Connecting with new customers is hard. Ask most service business owners and they’ll tell you that generating job bookings is one of their biggest headaches. If it were easy then companies like Digitool would not exist.
In a post CV-19 world, there has never been more advertising and networking options available and yet finding new customers has never been harder for most cleaners and tradesmen.
To save you from wasting time, energy and money on duds I’m going to list the top 10 ways to find new customers for your service business in 2021!
1. Google Organic
Google is the number one place people go to find the things they want. In fact Google account for 92.47% of all searches done online. So it stands to reason that the people who want your services will look for them on Google too right?
There are a number of ways you can get your business included in Google search results. The cheapest and most available option is organically. This means that no ad spend is required. Use free tools like Search Console and Yoast to improve your websites organic ranking and show up in Google searches more often.
2. Google My Business
Google My Business is a business directory that is displayed on both Google Search and Google Maps. Once created a listing can showcase your services; photos; videos; and most importantly customer reviews.
Because a Google My Business listing is free to create and is fantastic at generating new enquires every home service business should have one..
If you already have a listing set-up and want to optimise its effectiveness in reaching local customers, Digitools Local SEO package may be of interest to you.
3. Facebook
Facebook is the granddaddy of social media sites has over 48.5 million users in the UK alone. For this reason its essential your business has its own presence on the platform. Creating a Facebook business page is totally free and will help local people searching for your services find you.
You can also run paid ads on Facebook to promote your services. That being said, this year Apple released a large privacy update on devices which blocks tracking pixels. This new update impacts how well Facebook can target your potential customers.
Because of this, 2021 has been a hard year for Facebook ads and so its best advised to seek professional help if you are a newbie on the platform.
4. Leaflets
I don’t think old-school leafleting campaigns will ever go out of fashion. Done right, they can still return fantastic results. I’d always recommend hiring a professional designer to create a leaflet thats going to grab the attention of whoever’s door its posted through. Couple that with an enticing offer and you’re sure to generate enquires.
5. Google Ads (formally Adwords)
Using Google Ads is one of the most effective ways your can generate new customers for your service business. The standout thing about Google Ads is that a correctly set-up account will only be serve ads to people who already want your service and just need to find a provider.
New customer enquiries should start to come through instantly and they’ll generally be high quality. The downside of Google Ads is that it is a hard platform to master and can easily burn your ad budget when not set-up correctly.
6. Social Proof
Your existing clients will always be able to sell your services far more effectively than you can. Thats because potential customers will trust the views and opinions of an independent third-party over those of a biased business owner.
This is something a lot of businesses fail to take advantage of. Use customer reviews to sell your services by including them in every piece of marketing you do. That can include social media posts, leaflets, business cards, websites, van sign-writing etc etc. Having trouble getting reviews from your customers? Check out this post.
7. Referrals
Similarly to the way social proof works, people that have been recommended your services by their family, friends or co-workers are almost guaranteed to become paying customers.
How do you get more referrals? The most important thing you can do is actively asking for them. A lot of businesses don’t like asking for referral’s because they say it feels uncomfortable.
If you feel the same way, try a lighter approach. Instead of directly asking your customers to recommend you to their friends or family, send them an email simply asking how likely they would be to recommend you. Whether they reply to your email or not is irrelevant, you’ve planted the seed.
8. Local Service Ads
Another Google product is Local Service Ads. They are a new platform thats recently been launched in the UK. It works differently from Google Ads because rather than competing with your competitors, Local Service Ads let you buy leads directly from Google for a set predetermined cost.
Sounds amazing right? Sadly no. Leads are cheap at the moment which is great, but because Google sets the price of a lead, we’re expecting them to get very expensive very quickly.
Local Service Ads have been out in the US for a few years now. As an example, when they were first released a carpet cleaning lead cost $8. Now that same lead is over $25. That being said this paid platform definitely has its benefits and while leads in the UK are cheap we’d recommend jumping on it.
9. Tiktok, Instagram & YouTube
Unlike Facebook, these platforms are focused on video content. One trend featuring heavily on the platforms in 2021 is ASMR videos. Check out this example.
ASMR triggers a subconscious reaction in people that creates feelings of deep relaxation. These uploads can get thousands of views nearly instantly. Because cleaning videos in particular lend themselves very well to ASMR, you could easily have a viral hit video and a ton of free publicity on your hands.
10. Lead Generation With Digitool
Yup. Here’s a shameless plug.
Well…not so shameless. Because in 2021 the Digitool team helped countless UK, US and Australian cleaning and trades businesses bounce back from lockdown by helping book their diaries full of paying customers. This year alone we’ve already generated over 15,000 sales leads.
We’re so confident in what we do that anyone who signs-up for lead generation with us gets a money-back guarantee. Not to mention our services are backed-up by a long list of industry specific case studies and five-star reviews. Get in touch today and find out more.
