Using Instagram to Get More Pressure Washing Leads
Instagram is without a doubt one of the top ways to get more pressure washing business. This is mainly because it costs you nothing to use the platform, and thus, you can acquire free leads. The problem, though, is that most of you are probably not using Instagram to its full potential, if at all.
(A bonus tip for you guys: stop using only #pressurewashing, #softwashing, and #housewashing hashtags. I’ll talk a little more about this later. But before I tell you why you want to be more selective with your hashtags, let’s first talk about content!)
If you don’t have leads flowing through your Instagram inbox, I’d bet $5 you’re posting the wrong kind of content. Let me guess. If I went to your page, I would see a concrete before-and-after picture, a vinyl house wash before-and-after picture… and let’s not forget that deck you did, because those always look nice after being cleaned. You have to stop posting only before-and-after pictures. While this is “okay” content, that’s not all the people who follow you want to see.
Sure, you should be posting that kind of stuff occasionally. But your followers want to see the behind-the-scenes stuff. They want to see a picture of what you had for lunch. Or a short video of you repairing your rig. Throw in a picture of you standing on a ladder or a roof.
Take a step back for a moment and think about this logically. If you came across an Instagram profile that only had before-and-after pictures, would you follow it? Probably not. Why? Because there is no real connection there. It’s basically spam. You see, the two biggest mistakes a pressure washing company owner can make are:
- Thinking they need to create a barrier between themselves and their business to seem “more professional”.
- Posting content that consists only of before-and-after pictures and no behind-the-scenes content.
While behind-the-scenes posts may seem boring to you, the consumers of your content find it highly interesting. It gives them a glimpse into what a day and the life of a pressure washing business owner looks like. So give them more of that!
The takeaway is: start documenting your day, don’t just post before-and-afters, don’t worry about taking the perfect picture, and remember the ones who post the most content win on social media.
Using Hashtags to Get More Pressure Washing Leads
Enough about content. Let’s talk about hashtags! If you don’t already know, hashtags are clickable words in your post that allow people to see all of the posts in the world that use the same hashtag.
For example, if I were to click on the hashtag #pressurewashing, I would be able to see all the posts that used this particular hashtag. A quick tip about hashtags—don’t use more than fifteen, and never use the same set of hashtags over and over again.
Here’s my “rule of thumb”. I have four sets of hashtags in my phone’s notes. Each time I post, I copy and paste a set, cycling through them until I’m back to the first set. The reason you don’t want to use the same fifteen hashtags is that Instagram knows you’re trying to circumvent the system and will shadowban your posts from being seen!
But what hashtags should you be using—or rather, not be using? Why shouldn’t you use only the hashtags #pressurewashing, #softwashing, and #housewashing? It’s because hashtags are global, meaning by using them, the only people seeing your content outside of your followers are everyone around the world who clicks on them. So what good does that do you? Your goal is to grow your business and audience on a local level, not a global level.
So, use local hashtags instead! Find out what people are using as hashtags in your market. I live close to Columbus, OH, so my hashtag profile for pressure washing would look something like this:
#columbus #columbusohio #chamberofcommercecolumbus #cbus #columbusrealestate
To get a better idea of what hashtags you should use to create your hashtag lists, start by typing in the hashtag of your city, then see what other local hashtags people are using. With this strategy, anyone in your market who browses the content with those local hashtags will see your posts!
The takeaway here is to create three to four local hashtag lists and store them somewhere convenient, such as the notes on your phone. When you post, cycle through these three to four lists, but make sure they are local-related hashtags.
Schedule Instagram Posts to Get Pressure Washing Leads
Now that we’ve covered content and hashtags, let’s talk about how to automate this process so you never have to worry about not posting or forgetting to post.
The first step here is that you want to accumulate a ton of content—enough for one post a day for a month. So, about thirty pictures and/or short videos. This might sound like a lot, but if you make it a point to pull out your phone for three seconds a few times a day, snap a picture, and get back to work, you won’t even be bothered by it.
Once you do have this content ready on your phone, hop on your PC and head over to Hootsuite. Or download the app and make an account.
So let’s recap this. Now you know the kind of content to post, the proper hashtags to use so that you can be seen in your local market, and a way to automate the process, too. The only two things you need to do to put this in motion are:
- Each day, a couple of times per day, take your phone out and snap a picture or short video to store for later.
- Once you have thirty or so pictures and/or short videos, take an hour out of your day and schedule posts for the following month.
Looking at this from a time perspective, you’re trading maybe an hour and a half of your time, once per month, to be able to stay consistent and post to both Facebook and Instagram. Do this for a few months and watch your Instagram page blow up!
