Ways To Market Your Cleaning Business Without Paid Ads

1. Meet potential cleaning clients at trade shows

While it is essential to have a digital marketing plan for a cleaning business in order to succeed, it is equally important to not overlook offline marketing strategies. Trade shows can be an effective method to promote your cleaning business.

If you want to attract new people to your cleaning business, setting up a booth at a trade show is a way to do so, even though it may not always be the most cost-effective method. However, in order to make it successful, you should have a way of grabbing attention.

One effective method is to showcase cleaning demonstrations. To illustrate, you could provide a carpet cleaning service and effectively eliminate wine stains from a carpet sample.

If you clean flooring in commercial buildings, you might consider showcasing your skills by taking a dirty piece of flooring and demonstrating the level of cleanliness you can achieve. It would be ideal if your demonstration could produce striking before and after visuals.

If you choose to participate in a trade show, it is important to also establish online connections during your time there. One effective method is to provide some form of complimentary lead magnet or offer in return for obtaining the names and email addresses of individuals who visit your booth.

If you are unable to secure a cleaning client at the trade show, you can still gain their business in the future by utilizing means such as email marketing to follow up.

2. Use networking events to grow your business locally

Growing your local cleaning business can be effectively achieved through networking events. Several options for such events can be found on meetup.com or with a BNI group, both of which are popular choices.

Meetup.com offers a costless alternative to discover local business networking groups. After creating an account, you will have the ability to explore meetups that are specifically tailored to your industry. A recommended choice would be to search for networking groups focused on “business owners”.

If you think logically, you can search for “local business networking events” on Google and find numerous upcoming local events that are available for you to attend.

Networking and actively engaging with your local chamber of commerce is an additional valuable tool for your cleaning business to establish potential leads. It is important to note that simply attending without making an effort to build relationships will not yield the desired results; instead, you should focus on networking and actively participating in the organizations.

In order to acquire high-quality leads, simply showing up without taking any action will not suffice; the acquisition of new cleaning clients stems from establishing connections. The effectiveness of networking relies on the effort you put into it. By nurturing relationships with fellow business owners, you will reap the benefits at the appropriate moment.

3. List your business in citation sites to improve local SEO

One more strategy to boost the visibility of your cleaning business is to include it in online business directories or citation sites. This approach can increase the frequency of your business appearing in online search results.

When you submit your cleaning business to different directories, they usually include a link to your website. The number of websites linking to your cleaning business site is one of the factors that determines its ranking on Google.

The term for these links is backlinks. However, we do not usually advise implementing an extensive backlink outreach strategy since it requires a significant amount of time and may yield limited outcomes.

By having a citation directory listing, obtaining a link back to your site becomes almost certain, eliminating the need to request other sites to link to you. Numerous directory sites are available, potentially offering relevant links to your website.

One of the services we offer to our clients is citation and directory management, as it can be challenging to locate all of these sites independently.

4. Market your cleaning business locally by optimizing your Google My Business page

Have you ever desired for your cleaning business to appear as the top result in Google’s map listings? One effective method to boost your cleaning company’s ranking on Google is by optimizing your Google My Business page.

After setting up your Google My Business page, the next crucial step you should concentrate on is optimization; otherwise, the flow of traffic from Google Maps is likely to come to a halt.

One suggestion to consider putting into practice is to ensure you provide complete information. This entails filling in your business hours, listing the services you offer, and most importantly, including location-specific pictures. Additionally, you have the option to make posts on your Google My Business page similar to how you do on Facebook or LinkedIn.

By implementing these optimization tips for your Google My Business page, you can witness a significant surge in local free traffic and generate more leads.

5. How to use SEO to promote your cleaning business

You can choose to make SEO for cleaning companies as complex or as straightforward as you wish. The main concept is to create content centered around the search terms your target customers are seeking.

If you own a commercial cleaning business, the type of customers you should target are building owners who are interested in learning floor care tips. Similarly, if you operate a residential cleaning service, your ideal customer would be someone who is searching for tips on how to clean their house.

If you want to use SEO and gain local organic traffic to promote your cleaning business, a good starting point would be creating location pages. A location page is essentially a page where you can outline your cleaning services and highlight the advantages of your service, while also specifying the city and location where you operate.

In addition to this, you can create location pages on your cleaning company website, which will result in more visitors coming to your site from those particular areas. Assuming that your site is of good quality and contains compelling calls to action that generate potential customers, the higher influx of traffic has the potential to eventually convert new clients in need of cleaning services.

More Ways to Advertise Cleaning Services Without Spending Money

We want to clarify that we are not suggesting that you should never pay for advertising. There are instances where you can promote your services and also contribute to your local community. For instance, you can consider placing your advertisement in the playbill of a high school theater performance or purchasing ad space in the program for a charity ball organized by a nearby animal shelter. These approaches are effective in advertising your services while also showing support for the local community.

This type of advertising carries extra strength as the individuals who come across it will be inclined to endorse businesses that also contribute to causes important to them.

What about spaces available for free advertising of cleaning services? Below are some effective ways you can begin advertising today at no cost.

Social media is not surprising as an effective tool. Regardless of having a verified account or a large following, social media can be beneficial for you. However, it is important to keep it entertaining and interesting. Begin by interacting with others through comments and likes on their posts. Show support for your favorite local pizza place or minor league sports team. Create short videos that provide solutions to common cleaning issues. The key is that if your social media solely serves as an advertising platform for cleaning services, it will not be very successful. On the other hand, if you offer useful information and actively engage with your community, it can yield remarkable results.

Nextdoor is a website that enables communities to connect and engage with one another by welcoming new members, sharing recommendations, and staying updated with local news. It also serves as a platform for neighbors to show support for local businesses and receive updates from public agencies. Within this online community, various businesses, regardless of their scale, offer cleaning services. By actively engaging on social platforms like Nextdoor, you have the opportunity to promote your own organization and distinguish yourself from local competitors.

Using flyers is still an effective way to connect with fellow business owners and engage with the community. With user-friendly websites such as Canva or BeFunky, you can easily create attractive flyers even without any graphic design background. Once you’ve made around 50 copies, visit a nearby copy shop and start distributing them to promote your cleaning services. It’s important to avoid placing them on utility poles or similar surfaces. Instead, approach various businesses in the area such as delis, coffee shops, hardware stores, libraries, bookstores, mechanics, and any other establishments you can think of. Politely inquire if you can display your flyers in their window or community board, as many local and even larger corporate businesses permit external flyers.

Your email signature, which should include the name of your business, a brief description, and contact information (including your website), serves as a permanent advertisement that requires no further effort after its initial creation.

Don’t underestimate the importance of asking happy clients for reviews, as potential clients often rely on Google reviews and sites like Yelp. However, it’s important to approach this request carefully. Avoid bribing or pressuring clients for positive reviews, and only ask once or twice. Additionally, select clients whom you believe will provide positive feedback. Lastly, make it a point to respond to all reviews – both positive and negative – as handling bad reviews well can even lead to gaining new business opportunities. For more information on turning a negative review into a positive outcome, you can read about it here.