Content Ideas for your Cleaning / Restoration Franchise!

So, we’ve arrived to the last installment of this 3-posts series conveniently named “Content Ideas for your Franchise”. In this occasion, I’ll go over some content ideas that can be very useful to spread across your Cleaning or Restoration franchisee sites. This will help you manage franchise content and grow your online presence.

As you may know by now, content is very important in your site. It’s the focus point that gives SEO a push and that (hopefully) provides value to your visitors and readers. Even more so, a blog can be a gateway to conversion!

According to HubSpot, 92% of companies who blog regularly acquire customers through their site! So if you’re lacking inspiration to get your blog started (or to maintain it), carry on with this post!

Content MUSTS for a Cleaning/Repair Franchise

BUT FIRST! Before we move on to the wonders that you could do for your blog, we need to address some content that MUST be in your site. These are key pieces of information that will help your visitors get a better sense of who you are.

Make sure that, before you start planning out your content strategy, you have the absolute most basic content for your site to work correctly and so it can fulfill the goals you set up for it. Your phone, service listings, areas you service, CTA and testimonials are among these information musts. If you’d like to learn more about them, click on the link above!

Content Inspiration for your Online Marketing Strategy

Now let’s get on with some topic inspirations that will help you answer the age old question: “how to manage franchise content in franchisee sites?”.

Tips & Tricks / How-To’s

Tips and tricks are some of the easiest posts to write about. As a cleaning and/or restoration franchise, you have a great opportunity in content. More often than not, you deal with problems that EVERYBODY has to go through at some point: cleaning the curtains, removing mold, clogged pipes, etc.  Tips and tricks are useful pointers that will allow the user to give it a try at getting the job done.

The reality is that, when something of that nature happens, people will most commonly look for how to do it themselves but they’ll remember reading about it in your site. And, if you have a lot more useful information, they’ll probably go to you to find a solution to other similar mishaps. That’s how you become an authority in the subject!

Plus, further down the road, when they seek for a professional fix, they’ll probably turn to you.

Think of some of the most common problems and help your visitors solve them! Like tips or recommendations of what to do in case of an emergency, like when window breaks or a what to include in your emergency kit.

In this next example, you’ll see that this franchise (which focuses on restoration), has a “10 Ways to Minimize Louisville Water Damage After a Flood”. This is a great entry because you’re giving local and valuable content to the visitor! Think about the processes you go through in your job and write up some post about them.

 Content Ideas for your Cleaning / Restoration Franchise!

How-To’s or tutorials, on the other hand go into a process more in depth and step by step. Again, address the problems that you know your customers are having.

After a while posts can get repetitive, so remember to bring creativity into it: give your posts a spin! Take inspiration from your surroundings. Think about what you, your friends, family and probably other people are going through!

In this example, this franchisee sees an opportunity in the Super Bowl, which are filled with fried food, sodas, beer, etc. And with all the excitement, something’s bound to get spilled or dropped. In this tutorial, they go over how to remove cheese puffs, beer, barbecue sauce, salsa, among other “stainful” substances from your carpet. Talk about inspired!

 Content Ideas for your Cleaning / Restoration Franchise!

Q & A

This is another easy trick. Customers have questions. It happens all the time. They want to know how to prevent their house from falling down when a natural disaster hits, or the secret ingredient to that fabulous window cleaner solution you use. Keep them informed by answering their questions in a blog post! That’s easy inspiration right there!

This next example gives Louisville residents a response to their concerns about flood insurance. It can be a worrying subject and you can help ease their minds!

 Content Ideas for your Cleaning / Restoration Franchise!

If you want to push the envelop a bit more, you can even post questions FOR YOUR VISITORS! By doing so you can open up a debate about a specific subject, which will be more engaging to them than just reading!

News, Trends & Events

These can be great opportunities if done right. There can be news and events related to your line of business (for example, a big storm that’s coming up). On the other hand, like in the Super Bowl example, you can take big events and entwine them with topics that pertain to your company.

For instance, here you can see a “February is National Electrical Safety Month”: it’s relevant, current (since the post was uploaded in January 29) and you can expand about safety tips on the subject.

 Content Ideas for your Cleaning / Restoration Franchise!

At the same time, you can use customer trends as a topic in your blog! In the example below, entitled “Louisville Residential Water Damage on the Rise”, you can see that this post was made due to an increasing number of water damage reports.

You can do this too if you’re running a cleaning franchise: have you been receiving more calls with customers concerned about cleaning their refrigerator? Give them tips on how to do that!

 Content Ideas for your Cleaning / Restoration Franchise!

Furthermore, you can use trends in technology, movies, and other subjects to your advantage. For example, if there’s a big Blockbuster hit that revolves around a big fire in a house, use that topic to talk about what to do if your house has fire and /or smoke damage. Ideas are everywhere, you just need to grab them!

For this last example, you’ll see that it’s a good idea to get involved with your community now and then. This will make your local visitors feel like you’re one of them. By posting events or news about your town, visitors will get sense of community and belonging.

 Content Ideas for your Cleaning / Restoration Franchise!

Real Use Cases

Did you ever clean a whole office building? Did you help restore a house who had severe smoke damage? If you’re proud of some of your company’s accomplishments, you should share them with your visitors and readers! People want to know how you work and what you do to help your customers. These kinds of posts are great so that your franchise gains credibility!

Extra Tips

– Remember that the whole point of having franchisee sites is to appeal the local audience with content that’s specifically for them. Don’t make the mistake of duplicating blog posts all across your franchise’s site!

– Make your blog posts readable and friendly! Avoid big blocks of text and don’t be patronizing with your readers!

– Videos, infographics and image galleries can make for great posts! Whether it is to go along with a text as visual reference or as a stand alone video tutorial (for example), by including these in your content strategy, you’ll have a dynamic and interesting blog!

– If you still need a little bit more help in the content department, you are allowed to check out the competition, so you can get some inspiration. If you’re anxious about how to approach a content strategy, check out this Content Solutions post.

– For tips on content ideas for a QSR franchise or a Professional Services one, click on the links!

Conclusion

Content is REALLY REALLY important. Not only for you, but for your site’s visibility and to engage your visitors. I invite you take these tips and make them your own so you can provide your customers not only the services you offer, but constant communication and support. Don’t let this opportunity go to waste and get typing!

If you have a question about this post or Empowerkit, feel free to ask!

March 8, 2013

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