A landscaping business isn’t easy because it’s seasonal. You’re extremely busy in the summer months but really slow in the winter.
It can be tough to manage and have enough funds to make it through the slow season. Being smart with your marketing spend will go a long way to keeping your business going for years to come. As you look at your marking plan for the year, read these landscape advertising ideas to keep your business going for years to come.
1. Understand Your Market
If you want to make the most out of your marketing efforts, you have to know who you’re marketing to. Otherwise, you’re throwing money and marketing ideas at a wall to see what sticks.
The problem with that type of approach is that you’re wasting money and time. A focused approach that speaks directly to your target is a much more efficient use of your landscape advertising dollars.
This will also get your business away from the “I target anyone who needs landscaping,” target audience.
What you can do instead is to know who the decision-makers are and what is important to them. Perhaps you target older men in a certain radius who don’t want to put in too much work on the yard because it takes a toll on the body.
You can have a few specific audiences to target. The more you understand them and their challenges with landscaping, the more your marketing can relate to them. That’s what will draw people into your business.
2. Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization can be used to target your customers, too. When people are looking for a landscaping company, they’ll look online. You want to be at or near the top of those search results.
It’s not easy to do because there are hundreds of factors that go into those search results. You have to understand what they are and optimize your entire online presence for search engines.
Start by doing a website review to see how your online presence can be improved to rank higher in search results.
3. Your Website is Your Calling Card
Your marketing efforts will lead to one place. That’s your website. A dated or poorly designed site will turn off potential customers, no matter how good your marketing is.
You have to give your site’s visitors a great experience. It has to be fast, mobile-friendly, and clean. Not only that, but the website content has to be easy to read on all devices.
Remember, you also have to design your site for search engines, too. Designing for a great user experience and search engines requires a very fine balance.
4. Referral Partners
Who are the businesses in your community that target the same people that you do? Real estate agents, construction contractors, and even property managers could be good sources of referrals.
This is why you need to know and understand who your customers are. It makes it much easier to find other businesses that serve them. You can then create referral partnerships where you promote each other and refer business to each other.
5. Get Lots of Social Proof
People who spend time researching landscape companies want to be certain that they are going to hire someone to do an outstanding job.
It can be hard to tell online, so it’s up to you to convince them that you will. They best way to do that is to let your current and/or previous customers do the convincing for you.
Testimonials and online reviews can be powerful ways to show the quality of your work. You want to have these on your website and on Google. That can also help your search engine rankings.
Another way to demonstrate the quality of your work is to have an online portfolio. Take high-quality before and after pictures of your most challenging projects. It will visually reinforce the quality of your work in the minds of potential customers.
6. Be Consistent
Marketing is the most effective when it’s consistent. Usually what happens with businesses is that they start marketing, it works and then they get too busy to continue marketing. They have to serve their clients.
That scenario is the main reason why business owners exhaust themselves and plateau in sales. They’re stuck in this vicious cycle.
Consistency in your marketing leads to higher brand recognition and it develops trust with potential customers. That ultimately leads to more sales.
Landscape advertising also requires patience. You don’t want to fall into a trap where you try a marketing idea for a couple of weeks and then stop because you don’t see instant results. You have to give marketing ideas time to take root and gain momentum.
7. Ask for Referrals
Do you assume that if you do a good job people are just going to refer others to your business? This may be surprising to you. Customers are willing to give referrals. The reason why they don’t is that they aren’t asked.
Many people are hesitant to ask for referrals because it feels awkward. Asking for referrals isn’t salesy or pushy at all. It’s good business and it’s simple to do. You just have to ask.
You can take it a step further by creating a referral program. That will give your customers an incentive and add dollars to your bottom line.
Are You Getting the Most from Your Landscape Advertising Budget?
Running a landscaping business is hard work. One of the most difficult things about it is having a steady stream of clients that will give you more than enough work to last through the slow months.
There are ways to make your landscape advertising dollars work more efficiently. You have to start by understanding who your audience is and why they need your services.
Do you want to know how you can get the most out of your marketing budget? Contact us today to find out about our complete marketing services.