Marketing Strategies for Your Landscape Business

Marketing a landscaping business is not one big move, it is a set of small strategies working together. Here are nine that consistently move the needle.

1. Setting up a Google Business Profile (local SEO)

Visit business.google.com and create a business page for your landscaping business. It is important that people can find you via Google Maps when someone types "landscapers near me".

You can describe the business, add information about where you work, the area you operate in and the details of your business.

Important: this is where you want to send customers after you have completed work for them. That gives you the opportunity to get Google reviews for your business.

2. Make sure you have social media and are regularly active

Whether you are posting completed installation jobs, before-and-after photos, testimonials or something currently on trend, remember that the majority of people use their phones for multiple hours a day. Really, we should rename social media to attention media, because the point of marketing a business on these platforms is to get attention and build brand awareness.

If you are looking to attract B2C customers, these are your domestic homeowners, then post content across Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

If you are looking to attract B2B customers, they hang out on LinkedIn. Creating a business LinkedIn account is recommended to build relationships, particularly alongside face-to-face networking.

When starting your landscaping business it is very difficult to manage multiple accounts easily, so be realistic about how many you take on.

Important: try to avoid using too much AI to create your posts. AI content can be very easy for consumers to spot, and if it is not used carefully it reduces trust with your audience.

3. Building relationships face to face with vendors, suppliers and the local community

The key to building relationships with vendors, suppliers and the local community is going to networking events and engaging with them directly. This allows you to speak with suppliers and build relationships with influential members of the local community.

4. Asking for referrals

This might seem too salesy, and for some it might feel awkward to ask.

You have finished a job, whether it is domestic or corporate work. Asking whether there is anyone they might know who you could help is not a problem. Getting your name out there is more important than any misgivings you might have about how you come across.

5. Dropping handwritten letters in the mailbox

Let us say you or the crew are working on a street. Take the time to drop a handwritten flyer through the doors of the houses on that same street.

"We are working on your street this week", then insert any information about your business or details for them to understand what you do. Finish it with your name, and make sure there is a telephone number and email.

Try to avoid heavily AI-created or glossy professional print. Most people put those in the bin automatically without looking. If it is a handwritten note, people take the time to read it because it looks personal.

6. Having a professional website

Having a website means you can design it to suit your business branding, display the information you need and create customer journeys. Social media does not allow for this.

Websites typically take time to grow, and seeing results organically can take between three and nine months when starting from scratch. The best way to describe it is that your website does not have a credit score with Google and other search engines yet, it does not know you or anything about your business. Over time, as you get more people visiting your website and build relationships with other vendors and networks, the website gains links from other sources that help it grow and gain visibility.

The best time to have a website for your business is either two years ago or today. It is like planting a tree; it takes time to grow and mature. Having it early on is important because as your other marketing strategies grow, it grows with you.

Invest in building this asset for your business.

7. Email marketing

Email marketing means having a list of businesses or customers you have worked with who have agreed to opt in to receiving emails, and who can unsubscribe at any time.

A great way to get this rolling is to have an option on the website where, when someone fills out a form, they can opt in to receiving updates on services, offers and promotional information.

You can include a page on the website where, once you have finished a job, you ask the happy client to leave a review and also sign up to your newsletter. Send them the link.

This is a slow grower, but it is extremely helpful for your business. You could add a link on your Linktree if you have it connected to your social media, or even create a page in Mailchimp to connect it up if you do not yet have a professional website.

8. Blog posting

Blogging is like going to the gym for the first time. After you have finished your workout, you look in the mirror and see no change at all. You have to keep going regularly and actively doing it before you see a difference. It compounds over time; it is not something that generates more money tomorrow. It answers questions your audience has been thinking about and builds the trust that leads them to contact you.

The recommended amount of blogging is four to eight times a month, writing 500 to 1,500-word articles around your experience and knowledge, answering problems around price, mistakes and comparisons in the landscaping business, whether you are talking to B2C or B2B.

How do you start blog posting? You will need a professional website. To generate ideas you can look online, speak to customers and share your own experience. When using AI such as ChatGPT it is great for building a framework or helping with research; however we recommend not using it to write full blog posts, because AI is a predictive engine and will pull from multiple sources that are both good and bad, so the content might not be accurate and could mislead customers.

9. Running paid advertising

Running paid adverts comes with multiple caveats. If you are putting £1 into ads, you should see a minimum return of £2 back from your investment. That is a principle rather than a literal rule; you want the best return possible.

When starting to run ads, spend a small amount to test and make sure the ad is successful. The customer journey is someone who has understood the ad, clicked on it and got in touch as a lead.

It is a faster marketing solution for getting your business in front of potential customers. Make sure the ad targeting is correct for the ideal client, and be clear whether you are attracting B2B or B2C. The person you get in front of needs to understand what you do, trust you, have their objections answered and know how to contact you.

With Facebook ads you can set an area or location where people will see your advert while scrolling.

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