Advertising your lawn care business needs to go beyond handing out business cards. Small businesses dealing with local clientele are beginning to realize the value of having an online presence. This is especially critical with businesses that fit the subscription door-to-door model, such as pool cleaners, pest control, and lawn care.
If your lawn care business is failing to expand despite growth in the community, you might need to consider digital marketing. Here are 5 tips for marketing your lawn care business in the digital space today.
Tip 1: Advertise your lawn services on Google Business
A lot of businesses make the mistake of doing the bare minimum on their Google Business Profile. This is the most valuable online real estate you have available to you as a local business. Every section of information you can fill out is an opportunity to put in the keywords you want to appear for in Google searches. If you see that you’re 80% complete or less on your profile, keep going!
For advertising your lawn care business, rank is crucial. Creating and completing a Google Business Profile will get you on Google, but to outrank your competition you may consider contracting an SEO specialist to set up your business profile. Simply moving from 3rd to 2nd in local rankings could mean huge increases in revenue, making it well worth the investment.
Tip 2: Have a website and optimize it for search engines
A website with proper SEO not only helps your business appear in more search results, but it improves your ranking on the local search results that appear in Google maps. Ensure your website has easy access to the information your potential customers are most interested in. Follow the below tips for some simple DIY search engine optimization:
• Include the areas you service in your footer and in multiple places on your home page
• Identify the keywords customers will be searching to find your business, and include them when possible(without ‘keyword stuffing’.)
• Have a clear path to becoming a customer easily visible on all pages. This could mean a contact form, a phone number-however you want your customers to be able to reach you.
• If using a visual web-design tool like Squarespace or Wix, be sure to fill out the “meta” sections of your page info. This includes your pages title and page description.
• Write blog posts relevant to your industry. Share tips for your potential customers and use these as an opportunity to include common keywords on your website.
Proper design and execution of a website can be complicated if you aren’t familiar with the practice. Market your lawn care services efficiently by doing your website the right way. If you want an efficient website that will rank on Google you can always hire a professional for reasonable rates to do this for you.
Tip 3: Get (a lot of)Google reviews, and respond to them!
While Google’s ranking algorithm is always changing, reviews are consistently a definite factor when it comes to local business rankings. And it isn’t just how many stars you have- Google’s local rankings take quantity and engagement into consideration as well. By engagement we mean responding to reviews. You should strive to respond to most of your Google reviews.
Reviews are also an opportunity to use some of those keywords you’re aiming for. Don’t blatantly keyword stuff, but if you have the opportunity to request a customer mention your “lawn care” services in their review, it can help you in your rankings for that keyword.
Tip 4: Collect email addresses and utilize email campaigns for advertising your lawn care services
With the right tools email campaigns can be your greatest asset to increasing your conversion rate.
Email campaigns for this business model are essentially a method of keeping your brand in the mind of leads that have previously expressed interest in your services. With a tool like Mailchimp you can even track responses and interactions to your emails. This allows you to categorize leads and cater emails based on interest, location or service.
There are a many methods you can use for collecting email addresses. Contests and giveaways on social media are a common tactic. Your website is a fantastic tool towards this goal. A contact form on your website is a must for utilizing email campaigns.
When Texoma Marketing Solutions launches an email campaign for a customer, we always include multiple links in the email body. This allows us to track multiple connection points with the lead in one email. Based on their response they move to a different point in the campaign. For example: an email blast goes out to all leads that filled out a contact form but didn’t close. The email body has a link to a promotional discount and a link to a landscaping services page. The leads that clicks the promotional discount link gets more emails with deals in the future. Those that click the landscaping link get emails with content related to landscaping. The goal is to keep these leads engaged with your company until they convert.
If you’re interested in having us launch a professional email campaign for your company, book a free consultation today with one of our experts.
Tip 5: Encourage word-of-mouth
This is the most common method of marketing for this business model for a reason- it works the best. Neighbors talk to each other. Proximity of customers means more efficiency on your operations. It’s a no-brainer.
While offering a good service is the best thing you can do to acquire word-of-mouth business, there are a few methods you can utilize to encourage your customers.
• Offer a referral discount, and track it! There are many digital tools available online for tracking referral codes.
• Provide customers with print material they can hand to neighbors
• Be active on social media- many referrals happen on social media these days. By having presence you help remind your customers to recommend your services to others
• Ask your clients- if you offer a good product and your customers are happy with you, don’t be afraid to ask for a referral to friends, family and neighbors
For more tips on advertising your lawn care services, consider scheduling a free, no obligation consultation with one of our experts.