As with any service business, running a lawn care company requires you to have a constant flow of customers in order to maintain and grow your business. It is essential, therefore, to know exactly who your customer base is so that you can effectively communicate with them and be at the forefront of their minds if they require your services.
To achieve this, you need to market your business creatively and develop a strategic marketing plan that will help you acquire new customers while at the same time keeping your loyal ones.
This is no easy task and there are many challenges your marketing campaign may face. One of the main ones is creating a plan that’s too big for your budget. Calculate the budget you are willing to spend on marketing and stick to it.
Then, measure the results, before adjusting your budget and tactics according to what worked and what didn’t, before starting your next campaign. Always set goals with your activity to know if what you are doing is working and generating sales.
When starting out with a lawn care business, always choose a marketing strategy that fits your budget. This article aims to give you some ideas that can fit any budget you may have for your marketing campaign.
1. Start a referral program
A referral program is an excellent way to get new customers with the help of existing clients. People will likely develop a sense of trust and confidence in your business if they’re referred by another customer who has expressed a positive experience with you. Utilize this powerful resource by rewarding your existing customer with discounts or gift cards.
Developing a referral program isn’t as easy as it sounds. First, you need to ensure a seamless experience for your existing customers every time. A good way to go about achieving this is to use management software like Jobber that has been designed specifically for the lawn care industry niche.
What this can do is make all your internal processes, procedures, and communication far more efficient and professional. This smart technology makes it much easier to start a referral program to tell all your customers it exists, how your customers can benefit and how to take advantage of it. You’ll also be able to track it, to know who is using it and if it’s actively bringing in new customers.
2. Use digital ads
A good marketing strategy involves tracking your results on every channel where you place an ad. This will help you identify which channels are bringing you the most return and which ones aren’t performing. You can then change your budget and allocate it to the area with the most returns.
Digital platforms offer lawn care businesses the ability to track the performance of their ads and see where to allocate more funds. For example, when someone visits your website, you can track which channel or link they used, how long they spent on the website, and if they contacted you afterward.
The best way to market your lawn care business is to combine various digital marketing strategies, such as social media, search engine optimization (SEO), and paid advertisements. Once you know what works for you, you can channel your resources there to maximize returns.
Check out academy.getjobber.com which offers a wealth of great ideas and resources to help you with this.
3. Brand your trucks and vans
Customers requiring lawn care services are out there, but most of them don’t know about your company and the services you offer. One way to get to them is by branding your work vehicles with your logo and company information.
The details should include your business name, website, and contact information, as well as the services you offer. The truck will act as a moving billboard and increase your visibility every time it moves.
Branding your vehicles in this way is an affordable and effective marketing tactic. Once you’ve made the initial investment, that’s it. You won’t have to keep paying for the advertising space as you own it. Also, you’ll be advertising your services in your direct locality simply by driving around working on existing jobs.
4. Establish authority with a blog
Before deciding to hire your services, customers want to be sure they’re making the right decision. Therefore, the more you can demonstrate your technical know-how and expertise, the better.
The best way to do this is by including a blog on your website where you can upload content directly relevant to what you offer, such as listing practical lawn care tips or how-to advice for common problems.
People will value your help and support in this way and you will begin to become somewhat of an authority in your local vicinity, which is attractive to people looking to hire your services.
If you focus your content around topics your clients are interested in, it becomes easy to incorporate SEO. This way, you’ll drive more organic traffic to your site. However, always make sure your content is authentic and consistent.
5. Use professional business cards
Business cards have always been an excellent way for customers to connect with you. They’re an essential part of any marketing campaign, which you can also utilize for your lawn care business.
There are instances when prospects will hear about your business by word of mouth, and they’ll be interested in getting in touch with you. The best way to convert them into customers is by having professional business cards that have your business name, services offered, and contact information.
If you leave a card with clients after every job is completed, it will help generate more referrals for your business. Just be sure it looks professional enough for people to want to share and that it contains only essential information that is directly relevant to you and your customers.
6. Direct mail
Direct mailing is another way to interact more personally with your potential customer base and existing customers and is effective at getting noticed not least because there is a tendency today for people to get bombarded by digital ads and spam emails.
People can often miss emails simply due to the number of junk mail they receive in a day, so by sending them mail directly in the post, there is a greater chance they will notice your service offering and choose you to do business with over others.
Create postcards or letters that contain your business information and remember to include a call to action. This method is highly effective at engaging past or existing customers who haven’t renewed their contracts.
Conclusion
A lawn care business can be profitable if you learn how to market your services correctly. Marketing will keep you stay ahead of the competition and guarantee you’ll get new business regularly and also retain loyal customers.
However, ensure to apply strategies that only fit your budget so as not to negatively affect your bottom line. The tips discussed in this article are excellent ways to market your business and get more clients while staying on budget.
