Mobile marketing is one of the most effective strategies to gain leads and customers. This strategy can boost your window cleaning service’s revenue when done right.
Why should you consider a mobile marketing strategy? First, let’s look at the data:
- 85%% of Americans have a smartphone, and 97% own a cellphone. (Pew Research Center)
- 15% of American adults are “smartphone-only” internet users – they own a smartphone but do not have traditional home broadband service. (Pew Research Center)
- There are more searches via mobile devices (64%) than on the desktop (35%). (Sistrix)
- Mobile advertising spending reached 223 billion US dollars worldwide in 2020. Statista forecasts this figure will surpass 339 billion by 2023.
- Mobile advertising spending will amount to nearly 413 billion by 2024. (Statista)
- Over 60% of all digital ad funds are devoted to mobile. (Statista)
The statistics prove that you must invest in mobile marketing right now. However, you cannot have an effective mobile marketing strategy without understanding how your potential customers use their phones to find window cleaning services. Most of them use their smartphones to search for businesses nearby on Google Maps or Google Search. Therefore, the first step when planning a mobile marketing strategy for your window cleaning service is creating a Google Business Profile.
Create a Google Business Profile
Creating a Google Business Profile will enable you to manage your business’s listing on Google Maps and Search. You can personalize your profile with photos, logos, and essential business information like address, phone number, operating hours, COVID-19 health and safety measures, areas you serve, special offers, updates, Q&As, etc.
Customers who see your Google Business Profile can choose to visit you in-store or call you without leaving Maps or Search. Therefore, it would be best to keep your profile fresh and up to date: list your services and add updates like blog posts, events, and other company news.
Not many businesses do it, but showing your services with online quotes will save you a lot of time while providing customers with the essential info they need to choose you.
With your Google Business Profile, you can activate a messaging feature that will allow you to communicate directly with your customers: send or receive direct messages, and create automated responses when busy.
A Google Business Profile is essential for location-based mobile marketing. For example, when customers search for window cleaning services, they are likely to choose a company that serves their area and is close to their residence or business.
Prepare Your Site for Mobile-first Indexing
Mobile-first indexing is Google’s preferred method to index and rank sites. While Google used the desktop version of a website’s content in the past, today, the search engine will use the mobile version for indexing and ranking.
Respect Google’s best practices for mobile-first indexing to avoid penalties and deliver a good user experience:
- Make sure the Googlebot can access and render your content.
- Have structured data on both site versions (desktop and mobile) and use correct URLs.
- Follow the Better Ads Standard when displaying advertisements on your site.
- Respect Google’s recommended image and video best practices.
- Check your search console for mobile-first indexing issues that may cause a drop in ranking. Google has detailed troubleshooting guidelines for such instances.
Voice Search Optimization
A mobile marketing strategy is not complete without voice search optimization.
- In 2020, 128.0 million people in the USA used a voice assistant, up 11.1% from 115.2 million in 2019 –this represents 44.2% of internet users and 38.5% of the total population. (eMarketer)
- Seven out of ten consumers – 71% – prefer to use voice search instead of typing. (PWC)
- The smart speaker ownership rate amounted to 32% in the USA in 2021. (Statista)
- 52% of consumers use voice search while driving. (Social Media Today)
The numbers strongly suggest that optimizing for voice search should be a priority for any business.
Text Message Marketing
Messages sent on mobile are today richer than just text: you can include multimedia – images, video, links, and more. SMS/MMS have a high opening rate.
- 75% of consumers are comfortable receiving messages from brands via SMS/MMS if opt-in/opt-out options are in place. (Digital Marketing Magazine)
- 83% of millennials would rather text message your business than call a customer service helpline. (OpenMarket)
- SMS open and response rates rank between 98%-45% — in contrast to email opening and response rates that linger at a low 20% – 6%. (Gartner)
You can either use peer-to-peer SMS or mass text messaging.
Peer-to-peer is time-consuming, and it only works if you already have an ongoing relationship with your customer. You should use this method to communicate specific messages — for example, when you have questions about the type of window cleaning services your client requested or you want to offer them a discount or a courtesy service.
SMS Platforms for Window Cleaning Businesses
For generic SMS/MMS, you can use a bulk service, provided that you have a list of potential clients who opted in to receive updates from your company.
MaidCentral is an excellent SMS app for residential cleaning services. It has a suite of tools that enable you to:
- automate your outbound marketing with SMS;
- send out SMS messages to all of your team members;
- read and reply to all of your customer texts;
- save clients’ SMSes to keep track of their requests and preferences;
However, if you are a small business, $450 per month is a bit steep. Other services offer similar functionality at a fraction of the cost.
Housecall Pro offers window cleaning business solutions that include sending custom texts and auto-notifications. But the software will also allow you to manage scheduling, job management, invoicing, etc. Their basic plan is only $49 per month.
Jobber‘s window cleaning business app is even more affordable than Housecall Pro: it is now only $30 per month, but the discount is unlikely to last. The software offers all the right tools to manage your business, including sending emails and text messages without leaving the app. You can use Jobber to:
- schedule recurring or one-off jobs;
- assign team members and track their hours;
- use the GPS to optimize routes to save fuel and increase efficiency;
- manage your cash flow and get paid faster;
- track every client and job detail in one easy-to-use CRM.
For mass texting, you can use a service like EZ Texting or SlickText. Both are very affordable and offer excellent features, including 1:1 texting, bulk SMS, bulk MMS, text marketing campaigns, etc.
Whatever mobile marketing strategy you choose for your window cleaning business, remember to deliver content that serves a purpose and gives your clients the answers they need.