What Are the Best Low-Cost Marketing Ideas for Home Service Businesses?
Forum Discussion
19 Replies
Whatever you do to market, make sure it is part of EVERY call, "Hey, how did you hear about us? ... ok great, I really appreciate that, it helps us know what we are doing is getting heard, now what can I do to help today?"
Our company installs and maintains clean, attractive seating benches placed outside reputable, high‑traffic businesses, giving your brand daily exposure to local residents and visitors.
In my opinion, the number 1 low or no cost marketing tactic is "establish an online presence". A google business profile is free and allows you to 1.) showcase social proof (reviews and photos) and 2.) allows you to get new customers for a $0 customer acquisition cost. Ideally, you've got a professional looking website ranking well too. Both of those will get you showing up in 2 of the top 4 spots on google, the map pack and search listings. Additionally, you can take it a step further and pay for Local service ads and search ads and all of a sudden, you're showing up 4 times with every relevant search.
I totally agree with this đź‘Ź
Your point about Google Business Profiles pulling double duty (social proof and visibility) is huge, especially for service businesses competing locally. A lot of folks don’t realize how efficient GBP can be when it’s actually maintained (photos, reviews, updates, etc.).
"A google business profile is free and allows you to"
This is where 70% of my leads come from. Good call.
I want to explore Local service ads next as I start to niche down.Definitely agree with creating a Google business profile. This should be one of the first steps for teams. While I would be careful putting dollars behind local service ads (I believe this is going away soon), this is a great piece of advice for those looking to capture more leads and begin creating brand awareness and reputation.
Door knockers around the homes we already clean, with a QR code to the website. This generates extra traffic to the website and our Google performs better.
Ooo, simple yet effective. Are you able to track the traffic from the door knocker QR code?
Yes we are :)
Do you find that people use the QR codes? I find that they just call me instead. I would like to push people to the website so they can input all their information there, saving me time, but the call also gets the customer.
I would say getting involved and sponsoring community events such as little league, pups basketball teams, as well as town parades. Some cost between $25 - 125 for entry and sponsorship. We gained a lot of route density and community trust that way.
It appears Google My Business! Using the nice job add-on, it automates our requests and provides us the authority for our region. We are hoping to utilize this to grow into a new region later this year.
also don’t sleep on word of mouth! We have “an offer you can’t refuse” that incentivizes our current client list to bring in family or neighbors.
We’ve grown over 1200% in 5 years but I’m always looking for new and creative ideas!
I would love to hear more details about the offer you are providing for referrals! How did you structure this incentive, and what factors did you consider?
Looking forward to attending jobber summit!
One low cost one that can work for smaller ticket businesses is unbranded yard signs. You put them at stop signs in easements. You get one job it pays for all of them but one sign could have the potential to get you a lot of business. Get them from DOPE marketing and you get 100 for $400. I know companies that have these on subscription because they are so successful.
Whenever my truck is parked at a job site, I spend five minutes dropping simple flyers or door hangers at the 5 closest houses on either side and directly across the street.
​The trick is adding a quick, handwritten-style note that creates immediate urgency:
"We are completing a project for your neighbor Jim at #14 this Thursday. Since our trucks and equipment are already on your street, we can waive our standard travel and setup fee if you book a service for the same day."
​It takes almost zero budget, builds instant route density, and cuts down on windshield time by turning a single job into a cluster of high-paying neighborhood clients.
