Do you run a landscaping business but are trying to navigate towards commercial-only accounts? Shifting your clientele to a new demographic isn’t easy, but it can be done with the right tools and the right marketing efforts.
To make sure we give you the best advice possible, we have sourced 6 marketing ideas for your landscaping business from Procare Landscaping, a company who has been in business since 1989 and continues to successfully grow their portfolio of commercial-only accounts.
1. Utilize Google My Business
Google My Business is a free and easy-to-use platform that allows you to easily and efficiently manage your company’s presence online. In fact, it’s one of the most crucial steps for creating relevancy and transparency between you and your potential customers. With GMB, you can decide where you want to showcase your brand, what you have to offer, and build a rapport before ever even communicating with customers.
A few things you could be doing with GMB to increase your presence are as follows:
- Manage your profile (verify and claim ownership)
- Add photos and proper categories and services
- Respond to reviews (good and bad)
- Google Posts weekly
- Add UTM tracking urls to website so you can see how much traffic is coming from Google Local Searches
2. Geo-Targeting
Who are your top 5-10 targets for new commercial accounts? Have your sales team identify this. Then, we recommend advertising within a 1 mile radius around their address during business hours.
You should target users who are interested in products, services, or items related to their industry. When your sales team approaches them, they will (or should) recognize your brand and value propositions.
When you are considering prospects, there are a few things you should consider before making any final decisions. Consider whether the prospect aligns with your business goals, and exclude those who are outside of your determined radius, address, or time availability. By doing this you can avoid potential customers that are not aligned with what you need, such as a residential contract.
1. Automate And Screen Reviews
Most CRM tools offer integrations with SAAS like Zapier. You can set up automation to fire “X” days after an initial visit or completed project for a new customer asking them for a Google review. This is a great way to give indicators on what went well and what can be improved according to customers.
Pro tip: spice up your email designs with links that send users to a Google Form with a feedback survey for any reviews less than 3 or 4 stars. If a user provides a 5 star review, send the user to your Google Business Page to leave a review.
2. Reduce Barriers for New Customers
Utilize tools that improve the user experience of new potential customers. You want to make the process of inquiring about services as seamless as possible, reducing the friction that’s already in place naturally when customers are choosing a new landscaping company. Additionally, adoption of these tools can make you stand out from your competitors.
Consider tools like Calendly to allow new customers to easily schedule appointments and visits. Include form submits on pages to increase leads and get more quotes through the door. Integrate these tools with other software to move your potential customers down the marketing funnel from initial sales contact to final closed contract.
3. Communicate Your Value Propositions LOUDLY
The landscaping industry is flooded with competition. It’s more important than ever before to clearly and loudly communicate your company’s strengths and reasons why customers should choose you over the competition.
The most effective way to do this is to have a killer brand strategy in place with messaging that resonates with potential clients. Doing so will make your marketing efforts exponentially more
effective. However, managing a business is a full-time job, and spending all of your efforts on marketing means that there are likely other matters that desperately need your attention.
Procare admitted that their strengths were in landscape design and management, that’s why they made the decision to work with a professional branding agency to help them with messaging and a marketing strategy.
1. Service Differentiation vs One-Size-Fits-All
Are the services you offer desirable to the local businesses in your market? Research what local businesses in your market want from a landscaping company. You might find that they need packages with many services, or maybe they need one singular service. More than likely, the needs of businesses in your market vary, so giving them a one-size-fits-all won’t work.
For example, Procare found that their clients preferred landscaping management plans that were custom-made for their businesses. Rather than paying for services they didn’t need, they could focus on the services they did want, and save in other areas. This differentiation of an ala carte style business plan gave customer’s the flexibility they wanted, ultimately setting them apart from the competition.
Conclusion
We know that it can be extremely challenging to win bids in a marketplace that has a lot of competition, let alone diversify yourself enough to obtain only commercial accounts. That’s why it’s important to maximize marketing ideas for your landscaping business. By following these simple steps outlined by Procare, you can duplicate their success and be well on your way to your best annual yet.
