Running a moving business is no easy task. Not only does it require a lot of physical labor if you’re one of the movers, but you need to constantly bring in new customers if you want to survive. Add on top of this likely competition in your local area, and you have a tough time ahead of you. That being said, if you can develop a strong marketing strategy, running a moving business becomes a lot easier. Customers will continue to find your service, allowing you to focus on helping people move and growing your business rather than spending all your time trying to find new clients.
Luckily, developing an effective moving business marketing plan doesn’t have to be too difficult. There are a few key elements that you’ll need, and once you establish them, your marketing will practically run itself. Below are the seven components you’ll want to strongly consider adding to any moving business marketing plan if you want to succeed in the long term.
A Killer Website
The first thing you’ll want to start with is an amazing website. These days, most people find businesses they want to work with by searching online. They’ll look for your website to learn more about your business before deciding which moving company they want to work with. Your website is your first chance to make a good impression, so you’ll want to make sure your site is professional and provides plenty of valuable information.
When it comes to moving company website design, there are a few elements you’ll want to have. First, you should have a cohesive theme throughout the site. Choose colors that go along with your logo or other brand elements and use them consistently throughout the site. Next, make sure it’s for potential customers to find what they’re looking for on your website. Your pages should be neatly structured and organized in an easy-to-use menu. Finally, ensure that all your text is easy to read. If your visitors struggle to read something, either because the font is too small or there’s simply too much text in one area, they are more likely to leave.
There are many tools online that can help you build a website if you’re unsure of how to go about it. You can also work with a website design service that will create a professional-looking website for you. Lastly, you could work with a freelancer, which is a particularly good option if you want a lot of customization on your site. However, if you choose to go about it, make developing an eye-catching website your first priority, as many other marketing tactics will build off of your website.
Search Engine Optimization Tactics
Once you have your website up and running, the next element to focus on is search engine optimization (SEO). One of the best sources of traffic for any website is search engines. People use search engines like Google every day to learn new things, including about businesses in their local area that can assist them. However, most people don’t go past the first page of search results. Therefore, it’s essential that your website appears near the top of search results for terms related to your business, such as the name of your town and “moving company.” This is where SEO comes in.
With SEO tactics, you can help your website climb the search results and generate more traffic to your website. SEO tactics include things like keyword research, title tag optimization, backlinking, and internal links. There’s a lot that goes into an effective SEO strategy, meaning you may want to work with an outside marketing firm to assist you. However, if you just want to get started with the basics, and generate a few keyword ideas for your business, then ensure they are included on each page of your website. This will tell search engines what your website is about and make it more likely that it will appear for related search terms.
A Social Media Presence
The next thing you can do is develop a social media presence. To do this, you’ll want to create accounts on all the major social media platforms, which include Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Once you do this, you can begin posting information about your business, such as the benefits of choosing your moving company or the latest promotions you’re offering. You could also share things like helpful tips, such as how to safely pack valuable items before a move.
At first, your social media strategy may not return great results. This is because it can take some time to build up a significant enough following. However, if you continue to post quality content on your accounts and interact with potential customers, eventually, you’ll start to see some leads coming through your social channels.
Targeted Online Advertising
A great way to boost your social media performance is through targeted online advertising. While social media platforms are free to use, you can often get much better results from them if you spend some money. All the major platforms have ways for you to run advertisements on their site, allowing you to quickly get in front of a lot more viewers.
Best of all, these platforms have tools that make it easy to target your preferred audience. For example, rather than targeting everyone in your local area, you’d likely rather target adults of a certain income since they are more likely to own a home. Or you might want to target seniors who may be looking to downsize and move into a smaller home during their retirement. With these marketing tools, you’ll use your budget more efficiently, showcasing your ads to people more likely to respond to them.
If you’re new to targeted online advertising, it may make financial sense to work with a marketing agency. However, if you want to do it on your own, consider starting with a smaller budget until you get some results from your campaigns. You can then determine which ads work or which platforms perform better before devoting more of your budget.
Helpful and Valuable Content
While the primary reason people will visit your website is to learn if they want to hire you as their moving company, you can draw people in for other reasons as well. For example, let’s say you create a comprehensive list of things people likely need to do to prepare for their next home move. Someone searching for such a checklist online may come across your blog post and visit your website as a result. Now, not only have they learned about your services, but they’ve developed an opinion of your business as a helpful one.
This is just a small example of how helpful and valuable content can bring visitors to your business. When you create useful content on your website, you give yourself more opportunity for discovery through search engines, and you create something you can share on your social media channels. This is another long-term strategy that, if you remain consistent with it, can deliver strong results over time.
Encouraging Word of Mouth Referrals
Despite many marketing professionals focusing on things like SEO and social media, word of mouth still remains one of the best ways to draw in new business. When someone needs a moving service, they are very likely to ask their friends and family if they know anyone. If someone has a good experience with your moving company, they are more likely to recommend you to others, which will then generate additional business.
However, you don’t have to wait for someone to mention your business by chance. You can encourage referrals in a number of ways. For example, you can set up a referral program, where anyone who uses your service through a referral gets a discount. Or you can simply ask happy customers to leave a review for your business on popular review aggregators such as Google Business. These are simple tasks that can have a big impact over time.
Physical Signage
Lastly, don’t underestimate the power of some traditional signs. A billboard on a busy street is a great way to advertise your services to people in your area. You can also ask your customers if you can place a yard sign on their lawn after you finish moving them in. Other potential sign options include painting the outside of your trucks or posting on community bulletin boards.
These are all very simple marketing methods that are often very cost-effective. In many cases, you simply pay a one-time fee to create the sign, then you can continue to use it over and over again. If you haven’t already, invest in some physical signs and start displaying them wherever you can.
Start Your New Marketing Strategy Today
It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to set up all the elements above overnight. Instead, you should focus on simply getting the ball rolling. Start by making sure you have a good website, then slowly expand into social media, content marketing, and SEO. After that, you can add other marketing methods, such as a referral program or setting up some signs around town. It will take some time, but if you can add all of the elements above, you should find that your new marketing strategy creates a solid foundation for your moving company.
