Clean It Up

UK Floor Cleaning Forum => Carpet Cleaning Forum => Topic started by: Robin Ray on November 02, 2015, 08:55:51 am

Title: Marketing
Post by: Robin Ray on November 02, 2015, 08:55:51 am
If you could only use one form of marketing what would it be?

I will start off with Local add magazines. They seem to work well for me. Having said that they do work alot better when I use them in conjunction with other methods.
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Simon Gerrard on November 02, 2015, 11:30:09 am
Robin,
If you ask the same question in The Carpet Cleaners Lounge, I'll give you a comprehensive answer.  ;)

Simon
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: dan paton on November 02, 2015, 11:53:40 am
There's nothing like a good old fashioned advert is there  :)
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Simon Gerrard on November 02, 2015, 11:57:41 am
Actually, it is not an advert. It is a free on-going support service for people who have bought my manual, Robin being one of them.
Here's the advert though😃
http://www.restormate.co.uk/epages/15094.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/15094/Products/0058
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Steve Chapman on November 02, 2015, 03:18:33 pm
Internet marketing should be where you're investing your time & money...

If you like it or not thats where nearly everyone is spending their time so why wouldnt you join them .......

Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: derek west on November 02, 2015, 03:39:06 pm
I actually only do one form of advertising.
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Mike Halliday on November 02, 2015, 04:34:15 pm
I use wild dogs with a hand written note tied to their tails........ Brings in tons of work!!

Hope  you find this answer as informative & helpful as the other replies :)
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Mike Halliday on November 02, 2015, 04:44:20 pm
If you could only use one form of marketing what would it be?

I will start off with Local add magazines. They seem to work well for me. Having said that they do work alot better when I use them in conjunction with other methods.

Robin how do these prices compare to what you pay? Although this is a parish magazine with only 5k distribution

(http://www.cleanitup.co.uk/smf/1446482575_image.jpg)
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Robin Ray on November 02, 2015, 05:03:18 pm
That's Cheap Mike.  Mine range from twice that to around the same.

I actually only do one form of advertising.

Whats your single form of marketing Derek?
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Simon Gerrard on November 02, 2015, 06:05:38 pm
Now that I have answered the original question personally, I'll  propose a more generalised version.

Here's a marketing method that you can't buy, but costs nothing, it's self perpetuating and requires no input from you.
Repeats and Recommendations.
It is easy to see the job as the be all and end all, but actually it is only part of it. What a lot of people don't realise is that WE, our business as an entity and ourselves the service provider, are in our own right a marketing machine. If we provide people with a first class service (first class being a journey and never a destination) that starts with the first contact and ends when saying goodbye at the end of the job, then your customer's will be more than happy to share their experience with you on Facebook, tell their family and friends and offer your name up whenever the subject of carpet cleaning comes up at work - in other words, they become a marketing wing of your business and all without you having to do  anything or spend a single dime.
So if you want this wonderful form of free marketing in your business, work really hard on every aspect of your service and your diary will become more and more populated by repeats and recommendations and your advertising budget will keep going down and profits will go up.


Simon
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Shaun_Ashmore on November 02, 2015, 06:20:26 pm
Derek don't you do database?

Shaun
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: derek west on November 02, 2015, 06:42:03 pm
That's Cheap Mike.  Mine range from twice that to around the same.

I actually only do one form of advertising.

Whats your single form of marketing Derek?

You'll have to buy the book Robin,  £119. Cheap compared to others.  ;D

only joking, all internet mate.
tried magazines but they are a bit hit and miss, cant get my head round leaflets all though they do work, i got a job from someone elses  ;D.
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: COLIN BRIGHT on November 02, 2015, 08:25:33 pm
do cleaning really, really, really cheap and you wont need to advertise, all the peasants that you could wish for will be beating a path to your door
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Hilton on November 02, 2015, 09:02:20 pm
Simon
Really enjoyed reading that, I hope people take notice.
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Kev Loomes on November 03, 2015, 07:22:32 pm
Agree, well said Simon.
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Simon Gerrard on November 03, 2015, 08:17:23 pm
Thanks, chaps.
It's only common sense really, why spend fortunes on advertising when you don't need to.

Simon
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Sam Glasgow on November 04, 2015, 05:05:01 pm
Internet marketing all the way. Just get somebody who knows what they're doing, and don't just rely on paid ads.
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: maxcampbell on November 04, 2015, 05:35:14 pm
Parish mags.

Still bringing in a third of our new work, and conversion rate probably 80% +, because they carry that trust factor.
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Ian Harper on November 05, 2015, 08:16:30 am
have you guys know about the BuzzFeed way of doing things?

its a concept that at its heart is about distributed  information away from a main site that uses viral trends to get it read.

Dan Kennedy calls this entering the conversation that's already going on. so when anything goes viral be it a news story, video, meme if you jump on the band wagon you get some of the viral juice. as I said it does not have to be placed on a central site.

this system works as buzzfeed is very successfully

http://webtrends.about.com/od/pr6/tp/Viral-Websites-Trends.htm   check out bottom of the page "related articles"

so how does this work? at its simplest traffic, but its much more that that buzzfeed makes money. just got to work that part out as its distributed thats the cleaver part

 edit: just found this one trending on reddit http://imgur.com/Ftp4QEl
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Mike Halliday on November 05, 2015, 05:36:28 pm
Ian  as I see it...... the problem With tagging onto other trending stories is you are hoping people who need a carpet cleaner stumble across your site while reading other articles,   Why not aim for people who are actually looking for a carpet cleaner.

I could  tag onto a story about Justin Beaver having a sex change  but  the readership of  that story will only have a very small market for our services.

Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Carpet Dawg on November 05, 2015, 09:41:39 pm
Sounds like a complete waste of time Ian.  ???

A funny viral video/meme/story about carpet cleaning will be read by loads of random people (if its successful) from all over the world and the bulk will be between the ages of 12 - 18.

If you want to spread your brand in your LOCAL service area just put up posters in your town, do a huge leaflet campaign, do adworlds, sponsor local events, get a signed van etc.

You really over complicate things Ian. How do the rest of us survive in the carpet cleaning business when we don't do 90% of the things you suggest.   ;D
Title: Re: Marketing
Post by: Shaun_Ashmore on November 05, 2015, 10:43:48 pm
Unless you are doing it for views?

I must admit you do go off on tangents, if you look at successful people in our industry or similar industries you can see that they do things that work and you can focus your time and channel yourself into a better profit.

Shaun