If you are in the moving industry, you must be aware of the fact that almost 10% of Americans move annually. And, while the majority of it happens in the summer months between June and August, there are also potential customers looking for a moving company to do it for them even at other times of the year.
But, where do they look? Have customers moved online?
Based on the answer to these questions, you will also find out where to make your company visible to get more customers, even outside of the peak season.
To give you a sneak peek, your moving business will have to focus its efforts on digital marketing to be able to attract new customers and retain the old ones. And, best of all, it will help you to double your sales!
Let’s see how!
CUSTOMERS TURNING TO THE INTERNET
In the last decade, so much of the shopping and research before making a decision for customers has moved online. Even more so since the pandemic started and closed the physical doors for many businesses.
Nowadays, even storage and moving companies’ potential customers are looking for these services online. Thus, it is time for these service providers to shift their focus to increasing sales through digital marketing.
In the US alone, around 80% of the population is shopping online. Some of them are looking for moving companies and by leveraging digital media, your company could be the one that they choose.
And the online world is so vast, that customers are using the web in multiple ways – some are focusing on social media, some on search engines, and so on. They do not only purchase online but also do research before purchasing through the web.
MOBILE-ORIENTED CUSTOMERS
Around 9 in 10 people worldwide use their mobile phones to go online. Thus, it is no longer important to just have your website and online presence optimized for your target audience who is researching and looking for solutions on their laptops and PCs, but also on their mobile interfaces.
Thus, this guide will teach you not only how to have your online presence figured out through digital marketing solutions for the web, but also for mobile users.
DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR DOUBLING SALES
So, what can digital marketing do that will result in the doubling of sales for storage and moving companies? Here is what it focuses on to achieve that:
- building a website for conversions
- getting more local customers through Google Maps rankings
- getting more business through social media
- ranking on SERP for keywords related to moving companies for your area
- using pay-per-click to target your audience
- email marketing
- retargeting
BUILDING A WEBSITE THAT CONVERTS
The first basis for all digital marketing efforts is to have a website that is built for conversions. To be able to rank on Google, pay for ads online, reach out through email, etc, first, you need to build and develop a website.
The website needs to be mobile-friendly, optimized, built for an easy user experience, and to encourage conversions. Below you can see how to achieve that in short.
Web Security
The first step is to make sure that your website is secure. The SSL certificate is a digital certificate your website needs to have. What this SSL certificate tells us about your website:
- enables a secure, encrypted connection
- keeps user data secure
- attackers cannot create a fake version of the website
- helps to gain user trust
Also, without an SSL certificate, your moving business is likely to have a big bounce rate (rate of people who leave the website without converting). Another thing is that Google does not rank websites without an SSL certificate as high as those that have it.
Web Page Load Speed
Besides being secure, your website also needs to be fast. The total loading time of your website should be under 3 seconds, optimally. The most optimal is to have a website that loads in around 2 seconds.
You do not want to keep your customers waiting to be able to connect to your website. If they have to wait long, they are likely to leave the website before it is even loaded properly. Let’s see some of the factors that affect the loading speed of your website:
- the server
- image compression
- page filesize
- redirects
- browser caching
- etc.
To check your web page load speed, you can go here.
Conversion Signals & Calls To Action
Your website also needs to have strong calls to action and signals that will encourage visitors to convert into customers. So, which elements can you include on your website to encourage more visitors to book you for a move?
- Authentic photos and videos – photos and videos of your moving teams and your trucks are something that not only builds trust but also increases conversions. Visitors get to see that you have the needed team and equipment to do the move for them.
- Strong calls to action (CTA) – CTA needs to show urgency to the visitor and help them to convert into customers with contact buttons, and opportunities for them to call you, email you or reach out to you in other ways that you allow.
- Testimonials – both written and video testimonials are elements that will help your removal business to earn the trust of potential customers and turn them from visitors into customers.
- Badges for trust – it is also good to include Google reviews badges, Yelp, and other directories, as well as organizations you are a part of to show your transparency, help to build trust with customers, and convert visitors into customers.
- Valuable content – you need to explain to your potential customers what your services are, which areas you cover, why they should choose you instead of the competition, and who is recommending your services to gain trust.
RANKING IN THE TOP 3 RESULTS ON GOOGLE MAPS
To be able to get more calls from potential customers online, your moving company has to rank on Google Maps. Usually, the top three results from Google Maps are displayed on the Google results page.
Thus, it would be in the interest of your moving company to show up in those first three results. The key to that is to claim and optimize your free Google Business Profile. Now, let’s see what your moving company has to do to rank higher on Google Maps as a moving company to be able to double your sales:
- include the name of the company, local address, and local phone number
- choose the right primary and secondary categories
- collect a lot of real reviews
- upload a lot of authentic photos
- have a lot of online citations with consistent information across them
Now, there are so many other things that you will have to focus on to be able to rank high on Google Maps, but we have included them in the following chapters. However, they are also important not just for doubling sales, but also for being able to rank on search engines such as Google.
GETTING BUSINESS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT
A lot of your potential customers are on different social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. Mostly, you could be profiting from keeping active profiles on Facebook and Instagram for your industry. TikTok and YouTube also have good potential.
On the social media profiles, you should include a profile photo with a logo of your moving business and a header photo showing your team members and your trucks. Moreover, also include the link to your website, your local address, your email address, phone number, and other information that your potential customers might be looking for.
On your social media, you should be posting at least weekly to always stay visible to your past, current, and potential customers. Some ideas for your weekly posts:
- photos and videos of your moving jobs
- testimonials from customers (written and video format)
- engaging posts inviting followers to comment, like, share
- links to blog updates
Getting Repeat Customers & Referrals
Another great option of social media use for doubling your sales is to use it to engage with your previous customers and make them your customers again in the future. For example, someone who needs a move again will remember your company if they have liked you on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
Of course, this is not the only factor included in their decision to choose you again. You need to provide them with excellent service the first time to ensure that they choose you in the future, too.
Another way that social media can contribute toward doubling your sales is through referrals. For example, your previous customers can show their friends your business by sending them your social media profiles, web address, etc.
SEO ACTIVITY
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), you need to direct your efforts to both on-page and off-page SEO to help you to double your sales with digital marketing.
On-Page SEO
This type of SEO includes efforts that you need to use to help your search engine ranking on your website. Since this is a broad topic, we are just going to cover the main bits here.
Checklist for On-Page SEO
- optimizing headlines
- optimizing HTML tags (titles, meta descriptions, headers)
- images
- publishing high-quality, relevant content for your target audiences
- creating separate web pages for each one of your services
Thus, among other things, here you should offer authoritative thoughts and tips for moving to your potential customers. You can do this by running a blog. With a regular blog, you can get more organic traffic to your website by creating content around keywords that your potential customers are looking up.
When it comes to separate web pages for each one of your services, there are a few things to keep in mind. For example, for users that are interested in piano moving services, you need to have a separate web page for this service on your website (if you offer it). On the page, you should include authentic photos of your team at work, to show potential customers that you have dealt with this in the past and you know how to approach it.
Another thing, this will help with gaining their trust and converting them into customers. Finally, this also helps you to rank better on Google than just listing your services on the home page of your website.
Off-Page SEO
Unlike on-page, off-page SEO focuses on efforts on other web sources (not your website) to help you rank higher. This is also an extensive strategy that is a topic on its own, so we will cover only the most important pieces of information here.
First of all, your goal should be to rank for keywords that have a smaller search volume and are related to the smaller area where you are offering services, rather than a keyword such as “moving company” on the level of the US overall. With a smaller area, the competition will be smaller than with the keyword on the national level.
Thus, you need to work on building backlinks to your service pages and have 2 to 5 direct backlinks to each service page. The backlinks should come from websites related to your niche and area of service. Such backlinks will bring more impact than spammy backlinks from guest posting farms or PBNs.
Checklist for Off-Page SEO
- link building
- new backlinks for service web pages
- outreach to related websites to your niche or your area
- building backlinks through existing content or new content
- criteria for websites for backlinks:
- organic traffic from Google
- minimum domain authority (DA) is 30
- valuable backlink profile
- the domain cannot be dropped or bought just for DA
Ranking For Moving-Related Keywords For Your Area
One of the main things your moving business will have to do to rank on Google’s result page is to create content around moving-related keywords for your area.
For example, let’s say you have a business in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Naturally, you would want your moving and storage enterprise to show up among the first results on Google when people google things like “Albuquerque moving and storage”.
Doing Keyword Research
One step of being able to rank on the SERP (search engine results page) is to do keyword research. There are many tools available that can help you find out which keywords you need to target. Most often, when it comes to local keywords, they will look something like this:
location + moving company
Besides that, there are many other high-volume keywords that you can target such as “local movers”, “movers near me”, and so on.
In short, these are the steps to take on the way to rank on Google for keywords related to your services and location:
- do keyword research to find related keywords
- create landing pages for each one of the services
- create landing pages for each one of the locations (if you work in more locations)
TARGETING YOUR AUDIENCE WITH PAID STRATEGIES
Another thing that will work towards doubling your sales is using many of the ways to pay for your online traffic. Here you can pay for:
- Clicks on Google Search Ads
- Leads On Google Local Service Ads
- Clicks on social media ads (Facebook, Instagram)
There are predominantly two types of paid ads that we cover here – pay-per-click (PPC) and pay-per-lead (PPL). PPC includes Google Search Ads and Meta Ads, while PPL includes Google Local Service Ads.
Google Search Ads Vs. Meta Ads
With Meta Ads, especially Facebook Ads, you will be able to target your audience according to their gender, age, interests, behavior, location, etc. On the other hand, Google Search Ads are effective because they target the users that are actively looking for moving services, as the ad will be displayed to them only when they google certain keywords, for example, “senior moving Fort Worth”.
When it comes to the cost per click (CPC), Google Search Ads usually have a higher CPC than Meta Ads. However, both have their positive sides, too, and when properly optimized, can become profitable.
Many people have an opinion about PPC not being profitable. But the fact is that those same people start PPC campaigns without building proper landing pages that are optimized and built for conversions. So, once they start the ad, they think it will yield great results overnight. However, to get the most effectiveness out of your PPC ads, you need to analyze them over a few days, test a few versions to see which one has the best CTR (click-through rate), and eliminate keywords that are spending money without yielding results.
Google Local Service Ads
Unlike PPC, Google Local Service Ads work differently. Basically, you will have to pay Google for every qualified lead (a person that contacts you) instead of every click on your website. Moreover, you do not have to think of ad text. Google Local Service Ads is connected to your Google Business Profile. Thus, having an optimized and claimed Google Business Profile and a lot of great reviews will help you get leads through this service.
For a user to get Google Local Service Ads displayed on the results page, they need to be in the local area where Google Local Service Ads are available, and Google will show them results based on the proximity of the moving company to their location and some other factors.
Testing For Profitability
Both Google Search and Meta Ads should be tested and optimized to bring you the most profit, while also generating the most leads for you, and allowing you to convert those leads into customers.
For instance, you need to test different ad photos, ad texts, and calls to action to see which one brings the most leads and converts most of them into customers.
Thus, track how much you are spending per lead, to ensure that it is manageable for you. You can use a CRM platform, to track calls, and clicks, and count the number of leads you are getting to have a clear view of what works and what doesn’t.
EMAIL MARKETING
Emails are a cost-effective way to reach out to many people, i.e. your potential and current customers at once. So, what is it that you can use email to double your moving business’ sales?
Monthly Email Blasts
First of all, you need to engage with all the customers in your database on a monthly basis with emails. Every previous customer of yours should be included in this monthly blast. It is also a good way for your brand to stay visible to those that have willingly given you their email address. What can you include in a monthly email blast:
- showing your latest big moving project you have completed
- discount for their family and friends
- tips for moving
This way, you can get referral business from your previous customers by reminding them of your brand that they can then tell about to their family and friends.
Sending Email After The Service
Another great way to stay engaged through email is to send your customers an email after the service. Usually, you can do it the next day after the service. In the email, you can say how glad you are that they chose your business for their move.
In the email, it would also be good to include your social media profiles so that they can follow them and stay connected to your brand. Another great option is to ask what their experience was like and prompt them to leave a review.
Emails To Subscribers
On your blog, you can create educational posts on topics such as how to prepare for a move, for example. Then, when readers find your blog by googling this question, you can ask them to subscribe in exchange for, for example, 10% off. Then, you can send emails to subscribers because you know they are interested in your offer. For instance, you can email them different moving offers, testimonials, etc. This way, you can convert organic traffic into customers.
Inquiries You Get Through Email & Contact Form
You also have to be quick at responding to the inquiries you get from leads through email and contact forms. However, it is not a point to just redirect those inquiries to a phone call by replying to emails and saying something like “Please call our office to discuss”.
Instead, you should give these leads answers through email. You can include a PDF with your offer and price estimates, as well as testimonials, photos of your team at work, and badges to gain their trust.
Then, in 2-days time, you can send a follow-up email to see if they received the offer and what they think of it. Then, if needed, you can also have more follow-ups showing them testimonials, your moving jobs in the past week, etc.
As the whole process is automated, you will save time, but at the same time, you can increase conversions by reminding potential customers about their services.
How Emails Help Moving Companies
Email is one of the ways for your brand to stay visible to your customers. It is effective at reaching wide audiences at once and can be a good option for staying on top of the mind of those who moved with you in the past. That way, they can easily go back to you when they need a move in the future again (repeat business) or they can even recommend you to their friends (referral).
RETARGETING
Retargeting is a good way to stay visible for visitors who have been on your website but have not converted into your customers straight away.
For instance, when a user comes to your moving website and leaves it without converting, a number of reasons why are possible. Maybe they are only researching different companies in their area for a move, maybe they are not ready to buy yet, or they get distracted and leave before converting, etc.
Among other scenarios, a plausible reason why is that they do not trust companies as easily so they need to keep engaging with the brand until they are ready to purchase. To keep them engaged with the brand, you need to set up something commonly known as Facebook Pixel but officially called Meta pixel now. It is basically a piece of code that you place on your website.
This code can then help to track conversions from your running Facebook Ads, retarget people who have already taken some action on your website, optimize ads, and build targeted audiences for your future campaigns. This also works for Instagram.
Another way to remarket them is to send them emails if they have left you their contact information to stay visible and on top of their mind.
CONCLUSION
To be able to double your sales as a moving company online, you have to dedicate your time to building a website that can convert visitors into customers with irresistible offers, strong calls to action, a lot of trust signals, as well as some technical predispositions. Once that basis is covered, you will be able to attract traffic to this website and then convert them into customers to double your sales. However, doubling sales won’t happen overnight. You have to be patient, keep testing different approaches, be creative, and most of all, show your potential customers why you are the best choice for moving their things.
