Chances are, you got into this business because you love moving — not marketing.
According to our latest State of the Moving Industry Report, more than half (56%) of movers struggled with their marketing last year. But a profitable moving business can’t happen without a practical, repeatable, marketing plan.
Whether you’re finetuning your current strategy for better returns or just getting started with your moving company marketing, we’ve got 12 essential marketing tactics to help you make the most of it.
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If you’re looking to elevate your moving company marketing this year, you’ve got your work cut out for you.
According to research, 73% of consumers shop via more than one channel. In this always-on environment, you need to stay present and consistent across multiple channels to win your customer’s attention.
That’s where the right tactics can be crucial. Here are ten actionable strategies for a marketing plan that delivers more customers and revenue.
You’ve probably already got a great home page, and you may even have dedicated pages for individual locations. But what about your other services?
Whether it’s packing, storage, or insurance, make sure you’re promoting your entire portfolio of service offerings and the benefit each one brings via dedicated landing pages with clear pricing.
For example, the team at Unicorn Moving & Storage has a dedicated web page for each individual type of move it offers, clearly describing the services and value. Each page explains exactly what happens during a local move, long distance move, white glove delivery, senior move, and even a piano move — to name just a few.
Not only is this a great way to provide detailed information to new customers, it’s also a proven way to scale your search engine optimization (SEO) and grow your online presence.
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These days, a whopping 88% of people start their search using a traditional search engine like Google. When digital marketing is done right, your company will be the first one they see.
A powerful SEO strategy not only improves your moving company website by using keywords and other elements to increase its visibility in Google, it also helps you get more ROI on your pay-per-click (PPC) strategy.
When creating your list of keywords, they should fall into a few different categories based on industry and location. These include:
One way to get started on a list of relevant keywords is to put yourselves in the shoes of your ideal client and run a simple Google search. What terms, phrases and questions are you looking for?
Use a free local SEO tool like Brightlocal to find out which keywords you currently rank for, then work to expand your reach in the right locations. For done-for-you keyword lists, tools like Ahrefs and SEMrushcan also help.
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What would you do with 3X the conversions? With data showing that Google profiles with photos receive an average of 35% more clicks, this is one marketing tip you can’t afford to overlook.
Moving industry experts like Louis Massaro, founder and CEO of Moving Mastery, have long recommended adding “service and satisfaction” images throughout your website to build trust and boost your conversion rates with new customers. Service images could include high-quality photos of your crew, trucks and warehouse, while satisfaction images are photos of happy customers and team members.
These days, most booked jobs begin with a Google search. To boost your SEO and capture customer attention quicker, start by adding a few images to your listings. These could be pics of your crew in their uniforms, some snapshots of your branded trucks, or even real photos of happy customers.
While we’re on the topic of listings, set aside some time to tend to your “Google Garden”.
Google uses Name, Address, and Phone (NAP) consistency to assess the strength and reliability of local listings, so make sure your contact information is updated and consistent across all your business listings.
Here are some of the top review sites to update and edit:
No matter where your company is listed, keep in mind that the search results you see when you google local moving services are the same ones your potential customers will see. An online reputation that’s sparkling clean and tidy isn’t just great for customer experience, it can also work wonders for your SEO.
We know you’ve heard this one before, but the truth is it takes more than 150 reviews to really stand out online. If you’re still struggling to break that ceiling, now’s the time to get your review strategy dialed in.
Businesses have achieved an 18% uplift in sales and dramatic increases in lead quality due to having a high number of positive reviews. And the benefits don’t end there.
Positive customer reviews can help you increase organic traffic to your website while improving your ROI on ad spend.
Here’s a quick checklist for an effective customer review strategy:
Once you’ve fully optimized your listings on Google, Facebook and Yelp listings, add your business to the following sites to expand your reach even further:
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Data shows that 75% of consumers expect the same experience with a brand, no matter what channel they’re visiting. From your Google My Business (GMB) profile to your website and everywhere in between, consistency is key.
Review your services and end benefits to make sure that language is clear throughout your website, online listings, and social media. And if you don’t already have a powerful tagline, now’s a great time to create one.
Start by thinking about the specific services you offer that set you apart from the competition.
Whether your approach is simple and straightforward, like “Let’s Get Moving” or “We Handle All Your Moving Needs,” or more on the creative side, like “The Smartest Move You’ll Ever Make” or “From Here to There with Exquisite Care,” a consistent message delivered via an attention-grabbing tagline can help customers understand why they should choose you over everyone else.
You probably have a website for your moving business — 99% of moving companies do. But how updated is it? Is it interactive? Could it be better?
In a slower market, you’ll have to fight harder to stand out with your content and website design. So how can you capture your customers’ interest and get them to take the desired action on your site, instead of clicking away?
Rather than just a static website, think about features you can add to increase engagement:
Interactive content has been known to achieve up to 52.6% more engagement compared to static content, so don’t be afraid to think outside the box.
You already know customer feedback is everything. So why aren’t you making the most of your positive reviews and testimonials?
78% more people trust reviews over ads so make sure you’re leveraging your customer testimonials across all your digital marketing channels.
Start by choosing the best. Make sure they’re visible on all your top website pages, social media platforms, and ads. You can even round them up into one dedicated landing page for all your moving reviews.
For bonus points, try adding a video testimonial like the team at My Guys Moving, who shared this touching video of customers reacting to an actual serenade from one of their movers.
Social media is so much more than a place to wish friends happy birthday or watch funny cat videos. As a local business, it is your virtual storefront.
Many movers are already using social media to actively market their businesses, with Facebook (92%), Instagram (66%), and LinkedIn (37%) being the top three channels according to our latest benchmark report.
But blindly posting the same content across all channels isn’t always the best approach.
Instead, create a plan to post regularly on your top channels based on your target audience and the types of content that perform best on each.
Here’s a quick overview to get you started:
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PPC can be a great way to boost moving company lead generation, but the ad type, spend, and market can all have a big impact on your ROI.
The two biggest players in the PPC arena are Facebook ads and Google ads. These ads can get expensive quickly, so you need to make sure your strategy is up-to-date.
Here are five tips to help you get more results from your PPC strategy:
As a general rule of thumb, Facebook ads are better for building brand awareness and Google ads are best for making sales — but both can be a powerful boost to your marketing efforts.
If you’re creating and managing your own PPC campaigns without the help of an agency, tools like Optimizely can help you identify low-hanging areas for optimization.
Direct mailers have notoriously low reply rates. And that’s ok. With a focus on keeping your costs down and relevancy up, you can get more ROI out of every send.
Here are some simple tips to help level up your mailers and postcards:
If you’re worried about the ROI on mailers, use local tracking numbers and a dedicated URL to link any incoming business directly back to your campaigns.
Taking part in local events is a great way to connect with people offline and increase your organic word-of-mouth. One study even found that 68% of businesses use events to generate qualified top-of-funnel leads.
Not sure where to show up? Here’s a list of possible events:
Do some local research to pinpoint the best events for your company. Which ones are your ideal customers attending? Are there any free speaking opportunities? Who can you partner with to increase your visibility at each event?
Make sure you’ve identified any target referral partnerships you want to create before the event and pack plenty of business cards before you go. It may take some trial and error, but once you get a list of events that actually help move the needle on revenue, you can double down on making those events worth every effort.
Marketing your moving company isn’t easy, but it is necessary. By taking time to explore, experiment and find the best strategies for your business, you can get more leads and revenue with each new channel or campaign.
To make sure you’re on an ROI-friendly path with your marketing, it’s crucial to have the right reporting systems in place. And that’s where SmartMoving can help.
With done-for-you marketing ROI reports, you can instantly evaluate how much you’re spending on each lead source, and how much revenue you’re earning in return.
Get more out of your marketing. Sign up for your free demo of SmartMoving to learn more.