Carpet Cleaning Marketing: 15 Ideas & Strategies to Know

Carpet Cleaning Marketing Ideas for Your Business

As you go through the list below, you’ll discover that most marketing ideas fall under digital marketing.

This should come as no surprise. Why?

Well, most customers start their search for a service business online. Per a recent Brightlocal survey, 98% of consumers used the internet to evaluate local service businesses in 2022.

Nevertheless, traditional advertising strategies can still help generate leads, so we also included a healthy selection.

We advise you to use both for maximum impact.

Here’s a brief rundown of the different marketing strategies we’ll cover:

Now, let’s go deeper into each one.

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1. Invest in local SEO

Local SEO is a strategy that ensures your carpet cleaning website shows up whenever a customer searches for carpet cleaning services on search engines.

For example, if you search for “professional carpet cleaning services” from your workplace in El Paso, Google will only show you carpet companies around El Paso.

But you’ll only see Dallas-based carpet cleaning companies if you execute the same search query from your home in Dallas.

The leads generated by local SEO are almost always guaranteed to convert since people prefer hiring a service company in their neighborhood for two reasons.

Firstly, proximity increases the chances of a local service company responding quickly. Secondly, people have more trust in local businesses since they know the employees and live with them in the same community.

So, how do you implement local SEO?

Set up your GBP (Google Business Profile)

A Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is a platform that lets businesses control how their information is displayed on the Google search engine, Google Shopping, and Google Maps.

After creating your GBP, ensure it's up to date by adding the following details:

• Your business name without additional keywords (to avoid getting penalized by Google)

• A brief description of what you do

• Your local phone number

• Your hours of operation

• A variety of images and videos

This ensures Google features you in the map pack.

A map pack is a set of three businesses that appear at the top of search engine result pages for local searches. Here’s an example:

To be part of Google's map pack, you must optimize your GBP by:

• Filling it up with positive client reviews (we'll explain how to do this later).

• Ensuring your name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across the web.

• Building citations (mentions of your business on other websites and social media pages).

• Create service pages for specific locations

A contractor's website can have different service pages for different locations.

This can increase conversions since visitors are more likely to use your company when they discover you operate in their area.

So, how can you uncover these location-based keywords for building service pages?

1. Google autocomplete and related searches

Before doing this, log out of your Google account, use a VPN, or browse with Google's incognito mode to eliminate bias from your search history.

Then, type in your keyword and wait for the predictions.

1. Check the section beneath "see more"

Location-based keywords also appear at the bottom of local service search pages.

Here's an example:

1. Use Google Keyword Planner

Log into your Google Keyword Planner account, enter your target keyword, and wait as the software generates a list of similar keywords.

After getting the right location-based keywords, use them as your website's header and strategically across the copy. Optimize every service page or location-focused website for only one keyword.

2. Get your business on listings

Home service listing directories appear at the top of search engine result pages (SERPs) for keywords related to carpet cleaning services. This makes it vital to include your business in home service directory listings like Houzz, Angi (formerly Angie’s List), Yelp, and HomeAdvisor.

Important note, however: Search engines like Google use the name, address, and phone number (NAP) across all listings to verify your company’s integrity and determine your ranking.

So, keep a consistent NAP across all listings to boost your rankings on local SERPS.

To verify if your NAP listings are consistent, use tools like:

• Semrush's listing management tool

• Moz’s local listing software

3. Encourage more reviews

Successful home service businesses prioritize customer reviews for two good reasons.

Firstly, customers rely on reviews when picking a local home service business. 98% of customers read local business online reviews.

Secondly, Google uses the number and quality of reviews as a key ranking factor for their local map pack.

Read more about other key Google local search ranking factors.

To encourage customers to leave high-quality reviews, consider doing the following:

• Urge technicians to request a review when they finish the job.

In the words of ServiceTitan Strategic Project Manager Heather Donaldson, this works because "[the] homeowner already has a relationship with that technician." 

"They're going to want to help them out," she adds.

• Drop a postcard with a step-by-step tutorial customers can use to learn how to leave reviews.

• Remind customers to leave reviews via emails or when you send over their invoices. 65% of consumers say they’ve left reviews after the business requested.

Despite your best efforts, customers may still leave negative reviews. Don’t ignore them since most customers prefer using a company that responds to negative and positive reviews.

You can set up an auto-response to let the customer know you’ve seen it and are working to resolve their complaint. Then, move the conversation offline so competitors don’t take advantage of your slip-up.

Doing all the above is easy when reviews are in their tens or hundreds. But once the number of reviews crosses the thousands, review management becomes tasking.

Fortunately, ServiceTitan’s Review Management tool makes requesting, responding to, and managing online reviews easy.

With it, you can set up automated customer review requests, activated immediately after a tech concludes a job.

This spares techs the burden of requesting reviews and ensures customers leave genuine and credible reviews with the experience still fresh in their minds.

Also, Reputation Management’s easy-to-use dashboard consolidates reviews from various digital platforms into one central hub.

This ensures you respond to each online customer complaint, which boosts your online reputation.

4. Leverage the power of email marketing

Email marketing involves delivering promotional and educational materials to your target audience via electronic mail.

Because emails are a personal and intimate space, email marketing fosters an emotional connection with leads, which helps convert them into customers.

However, email inboxes these days are always cluttered. The average office worker gets 121 emails daily, a large percentage of which end up in their trash or spam folders.

To avoid a similar fate, consider doing the following:

• Use catchy subject lines.

• Send customers emails that resonate with their needs.

• Always offer value—useful tips, service discounts, etc.

• Optimize your email design for mobile devices.

• Review your email campaign’s performance and make improvements.

We must stress the importance of sending emails relevant to the needs of each customer. Doing so improves open rates and generates conversions.

For example, Megan Bedford of Mugyver Consulting helped a client achieve the following after segmenting their customer base and sending hyper-relevant emails:

• 50 inbound calls from a campaign targeting customers with unfilled estimates

• 38 inbound calls from a campaign targeting customers with expiring memberships

• 36 inbound calls from a campaign targeting customers in need of boiler tuneups.

Knowing the importance of sending hyper-relevant emails, we created the Marketing Pro platform.

With it, you can segment your customer base using data stored in ServiceTitan and then send hyper-targeted emails.

For example, you could send emails promoting a percentage discount to customers whose memberships are near expiration.

Marketing Pro also has several pre-built templates for designing emails. Just upload your postcard, add your email copy, and customize the template to fit your company’s brand by adding branding elements like your carpet company’s color and logo.

This saves you the expense of hiring email designers and eliminates the need to spend money on design and email marketing platforms.

Lastly, to tie it all together, ServiceTitan's Marketing Pro gives you a detailed report on your email’s performance.

These analytics help you constantly tweak and improve your emails for better open rates and engagement.

5. Create content for social media

These days, no business, including carpet cleaning companies, can afford to stay off social media.

Why? Look at the numbers:

• 90% of the US uses social media platforms.

• 52% of consumers consult social media platforms before choosing a local business.

That’s why many carpet cleaners fully leverage social media marketing to educate consumers, generate awareness, and drive website traffic.

For example, Mountain Rig Cleaning maintains a strong online presence with a TikTok account with over 2 million followers and 50 million likes.

One of their TikTok videos, showcasing their carpet cleaning process, has garnered an impressive 970 thousand likes, 9 thousand comments, and 6 thousand shares as of the last count.

This grows the company’s brand visibility and proves its credibility.

To be active on social media, create a posting calendar and fill it with educational, promotional, and engaging content such as:

• Case studies

• Flash discounts

• Behind the scenes

• Do-it-yourself (DIY) tutorials

• Customer video testimonials

6. Use local service ads

Local service ads (LSAs) are paid ads that empower customers to call or message local businesses directly from SERPS.

They typically appear at the very top of the search results, alongside company details like hours of operation, name, ratings, phone number, city, and reviews.

LSAs usually have high conversion rates since Google selectively displays them only to customers searching with buyer-intent keywords.

Knowing the ability of LSAs to drive conversions, we created the Local Service Ad integration.

With the integration, customers can book jobs directly from your LSAs, which immediately populate into ServiceTitan alongside their data.

This way, you don't need to manually copy customer information from your ad, which reduces errors and data redundancy.

7. Print flyers

Flyers are printed papers incorporating compelling marketing copy and visually appealing design.

They are cost-effective, costing little to create, print, and distribute.

Flyers are also great for reaching people who don’t use the internet.

Your flyer should include:

• A catchy headline: Decide what you want customers to get from reading the flyer. Then, use that information to craft a concise headline.

• Compelling body copy: Explain why you're in the best position to fulfill your promise. Like the headline, keep it short.

• Attractive design: Add images and graphics that catch people’s attention.

• Contact information: Include your phone number, social and website links, and office address.

• A compelling call to action (CTA): Prompt people to take action relevant to your business's goals.

For maximum reach, place your flyers in places your target audience frequents. Examples include restaurants, grocery stores, barber shops, and local businesses across your service area.

You could also share the digital version of your flyer online.

8. Reach your audience with direct mail

Direct mail is a marketing strategy that involves sending marketing materials directly to the mailboxes of homeowners or businesses. 

People tend to overlook direct mail, assuming it’s old-fashioned and that tracking its ROI is impossible. However, that’s not accurate.

Temple University and the United States Postal Service recently compared digital ads against direct mail. They found that:

• Direct mail has a greater ad recall

• People connect more emotionally with direct mail than with digital ads

• People process direct mail information faster than digital ads

• Direct mail elicits a subconscious value and desire for the product or service

This discovery aligns with the belief of Guy Fashano, MSI Mailing Systems sales manager.

“It's physical, personal, and every piece that you send is going to get touched and recognized at some level,” he says.

To be fair, direct mail may take time to yield results. But as Fashano points out, “Once you start pumping, it'll keep performing for you as long as you keep investing in it.”

To increase the effectiveness of your direct mail campaigns, tailor the content to the recipient's need, so your mail doesn’t get trashed.

You can achieve such personalization using ServiceTitan’s Marketing Direct Mail platform, which lets you build audience lists using customer data stored in ServiceTitan.

For example, you can create an audience of people with expiring carpet care memberships and send them 10% discounts for new contracts.

ServiceTitan’s Marketing Direct Mail platform lets you design and print your direct mail. Simply upload your postcard, add your copy, and launch the campaign. 

We only charge you for the mail you send instead of using minimum print runs, which costs a lot.

Best of all, you can track the deliverability and ROI of each mail using ServiceTitan's performance analysis report.

This helps you maximize your marketing budget and boost lead generation.

9. Leverage PPC advertising

PPC (pay-per-click) advertising is a form of online marketing where advertisers pay whenever a prospect clicks on their ads.

PPC ads appear on websites, SERPs, social media platforms, online marketplaces like Amazon, and so on.

The most popular form of PPC is Google PPC, which allows advertisers to participate in digital auctions to secure positions in the ad section of relevant SERPs.

At the end of the digital auction, Google’s algorithm selects only four companies to include in the ad section of SERPs.

For example, if you search for the phrase “carpet cleaning Boston” on Google, you get this:

PPC can be very cost-effective when properly optimized. 

For example, say you're paying $3 per click for a PPC ad that brings in new business worth $300. That's a huge return on investment.

How do you create effective PPC ads?

Bid only on keywords related to your business. Pair your ads with a landing page with compelling copy, and always measure and iterate.

You can track and measure the performance of your campaigns with ServiceTitan's Home Services Marketing software.

Unlike traditional marketing tools that only tell you the number of calls your ad generates, ServiceTitan's marketing software ranks all your campaigns by revenue. This reveals which ads are truly performing.

You can also create and assign unique phone numbers to each marketing campaign.

This allows ServiceTitan to track every call, match it with its campaign source, and display the ROI in real-time.

Watch this video to learn more about connecting your PPC campaigns to ServiceTitan and take full advantage of the features above.

10. Advertise your business on social media

Social media advertising is a strategy where business owners pay to promote their products or services on social media.

These days, advertising on social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn has become the norm for many businesses.

In a recent survey, Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) said they plan to increase their social media budgets over the next year and five years into the future.

The reason isn’t far-fetched.

People spend almost 3 hours on social media channels every day. Plus, social media ads are comparatively inexpensive.

For example, one can pay as little as $0.13 per click for a campaign. Traditional advertising channels like television and radio charge almost double that.

To incorporate social media advertising into your carpet cleaning marketing plan, here’s what you need to do:

• Create a content calendar

• Take advantage of communities and groups

• Use hashtags

• Try out different content formats

• Measure and iterate

• Respond to every comment

11. Invest in improving the customer experience

The easiest way to retain and attract customers is to deliver quality service. 65% of customers believe a positive experience with a brand is more influential than great advertising.

Also, delighted customers are likelier to:

• Leave you a positive review, boosting your online reputation and credibility

• Recommend your services to friends, family, neighbors, and colleagues (word-of-mouth marketing). This is good news since customers buy based on the recommendations of people they know more than branded advertisements.

• Outspend new customers, which generates more revenue for your business.

To improve customer service, consider:

• Lowering response times: Don’t leave customers hanging when they call. Coach your CSRs to listen and respond quickly. Also, optimize job schedules so techs arrive on time.

• Displaying empathy: Show you understand the problems customers are facing. This is more important than trying to sell your services.

• Requesting and acting on customer feedback: Encourage customers to share feedback and ensure you act on them.

Another critical part of delivering excellent customer service is using tools to streamline processes and reduce customer frustrations.

That’s why you should consider using ServiceTitan's all-in-one Customer Experience software that enables carpet cleaning companies to text appointment reminders and technician bios to customers.

This way, customers start building a relationship with the tech before they show up.

Also, using GPS technology, ServiceTitan’s customer experience software empowers carpet cleaning companies to provide customers with the real-time location of techs assigned to resolve their challenges.

This ensures techs arrive on time and makes it convenient for homeowners at work to know when the tech arrives.

Regarding this feature, Rebecca Tenorio, Dispatcher and Client HAPPYness Representative for The Happy Outlet says, “It makes it so convenient to schedule afternoon appointments for our clients who need to leave work to meet us at their house. They appreciate being able to text and communicate with us.”

Note: Find out more about ways to improve customer service using ServiceTitan

12. Create a membership program

Membership programs are contractual agreements between you and the customer with guidelines for frequently cleaning their carpets within a set time frame.

Prospects can pick you over competitors when you have a membership program, as it ensures their carpets stay fresh and dirt-free, preventing build-up and extending their lifespan.

Memberships also foster closer relationships with your customers by creating the opportunity for regular customer interactions.

These regular customer interactions help build trust and understanding, turning the customer into unpaid brand ambassadors happy to recommend your services to friends and family.

When creating a membership program, outline the contract terms clearly. Lay out the renewal policy, the number of appointments per contract period, and the type of carpet cleaning services the contract covers.

You can also offer bonus cleanings, priority scheduling, discounts on additional services, or early access to promotions. But always ensure you’re remaining profitable.

13. Have the right CTAs and forms on your website

After driving a customer to your website, you have to nudge them to take action. Otherwise, they'll leave, never to return.

That's the job of a call to action (CTA).

CTAs are hyperlinked texts or clickable buttons that tell customers the next step to take.

Examples include:

• Schedule an appointment

• Get your 10% discount now

• Get a free quote today!

• Refresh your carpet for the holidays!

Now, what if the visitor doesn't take action immediately? How can you follow up with them later?

That's where forms come in handy. You can use them to grab data from website visitors, which you can use to run retargeting marketing campaigns (using ads to target users who've already visited your website or social media but didn’t convert into customers during the initial interaction.

To increase your form's effectiveness:

• Limit the fields

• Add an incentive like a free ebook so customers fill it out and give you their complete details

• Use eye-catching designs

• Keep it above the fold (the part of the web page before scrolling)

14. Consider radio advertising

Radio advertising is paying for ad spots on radio stations to promote your carpet cleaning services. It could be a live read, sponsorship, jingle, customer testimonial, etc.

A major reason for the effectiveness of radio ads is their targeting ability. You can find the genres, programs, and hosts your target market follows and schedule your radio ad to play within the same period.

Additionally, they are cheaper than print or TV ads and take less time to create.

When creating a radio ad, use music that people can recall easily. Also, ensure you use language that resonates with your target audience.

15. Ask for referrals

Referrals tend to generate massive sales since 40% of referred customers convert—more than any other channel.

So, you should always request customer referrals at different stages of the job cycle.

You can add something like, "We appreciate referrals! Refer a friend and get 50% off your next carpet cleaning!”  beneath your invoices, newsletter, website, and booking page.

Also, consider setting up a referral program that rewards customers with perks such as discounts and cashback for each referral.

Tips to Build a Better Carpet Cleaning Marketing Strategy

Every marketing strategy involves an element of risk. However, there are methods to increase the likelihood of success. 

Here are some tips to increase the likelihood of success:

1. Know your audience well.

Understanding your target audience is the first step to crafting a successful marketing strategy.

What are their challenges? What do they want in a carpet cleaning company?

For example, if you're targeting homeowners with young children, you can emphasize your company's commitment to using safe cleaning materials.

To research your audience:

• Perform surveys

• Analyze your competitors

• Monitor your audience on social media

• Interview your current customers

2. Set a budget

A marketing budget ensures you spend wisely, track your ROI, and prioritize marketing channels.

Before you set your budget, consider the cost associated with the marketing channel you want to use and the amount you spent in the past.

Also, allocate your funds strategically across online and offline marketing channels aligned with the target audience.

You can also test different marketing campaigns and channels to determine the most effective ones and be ready to reallocate funds based on their performance.

3. Define your goals

What are the results you want to achieve with your marketing plan?

Is it to build awareness? Generate leads? Or drive sales? Once you set a goal, creating a strategy to help you achieve it is easier.

Some tips for setting clear and achievable marketing goals include:

• Set clear, specific, measurable, and time-bound marketing goals.

• Ensure that your goals align with your business objectives.

• Regularly assess progress using analytics and metrics.

• Be prepared to adjust your strategy to achieve your goals effectively.

Now Over to You

Now, you can meet your business goals with the right marketing strategies.

But before you begin, research your audience, set a budget, and define your goals.

And to supercharge your marketing efforts, consider using carpet cleaning software like ServiceTitan.

ServiceTitan is a carpet cleaning business software that helps automate and streamline business processes. The cloud-based software can increase your company's profit by nearly 25% in only one year!