Effective Marketing Channels for Maid Companies
While this list includes six effective marketing channels, we’d love to hear which marketing channels work best for you. One of the most difficult things for a local service business is making the most of your marketing channels. Both maximizing your budget vs. the effort and return each take is important whether you are a new business or established.
Effective marketing channels can vary across industry and location. To help you get a head start, we talked to 6 successful Launch27 businesses about their best channels and the pros and cons with each.
Here is what they had to say…
Yelp
Yelp ranks high in Google search results and is one of the main reasons they can command a price for advertising. People also use Yelp to search for an unbiased look at recommended companies. Launch27 businesses with a high number of Yelp reviews report receiving up to 80% of their new business from Yelp searches.
Here are some of the Pros and Cons of using Yelp.
Pros:
- If you are running a Yelp ad and search type of service + city name, often your results will show up at the top of Google.
- Yelp usually has qualified leads and the people are looking for immediate service and will pay full or higher price (but don’t be afraid to offer a discount incentive.
- Your reviews and section about your business can help you convert leads.
- You can pay to advertise to push your ad to the top.
Cons
- You are at the mercy of reviewers and Yelp doesn’t often remove negative/ false reviews.
- Positive reviews often get hidden even if they are legitimate.
- Pay per click can be expensive especially if your landing page isn’t optimized.
Tips
- Make sure your profile is optimized.
- Don’t EVER sign a contract for ads. Use the self-serve option and set your ads up yourself.
- Pay for the enhanced profile to ensure competitors ads aren’t on your page.
- Use before and after pictures to entice people to book with you.
For more tips on how to optimize your profile for Yelp, check out this interview we did with Brian Crocker of Cajun Maids.
Direct Mail
Yes, even direct mail can be an effective marketing channel. We typically do mostly online things, but depending on your demographic, direct mail can work quite well. It is worth testing it, especially for around the holidays.
Pros
- You can target fairly precisely including household income, home size, age of occupants etc…
- Now that email inboxes are more cluttered, direct mail may have a greater impact.
- Easily measured… you can figure out just how much your return on investment is.
Cons
- Between printing, postage and mailing lists direct mail can get expensive.
- Direct mail can get lost in the mix of flyers and postcards if not correctly executed.
Myco Momplaisir another successful Launch27 business runs direct mail campaigns throughout the holidays as his main marketing method.
Here are his tips.
Tips
- Don’t send direct mail during the summer months. It’s best to reserve your marketing dollars for right before the holiday season.
- Use faces instead of just pictures of rooms and products. It will help your mail stand out.
- Always add your phone number for trust and convenience even if most of your bookings come from online.
Facebook Garage Sale Groups
Facebook garage sale groups are free and targeted places to advertise your services.
Pros
- It’s free.
- It is targeted… you can find groups that are for specific cities and even specific types of people.
- The groups can be large (my favorite garage sale group has almost 30,000 people).
Cons
- It’s open season on comments so unhappy customers, ex employees… anyone can leave comments on your post.
- The groups tend to be price sensitive… expect comments about how high your prices are.
- You aren’t always allowed to solicit business.
Elena of SuperbMaids used to get her business started as a no cost way to advertise her new business.
Here are her tips.
Tips
- Lots of unlicensed practitioners respond in Facebook groups so emphasizing being licensed and insured can set you apart and justify prices.
- Pay attention for requests and comment when you can.
Thumbtack
Thumbtack is an effective marketing channel. It’s a great way to get your first customers because everyone on the site is in your area and actively looking for something you offer.
Pros
- Depending on your area you may be able to build your whole business on Thumbtack.
- You can decide what you want to bid on and focus your efforts on those areas.
- It’s your decision about how much money you want to allot to bidding.
- You get out what you put in… you can fill your schedule with jobs if you focus for the day.
Cons
- Bidding can get expensive especially if you don’t have an optimized profile.
- People tend to be looking for the lowest cost provider and you are competing with all types of people and companies.
- Reviews are posted prominently and your customers are asked for them right away after service. The reviews can make or break you.
Tips
- Make sure your profile is optimized (for more on this, watch our Thumbtack webinar).
- Always try to keep your top three reviews 4-5 stars.
- Use pictures in your responses and in your profile.
Blogs
Blogs and newspaper may not seem like an obvious source of business, but get coverage on a well known (or even not so known) source and the links will generation long-term SEO benefits.
Pros
- Coverage can be free (or low cost) although you may need to offer service in exchange for press.
- Press can be wide reaching and can open you up to people you may not have reached otherwise.
Cons
- They say all press is good press, but if you offer your service in exchange for coverage and the coverage isn’t great that can affect your business.
- Negative press can stay with your business forever.
Sidrah of Maids in T. O built her initial business through coverage from local blogs and gave us these tips.
Tips
- Reach out to local blogs with large followings. That will get you business for years to come.
- Find an angle for them and they will be more likely to give you a shout.
SEO
SEO is a long-term play that will probably be the most beneficial thing for your business in the long run. Because over 60% of clicks go to the first link on Google, getting to the top or getting in the 3-pack can have massive returns for your business.
Pros
- After the initial investment, the returns are massive.
- It adds credibility (People trust Google).
- You will see a definite increase in traffic
Cons
- Everyone says they are SEO experts and it’s hard to find someone good who can yield results.
- SEO results aren’t instant like running ads.
- There is no guarantees for SEO efforts.
- A competitive niche is harder to rank in.
Here are his tips for ranking.
Tips
- Take a day to optimize your site and spend of the rest of your time reaching out to local blogs and sites to get those outside links.
- Hire an expert instead of trying to do it yourself (but make sure they know what they are doing).
- Optimize your satellite sites and profiles (Yelp, Thumbtack, Facebook) because they often will help your ranking and can get ranked on their own.
Did we miss any of your favorite tips? Let us know your main ways to generate business.