Tips for marketing a cleaning business

Why is marketing for cleaners important?

Whether you’re just starting your cleaning business and want to get your cleaning business name out there, or just looking to expand, marketing is the best way to grow. And if you are just getting your new offering underway, then make sure you’ve read our guide on how to start a cleaning business first.

From digital marketing solutions and social media to traditional print media, find the solution that’s right for you and for your customer base.

The quality of your work will speak for itself, but your potential customers need a way to find out about it. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to start marketing a cleaning business.

How to create a cleaning business marketing strategy

Before you jump into creating any social media pages or looking into websites, you need to make sure you’ve thought through your cleaning business marketing strategy.

You might think that this will come naturally once your business is up and running, but successful businesses plan their marketing out sometimes before they’ve even launched.

Marketing covers everything from competitor research to figuring out which of your services are the most useful for your customer base.

It helps you to find new opportunities, and get in front of your customers where they’re already looking for help from businesses like yours.

To help you on your way, use our free marketing planning guide to get started on your marketing strategy.

Keep reading for a few suggestions for where to start when you’re building your strategy – and if in doubt, take a look at our complete guide to marketing a new trade business.

Customer research

To make sure you’re advertising to the right people, you’ll need to know a bit more about your customers. Are they active on Facebook and Instagram, or are they more likely to call a cleaning service they found online?

What are your services?

This might seem self-explanatory, but even the different types of cleaning services you can offer can be determined by your marketing.

For example, those running a solar panel cleaning business will have very different marketing to those offering house cleaning services.

But if your customers are more interested in steam cleaning than window cleaning, it lets you know what extra services you can add in future.

Service areas

Find out the areas where your potential customers are based so that you can focus your marketing efforts where they’ll have the biggest impact.

Naturally, there’s a bit more that goes into a marketing plan than a bullet point list. That’s why we created a free downloadable marketing planning guide to give you more guidance.

Quick marketing tips and ideas

Really not sure where to get started? Here are some quick marketing ideas for a cleaning business:

• Build trust with testimonials: Speak to your existing customers and ask for a testimonial
• Before and afters: Before you start a messy cleaning job, get permission to take and share before and after photos of your cleaning services. Cleaning is naturally a visual business, and a picture speaks a thousand words
• Introductory deals: If you haven’t completed any jobs yet, offer an introductory discount in exchange for a testimonial or being able to take before and after photos.
• Competitor research: Check what your competitors are doing – if they rely on word of mouth, it tells you what you need to focus on initially. Eventually, by focusing your marketing efforts where your competitors aren’t as present, you can get great results.
• Identify key locations: If you specialise in industrial cleaning, find out where local industrial estates and business centres are located, and which businesses have buildings there. If you’re a domestic cleaning business, then look at areas that will be more likely to need your services. For instance, larger houses near trees will certainly need a good gutter cleaning business on hand.

Common types of advertising for cleaners

Cleaning businesses are in demand year-round, so you can use the full mix of marketing opportunities to get in front of potential customers.

A combination of traditional and digital marketing will help your business to grow across different customer bases and sectors.

More traditional advertising opportunities for cleaners could include:

• TV
• Radio
• Newspaper
• Flyers and print media
• Online directories

But physical and traditional marketing might not be enough to help grow your business. Having a reputable and trustworthy online presence is essential for modern businesses to build trust with their customers.

Digital marketing for a cleaning business

The concept of digital marketing might sound vague, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise that having a strong online presence is a necessity for any modern business.

When your customers start looking for someone to clean their windows, gutters, office or home, a lot of them will start by searching online.

That’s why it’s important that you have a strong digital marketing strategy, so that you’re more likely to get in front of more potential customers.

Website

A website is the online home for your business. It’s a one-stop shop for information, from your services to customer testimonials, photos, contact information, and more.

You’ll need to consider the following when you’re looking at creating a website:

• Choose a reliable website builder and hosting service
• Make sure you have content to explain your offering to customers, with accurate and informative copy
• Double-check that all of your links and buttons go to the right place
• Make sure customers can see your website on desktop and mobile devices

Setting up a website from scratch can be daunting, so make sure you consult our guide on how to make a small business website before you get started.

Social media

As we’ve already mentioned, cleaning is a very visual business – and everyone likes to see a satisfying before and after shot. That means that social media is really important for marketing a cleaning business, so you can show off your hard work.

You can set up social media profiles on the sites and apps that your customers are most likely to use, from Facebook to Instagram.

However, it’s also important that you’re comfortable using social media services that you’ll be able to create content for.

Signing up for a TikTok when you have no intention of filming video clips just means an empty account that doesn’t help your business.

Here are some starter ideas for social media posts for your cleaning business:

• Show the step-by-step cleaning process behind your work
• A timelapse of a larger cleaning job
• Before and after pictures of your services
• ‘Oddly satisfying’ cleaning moments, like wiping surfaces clear
• Show your customers tips and tricks for tackling smaller DIY jobs, like sinks or doors

PPC

The adverts you see at the top of a Google results page are driven by PPC, or ‘pay-per-click’.

PPC is a great way to generate leads and get a good return on your investment, since you get right at the top of what your customers are searching for.

There’s a lot to explain, so we’d recommend reaching out to a PPC specialist or reading our blog explaining PPC advertising for more information.

Online directories

Last, but by no means least, online directories are still one of the biggest ways that people find reputable trade services.

This makes signing up for one an obvious choice if you’re looking to expand your customer base.

Checkatrade is the biggest online directory used by tradespeople in the UK. Speak with our team today to find out more about joining our directory.

SEO tips for cleaner marketing

If you’re building your own website, then it’s worth learning a little bit about SEO, or ‘search engine optimisation’. SEO helps your business to appear higher in search results on websites like Google.

There’s a lot to learn – our article on how to boost your SEO is a great place to start, but if you want to get started, here are some basics:

• Regularly publish good-quality, informative, and helpful content like blogs or vlogs
• Use SEO keywords on your website content and copy
• Get links from other trusted websites linking back to your own
• Make sure you use local keywords to help you appear in searches in the area

Physical advertising for cleaners

Of course, there’s still plenty to be said for good old-fashioned physical advertising. That can cover anything from ads in printed directories and flyers to word of mouth and networking.

Print marketing

Print marketing is a great way to get your foot in the door and make people aware of your services. Flyers in the area that you’re trying to target or posters on local bulletin boards can really help you to get your name out there.

Networking with other local tradespeople

Don’t overlook the importance of networking – they say “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” for a reason!

Networking with local tradespeople hopefully means that your name will be the first one they think of if they need cleaning help for their business.

But not only that – it makes you part of a community, as you grow a network of supportive fellow small business owners.

Company branding and signage

Your brand and your company signage are essentially free advertising. Make sure your logo and information are clear on your work clothes, vans, and equipment. That way, people will see your brand while you’re out working.

Get marketing with Checkatrade

Hopefully, you now have everything you need to market your cleaning business. Don’t forget to check out our other helpful guides for new cleaning businesses, from cleaners insurance to the best vans for cleaning companies.

But before you dive into the world of marketing, make sure your marketing is working hard for you with Checkatrade.

When you join Checkatrade, you’ll get access to marketing materials and exclusive business discounts. Not to mention, by being listed on our site, you can generate leads and scale up your cleaning business even faster.

Speak with our team today to learn more about our vetting process and how we can help you to grow your business.