Last Updated on August 11, 2023 by The ZenMaid Team
As a business, thereโs no one single way to attract new customers. To achieve the most business growth, you need to diversify how you find new leads and continue to look for new ways to attract your target audience. In case one of your strategies fails, itโs crucial to have other methods to fall back on.
In this post, weโll highlight three lead generation strategies that donโt get enough love among maid service owners and give examples of how you can implement them into your marketing strategy.
Use Facebook Lookalike Audiences
Facebook ads are a fantastic tool when you use them right. If your Facebook Ads strategy consists of boosting random posts from your page, then youโre missing a huge opportunity to target your audience more effectively.
Facebookโs Business Manager comes with a free suite of tools to help you understand your audience and what they engage with most.
One of Facebookโs secret weapons is lookalike audiences. Creating lookalike audiences for your business is a way to reach new customers interested in companies like yours. Facebook has unique profiles on all of its users, and you can use this information to make sure that people looking for maid services see your ads.
To utilize Facebook Lookalike Audiences to their full potential, you need to make sure you have the Facebook Pixel installed on your website. Hereโs a video outlining this process in a few easy steps:
Once you have the pixel installed, you can start showing Facebook ads to everyone visiting your website. Not only that, but youโll be collecting information about the people who visit your website. You can then use this information to create audiences with similar behaviors to the people visiting your website.
From inside the Facebook Business Manager, you can create a โcustom audienceโ and build an audience that includes your current customers or people who have visited your website.
You need to do this step first to create a lookalike.
Then, once you create your ad, you can show it to the people on your audience list, as well as people on Facebook who have similar interests and behaviors as the people already in your audience.
You can also create lookalike audiences based on the people who have interacted with your Facebook page and specify people within a particular region or demographic. The more money youโre willing to spend showing these ads, the more people you will reach.
Sign up for Google Local Services Ads
Googleโs Local Services Ad platform helps small businesses connect with people who search for those services in their area.
You might be wondering how this service is different from Google Ads or your Google My Business profile.
The difference is that your ads will only show up for customers in your area, and you only pay for the ad if a customer contacts you directly from the ad. You are essentially paying Google to provide you with qualified leads that are specific to your region.
Google Local Services Ads show up in a Google search even before AdWords and the local search results. Theyโre also branded with a Google Verified Badge.
To apply for this program, you need to pass a screening and an interview to prove that your business is legitimate and meets all of Googleโs criteria. This also includes making sure that the service is available in your region.
Having that verification badge from Google symbolizes that your business has been vetted as a trustworthy and high-quality service.
Once youโre verified, you can choose what keywords best match your business and create an ad to display. For his cleaning business, Ricky paid $20-25 per lead or phone call that came from that ad. One of the best parts about this service is that if a lead is not relevant, Google will give you your credit back on that lead.
You can set your budget and how much youโre willing to spend per lead and wonโt be charged once youโre reached that limit. You can also change the listing by job type, who you serve, and what kinds of customers you want.
Another nice feature is that you can select only to show your ad during your business hours. This way, youโll always be there to answer the phone or email and talk to leads while theyโre hot.
Make Networking a Priority
Networking is one of the oldest marketing strategies in the book because it works. As a small business owner, itโs essential to get to know other business owners in your area or industry and let them get to know you.
You donโt have to be an extrovert or have a specific personality type to network. Even shy people can use networking to grow their business.
Research local business organizations in your area. Almost every town has a local chamber of commerce or small business association. Make it a priority to attend events and let people get to know you and what your business does. As people get to know you, they may begin referring their customers to your services and youโll also have a network of businesses to refer your customers to.
These days, as in-person meetings and networking events, continue to go virtual, look for digital opportunities to network. Virtual events, like the Maid Summit, continue to pop up and are the perfect opportunity to meet with other business owners in your industry, without having to meet in person.
If you have a unique story to share, then ask if the event is looking for presenters and volunteer yourself. This can increase your visibility as a business owner will encourage people to ask you questions and get to know you even more.
Final Thoughts
Sometimes it might feel like youโve tried every marketing strategy under the sun. But the great thing about marketing is that there are always new strategies emerging that could be game-changing for your cleaning business.
The three strategies we shared in this post can help you stand out among your competitors and give you the edge youโve been searching for. If youโre already using any of these strategies, see if there are other ways to expand upon them, such as changing up your ad creatives, experimenting with new messaging, or researching new organizations to join.
For even more marketing tips for your cleaning business, check out the rest of the presentations from theย 2020 Maid Summit.ย
About the presenter
This article is based on a presentation by Ricky Funk from the 2020 Maid Summit. After growing his own residential cleaning business to $250,000 in annual recurring revenue in two years, he realized he wanted to teach other maid service owners how to do the same. Now he uses his YouTube channel to create valuable videos aimed at helping other business owners achieve success.ย
This talk first aired at the 2020 Maid Service Success Summit.
The Maid Summit is an annual online event that brings together the most successful leaders in the cleaning industry, like Debbie Sardone, Angela Brown, Courtney Wisely, Amy Caris, Chris Schwab and more. Get free access to masterclasses and workshops that will help you to grow, scale and automate your cleaning business so you can get more leads and create more profit. Make sure youโre on our email list to find out how to get free tickets to the next event.
There are a lot more great articles for maid service owners on ZenMaid Magazine:
- Is a Cleaning Business Profitable? Hereโs What You Need to Know.
- How to Bid for Commercial Cleaning Contracts [Formula Included]
- The Commercial Cleaning Business Software That Made My Life 100X Easier
- How to Add Commercial Cleaning Services to Your Residential Maid Service
- How Carolyn Arellano Gets More Cleaning Leads with ZenMaid Booking Forms
