2013 is officially kicked off. So I want to get right to what I believe is happening in the advertising world for cleaners.
Since the latest Google updates, it’s become somewhat unpredictable in how rankings will show.
Now that the postal service has launched EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail), lots of things changed.
And what about Val-pak, RSVP, Angie’s List, Groupon, and other advertising sources?
I’ll tell you my predictions:
Google will continue to be an excellent source for cleaners to get new clients for little money. However, rankings will continue to bounce around. Many cleaner sites will lose ranking due to poor content on the site. Having a solid internet marketing plan will continue to be one of the best advertising investments a cleaning company can make.
Every Door Direct Mail will become more popular. As small businesses see advertising the USPS is doing, more will catch on. But only the smart marketers, who do it properly, will continue to use EDDM. This will continue to make EDDM a great advertising source.
The Yellow Pages…ah, never mind. Everyone knows where it’s headed.
Coupon mailers like Val-pak and RSVP will rise in popularity due to less advertising dollars spent on yellow pages. This can be a great opportunity for some companies. But BEWARE…coupon pricing isn’t the market you want to get stuck in.
Groupon will continue to lose popularity. Other companies like Living Social, Dealfind, and other local Groupon-like sites continue to dilute their market share. Many companies were disappointed Groupon’s lack of customer service (I know I was). Nonetheless, some cleaners will still use Groupon with some success.
Newspaper will continue to decrease. Subscribers are at a low due to many people getting their news online. But for some cleaners who service communities with the majority of residents 60+ years old, newspaper can still be a great advertising source.
Radio will get an increase in advertisers. Many companies don’t know where to spend ad dollars, so they turn to radio. For many cleaners, radio will be a bust if the campaign isn’t designed properly. Remember, for most cleaning companies, the only way your client will hire you is to call you. People don’t write down phone numbers from radio commercials.
Whatever you do, make your advertising get you clients!
See my Advertising Coaching Club to get ads completely created for you (graphic design and all).
Hi, i feel that i saw you visited my site thus i came to return the prefer?.I’m trying to to find issues to enhance my web site!I assume its adequate to make use of some of your ideas!!
I have used everything in the past. Internet exposure is one way to advertise. Stay away from groupon and living social and all coupons.
EDDM is a great success for me and target the area I want. I get 10% on all mail outs.
Make sure to get a great graphic designer for your post cards. Make the size at least 6.5 x 9. The customers will notice and they will call you.
Thanks
John,
Completely agree with your advertising assessments.
Google is King.
EDDM is perhaps the future but with the uncertainty of the postal service it leads me to questions it’s long term vitality.
Groupon and other Daily Deal sites- I think the assessment here is lacking. I don’t feel it’s necessarily just market dilution. I think consumers are beginning to lose trust in the deals the deal sites are running. This has to do with low merchant retention rates, the fact tha these deal sites can’t retain or get truly great merchants to participate in this method of advertising. I personally feel some cleaners are a bit stubborn on this, but if done carefully it can’t be a great way to get through the supposed “slow season”… The other problem these deal sites face is customer retention, this of course is due to lack of quality deals. To turn it around they need to change their demographics to a higher quality customer that doesn’t care necessarily about 50% off but instead the quality of the merchant. This is why I feel the Big Deal works for AL merchants. If you pay close enough attention to these deal sites they are all starting to localize more and segment the market, this is meant to bring customers back because they have grown tired of traveling to the other side of town to go to a restaurant. Same thing can be said of some fundamentals of any local advertising campaign, the consumer feels you can service them better if you are local and nearby. This is also meant to limit the number of coupons sold per deal but increase the number of deals tha can be sold. This makes it to where not one merchant will be bogged down and overrun by daily deal shoppers…
The deal is to do it right you must know your limits and cap the deal off to where you can serve these customers so well that they will keep coming back to you. Now ill admit there are price shoppers, but with proper client retention and referral tools, this can be done extremely well to where it can be profitable.
I agree that with great service and a good retention programs some coupon some customers will & have became clients, but most are “coupoun shoppers.”
I would agree with these predictions. What about Adwords?
I think your thoughts about 2013 are on track. Your promise about “Taking the Top Ten of Google” has been done for me, because of your good advice, training and both of our efferts. (Hitman Advertizing & Care Rite Cleaning Specialists) I also know that sucess is an ongoing process
Reviews are big and I’ve had good sucess with Angie’s List this year. A good client posted a rave review after advice from Mark Kennedy to “get your company on there.” The customers from it are top notch
Sweet blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News. Do you have any suggestions on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Cheers.
John, I believe your predictions are right on. High ranking and taking the top 10 of Google has worked for me, with your good advice, training, and our efforts. (Hitman Advertizing and Care Rite Cleaning Specialists)
Continued success is an ongoing process.
I also think reviews will continue to help and after hereing Mark Kennedy recommend getting on Angie’s List, a good client posted a rave review. That lead to several jobs in which those customers then posted reviews. Angie’s List customers are top notch.
Google Adwords is kind of lumped into the general “Google” statement. Adwords is merely a way to pay to get listed in Google.
I predict the prices for Adwords ads will continue to increase.
Yahoo News? It’s mostly through press releases. Prweb is great, but expensive. Prlog is free, but doesn’t have as much traction.
John Braun
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