Starting a cleaning company is one of the easiest businesses to get into. The barriers to entry are so low that so many people decide to start a cleaning company. In a matter of days, if you get all the registration, marketing material, equipment, etc, you can start a cleaning business.
As it is such an easy business to start, there will be loads and loads of competition. In any given area, there are thousands of cleaning companies or cleaners that operate, and this means that if you do not market your business properly, chances are, you will not have a lot of cleaning jobs come your way.
The internet has created a level playing field
The internet has been a blessing for start-up cleaning companies because it allows us to easily advertise for a fraction of the cost. If we were to setup a cleaning company in the golden days, this meant that you would have to spend thousands of dollars on putting your cleaning business on the local classifieds and there were very little spots available to compete on. Another way we advertised back then were radio advertisements, leaflets, etc. These marketing methods were quite costly which meant that you would have to spend so much money to get a return on your investment. Also it was difficult to know if your marketing campaign would work until you spent your money which meant that even if your marketing campaign is not that great, you wouldn’t know until the end.
Today the internet and social media has created a level playing field for all companies to market their business, showcase their portfolio and work history. We are able to advertise on these social media platforms for a fraction of the cost and the best part is that you can see if your marketing campaign is working or not by spending a few hundred dollars. So this means that if a marketing campaign is not too great, you can always twerk it by changing things such as the ad creative, the people your marketing to or the demographics, etc.
What I personally do to market my cleaning business?
Undoubtably, the biggest asset in marketing my business is Google. 99% of the jobs we get are from Google because we heavily spend on Google advertising. The best part of Google advertising is that people who are ready to buy are usually searching on this platform. If you have a house that needs cleaning, what is th first thing you do? You Google for house cleaners. If you live in Auckland, you would search on Google for house cleaners Auckland or house cleaning Auckland etc. If your website can rank for these keywords in Google, chances are you will gain a lot of business. The same way, if you are looking for window cleaners in Melbourne you would search for “window cleaning Melbourne” or “Melbourne window cleaners”, etc. Google is an amazing platform to advertise. I am not getting paid to advertise for Google, this is solely from my own experience and I would recommend this platform to anyone, any day. In order to get a good return on investment, you need to have a website that is really professional and relates to the advertisements on Google.
The next best platform to advertise is social media. I have personally experienced Facebook and Instagram marketing and can recommend that if you have your marketing setup right on these platforms, you will receive a great return on your investment. Linkedin, Tiktok, Twitter are also great platforms to work on which I have not personally tried but if you create regular content on these platforms, you will have a lot of business come your way.
What are content?
The content are the posts, pictures, videos, blogs, articles, etc. you post on these platforms. A great way to market your cleaning business on social media platforms are showing before and after pictures, coming up with discounts & offers, showing off the new clients you have signed up, getting reviews from your clients and posting them, posting videos while cleaning, etc.
When people land on your social media platforms or website, you need to build trust so that they will choose you over your competition. With hundreds of cleaning companies to choose from in a given state or city, the best quality service and the best marketer wins.
How do you build trust?
- In order to build trust, you need genuine reviews on neutral platforms such as Google, Facebook, Trustpilot, etc. Once a person lands on your website or social media page, the first thing that person would usually look at is the reviews that other customers have left. If you have hundreds of reviews and a big social following, chances are people will trust your brand. If we want to buy from a Facebook or Instagram page, we check the number of people following the brand and if it has thousands of followers, this means that we would trust the brand in making the purchase. But if you have few hundreds of followers, then you think twice before purchasing.
- Before and after pictures are a great way to build trust as well. This showcases that you understand your craft whatever that maybe. For example: If you show a carpet which was really dirty and once you have steam cleaned and if it looks brand new, then the person seeing the picture would understand that you have great knowledge, equipment and products. If you show a window with a lot of dirt, smudge marks, dust, etc and if you clean it to look like new, then the people seeing will be amazed.
- Get testimonials for your business. Let the customers do the talking. If they are happy and posts about the quality of the cleaning service and if you have hundreds of reviews, then your brand will be trusted. But if you have a lot of low ratings and negative experiences by your customers, then the person who is searching will choose your competition who has better reviews. No one wants to work with unreliable cleaners or businesses. People always want to have a great cleaning service for an affordable pricing.
- Offer discounts and trials. A great way that we try to build the trust and market our cleaning business is by offering a free trial for companies searching for regular cleaning service. This means that the potential client understands that you are confident about your own cleaning service and you are willing to offer a trial for the client. This builds the trust and is a great way to make a first impression.
Leaflets did not work for me!
I have tried leaflets for my business and did not have much of a return so I cannot recommend it. Take yourself for example, what is the first thing you do when you get the junk mail in your letterbox? You check for any letters under your name and if there are any advertisement leaflets, you would have a quick glance and throw it in the recycling bin. I personally do that. If there is any weekly specials of the supermarkets that are advertising in my area, I have a look at any specials and then pretty much throw them away into the recycle bins.
What are the main objectives of marketing?
When marketing, the main thing you have to think about is reaching as many people as possible for the least amount of money. This is what all these social media platforms do. They allow us to advertise to 1000s of people for a few dollars. The more people you can reach with your creative advertisements & content, the greater chance you have to convert these views to sales. You have to always come up with creative ideas to advertise so that people remember your brand. The main objective of advertising is to:
- Get new customers from advertising
- Increase your brand recognition
- Retain your clients by re-marketing
- Provide offers and discounts to boost sales
What you should be doing to market your business?
My advice is to initially create a great website. Without a website, you cannot advertise on Google and you need a great website first. Once you have a great converting website, you need to get a marketing firm or a person who understands Google marketing to do that for you. If you want to learn, you can do so by spending a lot of money on the platform the same way I did. It is very time consuming because we need to spend a lot of time to learn on the platform.
Once you have taken care of the website and Google pay per click advertising, you can focus on social media content creation and advertising. If you are consistent in these platforms, you will have a great chance of reaching many people and relevant people who are looking for your service.
Once you have these two platforms taken care of, and you receive a good cash flow from regular cleaning jobs, you can focus on Google organic ranking which takes quite a long time and is very costly. In order. to do this, I would recommend hiring a marketing company who understands Search Engine Optimisation as it usually takes around 3-6 months to rank organically depending on the competition, your website quality, etc.
Should you require help with the marketing, feel free to book a free strategy session through email on max@startcleaningcompany.com or I am available on Facebook or Instagram if you'd like to ask me any questions. I am always available to help you succeed with your cleaning business.