With the start of the new year, and in the face of winter, it’s time to plan your spring marketing efforts. It may feel too early, but as a marketing agency we can tell you that it’s the perfect time to get the ball rolling.

Most lawn care and landscaping companies want to start marketing the first week of spring, and we say, “good luck with that.”

When you aren’t marketing, someone else is, and they are cornering YOUR market. There’s a good chance that the first person to begin their spring marketing push is actually poaching your clients!

Step up to the plate and get moving - here are 5 Spring Marketing Tips to grow your landscaping business this year!

1. Have a Functional, Modern Website

We’re full swing into the digital age… you need a website.

The “it’s too expensive” excuse just doesn’t work anymore. For the DIYers, you can have a fully functioning site with scheduling for a couple hundred bucks a year (it’ll pay for itself). There are many options to choose from such as WIX, Squarespace, Wordpress and others. Spend a few hours a night with a YouTube tutorial on one monitor and your brand new site on the other and you can have it done in a week, no experience needed.
For those who don’t want a website and want to rely on phone calls and Facebook messenger - that can only take you so far. That works better for a one-man-business, but it’s incredibly hard, maybe impossible, to scale. If you want to expand your client base and spend less time answering phone calls and messages, then it’s time to invest in a website for your landscaping business.

Also, a good website will work for you and pull in more leads and estimates. Potential clients can read all about you, check your service area, and enter your sales funnel through your estimate landing page. 

On another note, some of your clients will get tired of tracking you down for services. Inevitably, they’ll switch providers who make it EASIER for them. Keep in mind that most businesses (successful ones), make life easier for their clients.

Here’s a video we did with RocketThruster to give you some incredible website tips.

2. Year-Round Efforts for Consistent Results

Your marketing efforts should work like a good investment strategy, constantly going to work in the background, even during the “off-season”.

We’re passionate about this topic but it’s for a damn good reason. We see the live results of companies who aggressively market all year round. It WORKS, and marketing encompasses a wide range of avenues. We’re talking traditional methods like door-hangers and flyers, but also the digital side of things like Facebook ads, Google Ads, and Instagram. An overwhelming majority of your potential clients can be found on at least one of these digital platforms.

Paid ads work great, but that’s not what it all boils down to. Sure we can get into the details of algorithms and what increases engagement, but it’s not necessary to know on your end. What ultimately leads to higher engagement is being active on social platforms. This also means organic posting (non-paid ads) and interacting with people. 

Organic posting + paids ads is a recipe for success. Also, this means doing paid ads the right way. Don’t just throw money at Facebook or Google and expect it to work with “boosted” posts. Otherwise, people in apartment complexes will see your ads and think, “if only I had a yard”. That’s wasted ad spend, which is why you need to target your audience. Simply put, if you aren’t targeting then you’re burning money. Watch our simple guide to effective neighborhood-by-neighborhood targeting with Facebook ads:

Get your Spring marketing out now, it may be cold wherever you are, but it's about planting those seeds in the minds of your customers. As dystopian as that sounds, it’s the truth when it comes to advertising. The ROI may not happen immediately, but when the time comes for regular mowing, they will have YOUR company at the front of their mind.

Marketing doesn’t have a season - it should never stop working for you.

3. Film an Intro Video

This is something that is incredibly easy and most of your competitors haven’t and won’t do this.

Step 1: Take out your phone.

Step 2: Mount it.

Step 3: Hit Record.

Step 4: Introduce yourself and talk about your business and services.

DO THIS TODAY. 

First and foremost, people much rather watch a video than read, and having this on your website’s frontpage and any landing pages will work in your favor. It puts a face to your service, and shows commitment, transparency, professionalism, and trustworthiness.

We even have a fill-in-the-blank script you can use to introduce yourself and your business.

***Step 5: Customer Testimonials

If you really want to take your company video to the next level, introduce some real customer feedback. People may be a bit hesitant to get on camera, but we can almost guarantee that at least one of your happy customers would be more than willing to help you out. Keep it simple, with questions like how long they’ve used your service and why they choose to keep working with you.

4. Branding On Trucks and Uniforms

We’ve all seen the mowing companies with a tiny and illegible logo on the driver’s side door…

We respect the hustle, but that level of branding is taking away from their full potential. Your logo doesn’t have to be the next Coca-Cola, it just needs to be clear and obvious. It should read, “we’re a professional landscape and lawn care company”.

We recommend having your vehicles wrapped to really catch people’s eyes. If your brand color is loud and in-your-face, that’s even better, because people will recognize your company from down the street.

Everyone in the field should have the same uniform and look presentable for the job. Your outward appearance is a reflection of the work you do. Homeowners will also be more receptive to hire you as their lawn care company. This goes back to building trust and professionalism. We wouldn’t recommend allowing cut sleeves or basketball shorts for employees. Every time someone drives by your crew, they are making a first impression, and we know how much that matters.

We sat down with Jacob Godar from Scooter’s Lawn Care and GrowComm to discuss branding and other marketing strategies.

5. Outsource Your Marketing Efforts

So many business owners try to do it all. We get it, it’s the entrepreneurial spirit inside us, but many times it can take away from growing your business. Spending your time marketing = working in your business and not on it.

Eventually, you’ll need a marketing team and it’s best to start now. It doesn’t matter if you’re a one man operation trying to go big or if you’ve hit the 1m+ mark, there’s something for you.

We at Lightspeed Social Agency work with all levels of lawn and landscape companies, and we adjust to fit your needs. Our marketing efforts are focused primarily on Facebook and Google lead generation, and we only work with route-based businesses.

Through our preliminary (and on-going) consultation, we identify the routes that have the most growth opportunities. Then our team goes to work, creating custom ads that only land on the screens of the people who live in those neighborhoods.

Enough talk - they say the proof is in the pudding, so here’s our pudding. This is one of our case studies from our work with Scooter’s Lawn Care.

If you’re looking to grow, we are right there with you.