How to Get Landscaping Customers

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Customers move. Budgets change. Priorities shift. Filling the pipeline with potential customers is key to managing the fluctuations of a landscaping business.

Finding and winning new clients—before competitors do—requires strategically using your finite resources.

To grow your business, leverage effective marketing tools, including online essentials like your Google Business Profile, while maximizing opportunities to network in your backyard.

1. Build an SEO-optimized website for your landscaping business

A website is essential to reach customers. You’ll convert more referrals if potential clients can vet your credibility at their convenience. A mobile-friendly website lets customers see your work, read testimonials, and contact you quickly.

Your website should include these features:

Keywords that fulfill search engine optimization (SEO) requirements
A photo gallery with professional images of your work
A portfolio of past projects explaining the scope and services provided
Clear contact information, including a phone number, mail address, online contact form, and hours of operation
Mobile optimization—over 50% of website traffic comes from mobile devices

Make your website work hard for you 24/7 by investing in SEO—the process by which companies improve their search engine visibility through keywords and mobile-friendliness. While you can DIY your SEO, it can pay to hire a marketing company or website designer to deliver the strongest results, including:

Generating leads
Increasing brand authority by earning you top spots in search results
Optimizing your website for mobile users
Giving you a competitive edge over companies that aren’t investing in SEO

2. Optimize local search visibility with Google Business Profile

A Google Business Profile (GBP) is a free ad that displays your business information in local search results and on maps with your:

Name
Photo
Contact information
Hours
Location

It’s up to business owners to ensure their profiles are complete, accurate, and attractive to potential landscaping customers.

Maintaining a GBP is one secret to boosting your ranking in local search results. A GBP enables customer reviews, which Google factors into its search rankings. Plus, most people trust online reviews as much as referrals, so they are a good lead-generation tool.

Tips to manage your Google Business Profile include:

Create a Google Business Profile
Fill out your basic information
Add a professional, eye-catching photo for your cover image
Encourage customer reviews and respond to them on your Google Business Profile, even to simply thank the customer
Use the Posts tool on your Google Business Profile to regularly add content, news, and photos. Posts can be up to 300 words.
Use the Insights tool to access data searches and views

3. Expand your reach through networking and partnerships

Professional organizations and businesses that operate in the same space as your landscaping company can lead you to new customers.

Local and regional chambers of commerce give you access to training resources like marketing seminars and tips to avoid the common pitfalls that cause landscaping businesses to fail.

Networking connects you with businesses that need high-value contract landscaping services for their offices and commercial spaces. Successful networking depends on companies providing value for others—such as serving on committees and participating in events—not just trying to sell services.

By focusing on serving others, businesses strengthen relationships and set the foundation for strategic partnerships with complementary businesses, such as:

Real-estate brokers
Home improvement providers
Pool and patio builders

Consider initiatives to spur mutual growth, such as a joint advertising campaign, innovative special event, or referral incentives.

There’s value in networking through social media, too. Share, like, and comment on content from businesses that share your demographic, and they might reciprocate by plugging your content.

Nurturing professional contacts is critical for long-term success. Fellow business owners can relate to your challenges and want to help.

4. Implement a customer referral program for growth

There’s no better marketing than happy customers—89% trust personal recommendations.

A customer referral program rewards customers for sharing their positive experiences and your business information with people they know. It’s one of the most affordable marketing strategies you can employ.

Recognized best practices for an effective customer referral program include:

Choose rewards that customers value
Rewards should be quantifiable, such as a free service or a gift card
Make it easy to refer through your business management software and shareable content on social media channels
Make the reward easy to use or redeem
Ace the timing—encourage referrals after delivering outstanding service
Offer a two-way incentive program—reward both the referrer and referee
Track the results with an analytical tool
Send a personal thank you on top of fulfilling the incentive

Customer referrals rely on the quality of service you deliver to existing customers. Continuing to meet and exceed their expectations results in more business down the road.

4. Utilize print marketing for targeted outreach

Traditional marketing, such as print materials, allows you to be present anywhere. It also reaches an older audience—business owners and homeowners—who may not be as comfortable online.

LinkedIn recommends these print marketing resources for home service businesses:

Direct mail: Send a postcard, flyer, or brochure to a target audience defined by geography, homeownership, commercial ownership, and demographics.
Print advertising: Run an ad in a newspaper, magazine, or community publication like a church announcement.

Aspire Marketing Pro makes sending direct mail a breeze. Simply build an audience list based on existing customer data in your CRM, customize one of the many postcard templates, and click send.

Other traditional marketing methods include:

Billboards
Door hangers
Yard signs
Business cards
Newspaper and magazine advertorials and inserts

For maximum effectiveness, consistent branding across all print advertising is crucial. Use the current logo, colors, and contact information.

6. Invest in targeted online advertising

Search algorithms can connect you with landscaping customers online through sponsored posts on social media, Google ads, Facebook ads, banner ads, and ad exchanges.

The diversity of resources for search terms gives landscaping businesses many options for diverse budgets and goals.

You can spend your marketing budget in several ways:

Hire a marketing company: A pro will develop a strategy, write blog posts and social media content for you, choose the best-paid marketing platforms and create the visuals, and measure results. Most agencies will quote you a scope of service to fit your budget.
Buy sponsored posts on social media: You can DIY your online advertising and target potential customers in your local area. To find your target audience with other demographics in mind, check Pew Research Center’s data on each platform’s users.
Use tools in your management software: Check the platform you use to run your landscaping business for online advertising tools. Find resources to strategize and track options to measure results and generate custom reports. Occasionally, these features require paying for premium services.

Any online advertising should include a clear call to action, such as using a promo code, entering a contest, signing up for a newsletter, or requesting a free estimate.

7. Establish authority with content marketing

Another cost-effective way for a small business to attract new customers is to leverage your expertise through content marketing. You can generate website traffic with articles including tips, advice, and storytelling, while positioning yourself as a trusted lawn care and landscaping authority.

→ Choose topics highlighting your strengths and answering your customers’ most common questions and concerns.

Content marketing is considered organic marketing because, unlike traditional ads or email marketing, you don’t have to pay to publish it to an audience. However, if you hire a writer, website designer, photographer, or marketing company to help create content or blog templates for you to reuse, there might still be costs associated.

Because a lawn care business is visual, you’ll want to include photos and videos. Content marketing that encompasses visuals include:

A blog on your landscaping website
Social media posts on your Facebook, Instagram, and other accounts
YouTube channel
Houzz.com and Yelp photo galleries
An email newsletter with a customer “mailbag”—answering questions submitted online

Remember to maintain content channels regularly. Out-of-date blogs and YouTube channels create the impression of low customer engagement. Some potential customers might wonder if you’re still in business if your last post was a year ago.

8. Boost brand visibility through community involvement

Home service businesses have the advantage of operating near their customer base. Just a few of the opportunities for making personal connections include:

Sponsor an event: Associate your brand with a farmers market, home show, block party, garden walk, 5K, or fundraiser in your service area.
Donate to a silent auction: Providing a service is one way to participate in a fundraiser. Ask if you can have bidders’ contact information to follow up on and generate new business.
Provide pro bono services: Build complimentary mowing for a senior daycare facility or church into your business plan in exchange for a yard sign.
Sponsor a drawing: Partner with a lawn care center to offer a free service or consultation.
Schedule a staff service project: Find an organized corporate activity involving neighborhood beautification.
Host events: Invite a nonprofit, neighborhood group, or garden club to have its functions in your office meeting space or conference room.

Community involvement puts a face to your business, fosters goodwill, generates good word of mouth, and demonstrates social responsibility while creating brand awareness right in your backyard. You and your staff are likely to enjoy it, too.

Optimize your landscaping business operations with software designed for the industry

Lead generation is one aspect of maintaining and growing in the landscaping industry. Igniting ongoing growth and setting your own terms for success means staying on top of all aspects of operations, including: