So, we have seen the practical side to start your portable toilet business, the 5 items you need for your new rental company, and now that you are almost set up to start, let’s talk about marketing!
Every company requires marketing to get more visibility, attract and retain new customers, and be perceived as a reliable expert in the business. It is very important to determine your annual marketing budget for your Portable Toilet Rental Company.
Brand identity and a professional image will differentiate you from your competition. Branding is very important to help establish a name for your company.
Your brand and logo should identify you clearly and relate to your target market. For more information on how to develop your brand identity, have a look at this article.
Marketing is a necessary tool and is seen on multiple complementary levels:
- An online presence: take an interactive approach and get engagement
- Networking & one-to-one marketing: to create a real life relationship
- Promotional items: to remind your audience that you are there
Online presence:
Go digital! Invest in your online presence, as an increasingly number of people turn to internet to find information about almost everything. Yes, the internet & social medias is the new norm.
Nowadays, with internet accessible almost everywhere, more and more often people will book a service or ask for information online, so make it easy for them to find your portable toilet rental company and contact you.
People judge a company quickly, so a nicely updated and easy-to-read website can be a great marketing tool. It can improve your professional image and give you a competitive advantage.
Create social media accounts and interact directly with followers, add your friends, look for your audience. Depending on your desired market, you will need to target and engage with your local community, construction and event-planning companies, any person related to your local recreation areas, parks, golf courses, market places, & take part in festivals, concerts, sports events, receptions, venues… Grow your audience!
With online medias, it is important to create “content marketing”. Content marketing can be a video, a picture, a blog article, an interesting post, a survey… Mix them up to be less boring. Produce and post your own content, but also share content from other sources.
This content should help your (potential) customers, giving them tips, news and facts about your company but also about the industry, information to educate them, and keep them interested with less professional content (funny pictures, videos…). Try to think about what they need and what content they would find interesting.
It helps showing your client that you are reliable, that you know your business and have expertise in Portable Toilet Rentals.
Considering the long-term, content marketing can help you be seen as a leader in the industry, or a reliable expert to whom they can turn if they need anything. This will also help driving traffic towards your website and gain more exposure. For that reason, it is also important to create compelling and interesting content marketing regularly.
To promote this content marketing, you have at your disposal various ways and medias you can use:
- Website – as indicated in our article about “Starting a portable toilet business”, when choosing your company name, make sure the domain for a website is not already used. This way, people looking for the name of your company on search engines (such as Google) will end up on your website with the exact same name. This ensure your website will be found easily. Make your website easy to read, define your services, and make sure all your contact information are available: name, phone number, email address, physical address… Very important: keep it updated regularly with new products or services!
- Blog – add a blog tab into your website and create industry related articles to drive people to your website. Use Key words (such as “portable toilet in *city*” ; “rent portable restroom in *city*”) to help people find you.
You can use your blog to educate your customers, give them information about your products or the industry, and help them resolve problems. A good “how to” article is always good to attract customers. Try to post regularly (every month) to keep your readers interested
- Emails – Create first your database and keep it updated – choose and use an email marketing platform to send a larger amount of email in no time (such as MailChimp, Constant Contact, or iContact…)
- send emails to keep in touch with customers and stay in their mind, ask them if they need anything
- follow up with an email after customers used your services. It is a nice way to stay in contact, show them you are interested in their feedback and willing to do better
- set up a newsletter and send updates – new product, new employee, promotion, or big change in your business…
- Social media: you don’t have to be on every social media platform. Here are some tips on which social media sites to use, what to publish, and the recommended amount of publication for each:
- Create a FaceBook page, add news and pictures of your last jobs, show your support for your local association, create connections, be creative so you can attract new potential customers. People these days give importance to likes and online reviews. Your clients will be able to leave reviews so make sure to always offer a good service and ask them to write a review for you. This is great to encourage other potential client to choose you for their next event. It is advised to publish content once a day on Facebook
- Google +: make sure you list your company into google business and that all information to contact you is correct. Add localization so people can find you easily. You can post every day
- LinkedIn is a good B2B media to publish content. Feel free to post your own content, and share every other day. You should post on working days, maximum 5 times a week. The best days are Wednesday or Thursday around 11 AM.
- Twitter – post pictures or quick information, you can post every day to attract followers, not more than 15 tweet per day
- Instagram – post a couple times a day
- Pinterest – post good quality pictures, max 10 per day throughout the day
- YouTube – create a YouTube channel and upload videos of your rental jobs
When people comment, leave a review, or email you: take the time to answer and engage with them! Talk with them, create a conversation, listen to what they have to say and use this feedback to become better. Interaction is a key of social media, or it wouldn’t be called SOCIAL media!
Also monitor the responses you are getting, see which kind of content get more engagement from their part, and follow the path!
Keep in mind that you have to choose the right networks depending on your target market. Ask yourself: who is your ideal customer? What is the medium age?
For example, if you want to specialize in weddings, Pinterest might be a great platform to use. If you are looking toward construction, Facebook or twitter might be better. If you focus on B2B, go towards LinkedIn and network with other businesses.
Networking:
- Participate in portable toilets & pumping Trade Shows, meet people, discover products, and network network network! Look into these annual shows:
- Use social media
- on Facebook for example, you can get into some portable toilet groups and exchange with your fellow pumpers and portable toilets renting companies. A good example is the group “Portable Toilet Network PTN” group, or “Septic Tank Pumper Trucks / PUMPER NATION”. A lot of advise, tips and information are shared on these groups. Many ask questions in order to resolve their problems or find a solution from people with more experience in the sanitation industry.
- Advertise in a local newspaper, so your local community can find you easily
Equipment & promotional items
Promoting your physical equipment is as important as promoting online. People will see you pass by in your truck, or will notice your portable toilets in a park… use them as a marketing tool! This is a complementary part of brand recognition, as potential customers might not know your portable toilet rental company yet… but they will see your logo on your truck and maybe go on internet to look for more information.
- Print logos stickers to put on your toilets – make sure your contact information are clear and visible. After a while, stickers can fail or faint, that’s why the portable toilet manufacturer T blustar created the option to put directly the name (or phone number, website, logo…) of your company into the plastic of the toilets, which is a great marketing tool and long term investment.
- Add a logo on your truck, make sure it is visible from far away. You can go from putting simply your name and logo, or wrap entirely your vehicle, this will depend on your finances.
- Get gadget promotional items with your logo & contact info to give away. Think about something that can stay at their desk and remind them of you on a daily basis (pen, calendar…). Alternatively, you can invest in something more useful such as tee shirts, hats, coffee mug…
One-to-one marketing
One-to-one marketing like a direct phone call, an email addressing an individual decision-maker by name, or a face-to-face meeting can be a refreshing, memorable marketing tool. Creating and keeping a relationship with your customer stay the foundation of your business.
If you decide to go out and go meet potential customers, look professional. You don’t need to be wearing a suit, but show that you’re a professional and serious business owner. Dress well and take a professional attitude. People will take you more seriously and it will be easier to gain their trust. The plus in doing this is that you also improve the image of the portable toilet business, which is important for the whole industry, too often seen as a “dirty industry”.
Word-of-mouth can bring in new business too, so be sure people talk about you positively and are satisfied with your service.
Conclusion
Branding branding branding!
You could be the best in your area, offering the most beautiful portable toilets and the cleanest service of all, but if nobody knows your company, it does not do any use.
So use the tools at your disposal, no need to have a premium account and spending big money.
Be consistent: keep marketing up ALL YEAR ROUND. Even if winter is slow season, keep posting content, advertising to try to build up slow season business… You can also think about your next year marketing strategy, make a promotion for the busy season coming… This will show your customers you are always available, even in winter, and that you are a reliable professional at any time.
Remember: make your brand image professional, accessible, and make it easy to contact you. Use this marketing tips to grow progressively your new portable rental business.
As important as it is, enough of marketing. Your company is ready to go, you got your equipment, and you are going to apply these marketing tips to your new Portable Restroom Rental Company to attract customers.
Your marketing worked and you got contracts?! it’s time to go! But, have you think about the servicing of portable toilets?
Check out the last article of our series about servicing Portable Restrooms.
More Tips:
SOME LINKS FOR MORE MARKETING TIPS:
Read more about content marketing and how it matters: https://www.promonthly.com/online_exclusives/2016/02/why_content_marketing_matters
Tips to write content marketing: https://www.promonthly.com/online_exclusives/2017/04/5_rules_for_writing_content_on_your_business_website#ref=related_body
How to use social media to gain business: https://www.promonthly.com/blog/2017/04/how_to_use_social_media_to_gain_new_business
Tips for Facebook advertising: https://www.promonthly.com/online_exclusives/2016/07/a_quick_guide_to_facebook_advertising
The importance of being online: https://www.promonthly.com/editorial/2013/05/marketing_in_your_backyard
Want to send a postcard in your area? Read these tips: https://www.promonthly.com/online_exclusives/2015/10/4_tips_for_successful_postcard_marketing