cleaning company. Every aspect of your marketing should lean toward that brand identity, with subtle and even not-so-subtle reminders of what your company stands for and what sets you apart.
Why It Matters
A strong brand is more than a logo—it's the consistent message, tone, and visual style that sets you apart.
So, what is the best way to do this?
Work with a designer (or use DIY branding tools) to craft a professional logo and color palette. Once you have that logo and color palette, it should be incorporated into all the rest of your Social Media posts, email newsletters, website copy, and promotional documents.
Every time customers see something online that includes your logo or color palette or they read something with your brand voice, they should know that it belongs to you because of how memorable your identity is.
#3. Develop a Solid Online Presence
A big part of learning how to market a cleaning services company rests in being able to develop a solid online presence.
Why It Matters
Today's consumers rely heavily on online research before making decisions—even for local services.
So, what are the best ways to develop a solid online presence, especially as a new cleaning company?
Website Optimization: Make sure your website is mobile-friendly, clearly outlines your services, and features strong calls to action.
Local SEO: Claim or improve your Google Business Profile. You want to make good use of all SEO opportunities for those who are searching for cleaning services in your area. To help with this, use location-specific keywords to rank for searches in your service area (e.g., "cleaning services in [City Name]").
Social Media Engagement: Choose platforms that your target customers frequent (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn). This lends itself to the first tip of understanding your key audience so that you know which platforms they are most likely to engage with for your company. When marketing your services, post-before-and-after cleaning pictures or quick tips to establish credibility and spark engagement.
The more you can combine local SEO with social media engagement and website optimization, the bigger your online presence will be. Customers are more likely to engage with you or to remain with you if you have better visibility online than just a website or just a Facebook page.
#4. Leverage Testimonials, Reviews, and Referrals
Tangentially, knowing how to market a cleaning company includes leveraging testimonials, reviews, and referrals to help with that brand identity, designed with your audience in mind, and gearing toward support of your online presence.
Why It Matters
Positive social proof builds trust. People often hesitate to hire service providers they've never worked with, so genuine feedback from real customers is invaluable.
In order to use reviews and testimonials, you'll need to encourage your satisfied clients to leave comments on social media, google, or Yelp. A great way to facilitate that is to use referral incentives to motivate your customers to take action like offering free add-on services or discounts in exchange for those who submit a review.
Some of these encouragements can be things like one free cleaning service for those who let testimonials be displayed prominently on your website or other marketing materials.
You always want to make the most out of original feedback through reviews and testimonials on other platforms, not just because it helps promote your business on your website and marketing materials but because it can link back to other information elsewhere online.
#5. Track, Measure, and Refine Your Efforts
Finally, remember that marketing a cleaning company is not a one-time effort. Marketing is never "set it and forget it" because the economy will change, your customers will evolve, social media optimization will change course, and you have to be able to create a marketing plan for a cleaning service company that changes and evolves in tandem.
Why It Matters
Marketing isn't "set it and forget it." Continuously monitoring results ensures you aren't wasting time or money on ineffective tactics.
So, how can you most effectively track, measure, and refine your efforts?
Set KPIs: It is up to you to pick the metrics that are most likely to help you track and measure your efforts so that you can make refinements moving forward and this includes metrics like cost per lead, conversion rate, or client retention rate.
Use Analytics Tools: Running a cleaning service is a large responsibility, so don't waste any time trying to analyze that data yourself. Instead, analytics tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and email marketing dashboards help measure what's working.
From there, pivot and optimize. The information you review through your analytics tools lets you know whether your metrics are working or not, and if they aren't, you have the opportunity to optimize your marketing tactics for the best.
If a social media channel isn't yielding results, shift your budget or energy to a different approach. Implement feedback from reviews and customer questions to improve your messaging, trusting that if multiple customers have specific feedback about real-time availability, booking appointments, or text message notifications for services, that information should play a much bigger role in your overall marketing plan.
Marketing a Cleaning Company: Summing Up
By following these steps—understanding your audience, building a strong brand, leveraging local SEO, referrals, partnerships, social media, content, testimonials, promotions, and consistent measurement—business owners can establish a robust framework. This framework makes it possible for any organization of any size to learn how to market a cleaning company and thrive even in challenging economic times.