5 Low-Cost Ways to Improve Your Security Marketing Strategy

Security is an extremely competitive industry, especially for contract security firms. In the current economic climate, you are probably feeling the pressure to win contracts and meet your tight margins more than ever before. While the initial reaction might be to cut your rates or slash overhead to remain competitive, the right private security marketing strategy can have tremendous impact.

That’s why we’ll share our top five low-cost tips to create a marketing plan that helps you maximize your margins and compete in the marketplace. Most of them lean on something you already have: the proof of work your officers generate on every shift in TrackTik.

Want to go further? Our guide, Unlock Your Security Firm’s Profit Potential, shows how analytics, smarter staffing and the right technology protect the margin your marketing works so hard to win.

1. Differentiate Your Business

In the security industry, it’s critical to stand out. One way to do this is by using strong customer value propositions (CVPs) that set yourself apart from the competition. Without strong CVPs, price becomes the only real way for potential clients to tell your company apart from the rest of the pack.

Great CVPs speak to a prospect’s needs and understand the language they use. Many security professionals will market in a way that appeals to their own sensibilities, rather than those of their target clients. On the other hand, smart marketers will:

• Explain how their service solves a specific problem
• Present quantifiable results of their services
• Offer specific reasons why their company is better than competitors
• Directly address specific pain points

For example, rather than saying “We have 50 years of combined security and law enforcement experience,” be more specific about how you provide what your clients want and need. So, you might say: “We’ve been fulfilling the security needs of homeowners’ associations for over two decades.” For a step-by-step framework, see our guide to creating a security value proposition.

Generic Claims vs. Proof-Backed Claims

Area	Generic claim	Proof-backed claim
Experience	“50 years of combined experience”	“Protecting HOA communities for over two decades”
Reliability	“Reliable, professional officers”	“Every patrol is checkpoint-verified and time-stamped”
Communication	“We keep you informed”	“Incident reports with photos reach you as soon as they are filed”
Results	“We reduce crime”	A before-and-after trend of trespass reports at a comparable site

Every claim in the right-hand column depends on data you can show. That is where your operational software starts doing double duty as a marketing tool.

2. Review Your Pricing Strategy

Keeping your prices low is one surefire way to win more bids. However, that’s easier said than done. When your prices are too low, you put yourself in an unsustainable position. Set your prices too high and you’ll quickly get undercut by competitors.

So, what should you do?

One approach is to review your desired profit margin and overhead costs to determine the best rate you can offer clients. Our breakdown of 3 pricing strategies for creating your hourly guard rate walks through the math.

You should also remember that companies that offer better services can charge more. Learning how to justify why your company may cost more than competitors is an important skill.

Coming to the table with strong CVPs will help you justify a higher rate. For example, guard management software that makes you more accountable than the next company makes you worth more than them, too. Little things like clean uniforms and better communication channels will also add value to your company. Good reviews and testimonials go a long way toward proving your value.

3. Create Better Contract Proposals

Proposals should be designed to set the hook early. What’s the hook, you ask? A powerful differentiator, of course!

Property managers won’t always read your proposal from cover to cover. In many instances, they’ll skim the beginning and then flip to the back to review your prices. If you don’t catch their attention in the first couple of pages, they will go straight to your rates. At that point, you’ve lost all leverage in the conversation.

Propose a strong value-adding differentiator early in your proposal. Tell your client what you can do for them and offer evidence on the first page if possible.

Remember, the proposal isn’t about you, it’s designed to address the needs of your potential client. If you’re spending time touting your services rather than telling them how you can solve their specific problems, you aren’t making the connection you need to land the contract. Learn more about writing client-focused security proposals.

What to Put on the First Page

1. The client’s problem, in their words. Use what you heard on the site walk or in your interview.
2. Your strongest differentiator, stated as an outcome. Say what changes for the client, not what you own.
3. One piece of evidence. A sample report, a reference or a before-and-after result.
4. How you will prove performance after go-live. Tour completion reports, incident summaries and regular reviews.
5. A clear next step. Invite them to a site walk or a live look at the reporting they will receive.

4. Do Your Research

A good security marketing strategy doesn’t just involve branding and advertising. It also includes understanding the individual needs of specific prospects and allowing them to guide your approach. Often, adjusting and improving your contract proposals to meet those needs can be the difference between a win and a rejection.

Step 1: Get Client Feedback

Interview your prospects about their experiences with previous security companies to get a better idea of what their specific frustrations might be. A property walk with the prospect is one of the best ways to gather this feedback firsthand.

If they’re in the market for a new security company, chances are they have some feedback to provide on the company they just fired. That feedback can be integrated into your value propositions to improve your chances of connecting with similar leads.

Step 2: Research the Local Competition

Learn what their customer value propositions are and their rates to understand the value you offer in the marketplace. Then capitalize on what sets you apart from the competition. And use this research to find any major gaps in services in the marketplace.

You might find that clients all want a specific service or experience that no one else offers. If you can offer that service, it can be a game changer.

5. Check Your Reviews

Online reviews are very important to any security digital marketing strategy. Property managers will check your company’s pages on online review sites, such as Google and Yelp. If they don’t find satisfied clients, that significantly reduces your chances of landing the deal.

Improving your reviews requires attacking the problem from both ends. Politely reach out to anyone who might have given you a negative review and see if you can resolve their concern and convince them to change their rating. At the same time, encourage existing clients to leave you great ratings online.

Timing matters. Ask for a review right after a positive moment, such as a well-handled incident, a contract renewal or a strong quarterly business review. Satisfied clients are also your best source of referrals.

Turn Your Operations Into Marketing Proof

Every tactic above depends on the same thing: evidence. Buyers have heard every promise before. What they rarely see is proof, and that proof already lives in your operational data. TrackTik, the security workforce management platform from Trackforce, captures it as your team works, so sales and marketing can use it without extra effort.

Marketing tactic	Proof buyers want	Where it comes from in TrackTik
Differentiate your business	Verified patrols and fast, documented response	Checkpoint-verified guard tours and time-stamped security incident reporting
Justify your pricing	Accurate billing tied to service delivered	Billing rates, hours worked and invoices connected in contracts and invoicing
Win proposals	Sample reports that match what the client will receive	Client-ready incident reports and executive summaries from ReportPro AI
Earn reviews and renewals	Ongoing visibility and trend data	Dashboards and reports from TrackTik business intelligence, shared through the Client Portal

When a prospect asks how they will know the work is getting done, you can answer with a live example instead of a promise. That single shift often does more for your close rate than any discount.

A 30-Day Low-Cost Marketing Plan

Put the five tactics into motion with one focused task each week:

1. Week 1: Rewrite your value propositions. Collect three recent client wins and turn each one into a specific, proof-backed claim.
2. Week 2: Rework your proposal template. Move your strongest differentiator and one piece of evidence onto the first page.
3. Week 3: Research the market. Review two local competitors and interview two prospects or new clients about what frustrated them before.
4. Week 4: Launch a review request. Ask your most satisfied clients for a Google review and respond professionally to every existing review.

For budgets, goals and channels beyond the first month, see how to build a marketing plan for your security company.

Benefits of a Marketing Plan

Having the right security marketing strategy in place is more important than merely cutting overhead and slashing prices. When you take these five steps, you position yourself more strategically in the marketplace. Taking these steps will help you:

• Increase your exposure and visibility in the marketplace
• Attract new customers
• Hire the best talent in a competitive labor market, where a stronger reputation makes recruiting easier
• Win more contracts, which has a lasting positive impact on your business, especially through tough economic times

None of these marketing initiatives require hiring an expensive agency or learning special skills, but each of them can improve your chances of winning your next contract. In other words, taking small steps to improve marketing efforts can have big effects on your bottom line.

Ready to see how TrackTik turns everyday security operations into the proof that wins and renews contracts? Book a TrackTik demo.