There were about 39,029 carpet cleaning businesses in the US, according to a 2018 IBIS World report. Although you may run a service in a city, you’re still likely to have some competition. And with many other carpet cleaners in your area, customers will want to know:
- What your services are;
- How you can serve them better, and
- What your business goals are
Crafting a proposition statement based on these questions will help your customers identify and separate you from the hundreds of other carpet cleaners in the city.
You can also brand your service vans so people get details about your business while you’re stuck in traffic, getting the van detailed at a crowded car wash, or parked at popular mall. Alternatively, you can send fliers and sponsor events.
But all of your efforts require direction to get favorable results. So you’ll need a plan to pitch your services to your market.
Here are three factors that can help your marketing strategy.
Identify Your Target Market
Do you want to cater to other businesses, like corporate offices, retail shops, and commercial properties? Or do you want to exclusively serve homes in upscale neighborhoods? Knowing your audience can guide you in creating compelling campaigns. Your marketing efforts should attract more consumers and convert them into loyal customers.
Segmentation is a helpful process to define your market. Here, you will group prospective customers to divisions based on shared characteristics. This allows you to customize your products and branding in a way that is appealing to a certain group.
For your business, you can segment your consumers into two categories: residential and commercial. Depending on your services, you can focus on either residential or commercial, but you can also serve both. Knowing the unique needs of each market can help you design an effective marketing strategy.
Increase Your Online Visibility
Reach a wider audience by increasing your online presence. But for some businesses, it can be challenging, especially when implementing online strategies. Fortunately, you have multiple ways to increase your online visibility and engage with more customers who are looking for carpet cleaning services. DryMaster will teach and help you make your business visible online.
These online strategies include the following:
Building a Carpet Cleaning Website
If you don’t have a website yet, it’s time to create one. You’ll need one because most people go online to find products and services, to know more about businesses, and to make transactions. Also, websites can cater to a larger market, international even if you’ve built it that way and if an international market is relevant to your operations.
A website can increase your visibility, as well. For instance, if someone is looking for a local carpet cleaning services, they can find your website during their online research. Your website should provide a map and direction to your shop to make it easier for customers to locate you.
Your website could be the first point of contact your customers will have with your carpet cleaning business. So it needs to look pleasing and function seamlessly. A survey of US respondents finds 43 percent prioritized ease of use for websites that deliver favorable user experience and about 50 percent looked to content, from reviews to photos, as helpful when they’re shopping. Meanwhile, 81 percent think lowly of websites that aren’t updated.
Clearly, you need to ensure positive user experience, provide engaging and informative content, and keep your site up to date.
You should also pay attention to the responsiveness of your site. Customers are likely to leave your website if it loads longer than they expect. Google rolled out mobile-first indexing in 2018, which can impact your site’s ranking performance.
And ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs) can mean more traffic to your website and potentially more customers. How do you do it?
Optimize Your Website
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a vital component of online marketing. It helps increase your website’s ranking organically on SERPs, particularly on Google. The search engine giant owns about 75 percent of the search market, so it’s essential to follow its guidelines.
If your website is highly visible on Google and other search engines, it can create a positive reputation for your company. SEO also helps build trust and credibility, but it may take some time. Patience and commitment are necessary to establish authority. You need to focus on providing quality services that your customers can trust.
Local SEO, meanwhile, can optimize your digital campaign for a specific vicinity. This allows your customers in your neck of the woods to easily find you. It focuses on specific towns, cities, regions, and states.
There are several factors that can contribute to your ranking performance. These factors, however, may change over time, specifically when Google updates its algorithm. Make sure to stay updated for those changes so your marketing plan can easily adapt.
Consider Paid Advertisements
Pay-per-click (PPC) is a type of online marketing where you pay a fee for every click that your advertisement gets. Instead of generating traffic organically, PPC allows you to buy the visits to your website. You can do this in search engines, like Google, to potentially get a spot on the first page of its SERPs.
Automating your PPC campaigns is one way to save time while improving your performance. You can’t automate everything, however, because some aspects of PPC still require strategy and creativity. You may also consider creating repeatable processes. Find efficient ways to perform the tasks repeatedly to make your process quicker.
Don’t Ignore Social Media
A number of Americans use social media, particularly YouTube and Facebook. In 2018, 68 percent of American adults are Facebook users. Meanwhile, networks like Snapchat, Instagram, and Twitter are more popular among 18- to 24-year olds.
These numbers show that social media platforms offer rewarding opportunities for marketing. You should know where a majority of your customers are, and make sure that they can find you in those networks. Posting several times a day can increase your engagement, as long as you’re consistent.
Before updating your social media practices, consider auditing your performance. It can help you identify the things you need to improve.
Build a Relationship with Your Customers
Running a business is not only about attracting more customers. It’s also about retaining your existing ones. You have to take care of loyal clients and be consistent with the quality of your services, so they’ll always call you for deep cleaning, brush and grooming, or stain removal.
Engage with your customers as much as possible. Make it a habit to respond to inquiries and reviews, especially if they are negative. Failing to address their complaints can have a negative impact on your reputation — online and offline.
Having positive reviews, on the other hand, can boost your sales. In the US, 86 percent of consumers read reviews for local businesses. It takes an average of 10 online reviews before consumers decide whether or not to trust the company.
There are tools that can help you monitor your online reputation. For example, you should listen to social media conversations to learn what your consumers think about your business. You can also manage your online reviews by replying to them accordingly.
Marketing can be costly, but it’s a necessary and rewarding investment. When implemented properly, it can contribute to the growth of your carpet cleaning business.
As a DryMaster affiliate, we will insure that your business is striving and becomes one of the best service business in your area! We also provide you with the right marketing tools and teach you ways, both online and offline, to make your business visible and exposed with 5 star and top notch reputation.
