My 2013 Cleaner Advertising Predictions

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).

www.Hitmanadvertising.com/coaching

 

Stay Busy in Slow Times

Plan your advertising for winter now.

Start by THOROUGHLY going over the winter marketing plan.  This will be a good plan to go by and I’ll be training you and giving ads on each one of these items in the plan.

It’s FREE.  Just click on the report image below.

Click here to download the report

Click Here to Download Now

Check it out.  Make sure you start planning your January NOW.  Download
the Winter Marketing Plan now.

Here’s the webinar replay of the winter marketing plan:

www.Hitmanadvertising.com/wintermarketing

 

(Replay) Stay Busy in the Slow Season

January is days away.

Did you plan your marketing for your cleaning biz yet?

If you missed this webinar the other night you need to get on
this replay now.

This is the real deal stuff that cleaners can use to keep busy
all year year long!

Here’s your exclusive access to the replay of the “Winter
Marketing” webinar to end the slow season.

https://www.hitmanadvertising.com/wintermarketing

Make sure you watch it now, because we will be removing the
video soon.

Until later,

John Braun
Ad Hitman

P.S.  If nothing else, watch at least the first few minutes.
I lay out the biggest advertising secret there is.

https://www.hitmanadvertising.com/wintermarketing

Winter Marketing Webinar

Many cleaners fear the winter season.

But not you, because I’m giving you a heads up.

I’m hosting a FREE training webinar TONIGHT…

Reserve your spot NOW at the link below.

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/348991018

5pm pacific | 6pm mountain | 7pm central | 8pm eastern

On this 60-minute, HIGH-CONTENT Webinar, you will discover:

* The complete marketing plan to keep you busy all winter

* Internet tricks to get you clients very inexpensively

* Tips to get your current clients calling you next month

* Much, Much, More!

This will be good stuff! It’s 100% free but you MUST register.

See you on the webinar,

John Braun
Ad Hitman

2012 Winter Marketing Plan Report

I just put out my newly updated 2012 Winter Marketing Plan.

It’s FREE.  Just click on the report icon below.

Click here to download the report

Click Here to Download Now

Check it out.  Make sure you start planning your January NOW.  Download
the Winter Marketing Plan now.

Tuesday night, I’m holding a special webinar.  It’s all about staying busy in winter.

Click below to register NOW for the winter marketing webinar.

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/348991018

It’s FREE.  So sign up and get some new strategies to keep busy in winter.

Take Your Prospects From Offline to Online

Below is an article I recently wrote for ICS Magazine.  Click here to connect with me on ICS’s Clean Restore and Connect.

One key advertising principle is that the more means of response you give, the better your response rate. Knowing this, it makes perfect sense to include your website along with your phone number in all of your advertising. So let’s explore some creative ways to boost the possibility that prospects will go to your website after seeing your offline ad.

Another huge reason you want prospects to go to your website after they see or hear your offline ad: You want them to complete the sales process. Don’t leave them hanging.

What happens when a red-hot prospect reads your direct mail piece after business hours? They know your office is closed, so they probably won’t try to call. Instead, they may save your ad or jot down your phone number with the intention of calling you the next day. But how many times does a prospect intend on calling you and then lose your number? This happens more than you think. Don’t allow them to forget you. By giving your website as a secondary means of response, you are allowing your prospect to finish what they started and buy from you.

Here are some other occasions when your prospect will be more inclined to go to your website:

  • When she’s at work: Suppose your prospect sees your ad while at work. She can’t call you because the boss will hear the conversation. But she may be able to check out your website on her smart phone or office computer.
  • When she is out and about: Whether shopping, driving or working out at the gym, your prospect could hear about your company, but not be available for a phone conversation.
  • If she’s not ready to talk yet: Perhaps the baby is taking a nap. Or maybe your prospect is worried you may strong-arm your way into giving an in-home estimate? Sometimes your prospect wants more information as a “soft” introduction to your business.

Simply adding your domain name to your ad may help a little. But what can you do to really entice prospects to go to your website? In your ad, you must give them a reason why they should leave the media they are currently using and go online to see your company. You have to give them a good reason:

  • Contests: Facebook contests and contests that have to be registered for online will drive traffic to your website. Give away a free $500 cleaning certificate to the winner.
  • Booklets and reports: Mention that your website has a free information booklet or report. Once, we did a newspaper campaign that mentioned a free “pet stain removal” report on our website.
  • Coupons and certificates: Give away coupons or gift certificates, but require your prospect to go to your website to get the giveaway. One tactic that worked nicely was to give away a free $25 gift certificate for cleaning that was only earned by going to our website.
  • Videos: If you have a video that teaches, gives lots of detailed information or offers immense value, use this as a tool to pull prospects to your website. One example would be a video that demonstrates how homeowners can easily remove pet stain accidents on their own.
  • Specific tips: If your site or blog has specific tips on what a prospect should do in a particular situation, call them to your site. To help homeowners hire the best water damage restoration contractor, we’ve offered five specific tips on choosing the right water damage company.
  • More information: If your ad is compelling, but short, close the ad with a statement that says, “To see more about this XYZ subject, visit www.yourwebsite.com.” This works very well in newspaper, postcards and other short form print media.
  • Secondary means of contact: Give your website as a secondary way to contact you. But to do this, you must have a contact form on your site that prospects can easily use. In addition, it’s a good idea to put links and banners up throughout your website that say, “Contact us now.” Make it easy for them to see the contact form. Don’t hide it. Mention your contact form and link to it throughout your site.
  • QR codes: Have you ever seen those funny looking square barcodes that people scan with their smart phones? That’s a QR code. You can get a QR code that instantly directs people to your website upon scanning. Get a free QR code at http://beqrious.com/qr-code-generator. Then, add the QR code to your ads and brochures. This works especially well when your prospect is out and about.
QR codes are starting to become a great way to get cleaning clients to go directly to your website.

It’s all about continuing the conversation. If your ad has the prospect interested, don’t allow the conversation to be over just because it’s late at night or the baby is asleep. Keep going. But you must give them a good reason why they should keep going. After all, we’re talking about your business here. You want to do everything you can to keep prospects interested until they book an appointment and give you money. Nothing else matters.

And by all means, make sure your website delivers. Don’t tell them you’ve got a great report on pet stain removal and then hide the report on a lonely, poorly traveled page of your site. Make sure your site is designed so whatever you promise in your ad is easily found. If your prospect has to go to one of the inner pages of your site to find whatever you promised, frustration sets in and you could lose the prospect.

By the way, another huge benefit to getting more visitors on your site is the potential increased ranking in the search engines. With search engines (especially Google), more website traffic means your site has more credibility. More credibility can mean higher search rankings.

Start using these techniques to improve your ad conversions. Just small additions to your ad and website can mean huge increases in your response.