The Ultimate Guide to Instagram for your Cleaning Business in 2024

I have a confession to make. (Don’t judge me)… I use Instagram a lot. I can’t stay off of it. I follow B-list celebs and get to peek into their personal lives. I also follow and interact with local businesses. Like my favorite gyms, the cafe within walking distance with the best chai lattes, a local artisan chocolate shop, and more.

As it turns out, I’m not alone. Over 90% of Instagram users follow a brand on their account. What’s even more staggering is that 70% of shoppers use Instagram as a tool to make purchasing decisions. So if someone’s checking out a new clothing brand or scoping out the local cleaning company, there’s a good chance they’re using Instagram to inform their decision.

Still not convinced Instagram is necessary? Here are some business stats from Hootsuite.

• Instagram is the 7th most visited website in the world
• Instagram is the 4th most-used social platform (right behind Facebook, YouTube, and WhatsApp)
• 59% of U.S. adults use Instagram daily
• 58% of users say they’re more interested in a brand after seeing it in a Story
• 90% of Instagram users follow at least one business

Whether you love it or hate it, Instagram is a necessary business tool in the wake of 2023. 

Using Instagram to market your maid service can help you connect with your current and potential customers, by showing the ‘human’ behind your business.

A question we see a lot in the ZenMaid community is ‘How can I grow my cleaning businesses with Instagram?’ We listened so here’s the ultimate guide to show you how.

Get started with Instagram for your cleaning business

Let’s start with the basics. Then, we’ll share some ideas for what to post, how to build a following, how to convert followers into customers, and how to do scheduling and paid advertising.

What is Instagram?

How to Set Up an Instagram Account for your House Cleaning Business

Now that you’re familiar with the basics of Instagram, let’s get you set up on the platform.

Instagram is meant to be used on a smartphone. While you can technically access Instagram from a computer, you cannot create posts from a computer (unless you use a scheduling app, but we’ll cover that in a little bit).

So first, you’ll need to install Instagram on your phone.

Step 1) Download the Instagram app on your smartphone. Go to the Google Play Store or the Apple Store, search for ‘Instagram’ and click ‘Install’.

Step 2) Once the app is installed, open it.

You’ll see the option of creating an account through your Facebook or creating a new account. If you have a Facebook account that you use solely for your business, then create an account through your Facebook.

Otherwise, click ‘Sign up with email or phone number,’ and create a new account using your business email.

Step 3) Once you’ve created an account, it’s time to fill out your details.

Full Name: Use the name of your business.

Username: Your username is unique to your profile. If your business name is available, use that. If it’s not, and your business name does not include your location, add the location. For example, if SpotlessMaids is taken, you could try SpotlessMaidsDenver. If you have a long business name, consider putting punctuation periods between each word to make it easier to read. 

>> Profile Picture: Use your logo as your profile picture. That way people will realize you are a business, not an individual’s Instagram. It also makes your account seem more professional. Avoid using generic cleaning photos, or photos of your staff here. 

Instagram Bio: Your Instagram bio is a short (150 characters) description of your business. If your service area isn’t in your business name, then you need to include your location in your bio. End your bio with a link to your website.

Dashing Maids has their business name as their Instagram name, their logo as their profile picture, and their location clearly stated in their bio. This is exactly how you should set up your profile.

[Optional] Step 4) If you have a Facebook business page, switch your Instagram to a business account. A business account gives you access to analysis tools and a few additional features. You’ll also be able to run paid advertising campaigns. (Promoting your posts to your target market).

To create a business account on Instagram

• Go to your profile (click the person icon on the bottom right)
• Then go to your menu and click on settings (three lines on the tip right)
• Scroll down until you see ‘Switch to Professional Account.’
• The app will direct you to login to Facebook, and select the Facebook business page you would like to connect to. Facebook and Instagram are both owned by Meta, so the apps work well together. 

What To Post for Your Cleaning Business

Alright, when you’re all set up with an Instagram account. It’s time for you to start posting. If you’re newer to business posting, you might be feeling a little lost, or shy… What are you supposed to post?!

Don’t worry, friend; I’ve got your back. This section covers cleaning social media posts for maid services (with examples).

Four types of posts that work well on Instagram are:

1. Posts that give people a behind-the-scenes into your cleaning business
2. Posts that show people the great work that you and your team do
3. Posts that show a before and after look at big cleaning jobs
4. Posts that are educational or ‘how-to’ 

In this picture is the Molly Maid team at their monthly birthday celebration. Little gatherings like this are a great opportunity to take a group photo and post it to Instagram.

If you’re a one person show, don’t be afraid to post a selfie. Seriously, just posting a photo of yourself makes your followers feel like they’re getting to know you. (And new cleaning customers will feel more open to reaching out for an appointment because you’ll seem like a person, not a faceless business).

Behind-the-Scenes Posts

Give your customers a peek behind the scenes of your cleaning business. Focus on something they wouldn’t usually see, like administrative or organizational tasks. This may seem like a boring post to you, but for your followers, it’s interesting to see what it takes to run a successful cleaning company.

Throwback Thursday Posts

There are a number of weekly hashtag themes – we’ll discuss these more in the hashtags section.

One of the most popular is #ThrowbackThursday (often shorted to #TBT), where you post an old photo. Use Thursdays as an opportunity to post an old business photo.

Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be vintage – even a photo you took a few months ago counts.

For example, if you attended a conference before you had an Instagram, you can post a conference photo and tag it as #ThrowbackThursday or #TBT.

Been in business for a few years? Or maybe even longer? Why not have a little fun sharing behind-the-scenes pictures or videos of the early days of your business? Old photos of the original employees, early offices or car decals or event photos of the company founder.

#ThrowbackThursday is meant to be nostalgic, so re-post good memories. And write a little bit about the photo – where were you, what were you doing, and why are you feeling nostalgic towards it?

Video Selfie

If you’re extroverted and don’t mind being in front of the camera, you may want to consider taking a video of yourself. You can share a story, give cleaning tips, say something inspiring…really whatever you want to say.

Reels and stories are the most popular way to share content so followers can get to know you (in a way that’s impossible through just text or images).

Tip: reels don’t expire/go away, but stories do after 24 hours.

A Brighter Carpet Cleaning posts videos where the owner advertises his services, talks about his day, or says something motivational.

Show Off Your Awesomeness

The whole point of having Instagram is to market yourself and attract more potential clients. So sometimes you’ll want to create posts to show just how awesome you are (and how you help your clients of course)— the type of posts that make followers wish you would come clean their house.

Here are several post ideas to show the value and quality of your business.

Before & After Posts

Before & After posts can be powerful visuals.

Your cleaning client followers will imagine the dirtiest part of their homes, and dream about how shiny and beautiful it would look if it were properly cleaned.

This Before & After post promotes a lesser-known service that Victoria’s Cleaning offers: patio cleaning.

This is a great way to get current cleaning customers who follow you to try a new service.

Praise and Testimonials

Testimonials allow your followers to see that other cleaning clients have had a good experience with your maid service business, and trust you.

These types of posts don’t need to be fancy – the customer’s words matter more than the look of the post. You can post screenshots of testimonials, like this:

If screenshots are too casual for your branding, you can make a fancier post that looks more like a traditional ad.

Charity Posts

Does your company support charitable causes? Post about it! This will boost your service’s reputation in the local community, so it’s okay to brag about it. It will also help bring attention to the cause you support. 

Blog Posts, Other Content

If you’re putting out content on your website or elsewhere, promote it on Instagram. You can use canva.com to create a graphic for the image of your post.

One thing to note: You cannot put a clickable link in the description of a post. So if you want people to follow a link, end the description with “Link in bio.” Then update your bio to include a link to the resource or article you are promoting.

Below I’ll tell you about other apps that you can ‘add’ to your Instagram account that will allow you to easily share multiple links at once.

PRO TIP: Use an app that allows you to share multiple links at once. That way you don’t have to continuously update a single link in your bio and you can ensure potential customers have quick access to information they are looking for. Apps to try: Linktree, Lnk.Bio or Link in Bio.   

Join the ZenMaid Mastermind on Facebook to connect with thousands of other amazing maid service owners just like you!

Be Helpful, Friendly and Fun

When you’re not giving your followers a peek inside your business or showcasing how awesome your cleaning business is, you want to add value by being helpful, friendly, and fun.

These types of posts make you a likeable business, not just a cleaning business that only cares about sales.

When your followers need cleaning help, they’ll remember your helpful Instagram account and reach out.

Cleaning Posts

Cleaning is your area of expertise. Why not share your knowledge with your followers by posting a cleaning tip?

Notice that the image in this post is bright and pretty – it doesn’t show an excessively dirty area. Instagram users want to scroll through pretty pictures. Even when you’re posting cleaning tips, don’t post pictures that might gross your followers out.

Inspirational Posts

Share posts that are inspirational or wise. Many Instagram users appreciate a little inspirational pick-me-up as they scroll through their feeds.

Here’s a fun bit of wisdom from the Queen of Clean:

Many applications allow you to easily create motivational or inspirational Instagram posts. Try the mobile app Quotes Creator (iOS or Android).

Holiday Posts

Get into the holiday spirit with a holiday-themed post.

The post can just wish your followers a happy holiday. Or, if you’re running a holiday cleaning promotion, let your followers know about it.

Event-Themed Posts

If there is a big event going on, use it as an opportunity for a themed post. Here’s a Super Bowl themed post from Maid in NC:

Local Posts

Posts about local events are especially fruitful. That’s because the majority of people who search for a local event will be locals themselves. (Which means they’re in your target market!)

So make posts based on local sports games or community-wide events.

You can also make local posts that are timeless (not referencing any event).

For example, if you’re based in San Francisco, you can post a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge. (You’ll want to use location-based hashtags so that your post shows up in search results. This is explained in detail in the Hashtag section, later on).

For more tips on the do’s and don’ts for your social media posts, check out this video from Rescue My Maid Service’s Graphics Guru. 

Customer Celebration Posts

If your customer is okay with it, feature them in a post. Post something kind about them, or celebrate their birthday or a recent accomplishment.

The customer will love you for it – and other cleaning customers may also find it touching, and realize that you and your cleaning business really care about your clients.

In this post, a maid service owner was cleaning at a customer’s business while the customer was being interviewed for TV. She used it as an opportunity to celebrate her client.

So there you have it. Those are some of the most effective, most recommended Instagram posts for maid services.

Don’t feel confined to these types of posts. In fact, we have another great article with 21 more ideas for what to post on social media for your cleaning business. If you’re feeling creative, try something different and see what gets engagement. 

If you need more inspiration on what to post, check out these cleaning Instagram accounts for inspiration!

How to Post Reels for Your Cleaning Business

If you’ve spent any time on Instagram, you may have noticed that Reels are everywhere. So, what are they?

In 2022, Reels were the best way to get visibility because they get preference in followers’ feeds and tend to grab attention more than stand-alone photos do. We expect Reels to continue to dominate in 2023. It’s best to keep Reels short and to the point with added music to grab your audience’s attention.

If you’re not a techy person there’s no need to worry — Reels are pretty simple to create! Here’s a step-by-step guide to posting Reels to your Maid Service account:

Step 1) Open the Instagram app on your device.

Step 2) Tap on the camera icon at the bottom of the screen to open the camera.

Step 3) Tap on the reel icon at the bottom of the screen. This will open the reel editor.

Step 4) Record a video or select a video from your device by tapping on the “Select a Video” button.

Step 5) Edit the video as desired by trimming, adding effects, or adding music.

Step 6) Tap on the “Next” button in the top right corner when you are finished editing.

Step 7) Add a caption and hashtags, and then tap on the “Share” button to post your reel. Then, your reel will be posted to your profile and will appear in the Reels section of the Explore page.

Any ideas you have to make a post (like the ideas we shared earlier) can be transferred to creating a Reel! Here are some ideas for turning an idea for a normal post into a Reel. 

PRO-TIP: save reels from other accounts that you like (even if they aren’t cleaning related) as inspiration. Watch for the ‘Use Template’ icon on other reels to save and use that same template for easy creation later.

Show Part of a Cleaning Job

Show off your team in action! Record a reel of your team working on a cleaning job. This can help potential clients see the level of professionalism and efficiency of your services.

Share Tips and Tricks

Teach your followers how to clean certain items or areas of their homes. This can help establish your business as a go-to resource for cleaning advice. (which in turn will also establish you as a cleaning expert and someone people will trust to clean their homes!)

Highlight Your Products and Services

Show off the products and equipment you use on the job, and explain the benefits of each. This can help potential customers understand what sets your business apart from competitors.

Share Before-and-After Clips

Record a reel showing the difference between a dirty space and a clean one after your team has finished the job. This can be a powerful way to showcase the value of your services.

Share customer testimonials

Ask satisfied customers to record a short video talking about their experience with your business. This can help potential customers feel more confident in choosing your business for their cleaning needs.

What are #Hashtags? And Why Do They Matter?

When a word begins with a number symbol, it’s called a hashtag. (#So #these #words #are #all #hashtags).

Hashtags allow your post to show up in search results.

For instance, if you use the hashtag #cleaningbusiness, then your post will show up in the search results for “cleaning business.”

Let’s take a look at how Instagram search works from the user’s point of view.

Instagram allows you to search in 3 categories:

• people (if you’re searching for a specific user),
• places (if you want to see photos taken in a specific location),
• and tags (if you’re looking for posts with a specific hashtag).

If you’re looking for posts about maid services you can search Tags for ‘maid service’.

Instagram will show you the most popular hashtags that contain the words ‘maid service’.

When you choose the hashtag you’d like to look up, Instagram will show you recent or popular posts with that hashtag.

You can also see the search results of a hashtag by clicking on a hashtag in a post.

So if you use the hashtag #Boston, then a viewer can click ‘#Boston’ and see all posts with that hashtag. By using hashtags, you’re increasing the odds that someone finds you while they are searching Instagram.

It’s kind of like the most basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Instagram. 

Not sure what SEO is? No problem. We have an article about SEO you can read next. 

How to Find Hashtags for Your Maid Service

There is never a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to marketing your cleaning business on Instagram, but there are some current best practices you can take into consideration.

Best practice #1: Use only relevant hashtags

For each post, you will want to include a group of hashtags, relevant to that post and to your business. Do not use hashtags that are not relevant to your cleaning business or your local area.

This will only result in two things: a) your account being marked as spam and your posts will be hidden and/or b) you won’t be targeting your actual target market (and what’s the point of people who will never buy from you seeing your posts?).

The goal here is quality over quantity. It only takes a few hundred, engaged followers to have an effective reach on Instagram.

Best practice #2: Use hashtag groups with less than 500K posts

For Instagram, it pays to take a bit of time to explore some relevant hashtags to use on your posts.

The best practice for this is to find hashtags that have less than 500,000 but more than 1000 (this few means no one uses them or is searching them.)

Why? Any group of hashtags with 500K+ posts means that new posts are being added every minute. This means that even if your post makes it to the top of that hashtag feed, it won’t stay there long.

Posts in groups with hundreds of thousands of other posts, will inevitably be lost in the sea of newly added photos and videos.

Hashtag groups with less than 100K are probably your best bet (if you can find them). It doesn’t hurt to include the hashtags for some of these larger groups, but balance it out with some smaller tag groups as well.

Here is a quick trick for finding related hashtags and seeing how many posts they have, follow this quick walk-through to search for hashtags on Instagram: (step-by-step below video)

• Click on the search icon (magnifying glass)
• Type in a generic tag to start (ie. cleaning or cleaningtips) It will show you the ‘top’ posts for that search word.
• Tap ‘Tags’
• Choose a tag that has less than 1 million posts (under 500K is better)
• Click the tag to see the posts
• You’ll see:
  • ‘Top’ posts (all the recent posts including reels
  • ‘Recent’ posts
  • ‘Reels’
• Click through each to get an idea of what’s popular
• Keep going until you have several relevant hashtags with under 500K posts
• Create a list of 10-30 (maximum allowed) hashtags to use on your posts
• **don’t forget to search for local hashtags: try your city or neighborhood + cleaning / maidservice / housecleaning

PRO TIP: create 2-3 different, but related, sets of hashtags to use on your posts. Use one set for post 1, a second set for photo 2, etc. This way, you avoid ‘spamming’ the same hashtags over and over.

Best practice #3: Use local hashtags

Being a service-based business, you obviously need to be targeting cleaning clients within a certain area. So as a maid service, you should always include local hashtags.

That’s where you’re most likely to get traction since most people who search for a location-based hashtag are local to your area.

Posts with a location get 79% higher engagements than posts without them. (You can add the location both through Instagram’s interface, and by adding location-based hashtags).

For hashtags, use a variety of hashtags that all refer to the same place.

For example, if you are a Nashville-based cleaning service, you might use hashtags like #Nashville, #NashvilleTN, #MusicCity, #Nash, and so on. That way, no matter what search term someone uses, your post will show up. (But remember to check how many hashtags are in these groups. If it’s more than 500K, even if it’s location specific, it’s likely not going to be seen.)

As a maid service, you’ll also want to use hashtags related to your work.

Best Practice #4: Limit the number of hashtags you use

Bigger (or in this case, more) isn’t always better. While the perfect number of hashtags is still up for debate in 2023, experts claim that three to five hashtags are the optimal number to use, so be strategic about the ones you pick. Technically, you can use up to 30 hashtags per post. Google keywords and Instagram hashtags go hand-in-hand.

Best Practice #5: Don’t use punctuation or spaces in hashtags

You can use periods in your username, but do not use any punctuation in your hashtags! Why? Punctuation and spaces take away the ability to search as a hashtag, even if you use the “#” before the phrase. 

Encourage Locals to Follow You

As a general rule, posts with a larger following tend to have a large impact. But paid followers don’t count. (Don’t waste your money paying for followers! That’s a vanity metric that does not move the needle for your business.) You want a following of people in your area who are open to hiring a maid service or are already your customers.

Add Family, Friends, and Customers

Once you have a few posts up, you’re ready to get some followers. Start by asking your family and friends to follow you.

Then tell your current customers that you are on Instagram. You can just mention it in an email, and ask them to follow you. You’ll also want to add a link to your Instagram on your website and your other social media pages. (try putting your Instagram handle in your email signature too!)

If you’re having trouble getting enough current customers to follow you, you can run a contest. For example, you can raffle off a cleaning discount to anyone who follows you before a certain date.

Once you have several followers, you’ll seem more trustworthy to potential cleaning customers.

Here are some ideas to get you started on your own Instagram contest or give away.

Follow Your Competitors’ Followers

When you follow someone, they get a notification that you started following them. Sometimes they will take a look at your profile.

So if you find another maid service Instagram in your area and follow their followers, their followers might check out your profile.

Their followers might include people who want to hire a maid service soon but haven’t decided which business to go with. Or it might include current customers who are unhappy with the service and might be curious about yours.

There are programs that allow you to auto-follow users who are following a certain user. But, these programs are against Instagram’s policy and can get your account shut down. Again, don’t waste your time! (or risk getting your account shut down!)

Instead, manually follow your competitor’s followers just once when you first create your account. 

Use Stories to Boost Engagement

Online advertising is becoming the go-to advertising method for all types of businesses. Over 25% of Instagram users reported finding a new brand from Instagram ads. This stat alone is why it’s worth taking Instagram stories seriously.

One of the most powerful features of Instagram for businesses is the ability to use Instagram Stories. These are short, ephemeral videos or photos that appear at the top of users’ feeds and disappear after 24 hours. They’re a great way to share behind-the-scenes content, promotions, or special offers with your followers.

Stories are only visible for 24 hours and appear at the top of every follower feed, which makes them even more engaging. People don’t want to miss out!

Here are a few key reasons why you should use stories for your business.

#1: Real-Time Marketing

Stories don’t require exhaustive planning and designing. They simply show your real-time business operations and act as a real-time marketing medium.

#2: Maintain Visibility On Your Followers’ Feed

With a large number of posts being uploaded on Instagram every second, it’s possible that a large percentage of your followers will never see your posts. That’s why Stories are a much better solution, as they stick at the top of the screen and provide much better visibility.

#3: Humanizing Business And Giving Transparency

Showing your behind-the-scenes is important for building trust among current and prospective customers. This is because consumers are looking for exciting experiences and want to stay connected. 

#4: Encourages Authentic Engagement from Followers 

While showing a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes, Instagram Stories initiate conversations between you and your followers and keep them engaged. Why? It’s less intimidating to send a business a direct message instead of leaving a public comment on a post. 

#5: Provides Special Offers For Limited Time

This strategy makes people curious about your latest Stories and keeps them engaged. In addition to offering them discounts, you can also share your working process, such as behind-the-scenes footage.

#5 Contests Grow Your Reach

Simple events like contests and giveaways can boost your engagement rate by bringing in new followers.

That said, Instagram marketing, when coupled with proven practices such as proper hashtag usage and location tagging, can boost your business manifold.

How to Post on Instagram Stories

Step 1) Open the Instagram app on your phone.

Step 2) Tap the camera icon in the top left corner of the screen or swipe right from anywhere in your feed.

Step 3) Take a photo or video by tapping the button at the bottom of the screen or holding it down to record a video. You can also tap the gallery icon to choose a photo or video from your camera roll.

Step 4) Edit your photo or video by adding filters, stickers, or text. You can also draw on your photo or video using the drawing tool.

PRO-TIP: Use the ‘link’ sticker to add a direct link to your website or booking form!

Step 5) When you’re done, tap the “Your Story” button at the bottom of the screen to add the photo or video to your story.

Step 6) You can add additional photos or videos to your story by repeating the process. Your story will stay up for 24 hours before disappearing.

Step 7) To view your story, swipe right from your feed or tap your profile picture on the bottom of the screen. To view someone else’s story, tap their profile picture on the top of the feed or in the stories bar at the top of the screen.

Before you post your first story, keep these four things in mind:

1. Post stories of your everyday, behind-the-scenes happenings at your cleaning business to stay top-of-mind
2. Use the ‘link’ sticker to provide a one-click link to a landing page or your website
3. Ask questions and create polls to encourage engagement among your followers
4. Don’t overthink it! Stories are only live for 24 hours but they have a great impact!

Partner with Influencers in Your Area to Promote Your Cleaning Business

One way to grow your following is to work with influencers who can help promote your cleaning business. Influencers are people with over 10,000 Instagram followers. We don’t recommend this strategy when you’re just starting out. Instead, give yourself some time to build your account organically. Then, when you’re in a place where you think you can benefit from a lot of visibility all at once, consider partnering with an influencer. Here’s how to do it. 

As a local business, look for local influencers. Oftentimes, there are accounts that have the name of your city in their username, and post a variety of pictures of locations and businesses in your city.

For instance, here’s an account called “The Nashville Guide.” It has 73,000 followers. The account reposts pictures from restaurants, gyms, hikes, and other places around town.

They often run promotions with local businesses, offering exclusive discounts for their followers.

Other influencers might be popular businesses in your area with active Instagram accounts. A popular restaurant or cafe can have thousands of followers. (I bet some of them need their houses cleaned!).

How Do You Find Influencers?

So, where do you find these sorts of goldmine accounts? Here are some ideas:

• Look up all your favorite local businesses on Instagram. Also, look up businesses you know are popular.
• Search for your city on Instagram. So if you’re from Denver, search ‘Denver’. Instagram will show you the top accounts with ‘Denver’ in their name. These are almost always business or influencer accounts.
• Ask your friends and family if they follow any local influencer accounts to get some ideas. 

How Can Influencer Accounts Help You?

There are a lot of eyes on an influencer account, so simply interacting with the account can help people find you. For example, if you comment on one of their posts, their followers might see your comment and click on your profile.

You’ll get more people clicking through to your profile if you write a thoughtful or interesting comment, rather than something generic. Avoid saying something ambiguous that could be a comment on any post, like ‘nice pic’. Instead, say ‘the pie last week was AMAZING,’ or ‘I’m so glad Fall has finally arrived!’

The holy grail of influencer marketing is for an influencer to make a post about your business. That way all of their thousands of followers will notice you, and many will check out your profile and business.

Before you ask an influencer if they’d like to partner with you, spend time interacting with them. Continue to follow their account and leave comments on their posts. After a few weeks of engaging with them, send them a direct message (or ‘dm’) and offer an exclusive discount or promotion for their followers or ask if they are interested in a cross-promotion.

An exclusive discount can take whatever form you choose. For example, you could offer a discount code that their followers can use at checkout for 20% off. Or you might run a promotion where if their followers follow your account, they’ll be entered to win a free cleaning.

A cross-promotion is when you make a post about their business in exchange for them making a post about your business. The posts shouldn’t feel like ads. Instead, you would interact with their business in a genuine way and make a post about it.

House Bliss Cleaning made a post about Tasty Burger. If Tasty Burger has an Instagram account, they can reach out to Tasty Burger and arrange a cross-promotion.

Offer Perks to Your Existing Clients for Sharing Your Business

While your customers have fewer followers than an influencer account, their followers are usually friends and family who know them in person. So, their followers have a lot of trust in their recommendations. Offer your customers a discount or perk (ex. free fridge cleaning) on their next cleaning if they share a post about why they like your service and tag you in it.

How to Get Cleaning Business Clients Using Instagram

What’s the point of getting hundreds or thousands of followers, anyways?

Well, first off, when a follower needs a cleaning service, they will remember your cleaning service more than any other. The more times they see your brand, the more top-of-mind your services will if they ever need to hire a cleaning service. However, you probably aren’t putting time and effort into Instagram just to hope that a few followers convert passively.

To actively convert followers, you can post advertisements on your Instagram. Keep in mind you don’t post ads too often, or your Instagram will seem spammy, and people will unfollow you.

One trick for ads that don’t seem spammy is to create themed promotions. Themed promotions feel like you are celebrating a holiday or event alongside everyone else, rather than feelings sales-y or spammy.

Create a System to Manage Your Instagram Easily

On average, most businesses post multiple times a week. In 2022, 20% of businesses posted to their stories at least once a week.

If you have a lot of other things to manage, like cleaning houses and managing employees, you may not have time to post 6 times a week like other brands. Aim to post at least once or twice a week to ensure you’re top of mind when your followers think of a cleaning company.

That said, posting six times per week doesn’t have to be overwhelming. It just requires a little forethought and a free automation service.

Here are the steps to managing your Instagram with ease:

• Create an editorial calendar.
• Batch post creation so that you create many posts in one sitting.
• Automate posting.

An editorial calendar helps you plan out your content for the month.

Basically, you’ll want to look at a calendar (on paper or online) and fill out what type of posts you will post each day.

It helps to choose a few themes that repeat each week. For example, if you have a lot of pictures from previous years of your business, you can plan to do #ThrowbackThursdays every Thursday.

For more inspiration, here are 21 Cleaning Post Ideas for Social Media Content

Tools to Automate Your Instagram Posts

Automate scheduling

If you’re a busy cleaning business owner who can’t imagine adding one more thing to your to-do list, you might find some relief by scheduling posts in advance. (Or, having someone on your staff schedule posts that can be approved before they go live). You can automate your Instagram posting process using third-party apps like Later.com, Planoly, Hootsuite, or Buffer.

These apps allow you to create posts ahead of time, and schedule the posts when you want them to go live. 

Of course, some types of posts are better created the day of, not beforehand. For example, if you take a picture of a staff event, you might want to post it right away. Or, if you’re hosting an event, it’s fun to post real-time updates. 

These automation apps can help you batch your content creation and scheduling for Instagram, so you aren’t spending countless hours on Instagram when you’re supposed to be taking a day off. (You know we are all about automating here at ZenMaid 🙂)!

In most scheduling apps, their systems will help you to determine when the optimum times are for posting. But, keep in mind to figure out what times are optimal for your audience! This will take trial and error, changes every few months, and depends on your unique audience, so don’t get too stuck on ‘rules’.

Post at different times over several weeks and see which posts get the most engagement. If you notice engagement on posts dropping, consider doing more trial and error.

Add multiple links

Recently, new tools have been introduced that help users bypass the fact that Instagram does not allow you to put clickable links in your captions.

LinkTree

LinkTree is a great option for service-based accounts and very easy to manage (even for the not-so-tech-savvy among us — no shame here😉 ).

This is a popular tool you can use to post multiple links at once on your profile. You can create an account for free, and it even allows you to do some customization (colors, logo, etc.).

This creates a single URL that you will add to your profile on Instagram. When users click this URL, it takes them to your LinkTree ‘page’ where they have the option to click on multiple links that you’ve chosen.

Here is what our LinkTree ‘link page’ looks like for ZenMaid’s Instagram:

Linkin.Bio

Linkin.Bio is available free on all Later.com plans (you can use Later for free up to 30 posts a month!)

It’s very similar to LinkTree in that users follow a customized URL, and can then click a choice of links to a product, blog posts, services page, or website. Setting it up is easy in the Later.com app.

A Quick Introduction to Paid Instagram Ads

If you are seeing traction from your free Instagram marketing efforts, you may want to consider paying for Instagram advertisements.

Instagram advertisements look just like any other post, except that the post is labeled as ‘Sponsored.’ Unlike sponsored Google ads, followers are more likely to trust social media ads as they’re more strategically targeted based on user habits. 

In addition, the post has a button that says ‘Learn More’ and can be linked to your website or landing page. Ads show up in someone’s news feed between posts from the people they follow.

To get started with paid advertising, you’ll need to change your Instagram account to a business account. (You can find instructions for this here).

Once you set up a business account, there will be a ‘promote’ button next to each of your posts. Choose which post you’d like to promote, and Instagram will walk you through the process. You may already be familiar with it since Instagram’s ad campaigns are set up through Facebook’s ad platform.

You’ve Got This!

Phew, that was a lot to take in! Are you feeling Instagram-savvy?

Great, cuz it’s time for you to go out and create your own Instagram, charm the world with your posts, and build a following.

But you don’t need to do it alone. Share your progress, ask questions, and cheer others on in ZenMaid’s Facebook Mastermind group.

And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram. (We’ll follow back!).

Additional Resources

Follow the head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, for the latest Instagram tips

Free templates and guides for marketing and more from Rescue My Maid Service

Join the ZenMaid Mastermind community

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