Spring Cleaning: 5 Steps to Direct Mail Success for Cleaning Businesses
With the weather warming up and daylight getting longer, there s one thing on our minds: spring cleaning! After all, more sunlight means more opportunities to spot all that stubborn dust and grime which puts your cleaning business in a great position to reach purchase-ready customers.
Take advantage of the collective urge to clean with targeted direct mail postcards! Follow the key steps below, and you'll have a shortcut to an effective spring cleaning marketing campaign.
There are many types of mailers, but one of the easiest and most affordable is USPS Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM). Design your EDDM cleaning postcards with MyCreativeShop, and we ll mail them for you!
Step #1: Be Clear on Audience
Before you design your cleaning business postcards, it s worth sitting down for a little strategic thinking. Set the stage for a campaign that s well targeted and easy to track by first asking yourself the most important question: Who is our target audience?
For example, are you serving
- Huge companies that need tons of manpower in a short amount of time?
- Public agencies that require specific certifications or state-approved contracting processes?
- Super-busy high-income earners who don t have time to deep-clean their spacious homes?
- Eco-conscious families that care about non-toxic ingredients more than the price tag?
- Homeowners or businesses with exterior cleaning needs, such as pressure washing?
Audience is the number-one place to start a cleaning direct mail campaign because everything else will revolve around who you're trying to reach. Each of the audiences listed above will respon to different messages, imagery, and offers.
If you re trying to reach several audiences that are quite distinct, consider creating multiple direct mail campaigns. Well-targeted campaigns always perform better than something generic.
Step #2: Know What to Include on a Great Mailer
Once you know who you re reaching, you can create a direct mail campaign that connects with that target audience. As you map out what to include on your postcard, always think about the end audience. Ask yourself: What do they care about, and does this postcard speak to that?
To build an eye-catching and effective postcard design, consider the following elements:
- Headlines: The best headlines speak directly to the audience s pain point (such as Embarrassed by a Dirty Home, But No Time to Clean? ) or explain what sets you apart (like The Deepest Clean You Can Get in an Hour or Less ).
- Offer: Getting people to respond to your cleaning service postcard comes down to making an offer they can t refuse. This could be a certain $ or % off, a BOGO offer, an early bird booking offer, or a membership program with priority perks. Again, match your offer to what the recipient cares about.
- Value proposition: Beyond a simple offer, your direct mailer should explain what makes your cleaning service different. In other words, why should someone call you over any over company? Good value props for a cleaning business might be speed, thoroughness, certifications, safety, staff experience, or on-time performance.
- Imagery: Choose photos, illustrations, and design details that match your target audience. If you specialize in pre-moving deep cleans, then stick with a photo of a family moving; if you target hotels, show off your uniformed staff in a hospitality environment.
- Call to action: You want to make it easy to respond to your ad but what s considered easy will vary based on your audience. Older people might prefer a phone number, while younger people might prefer a QR code or online scheduling. You can definitely include multiple contact methods, but try to make the most prominent one the one that your audience tends to respond best to.
Think about how you ll track the effectiveness of this postcard, whether it s asking people to bring the postcard in or including a unique URL or QR code to claim the offer.
Step #3: Design Your Cleaning Postcard
Now that you ve thought about what to put on your direct mailer for your cleaning business, it s time to get designing.
In MyCreativeShop, you can start with dozens of EDDM postcard templates specifically made for cleaning services. Choose your favorite and then use the online editor to customize the colors, add your own text, and upload your logo. Play around until it looks perfect!
Before you finalize the design, run through this quick design checklist:
- Is your headline compelling?
- Is your offer obvious?
- Have you chosen intentional colors that are bright and eye-catching?
- Have you included at least a couple value props?
- Is the text large enough to read?
- Do you give clear steps on how someone can claim your offer?
If you design with MyCreativeShop, you won t have to worry about correct sizing or USPS-required indicia. However, these two elements are among the most common EDDM mistakes, so if you re designing your postcard elsewhere, make sure to doublecheck them.
Step #4: Mail It to the Right Audience
With MyCreativeShop, mailing your cleaning postcard is simple. Once you ve perfected your postcard design, you ll simply choose your target addresses on our direct mail map.
To help you reach the highest-value audiences (the ones you mapped out in step #1), our map provides real-time demographic data including:
- Median age
- Median income
- Average household size
You can also choose to target households and businesses or households only making it easier to reach your mix of residential and commercial cleaning clients. After your EDDM target area is selected, you can send your campaign right away or schedule it for a future date.
Step #5: Tweak Future Campaigns and Pair with Other Marketing Tools
Once your first EDDM postcard is mailed out, it s only the beginning! As you measure the effectiveness of your preliminary campaign(s), you can use the learnings to create better and better direct mail moving forward.
For example, for your future cleaning service postcards, you might:
- Target a different location on the map
- Focus on a different demographic
- Try a new style of headline
- Tweak your offer
- Highlight different value props
- Experiment with a new CTA or booking method
Another idea to consider is multi-channel marketing. For most local businesses, a single marketing method won t be enough. Consider pairing your EDDM postcards with other marketing methods, like cleaning door hangers or cleaning flyers. Over time, you ll figure out exactly which marketing mix works best for your unique cleaning service, your target audience, and your local market.
If you need some awesome templates to market your cleaning business, MyCreativeShop can be there at every step of the way!
Want even more tips for your cleaning service? Then check out these resources: Using Print to Refresh Your Cleaning Service Business and 10 Fresh Designs for Your Cleaning Business Cards.