Borrow your strategy from the retail industry: Start getting your cleaning business ready for the holidays now!
As a cleaning company owner, you have a lot of responsibilities. So finding time for extra tasks, like special marketing campaigns, can be tricky. And once the hustle and bustle of the holidays begin, planning a complex holiday campaign can feel impossible.
There’s a reason stores put out their holiday decor in September: Many people already feel festive. And while you may not be ready for mistletoe until after Thanksgiving, you can borrow their strategy. The earlier you make a plan for the holiday season, the better.
That’s why we’re talking about the winter holidays, with Halloween still weeks away. So we put together a quick and easy guide to prepping your cleaning company for the holiday season. Get your plans in place now, and execution will be easy and smooth once the snow starts to fall.
Plan your holiday marketing language.
Every good campaign starts with a good tagline or slogan. Then, using consistent language, you can tie your market materials together and create cohesive messages across all channels.
You have a lot of freedom and flexibility when choosing your tagline. You can choose something cute and festive, such as, “Hire your merry little elves.” Or you can go for straightforward and traditional, such as, “Reduce holiday stress by hiring ABC Cleaning Company.” Make sure you pick something that matches your brand and isn’t confusing. It’s easy to err on being too clever and lose the point of the message. When in doubt, “clear” is more important than “clever.”
Decide which special offers—if any—you plan to promote.
You can choose from various specials or sales for your cleaning company. Here are a few ideas:
- 10% off your first cleaning if you book before New Year’s.
- 25% off gift cards.
- Drop off a free poinsettia if anyone books you to clean before a holiday party.
- 15% discount for anyone who refers a new customer.
You might even go nuts with a “Twelve Days of Christmas” theme and offer a different promo each day. Of course, this takes quite a bit of coordination, but it can be fun!
Another idea, if you’re feeling ambitious, is to collaborate with another local business. For example, if someone in your area owns a company that hangs Christmas lights, talk to them about teaming up. You could offer a two-for-one deal: “Prep your home for the holidays, inside and outside!”
Don’t forget to review your past campaigns and see which offers were most successful. There’s nothing wrong with recycling a successful idea! With a few tweaks, no one will even notice.
Plan out your holiday marketing schedule.
Grab your calendar and figure out your timeline. Decide when you’ll announce your campaign and launch your webpage. Then plot out how many emails you’ll send and when. You may have stumbled upon the secret to success.
Don’t forget to note when to add these specials to your cleaning company software!
Depending on what marketing tools you use, you may be able to schedule all your posts and emails in advance. This can save you a lot of time when things get busy. Your campaign will run itself in the background, and you can reap the benefits.
Make a list of the elements you need—and figure out who will make them.
Once you’ve mapped your calendar, you’ll know how many emails and posts you need. Because you planned, you have time to get them all made and written. Of course, you might like doing them yourself. But you might consider outsourcing or delegating them. Explore your options and see what works best for you. The goal is to have the complete package ready by Day 1 of your campaign.
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With some planning, you can run a highly successful holiday campaign—without the extra stress. Block off a little time to prep your strategy now, and you’ll have more to celebrate come New Year’s.