6 Steps to Creating a Marketing Machine
Running a residential cleaning business can feel like an exercise in gluttony and starvation. There are months on end where you can barely keep up with demand, followed by what feels like an endless stretch of zero new leads.
This feast-famine cycle is incredibly common. Seasonal and economic factors can play a role, but it's also symptomatic of a marketing problem. During the good times, business owners feel too busy to focus on marketing. They stop planting seeds and, eventually, there are no new leads left to harvest.
The good news is there are ways to increase your chances of feasting year-round. These 6 steps can help you create a well-oiled “marketing machine”—a repeatable, scalable process for generating new business on autopilot.
The 6 Steps to Creating a Marketing Machine
Step 1: Understand Your Customers
The best marketing programs are those that sell customers what they want, not what the company thinks they want. Instead of just pushing services hoping someone will buy, the key is catering to your specific clients' unique needs.
A customer-centric approach to marketing requires truly understanding the problems they need solved. To do that, create a clear picture of your ideal customer, which marketers call an “avatar”. It should get as specific as possible about demographics (age, income, etc.) and psychographics (spending habits, values, etc.).
Use your best customers as inspiration for your avatar.
- What makes them perfect clients?
- What do they have in common?
- Why did they initially hire you?
- What feedback do they provide?
Use everything you know about them to sketch a specific target for your marketing.
When you're new to business, creating an avatar is more difficult. Rather than relying on historical data and customer feedback, you'll need to make some educated guesses. Research as much as possible about your local market and likely customers, and then use your intuition to fill in the gaps.
Revisit your avatars at least annually, and more often when your business is new. Continue to adjust them to reflect evolving customer needs or market changes.
Step 2: Hone Your Messaging
People don't want you to sell to them, but they will buy your services if you solve their problems (too tired to clean, not enough time for play, not physically able to clean, etc). With your customer avatar in mind, draft a sales pitch that speaks directly to their needs.
Lead with your customers' needs, and then talk about how you can help. This problem-solution approach is far more likely to capture a homeowner's attention than a message that starts with information about your company or your services.
Also, whenever possible, use your customers' own words in your messaging. You can do this by pulling language from customer feedback surveys and testimonials.
Step 3: Focus on What Works
Trying to market your business in every possible arena is a good way to waste a lot of time and money. Rather than spreading yourself thin, target your efforts where they are most likely to have the greatest impact.
Identify where your target market is most likely to research cleaning companies, and double down on those avenues. If 90% of your business comes from SEO-driven web searches and Facebook ads, invest more in those areas. If less than 1% of your clients find you through Instagram, it's time to consider whether it's a good use of resources to be on that platform.
Finally, if you're not receiving a steady stream of referral business, evaluate how you can change that. Word-of-mouth advertising is the most cost-effective and least time-consuming way to increase profits.
Step 4: Create a Plan
You're clear on your target client, have perfected your messaging, and identified the most effective marketing channels. Now it's time to put structure to all of it with a marketing plan. (If you're a member of MyHouseCleaningBiz.com, visit the Download Library for a marketing plan template).
A formal plan is important because it outlines measurable goals that will motivate you and hold you accountable. It helps everyone who will assist in marketing understand the strategy and get clear about individual responsibilities. Perhaps most important of all, though, is it helps you prioritize and organize your marketing activities.
Setting aside time to work on marketing won't pay off unless you know what to do and how to do it. Going through the planning process forces you to consider exactly what marketing activities you'll do, when or how often, and how much you'll need to budget.
Knowing how much budget you can allocate to marketing each month is key. It can be a useful wakeup call that pushes you focus more on high-impact activities and let go of anything with a lower ROI.
Step 5: Let Go of Marketing
Marketing doesn't happen by itself. If you're cleaning or leading your teams by day and doing administrative tasks at night, you don't have time to market your business. To create a marketing machine that operates non-stop, with little to no effort on your part, you'll need to outsource the work to professionals, delegate to team members, and automate wherever possible.
If your budget is too tight to hire a pro, invest in marketing tools. Some cleaning business software programs can automate the testimonial and referral process, and there are dozens of free or low-cost tools for bulk scheduling social media posts. You can also invest in an email marketing platform and/or a Facebook messenger bot to automate client communications.
Step 6: Review Regularly
Even after you've done all of the above, you can just set it and forget it. At least once a year, and as often as quarterly, audit your marketing program. What's working? What's no longer working? What might work with some tweaking?
Your efforts will need to evolve as your customer base changes, the economy ebbs and flows, and competition comes and goes.
Marketing isn't easy, but with a good strategy and a good action plan, you can create momentum for your cleaning business, which will result in a well-oiled "marketing machine."
FREE VIDEO - Top 10 Lead Sources for Cleaning Business
Click here to get instant access!
