In today’s highly digitized world, running a lawn care business requires proper lawn care marketing. Apart from helping you reach far, it builds trust in your business. Additionally, it helps you maintain customers for a long time. But how do you go about doing marketing for your lawn care business? This article gives you the entire steps to winning the game.
Marketing Overview
Throughout the 20 years I have been running my landscaping business, I have experimented with almost every type of marketing you can think of. I still love to experiment with different methods today. And things are always changing with time and technology. But here I will tell you what I have found to be the most effective methods of lawn care marketing today.
Remember, all marketing efforts compile and grow in return due to brand recognition. Someone who sees your truck is more likely to click your ad on the internet because your brand is familiar. When I ran a franchise with College Pro Painters, they told us someone had to see your marketing SEVEN TIMES before they acted on it. This could simply be that they get 7 postcards from you. Or, it could mean they get 1 post card, see your truck twice, see your yard sign, get a door hanger, get an email, then see you on the internet.
Lastly, it should be noted that your goal should ALWAYS be to collect a database of leads. Thus, information such as name, email address, and cell phone number. This leads base will be invaluable as you grow. You will then re-market to these leads which is always cheaper per conversion than acquiring new leads. If you do not re-market to this leads database through emails, letters, phone calls, and digital re-marketing you are wasting your marketing dollars! And this is how to have a successful lawn care marketing done.
Yard Signs
Here is a link on where to buy the cheapest yard signs you fill find anywhere.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization is an ongoing, long term strategy that takes a while to give returns. However, once it does it just keeps sending you leads. These days MOST people are going to find you on the internet. Whether they choose to work with you may be based on several factors including brand recognition from other marketing efforts, and how well your website sells.
For those unfamiliar, SEO is the idea of getting your website to appear at the top of search engines for specific search terms. For example, you could see how it would be beneficial for your website to show up at the top of Google for “lawn care in your state” versus your competitor. 80% of our leads stated they found us online!
There are various strategies online regarding SEO, and it is all over the internet. But as general rules of thumb, things that haven’t changed, are the following:
- Google wants to provide relevant content to its users. So if someone searches for “lawn care in yourstate” google does not want to show closed companies or show a hair cutting salon.
- The content on your website should clearly describe what you do and search terms you are targeting
- Google wants to see your website updated regularly (hint- keep a monthly blog)
- Google wants to know that you are a legitimate business, so list your company on other websites such as google business, yelp, facebook, etc. Make sure your contact information is consistent across all these online listings.
We use a company called Small Business SEO. Through Ready Business Systems you can receive 10% off their service by checking out with the coupon code “RBS10OFF”
Lead Re-Marketing
I brushed on this above. But you want all of the strategies listed on this page to end in a lead in your system. Never tell leads that you do not do that type of work, or you do not work in that area, always get their information first so you can re-market to them in the future.
Once in your system, you already paid the biggest cost which was to acquire these leads! Now, its cake. You can re-market to this list with email marketing campaigns (free!), phone calls, and letters. Each time you contact them you are building your brand recognition with them.
Even if you don’t get their contact information, you can still get them when they visit your website. Using remarketing tactics through Adroll or Adwords will ensure that you drive them back to your website. The goal here is to get them back to your website and entice them to give you your contact information. But this should be a give-and-take affair. Maybe you should let them provide their information in exchange for a free gardening E-book, for example.
Truck & Trailer Vinyl
If you spend the money once to get your truck or trailer decaled, it provides passive advertising for as long as you have that trailer. This is a great way to build brand recognition which will increase the effectiveness of your other marketing tactics.
Our decals cost about $1500 to have installed professionally. We used to order the vinyl ourselves which an be done for $300 plus your time. You should own this trailer for 10 or so years, in which time it gets thousands and thousands of views. You will get many calls directly off the truck/trailer, but also heavily build local awareness of your presence.
Something we hear all the time is “we see your trucks everywhere!”. If we did not have very prevalent decals, people would have no idea who the landscaper was that they always see in their neighborhood. This a great landscaping and lawn care marketing tactic to use.
Google Adwords
Google Adwords is a great way to build your leads database and find your target market. The strategy we implement is seeing which areas call with broad marketing (adwords, SEO). We then target those hot areas using other more direct methods (yard signs, direct mail, door hangers).
Essentially, Google Adwords is similar to the SEO strategy listed above, but the only difference is you pay for each click to your website. So you will get more traffic to your website through online searches on Google. However, you will pay a premium for this traffic. The amount you pay depends on the competition in your area and how relevant your search terms are to your website, etc.
Google Adwords is really how I started my company. Since very few people were using this tactic when I started and it was only costing me about $25/lead ($1-$5 per visit to my website).
Here is a coupon for $100 of free advertising with Google to get you started.
SendJim
The strategy we have been experimenting with this year is SendJim. It is a great strategy towards a succcessful landscaping and lawn care marketing strategy.
SendJim is a marketing company which integrates with Service Autopilot which sends automated postcards, gifts, and voicemails to your lead and client database.
This strategy is outlined further in my blog about SendJim . However, in summary, its primary marketing function is to help to build route density through automated postcards to neighbors. It is not cheap, but it is very targeted marketing and is self managed. Furthermore, you don’t have to worry about micromanaging and reminding your employees to put out door hangers. It happens automatically.
If you don’t have time to calll your leads list or your customers, it also offers voicemail bombs. This will automatically leave voicemails saying whatever you want, pre-recorded, automatically, on regular intervals, to whoever you would like. Super powerful!
All of Ready Business Systems Automations include this integration with SendJim. Fill out our contact form if you would like to stay in the loop on any of the service offerings we have to offer.
