Let’s imagine for a moment what 2010 will bring. Hopefully you’ve set aside some time in the next couple weeks to create an advertising plan for the coming year. To create the plan, you surely need to consider trends in media.
Let’s take an educated guess at what may be your best advertising bets.
The Internet
Google, especially, will see more homeowners searching for cleaning companies. In some cities, several thousand people every month look to Google to find a carpet cleaner. The number of Google searches far exceeds any other online search (including yellowpages.com) and rivals the Yellow Pages.
Online social media
Social media will continue to bring more clients to those who use it properly. The social media phenomenon has taken off. Cleaning companies who make themselves available online will reap the benefits of new clients at little cost. Some examples include Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Merchantcircle, Hot Frog and Ning.
Direct mail
A.k.a. snail mail, this will be an overlooked opportunity. Due to the rising costs of postage and printing, many business owners will cut spending in direct mail. This will present you with a huge opportunity. Mailing postcards, newsletters, and sales letters to your clients will be the most important thing you can do next year.
Email newsletters
They will begin to get lost in the shuffle. Email newsletters will be super cheap to send. But more and more business owners will catch on to using them, therefore making your email easy to overlook. Because of the low cost it will be a great idea to use email newsletters, but by don’t depend on them as a main source of communication to your beloved clients.
Yellow Page Directories
These will continue to lose market share. Most cleaning company owners are shifting a portion of their former yellow page budget to the Internet. A portion of your ad dollars may be better spent on search engine optimization or building a better website. Sure, Yellow Pages will still work for some companies, but the return on investment has decreased for most companies across the U.S. If you use Yellow Pages, you’ll need a very creative ad that sells.
Newspapers
Newspapers will remain steady. This media has declined over the past few years, but it still has potential to be a great advertising opportunity for cleaners. In some communities, it may work better than others. Many homeowners over age 50 will continue to use the newspaper as their primary news source.
Outdoor billboard advertising
This will be another overlooked opportunity. However, billboards only work in certain conditions. Rug cleaning companies with a physical location for rug drop-offs may benefit greatly from billboards. In addition, companies with large advertising budgets who can afford several billboards, along with an additional advertising media like radio or newspaper, can win big.
Here’s how you should make your plan:
- Write all the benefits you want to communicate
- Write all the features you want to communicate
- Narrow your ideas down to the biggest benefit
- Choose the best media to communicate the big benefit to your prospect
Consider your advertising media carefully before creating an ad plan or choosing a specific media. Take the time now to avoid wasting money on advertising next year.
