Through my work providing AdWords management services to moving companies across the country I have gotten to know the moving business extremely well. I probably spend at least 50% of my workweek working with moving companies improving their AdWords campaigns and businesses. So in the last 5 years, I’ve learned a ton about the moving business.
And a couple of the most common questions I get from the moving companies I work with are should I run ads on Facebook? And, how should I use Facebook?
Should Moving Companies Run Ads On Facebook?
Let’s tackle the first question about Facebook advertising for movers. I don’t think moving companies should use Facebook ads. I think movers should stay away from Facebook advertising for a couple reasons.
Firstly, I don’t think Facebook marketing works for movers. I have never had success running Facebook ads for moving companies, and none of my clients have had success with Facebook ads either. Facebook has an option to target some kind of audience like “people who seem to need a mover” or something like that, but in my experience it doesn’t work.
No one scrolling their Facebook timeline is going to see a moving ad and then remember oh yea, I need a moving company. The moving business just doesn’t work like that. When someone needs a mover, they’re going to go to Google, type in movers Oklahoma City (or whatever city they’re in) and call a mover. Facebook advertising seems to be more about branding and staying on peoples’ minds, where as Google pay per click advertising is more about direct action and getting in front of someone searching for exactly what you offer at the exact time they’re searching for it. And the Google direct response form of marketing works well for movers, where as the Facebook branding form of marketing does not seem to work well for movers. In my experience Facebook advertising does not work well for moving companies and does not lead to an increase in phone calls and leads.
The second reason why I don’t recommend Facebook ads for movers is because Google AdWords is a much better use of their marketing budget. Every moving company I work with has a limited marketing budget each month, and my job is to help them make the most of that budget. Since the marketing budgets are limited, I want to make sure that my clients are spending their marketing budgets in the most effective way possible. And for moving companies, Google AdWords is the most effective form of marketing, period.
With Google AdWords you get to put your ads in front of people in your targeted location who are searching for exactly what you offer at the exact time they’re looking for it. And you only have to pay Google when someone actually clicks on your ad and either calls your business or goes to your website. You just can’t beat the effectiveness of Google AdWords, and it’s the perfect marketing solution for moving companies.
In most medium-sized to large cities, a moving company can easily spend $4,000 to $6,000 a month on Google AdWords and even more than that in the largest cities. Most of the movers I work with spend less than $4,000 a month on marketing, and since they’re marketing budgets are limited, I recommend they spend all of it on Google AdWords. And then when they grow and have more marketing budget to use each month, I then recommend they increase their Google AdWords budget until they’re showing up on 100% of the moving searches in their area and spending as much as they can on Google.
Google AdWords is the most effective form of marketing for moving companies, and since most movers have a limited marketing budget, I recommend they spend as much as they can on Google AdWords before they even think about Facebook advertising.
So I don’t recommend Facebook advertising for movers because a) I’ve never seen it work, and b) they should spend their entire marketing budget on Google AdWords anyway.
Other Facebook Uses For Moving Companies
Even though Facebook ads don’t really work for moving companies, Facebook can still play a very important role in your moving business.
Every moving company should have a well-put together Facebook page, and they should update their page regularly. The primary reason moving companies should have a Facebook page is to generate trust with perspective customers. And they can accomplish that by doing a couple key things on their Facebook page.
Having a good Facebook page matters. Anytime you give a moving quote to a potential customer, they are probably going to Google your business name and learn more about your company before they decide to hire you. As soon as people get your quote they’re hanging up the phone, going to Google, and typing in your name. One of the first results they’ll see in Google is your Facebook page (assuming you have one). And if you have a good Facebook page, then that will help you build trust with the potential customer and they’ll be more likely to call you back and hire you.
There are three ways to use your Facebook page to build trust with potential customers.
- Real pictures of you and your business
- Customer reviews
- Recent postings
Having real pictures of real people and real places is a 100% must have on your Facebook page. I, and many other people, would never hire a moving company if I can’t see real pictures of their owners, their movers, their offices, and their trucks. I can’t tell you how many moving companies I’ve seen that have only generic stock photos on their websites and Facebook pages. They might as well file for bankruptcy now and save themselves the embarrassment and hassle of a slow death. You have to be absolutely crazy to think stock images are going win over customers’ trust and get them to pick up the phone. If you really want to succeed as a moving company, you need to have trust-generating real pictures of real people and real places all over your websites and Facebook page.
Real pictures of you, your movers, your office, your trucks, and even former customers (with their consent) all generate trust and will help you get people to pick up the phone and call you to give you their business. So load up your Facebook page with real pictures of real people and places. You should be proud of your moving company, so show it off on your Facebook page and generate trust with new customers.
The second way you can generate trust with your Facebook page is by allowing customers to review you on Facebook. When you have a Facebook page, previous customers can leave you public reviews that new customers can read. Having great reviews on your Facebook page is a great way to build trust with new customers who are looking you up and trying to learn more about your company before they decide to hire you.
The third way to generate trust with your Facebook page is to keep it regularly updated. You don’t want people looking up your business and then going to your Facebook page and seeing that you haven’t made an update since 2012. If you go years without updating your Facebook page it looks like you’ve either gone out of business or that you don’t have your stuff together. Updating your Facebook page with useful, relevant posts is any easy thing to do, and you should be doing it at least once every couple months. You can post moving tips, links to cool articles, or news about the real estate marketing in your area. Just make sure to keep your Facebook page updated with a new post at least once every couple of months.
