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Lawn care marketing is single-handedly the best (and arguably the only) way to grow your business.
In this article, we cherry-pick the very best lawn care marketing strategies and break them down into simple, actionable strategies you can start implementing today!
Now, let’s get started.
Why do people buy lawn care services?
The answer is NOT because their grass is tall… Because believe it or not, no one buys anything based on logic.
Potential clients make their final decisions based on what they feel when they look at their lawn. And the sooner you center your marketing around this, the sooner you’ll begin winning more jobs.
Think of it this way, every homeowner needs their lawn mowed. They pay YOU to do it because…
By selling value to your prospects, you’re painting a clear picture. This allows them to imagine what it would be like to hire you and helps them to see the value you’re bringing them.
By now, you’re probably wondering: What’s the difference between features and values? So here it is:
Whenever you’re working on any lawn care marketing piece, focus on the goals (AKA the value) that your clients actually care about.
When you start selling values in your lawn care marketing, your marketing success will skyrocket.
Download the FREE lawn care client persona below to find out YOUR clients’ values!
Facebook is the largest social media platform on the internet.
In fact, two out of every three people in the US are on Facebook.
As a result, Facebook is the most powerful social media marketing tool to reach your clients right now.
Additionally, it’s incredibly easy and low-cost to get started. Actually, it’s far cheaper than printing out hundreds of flyers.
Basically, Facebook allows you to target people in your service area to run ads that generate clients - all for as little as $5 a day.
Bottom line: If you’re not running ads through this uniquely powerful platform, your business is missing out.
And if you need help creating your own Facebook Ads or organic posts, try downloading our free lawn care social media bundle below!
Email marketing is great because it’s one of the least expensive ways to grow your market your lawn care business.
As a result, email marketing has the potential to give you insane returns for your time.
So why is email marketing so successful?
… Because even if you automate them, every email feels personal (or at least it SHOULD).
Here’s a simple, two-step process to building a successful framework for your email campaign:
If you want to sell more work through emails, you’ll need to collect email addresses.
The best way to do this is by passively collecting emails.
For instance, you can host a lead magnet (a gift that requires an email address to be downloaded) within a Facebook Ad. Plus, you could also host lead magnets within your blog as well.
Your lead magnet (AKA your downloadable gift) can be anything from a watering schedule guide to winterization routines. Essentially, your lead magnet can be anything your clients might need your expert advice on.
The goal is to host your lead magnets anywhere your potential clients might find you.
On top of getting their email addresses, lead magnets serve multiple benefits for you.
They prove to your clients that you’re a lawn and landscape expert that they should trust. Plus, it also shows them the value you’re giving before they’re even a client.
First off, email is critical for selling to people who are “on the fence,” so always be sure to keep email address acquisitions a top priority for all leads and clients.
Plan out a series of “welcome” emails - and then automate your campaign.
The email campaign you’re sending to leads should have a healthy mix of:
By continuously practicing healthy email marketing, you can stay in front of your market at all times.
Service Autopilot has a massive weapon to add to your lawn care marketing arsenal: Automations.
Essentially, it can “automate” your…
And more!
Automations allow you to set up conditional actions that decide which emails will be sent next.
For instance, if a lead converts to become a client, you can arrange it to end the email campaign sequence.
Plus, Automations will initiate the email campaign on its own (without you having to do anything).
For instance, you could set up an email campaign to begin when someone downloads one of your lead magnets.
Automations are total game-changers that can totally revolutionize your business and reduce human errors.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Advertising is a useful method of targeting a specific market segment.
Google and Bing offer PPC Ad opportunities to reach your prospects on different search engines.
Here’s a quick example of PPC Advertising:
Do you see those ads at the top? Those are PPC. Also note, that you can place PPCs at the bottom of the search results page as well.
Moving on, a great PPC Ad guarantees that clients will see you before your competitors in the search results.
The great thing about PPC Ads is that you only pay if someone clicks on your ad - so you never get overcharged, and you can set a daily or maximum budget (though if you’re not careful, you can waste money).
Here are a few guides to get you started:
And for lawn care owners who want to grow even faster—You should consider hiring a 3rd party AdWords Specialist to manage your ads instead.
It can take a while (and a lot of trial-and-error) to get up to speed. If you’re in a high-competition market and you have the money to do it, this might be an extremely lucrative option for you.
For a huge number of your clients, your website will be their first impression of you.
So many lawn care websites haven’t been updated or changed IN YEARS… and it shows.
While there’s no definitive timeline, experts typically recommend you update your website every 2-3 years.
If this sounds like too much, think of it this way: Are potential customers going to choose a lawn care business with a janky, broken, dinosaur-era website? Or are they going to move onto another lawn care business with a beautiful, fully-operational, professional website?
More than likely, your ideal clients are shopping around to find a lawn care business that gives them a strong first impression.
So make sure your website is amazing. Hire a freelance web developer, if you have to. This is too important to overlook, and it’ll more than pay for itself.
Click here to find out more about creating an amazing website for your lawn care business.
Even better than creating an amazing website… is creating a website that appears at the top of search results.
SEO (AKA search engine optimization) is the combination of healthy web practices and keyword usage that puts your website at the top of search results.
Since websites with good SEO get seen first, businesses that invest in SEO are getting over 50% of web traffic.
Good SEO can be several times more profitable than great flyers!
Click here to access the full SEO guide for lawn and landscape owners.
Did you know that reviews can be almost as good as referrals?
If your clients really love your work, ask them to give you an online review!
Additionally, you can set up automated text and email campaigns centered around asking for reviews (hint, hint: you can do this with Service Autopilot Automations).
To start, focus on getting good reviews in at least two of these places:
But remember! When you’re asking for reviews, don’t rush people to one platform at once.
You never want to send an email blast to everyone asking for reviews. Most platforms have a trigger to stop brigading (positive or negative).
It’s much better to weave a review request into an automation or email campaign that’s triggered by individual actions the client takes (maybe it’s been 30 days since you won the quote, etc.).
By the way, you can do all of this (and more!) in Service Autopilot’s Automations.
Although bad reviews can hurt sales, if your good reviews outweigh the bad, you can still sell more work.
Just remember, bad reviews happen to even the best of businesses. It’s how you respond to those bad reviews that make all the difference to your potential clients.
Print marketing still works.
But here’s the problem: Most people don’t know how to make it work for them.
When you do it right, flyers can be a cost-effective way to build your lawn care client base and improve your lawn care marketing.
Flyers benefit your lawn care business in multiple ways:
With almost 100% certainty, I can tell you that new leads WILL see your flyers.
So your main goal is to make sure your leads like what they see.
Unless you’re just starting out, your time is WAY too valuable to pass out your lawn care company flyers by yourself.
By far, your most feasible, cost-effective option is to have your team complete 9-arounds.
9-arounds are the best way to optimize your route density in a relatively cheap way.
Click here to choose from the top 9-around methods for marketing your lawn care business.
Your lawn care crew can be your best advocates! Which is why you should train them to be salespeople.
Since they work directly with your clients, they already know what your ideal clients want, what they hate, and what they wish they had…
And if they don’t already know this, then they can easily find out by talking to them.
Now, your lawn care crew has all of the necessary information they need to win you more ideal clients.
All that’s left? Teach them how to sell to people.
Personally, I recommend having your crew read How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. It’s a sales marketing classic, and all of the concepts work without making you feel like a pushy car salesman.
Everything in this book boils down into three main categories:
When you and your crew know your clients, you’ll not only be able to sell more to them, but you can also do a better job too because you know what they expect of you.
This makes it SUPER easy to sell to them in-person to get new clients and upsells from your current ones.
Picture this…
There’s a white truck on the side of the road, and it has a trailer hitched to the back. The mowing crew is somewhere down the street completing visits.
You try to see what lawn care business it is, but you can’t make the words out. The truck has a small magnet on the door with busy, clashing colors in the background.
Surprisingly enough, this is SUPER common. And it’s just plain sad.
Think of all the MISSED OPPORTUNITIES that can happen because the lawn trucks didn’t have easy-to-read print.
BE BOLD ABOUT IT.
… But also make sure your font and colors are easily legible from a distance.
Your trucks SHOUT about who your lawn care business is.
It’s a good idea to hire a freelance designer to design your truck wraps.
Pro Tip: Along with wrapping your trucks, really make your trucks stand out by painting them your company color!
Make sure to include your:
Your main goal is to use one bold color that makes you stand out, so anyone can recognize your trucks zipping down the road.
I’ve seen companies choose colors like hot pink, highlighter yellow, or neon blue - just so they can stand out.
Even though this process can be costly, it’s a process that more than pays for itself over time.
Remember, this is your brand, and it’s going to permanently stick. Do it right the first time.
New clients don’t trust you.
Here’s why: You sell an “invasive” service, and you’re a stranger working on their property.
And while this is true, can you guess who they DO trust?
… Their friends and family.
Word of mouth referrals are a powerful tool you can use to sell your “invasive” services - like lawn care and landscaping.
Your clients NEED to trust you, and great referrals skip over that trust barrier.
Even better?
Over time, referrals snowball into more referrals. In other words, one good client can win you two more… then four, and so on… And before you know it, clients will start finding you.
Just follow these magical steps to win amazing lawn care referrals:
Click here to walk through these steps more in-depth.
You can also click here to download your FREE, customizable lawn care business cards. We created them just for you!
Great referrals cost $0, and they’ll boost your lawn care business’ revenue and reputation.
I only counted this as a “half strategy”.
… Why, you ask?
Because you’re already working your ass off. You didn’t get in this industry to be lazy.
You got here because you’re an entrepreneur at heart.
This is why everyone in your lawn care business has to give their full 100% effort to consistently provide outstanding service.
This is especially true for new clients because you have even more to prove. They should be given special attention with 115% effort for the first few visits.
My main piece of advice here is to never stop. Keep up your best work and fresh, new leads will keep swarming in.
When you and your lawn care team put in 100% effort (every time!), I guarantee your lawn and landscaping business WILL GROW.
By using the lawn care marketing strategies I’ve presented, you’ll be on the right track to creating explosive growth in your business
Implement these strategies, and I promise you have the potential to:
And then soon, you’ll be saying, “Now, I have too much work” (but that’s a problem we’ll solve another day)...
Now, get out there and dominate your market!
Related: How to Hire the Best Employees for Your Lawn Care Business
Originally published Jan 28, 2019 7:00 AM, updated May 21, 2020 3:20 PM
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