Welcome to the August edition of Marketing 360! Watch for this eNewsletter each month for market statistics, a look at how cleaning suppliers are advertising, industry news and advertising opportunities.

Purchasing Habits of Cleaning Managers
A recent survey by Facility Cleaning Decisions revealed some interesting insight into the purchasing habits and preference of in-house cleaning managers. The vast majority of them purchase products and equipment through a distributor.

Purchasing Sources
Data represents the % of cleaning products purchased from these sources by cleaning managers.

Sanitary Supply Distributor — 68%
Direct from Manufacturer — 12%
Retail Store (Home Depot, Lowes) — 4%
Wholesale Club (Sams, Costco) — 3%
E-tailer (Amazon) — 2%
Other — 11%

It's interesting that only 2% of equipment or supplies are purchased via Amazon. With online purchasing getting more and more common, we expect this number to increase in 2019. We'll keep you posted.

Purchasing Criteria — What product characteristics are important
Lowest cost is not the most important factor when in-house cleaning managers purchase products or equipment. Product performance, quality and durability top the list, followed by time/labor savings, convenience and safety.

Product performance, quality and durability — 84%
Time/labor savings — 67%
Convenience/ease of use — 65%
Safety — 60%
Company/manufacturer dependability — 58%
Distributor support — dependability — 55%
Lowest cost — 53%
Ease of training — 42%
Green certification — 29%

Integrated Marketing on the Rise
Where are commercial cleaning manufacturers investing the marketing dollars? 45% of them use both print and digital to reach their goals. They have found that promoting their products or equipment in trade magazines and in trade magazine's affiliated products (Website, eNewsletters, webcast) pays off.* If you are not currently advertising both in print and online, consider adding this one-two combo to your 2018 marketing plan. You'll be surprised by the difference it will make.

*Publishers Research 2018

What's coming in October —
Advertising opportunities to be aware of:

Sanitary Maintenance October

Cover Story: Enhancing jan/san websites for e-commerce

Wholesalers: Industry Roundtable on the advantages of this supplier partnership

Infection Control: Disinfecting the most common touch-points in commercial offices, schools and hospitals.

Floor Care: End users weigh in on how they choose equipment, which machines work best in different facility types and their perspective on robotics.

Facility Cleaning Decisions October ISSA Show Issue

Bonus: All October advertisers receive a free product release in the November issue.

ISSA Show Guide: Highlights and new announcements about the show

Cover Story: Our advisory board tackles management challenges, staffing, keeping up with industry trends

Floor Chemicals: Chasing the shine. Keeping VDT looking like new

Infection Control: Chemical proportioners - maintaining pressure and chemical accuracy plus the advantages of preportioned chemical packets

Healthy Schools: Creating a greener path to floor maintenance programs

Trade Press Media Group, in conjunction with the ISSA, is launching a new cleaning industry event — Clean Buildings Expo. This conference and product expo will be held March 26–27, 2019 at the Baltimore Convention Center. If you want to reach end users, this show is for you. More than 1,000 building service contractors and in-house cleaning managers are expected to attend. The new event is co-located with the National Facilities Management & Technology Conference and Expo (NFMT). Click here for details.

Want to learn more about any of these marketing opportunities? Contact me, Rob Geissler — rob.geissler@tradepress.com, 414-228-7701 ext. 461.