Cleaning Business Marketing Plan (2026)

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the single highest-ROI marketing action for a local cleaning business. It's free, it ranks in local search and Maps, and it builds trust through reviews. Most cleaning businesses have a claimed but incomplete profile — which is why this checklist moves the needle.

• Complete every field. Business name, address (or service area), phone, website, hours, category (use "House Cleaning Service" or "Janitorial Service"), and a full business description using your top service keywords.
• Add 10+ photos. Photos of your team, equipment, before/after cleans, and your vehicle/logo. Businesses with 10+ photos get significantly more views and direction requests than those with 0–2 photos.
• Respond to every review. Positive and negative. A response to a negative review is more important than the negative review itself — it shows future customers how you handle issues.
• Post weekly updates. Use the Posts feature to share a seasonal offer, a completed job highlight, or a cleaning tip. Posts keep your profile active, which signals relevance to Google.
• Enable messaging. Turn on the GBP messaging feature so potential clients can contact you directly from the listing. Respond within 1 hour during business hours.
• Set your service area correctly. If you're a mobile/service-area business (no physical storefront), list your service cities instead of a single address. This helps you rank in every city you serve.
• Add all services. List every service you offer as a separate service entry with a description and price range. This increases the search terms your profile appears for.

Referrals close at 4–5× the rate of cold leads and have near-zero acquisition cost. The barrier is usually just asking — most cleaning business owners never do. Use this script and send it to every current client via text or email.

Copy-paste referral ask (SMS version):

"Hi [Name], hope your last clean went well! Quick favor — if you know anyone looking for a reliable cleaning service, we'd love the referral. We'll give you [incentive] for every new client you send our way. Just have them mention your name when they book. Thank you! — [Your Name], [Company]"

Three incentive structures that work:

• Option 1 — Cash credit: Give the referring client a $25 credit toward their next cleaning. Simple, universally appealing, easy to track.
• Option 2 — Free add-on service: Give the referring client a free add-on (inside fridge, inside oven, or baseboards) on their next visit. Higher perceived value than $25 cash for many clients, and lower cost to you.
• Option 3 — Both sides discount: Give the referring client $20 off and the new client $20 off their first clean. This lowers the friction for the new client to book and rewards your existing client simultaneously.

Run one incentive structure at a time. Test each for 30 days and track which generates the most referrals.

Before you spend on marketing, work backwards from your revenue goal. This tells you exactly how many new clients you need, which tells you how much to spend to get them.

The formula:

<code>Target Monthly Revenue = Target Bookings per Month × Average Job Value</code>

<code>Required New Clients = (Revenue Gap) ÷ Average Client Lifetime Value (LTV)</code>

Worked example:

With a $210 max cost per acquisition and Google Ads running at $25/lead with a 30% close rate, your cost per acquired client is approximately $83 — well within target. If your CPL rises above $70 and your close rate stays at 30%, you hit your ceiling.