The Ultimate Guide on How to Start a Moving Business

Offline Marketing

Excitement about the internet has caused many people to focus on new digital marketing channels. Despite the potential of the online world, however, you must remember that your business can benefit from traditional marketing methods. Offline tactics can do much for building long-term relationships with your target market and customer base, so learn about a few ideas that can benefit your moving business.

1) Word of Mouth Marketing

Build a word-of-mouth marketing campaign by helping your friends and relatives move. When you do, you can demonstrate your skills. As a result, the people you help move will recommend your services to everyone they know who plans to move. Of course, you must create a fantastic display of competence and professionalism, or else you might create negative publicity for yourself.

Even when you work either for free or at a reduced rate, you should always make sure that you promptly keep your appointments and respectfully treat everyone with whom you work. Also, make sure that you handle with care the property of others. Regardless of the price that you charge your friends and family members, make sure you help them understand the appropriateness of your official rates. Every time you make moving a simple and pleasant experience for someone, you create an ambassador for your brand who can reach people who might otherwise never learn about your company.

2) Distributing Cards and Flyers

Create eye-catching marketing collateral and have it professionally printed, if possible. Ask nearby furniture stores, storage facilities and mailing centers to keep your brochures and cards on hand, so that people who need help moving things can quickly learn about your company and call you for assistance.

Whenever possible, attend community events and there distribute your printed materials. You should also consider ordering custom promotional items such as pens and magnets that have your logo and contact information on them. As you get your brand in front of more people, you will get more people calling you for service quotes.

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3) Local TV and Radio Advertising

Practically everyone who watches TV, listens to the radio, or reads the newspaper will eventually have to either move themselves, their family or their business. As a result, everyone you reach through such broad coverage can potentially become your customer either now or in the future.

4) Networking

Create a network of business connections and influencers who can refer business to your moving company. Begin with businesspeople in related industries such as realtors, who regularly come into contact with people who need the services of a professional mover. As your network grows, you will notice an increasing number of people coming through your door.

5) Other Offline Marketing Methods

Any offline method for increasing the visibility of your company and brand can contribute to your business. Try offering your moving services in support of community events and decorating your vehicles with your logo, contact information and motto. Also, buy branded t-shirts that you and your team can wear both on and off the job so that everyone who sees you can learn about your company. Another traditional marketing method, supporting school and community fundraisers, can benefit your brand, especially if you buy ads that include your company logo.

Online Marketing

Digital marketing channels often cost less than popular offline methods and give you more control over your audience and cost. Also, online marketing options usually supply you with statistics that help you measure their effectiveness. Consider using one or more of the following online tactics to reach potential customers.

1) Create a User-Friendly Website

Most modern shoppers begin their search for goods and services online. Because of this, you should have a company website that people can easily find and use. When people arrive at your site, they should see your contact information and business description in a prominent location. Other essential content for your website includes:

Company information
Information about how you generate quotes
General pricing guidelines
Downloadable or interactive quote request forms
A description of your products and services
Service area
Your business number and legal information
A statement saying that your staff is trained, bonded and insured.

To help bond your business with prospective customers, post photos of you and your crew performing services, and post testimonials from satisfied customers. Regardless of whether you create your website yourself or hire a third party to do the job, make sure it also works well on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

2) Invest in SEO

If Google only displays a link to your site on the second or third page of search results, most people will never see it. You need to have a website that Google values and places at the top of search results for relevant topics. Getting noticed in search engine results involves search engine optimization (SEO), a technical practice of making your website search-engine friendly.

SEO begins by choosing relevant keywords and phrases, and placing them naturally throughout your website content. You can further improve your SEO by learning about the optimal length for content, tweaking your URL format and using other tactics to become search-engine friendly. Consider hiring a reputable SEO firm to manage your website to get the best possible results.

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3) Write a Company Blog

Blogging helps you build the authority of your brand by sharing your knowledge and expertise with the community. You can involve your entire team in the effort by getting them to take turns writing about their experiences and opinions.

You can also blog about frequently asked customer questions as well as tips for packing and moving. You can also blog about fun things that might not be directly related to your business. As you blog, you create more content that search engines will crawl and display in search results, increasing the online exposure of your brand.

4) Use E-mail Marketing

Email continues to rank as one of the lowest cost and most effective online marketing methods. Rather than randomly sending messages to your database of leads, contacts and customers, create a monthly message that highlights your products and services and supplies readers with valuable tips for moving from one location to another. Although you can advertise special offers in your newsletter, make sure it emphasizes content that readers will value.

5) Utilize Social Media

Aside from search engines such as Google, social media sites are the most popular online destinations. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter attract tens of millions of daily users, so you can be sure that your target market is there. Create social media profiles for your website and make them places where customers can interact with your business while enjoying the fun and educational information that you publish. Google Local is another important site that can improve the visibility of your business.

Keep your social media profiles active by creating a schedule for topics, links and shared content. Make sure that your team members know what they should do and when they should do it. By interacting with social media users, you will build a base of followers who can become online advocates for your brand.

You can also use social media sites to promote your blog posts and thereby attract more visitors to your website. Emphasize meeting the needs of the community, but sporadically inject a special offer or promotion into your social media feed. Avoid making too many sales pitches, however, because doing so could become repulsive to your audience.

6) Invest in Online Advertising

Augment your organic online marketing with paid options to increase your effectiveness. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising services such as Google AdWords can present your marketing message to targeted audiences while allowing you to decide how much you want to spend. Facebook, Twitter and other search engines also have advertising platforms that can attract online attention for your brand for a reasonable price.

You can also post information about your business in free and paid online community sites and directories. Websites such as Yelp, Craigslist and Google My Business can make finding (and learning about) your moving company easier for internet users. Also, consider buying direct advertising space on popular travel and moving-related websites to get your brand noticed by even more people who can benefit from your services. Guest blogging, the process of writing about your industry and trade for third-party sites, can build your authority in the industry and attract more visitors to your website.

Marketing is vital to the success of any business, including yours. Without a strategy for connecting with the customers who need your services, you might never have any work to do. Using the above offline and online marketing tactics will supply you with a steady flow of leads that you can convert into customers and serve with excellence. As your business grows, the number of glowing online and word-of-mouth referrals will ensure that you will have a profitable and sustainable company, and a rewarding career as business owner.