14 Fantastic Janitorial Marketing Ideas

Janitorial services are often considered a recession-proof business because everyone needs a little help keeping their commercial buildings clean. The only problem is that as times start to get worse, lots of people enter this industry because it’s pretty easy to vacuum a carpet or wipe of a counter. If you’re facing a high level of competition in your community for your janitorial business, then these marketing ideas will help you get noticed… and get hired.

The first stop on your marketing journey looks at how you are different than other janitorial providers in your community. The best way to set yourself apart from your competition isn’t to talk negatively about them, but to instead show how your skills are better and more diverse. When you can do this successfully, you’ll show people that you’re the local expert in janitorial matters and you’ll get hired in a heartbeat.

Top Janitorial Marketing Ideas

1. Hold an open house at your place of business with lots of snacks and samples. This will not only let you show off just how good your janitorial skills happen to be, but you’ll also get to pull people in to build relationships and have a good time. Use this time to give demonstrations of your skills to show why you’re better than any other provider.

2. Teach seminars within your community about how to improve their own janitorial needs and you’ll develop more of that reputation as the community expert in this industry. People don’t generally hire out janitors for their homes, but they do like to save time and money. Provide that for people for free and you’ll be the first call on the list when a professional janitor is required.

3. Be modern in your techniques and you’ll have businesses want to hire you because you’re on the forefront of the industry. Use your website to create promotions. Put yourself out on the social media landscape and offer exclusive discounts on work that comes from this engaging online medium. You’ll get a wider audience and when you cast a big enough net, you’re bound to catch some fish.

4. Make sure you’re writing a blog about the janitorial industry that provides people with additional value. Provide tips that will help them save money. Talk about the best practices of the industry that can help save people time. Even just write about the difference between a microfiber cloth and a regular cloth and you’ll help people.

5. Get out into the community because you can be the best janitor in the world and you’ll never be hired if people don’t know about you. It’s more than just putting a face to a name. It’s about establishing a particular brand identity that will help businesses recognize you first when they have a janitorial need in their building.

6. Offer discounts based on referrals, contract lengths, or other factors that your customers may find attractive. The nature of the janitorial industry is such that it is easy to switch from one provider to another without much guilt at all. By providing more value throughout the life of a contract and working to establish a good relationship with your customers, you’ll create long term success with your marketing efforts.

7. Volunteer in the community in some way, even if that means you’re providing janitorial services for free sometimes. A good name locally is the best marketing a janitorial professional can have and when people can see the results of your work consistently, they’ll want to send janitorial business your way when they might have some.

8. Leave promotional materials at any business that will allow you to do so, but take this marketing step within reason. If their business card board, for example, is back in the employee hallway and not accessible to customers, then you’re pretty much just wasting your marketing products. You might also wish to consider coming back to make sure your information is on top.

9. Sponsoring youth sports teams is a fantastic marketing investment because not only will the kids get to benefit, but their jerseys will bear your logo and branding on it. This walkable marketing will help form relationships with the parents of the teams that you sponsor, and the best part is that team sponsorships are usually only a couple hundred bucks or so in the average community.

10. Find your own niche that the community needs, like stripping and waxing a floor. Become the very best in this niche and you’ll always find work! From emergency cleanups to the daily targeted services at a hospital, office, or school, you’ll get your foot into the door by marketing to the niche… and then be able to market your other services as well.

11. Promote LEED certification through your cleaning methods and you’ll get an extra level of business that other agencies just can’t provide. When you use environmentally friendly disinfectants, tools, and other cleaning agents, your work can help a business get credits as they achieve LEED certification.

12. Stop by businesses and just ask to be added to their bidding list. There’s a good chance that there’s more than one business who is dissatisfied with the janitorial work that is being done. Get on the bidding list, form a relationship with that business, and you’ll be able to take over their contract sooner rather than later.

13. Always follow-up and talk about how you’d like to get your bid placed when there is a prospect that needs some janitorial work done. Don’t badger the prospect with calls every day, but do keep in touch so that you can make sure your bid gets the attention that it deserves.

14. Send a thank you note when you’re awarded a contract. Were you the lowest bidder? Probably, but good manners can take you a long way in a janitorial relationship. This way you’ll make sure each new contract has a positive beginning and that can prevent contracts from prematurely ending.