Lawn Care Marketing Ideas

Marketing your lawn care company is critical to securing regular business throughout the year. Whether you offer simple lawn mowing services or premium landscaping, you need to have a strategy for targeting the right prospects. Lawn care advertising can get expensive, so you need a plan for how to invest your marketing budget wisely. Let’s take a look at some lawn care advertising ideas from the experts.

How to Create a Lawn Care Business Marketing Plan

The first step to successful lawn care marketing is to craft a detailed plan. Marketing plans are living documents, so expect to refer back to yours every so often as your business grows and changes.

Don’t already have a marketing plan? No problem. Here are six steps to help you get started:

• Step 1: Identify your ideal customer. By nature, lawn care services are targeted locally by the neighborhood. You may need to tweak your plan for different neighborhood demographics.

• Step 2: Set marketing goals that are driven by clearly defined metrics.

• Step 3 : Research the competition and find out how they’re marketing their businesses.

• Step 4 : Set up mechanisms that allow you to track relevant key performance indicators regarding your marketing campaign.

• Step 5: Create actionable marketing strategies for a landscaping business. Be as specific as possible.

• Step 6 : Set reporting guidelines so you can review your marketing strategies every so often.

That’s all there is to it. Defined marketing plans are there to keep you on track. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has some handy guidelines available, and a quick online search will net a ton of templates to help you get your lawn care and landscaping advertising ideas down on paper.

Marketing Strategies for Lawn Care Businesses

Advertising is a key ingredient of any successful marketing campaign. But where do you start when it comes to placing a lawn care advertisement? With so many channels available—both online and offline—you’ll need to figure out which ones are worth your time and money. There are no right or wrong answers. What works for one company may not work for everyone. You need to experiment and find out the best way to advertise lawn care for your business.

Promoting on Social Media

One of the cheapest ways to hit your target audience is to promote yourself on social media. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, all the major networks have the potential to yield results. Another good landscaping advertising option worth considering is paid social media ads. These require an investment on your part, but Facebook’s ad platform, in particular, can generate amazing returns.

Leverage Your LinkedIn Network

LinkedIn is a social media platform that deserves its own section because it offers something different. This is very much the social hub for doing business and making professional connections. If you’re targeting commercial as well as residential sales prospects, take some time to check out your existing LinkedIn network and start spreading awareness about your business. Even if you’re not serving commercial clients, you can still use LinkedIn to find professional groups where you can exchange tactics and learn new strategies for connecting with your target market.

Start a Blog

One of the key landscaping marketing ideas that sometimes gets overlooked is having a blog. Creating compelling content for your website is an excellent way to climb the online search engine results. It’s also a fairly easy way to turn some heads and get attention from your target audience: those looking for lawn care tips, solutions, and advice. A well-written blog is the perfect way to leverage your expertise, demonstrate your authority, and connect with new prospects and current customers alike. Not sure what to talk about? It could be as simple as providing lawn care tips and seasonal content that’s relevant to the communities you serve.

Launch a YouTube Channel

When it comes to engagement, video holds the crown. One of the best landscaping advertising ideas you can implement is to create a YouTube channel and start posting videos. Get as creative as you like with the subject matter. Pull back the curtain and show people who you are and how you run your business. Post your videos on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and other networks to build a reputation for yourself.

Hand Out Flyers

Since lawn care marketing is very much a local game, handing out flyers is a highly effective form of advertising. Put together a smart, simple, colorful leaflet and hand it out to each house in your local area. It’s all about getting your name out there. You can even post an introductory offer to encourage people to get in touch with you.

Purchase a Radio Spot

Contrary to popular belief, radio is still alive and kicking. Plus, it’s not as expensive as you may think. Outside of the U.S.’s largest cities and the rush-hour spots, you can purchase a radio ad for just a few dollars, making it a surprisingly cost-effective way to reach tons of new prospects.

Advertise in the Newspaper/Magazines

Local newspapers and magazines are another great offline marketing idea for your lawn care business. Lawncare ads in these publications are better for targeting older demographics. That’s why it’s so important to figure out who your target audience is in advance. A local newspaper ad could help you gain a foothold in parts of your city and audiences you wouldn’t normally reach online.

Buy a Local Sponsorship

Sponsor a soccer game at the local elementary school or plaster your name in the Christmas play brochure. Community events also provide great sponsorship opportunities for local businesses. While sponsorships can be a little pricier, getting your business name out into the community could be all that you need to make a return on your investment and more.

Out-of-the-Box Marketing Strategies

Go beyond the conventional marketing strategies for a landscaping business. There are several out-of-the-box marketing methods you can leverage right now to get ahead of the competition. Think about which tactics your competitors aren’t currently exploiting, and you’ll be on your way to capturing the attention of the communities you serve.

Start a Referral Program

Happy customers can be your most effective source for new opportunities. Encouraging this positive word-of-mouth with a referral program—where you provide discounts to loyal customers who bring in new business—is a step in the right direction. Referral programs are big business in many industries, but it’s only recently that lawn care entrepreneurs have started implementing them. Studies show that referral programs really do work, so take advantage of them and start one.

Encourage Customers to Leave Reviews

It’s no secret that most people check out online reviews before purchasing any product or service. Lawn care is no exception. You’ve got to show that you have a reputation for producing outstanding work consistently. Getting those reviews is difficult because most people can’t be bothered leaving them. Motivate customers to do so by going above and beyond to provide excellent service and encouraging them to leave reviews each time you complete a job.

Initiate a Lawn Care Loyalty Program

The lifeblood of any lawn care and landscaping business is regular customers. Encouraging a lead to sign up for a long-term contract is the holy grail of success. Individual jobs are typically less valuable. One way to improve your success rate here is to launch your own loyalty program. The general concept is that the more services someone buys, the cheaper they get. You could also have a system where customers who purchase ten regular visits get the eleventh on the house. There are many ways you can roll out your loyalty program, but you’ll need to balance any freebies with profitability, so you’re not losing money.

Start an Email List

Email marketing lets you stay in touch with your client base even when you haven’t seen them in a while. Steadily build up your email list and provide great, exclusive content whenever you can. If you started that blog or YouTube channel we talked about earlier, this is a great way to promote it. Modern business is all about relationships, and this is one of the simplest ways to get a direct line to your target market.

Give Something Back

It’s a proven fact that customers are more likely to buy from people who align with their values. Become a fixture in your community by giving something back. Some ideas for how your lawn care business can help the community include:

• Holiday food drives

• Free lawn mowing services for the deprived

• Snow shoveling services for the elderly

Be an asset to local people and become known throughout your town. Publicize the charity events you attend and the good works you carry out. It’s possibly the best lawn care advertisement there is.

How to Help Your Business Stand Out from the Competition

No one likes being beaten to the punch. So, the key question is how can you use lawn care advertising ideas to rise above the competition?

Here are some examples of how to outshine the rest:

• Develop a conversion-based lawn care website: Make sure it’s professional, simple to use, and available on mobile.

• Sell value, not features: Don’t just sell your services. Sell the value of hiring a lawn care specialist.

• Communicate a clear value proposition within your lawn care advertising strategy: Do you specialize in a specific service, area, or price?

• Focus on SEO: Target local keywords and learn how to leverage Google My Business. Strive to become the number one lawn care service in your area on the search engine rankings.

• Use infographics: Well-designed graphics are a great way to communicate. That’s why infographics work so well.

• Network locally: Don’t rely exclusively on online marketing. Join community events, become a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and start talking to people.

The simplest way to become a successful lawn care operation is to do what your competitors aren’t doing. Trying to compete with well-established brands is as challenging as coming in as a newbie. So, don’t compete with them. Find the areas they’re overlooking and leverage them to build up your reputation and net your first few regular customers. Only then can you start challenging your more experienced competitors.

Additional Lawn Care Marketing Strategies

The landscaping marketing ideas above are only the tip of the iceberg. It’s always good to dig a little deeper and invest in alternative marketing strategies. Here are some more great ideas to start your lawn care ads off on the right foot.

Survey Your Existing Customers

Have you ever wondered what people think of you when they see a lawn care advertisement from your brand? Find out directly from your existing customers. Most companies never even consider asking customers what they think; however, this is one of the biggest mistakes a business owner can make. How can you fix something if you don’t know it’s broken?

Get feedback from your existing customers. Discover what they like, what they don’t like, and what they would do to make your services even better. You can even give your existing customers a little push by offering an entry into a prize drawing for a completed survey.

Invest in PPC Ads

The journey to the number one spot on Google is a long and arduous one. It’s not going to happen overnight. In the meantime, consider putting together a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. These Google ads can be difficult to understand and sometimes challenging to turn a profit with, but local keywords tend to have less competition and lower costs.

Once you’ve created a great website, set aside a little money to put your brand on page one of Google’s search results and watch the traffic roll in. However, don’t expect immediate results. There’s quite a steep learning curve when it comes to managing an effective PPC campaign.

Hire a Marketing Professional

Growing lawn care operations may hire other employees to increase their capacity and deliver a higher standard of service. Consider hiring a marketing professional to help expand your footprint. A marketing professional can help you figure out the flaws in your current advertising and develop new ways of reaching your target audience.

You don’t need to bring someone on board full-time to make the most of a marketing expert. In the era of remote work, hiring someone to manage your marketing for just a few hours a week can be extremely valuable. Likewise, engaging with a team like FieldRoutes can open all kinds of new doors for you and add immediate expertise to your marketing efforts.

Become a Salesperson

You and your team should always be selling. Any interaction with a customer offers an opportunity to make a sale, whether you’re upselling or trying to get someone to commit to a long-term contract after a one-time job. Even if you’re already well-versed in the sales process, there’s always more to learn. Thankfully, there are plenty of resources out there to help entrepreneurs better their in-person sales techniques.

So, what are the three main principles of successful in-person selling?

• Look and be professional

• Open your ears and listen to what people are saying

• Talk to people about the things they actually want to talk about

It’ll take time and experience to nail your sales pitch without coming off as too salesy, but if you get it right, you and your team will open even more opportunities to sell.

Stay Current

Less a marketing strategy and more of a philosophy, staying on top of the latest lawn care and landscaping business trends can help you rise above the competition. The biggest mistake lawn care businesses make is sticking to the same old tired tropes they always have. Read industry news, act on it, and think about how those trends will impact you and your customers. Consumer behavior changes all the time, and the brands that fail to adapt usually don’t last long into the future.

Win More Customers with FieldRoutes

Marketing is a huge topic among lawn care businesses, yet the problem with too many local organizations is that they fail to have any marketing strategy at all. Manage your business, team, and marketing strategy all in one place with FieldRoutes.

Our lawn care software centralizes every aspect of your business and provides a single source for all your key marketing metrics. Dominate your marketplace and provide top-tier service with Cloud-based technology that delivers straightforward, time-saving solutions to help you grow like never before. If you’re looking to boost your lawn care marketing efforts, request a free demo from FieldRoutes and take your brand to the next level.