Despite the way COVID-19 hit small businesses in 2020, professional landscapers are optimistic about the green industry’s future. By employing effective lawn care advertising ideas, gardeners and landscapers can take advantage of many trends in the landscaping business.
After all, with people spending more time inside their houses, proper lawn maintenance has become a higher priority. As companies begin recovering and workers return to their offices, commercial buildings will also need to employ professional landscapers.
To fully take advantage of these opportunities, you need to follow the best practices for marketing your lawn care business. With this in mind, let’s look at some of the most effective lawn care advertising ideas to help your business grow.
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Market your services before the busy season
When it comes to effective advertising, timing is everything. Although the busy season for lawn care is usually in the spring, you should start your lawn care advertising campaigns well in advance of the spring season.
This gives you sufficient time to prepare a targeted marketing campaign that focuses on your ideal customers. These might be residents who live conveniently in your service area or wealthy commercial properties that can afford to pay your higher rates.
Launching your advertising campaigns early also gives you the time to repeatedly inform your potential clients about your landscaping business. This allows your customers to see your ads on a regular basis without feeling overwhelmed, which would happen if you suddenly flooded them with your marketing campaign material.
Invest in online and offline advertising
Today, the most effective marketing techniques include relying on more than one type of lawn care advertising, like direct mail. Customers get their information from multiple sources, enabling you to regularly remind them about your services.
Thus, you’ll want to create marketing campaigns that reach your target customers through multiple channels. One of the most effective ways to do this is through digital marketing. Some of your best options include:
- Social media marketing campaigns: Social media lets you advertise your lawn care business through popular platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. These platforms let you reach thousands of potential customers and showcase your lawn care skills through photos and videos of your best work, effectively communicating the value of your service.
- Email marketing campaigns: Email marketing is very cost-effective and offers a return on investment (ROI) of $42 for every $1 spent. You can automate your email campaign to send targeted emails at key points before the busy season. With careful timing, these reminders of your lawn care service will make you more likely to convert potential clients.
- Google Ads: More people are turning to online searches to find the services they need. By investing in Google Ads, your lawn care business will appear at the top of Google search results when your potential customers start looking up “lawn care” services online.
Give your customers what they need to know about your lawn care service
Your business name and number alone aren’t enough to include in effective lawn care advertising. Whether you choose to use direct mail or digital marketing, be sure to include the following information and features:
- Benefit-rich headlines: Most people will just scan the headline of your advertisement, so make sure to lead with your biggest customer benefit. You might promote your affordable services, weekend availability, or the robotic mowers that let you take care of larger lawns. The more enticing your headline, the more likely your customers will keep reading your advertisement.
- High-quality images: Great images not only draw a customer’s attention but also communicate the value of your service better than words. This can be done by providing before and after images of the lawns you care for. Make sure to use high-resolution images of your best landscaping work.
- Areas you service: Your resources may restrict your area of coverage, so be sure to communicate this clearly in your ads. Make sure to also target your advertisements to potential customers within your service area(s).
- Background information: Knowing about your experience or areas of specialization makes your customers more confident in your lawn care skills. Market this information by letting your customers know how your special skills will benefit their lawns.
- Contact information: Let your customers know your name, business phone number, website, and email address. Also, make sure they know the best way to reach you.
- Special offers: Offering a discount or even a free first mowing can give new customers a greater incentive to hire you. You can also make these offers time-sensitive if you want to book more clients in advance.
Create an effective brand identity
People who invest their money in lawn care professionals are looking for more than competent landscapers. They’re interested in hiring a business with a unique brand identity.
This goes beyond just creating an effective logo for your company (although logo design is an important part of promoting your business). It also means employing business practices that make you stand out from other landscapers.
For instance, you can promote yourself as a professional who only uses eco-friendly products in lawn maintenance, attracting customers concerned about the environment. Or you can ease pandemic concerns by ensuring your customers that all of your employees wear masks and maintain proper social distancing while working. Advertising these practices reassures your clientele and makes them identify your business with practices they may want in a landscaper.
Improve your Google listings
Today, people can research your company quickly and easily by checking your online reviews and testimonials. In fact, 87% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses in 2020 — a noticeable rise from 81% in 2019.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to make sure your testimonials are in good shape. Check out your current reviews and respond to each one, thanking your clients by name for their feedback. If you receive negative reviews, apologize for the customer’s poor experience and suggest ways to resolve their issues.
It’s also fine to ask your existing clients to leave reviews, particularly after they show they’re happy with your work. Send them a thank-you email with a request to leave a review on your listing sites. Most customers will give you a rating if you ask.
Build a mobile-responsive website that attracts customers
By now, it should be clear that most of your clients will be looking for you online. To make it easier for them, make sure your business website is mobile-responsive. Many people look for lawn care services with their smartphones, but not all websites are designed to look good on mobile devices.
Take the time to ensure all of your website content and images show up clearly on mobile devices. The easier your business website is to navigate, the more professional your company looks. This, in turn, will make it more likely that people will want to use your services.
Growing your client list with effective lawn care advertising ideas
With more people staying indoors right now, your lawn care business has an excellent opportunity to build your client list. Especially if you are expanding your marketing to reach a broader range of people.
But good lawn care advertising ideas take both time and planning to be effective. And with digital marketing playing a larger role in successful business promotion, educating yourself on how to promote yourself online is essential.
Constant Contact offers a free online marketing guide focused on the repair and maintenance businesses. By familiarizing yourself with the marketing opportunities available, you can come up with and use lawn care advertising ideas that will keep your business growing and thriving for years.
