17 Best Marketing Strategies for Landscaping Businesses

A solid marketing approach will generate new leads and drive your landscaping and lawn care business to success.

By
Jane Pardo | Updated January 12, 2023

With the best marketing mix, you can stand out from competitors and turn prospects into happy, loyal customers. 

Keep scrolling to discover digital strategies and in-person advertising tactics for your landscaping business. We will also share creative, out-of-the-box ideas to kick-start your marketing journey.

1. Invest in a professionally designed landscaping website

Every business that wants to thrive needs a robust online presence in today’s digital era. 

A well-built website is the cornerstone of your lawn care marketing, giving you instant credibility and helping you connect with potential customers. 

  • A website lets you differentiate your brand by defining your niche and highlighting your specialty services. 
  • A website is open all the time. Your target audience can learn about your services and schedule an appointment anytime. 

Professional web designers know exactly how to create a high-converting website that reflects your brand. 

Most well-crafted websites have these features: 

  • Smooth, mobile-responsive design 
  • Fast load times
  • Clear navigation paths
  • Effective headlines 
  • Well-defined value proposition
  • Visible calls-to-action
  • Short forms
  • Quality photos or videos
  • Social proof, reviews, and testimonials

Your landscaping website can make or break your business, so don’t skimp on its quality. 

2. Focus on local SEO to drive organic website traffic

Local SEO is critical for lawn care and landscaping businesses.

If you want your website to rank higher than competitors in search engine results, you need to know the best local SEO practices. 

Perform these steps to get in front of people who look for your services: 

  • Optimize your Google Business Profile for maximum local visibility. It allows your target market to easily find your business on Google Maps, contact you, and leave reviews. Be sure to provide all necessary local information, including your services, business category, and opening hours. 
  • Use the keywords people in your area use to search for your services. SEO tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush can help you make strategic decisions. 
  • Reference your location in strategic places of your website, including the title tag, headings, body copy, and meta description. 
  • Submit your lawn care website to quality local directories, including Yellowpages, Bing, Yahoo, MapQuest, and Landscape.com. 
  • Ask for reviews from happy customers. Positive reviews signal to Google that you have a trustworthy business. Plus, five-star reviews make your landscaping business stand out on Google Maps.  

Pro Tip: Source local backlinks from nearby businesses whenever possible to let Google know that your website is relevant to a specific geographic area. 

3. Demonstrate your expertise through content marketing

Content marketing and SEO go hand-in-hand in connecting with your target audience. 

While SEO drives targeted traffic, content marketing builds trust, credibility, and loyalty. 

Creating valuable content lets you cement your reputation as a thought leader. 

A well-thought-out content marketing strategy means you: 

  • Set clear goals, like improving brand awareness, increasing conversions, and improving brand loyalty. 
  • Create valuable content: In-depth tutorials, extensive guides, and how-to articles can solidify your reputation as a trusted landscaping authority. 
  • Choose content channels, including your website’s blog, email newsletters, and social networks.

Pro Tip: Stay on top of all created content and create posting schedules using a social media calendar. 

4. Use social media marketing to reach your target audience

Social media networks play a valuable role in people’s everyday lives and buying decisions.

Leverage social media to increase brand awareness and position yourself as the best landscaping and lawn care business in the field. 

  • Set up a business page on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. These platforms are perfect for visual content, providing a significant opportunity for landscapers. You can share before-and-after project photos, educational webinars, in-person demonstrations, and solutions to common lawn care problems. 
  • Make connections by looking up and following your current clients, potential customers, and big names in the industry. 
  • Showcase your work by posting photos and videos of completed projects. 
  • Use social media management tools, like Hootsuite and Buffer, to maintain a social presence more easily.

Pro Tip: Adding relevant hashtags to every post helps improve searchability and attract prospects. 

5. Join local Facebook groups within your service area

Many people ask for lawn care recommendations on Facebook groups. When you get active in local Facebook groups, people will be exposed to your brand and have you in mind when they need a landscaper. 

  • Maintain a consistent presence. People will see you as a trusted industry expert and recommend your services to others. 
  • Regularly answer questions and share your expertise. Soon, people will start tagging you or posting photos of your previous work. That’s free advertising! 

You can also join Facebook groups for lawn care business owners and professionals to share best practices and exchange ideas. 

Pro Tip: Start your own landscaping Facebook group. Creating a community that supports and trusts you will do wonders for your business. Come up with exciting content, like pro lawn care weekly tips. 

6. Experiment with online ads

facebook ads for lawn care

Google ads, Facebook ads, and Instagram ads can effectively drive traffic to your landscaping website and boost sales.  

Start with small campaigns and evaluate the performance of your ads. You can invest in bigger ads once you discover what works best for your landscaping company.  

  • Social media advertising for landscaping allows you to reach specific target audiences using various ad formats. 
  • Paid search advertising lets you capture the attention of your market through highly contextual ads that anticipate their wants and needs.

7. Use digital billboards to Increase brand visibility

A modern update to classic print billboards is digital billboard marketing. Unlike static print, these billboards use innovative technology to produce stunning visuals. 

Digital billboards are worth the investment in the long run as they are:

  • Creative, visually appealing, and attention-grabbing: You can use interactive segments or 3D graphics and motion videos to impress, engage, inform, and convert prospects into customers. 
  • Built to last: Print billboards eventually look old and weathered, while digital billboards look fresh and striking every time. 
  • Targeted: You decide when and where to display your digital landscape advertisements.
  • Cost-effective: Digital billboard advertising costs as little as $20 daily to more than a hundred dollars, depending on your marketing budget and goals.   

8. Cold email commercial property managers

cold emailing property managers

Commercial property managers hire professional landscapers to increase the beauty and value of properties. 

Generate new business by sending a tailored cold email that explains your landscaping and lawn care services. 

  • Short yet powerful and actionable cold emails successfully get a response. 
  • Personalization is key to building relationships. 

Pro Tip: Add an intriguing subject line with a particular benefit to draw attention. Your cold email should have a short and compelling call to action at the end, whether you want recipients to call you or respond to the email.  

9. Cross-promote with other businesses and organizations

Build mutually beneficial partnerships with other business owners where you cross-promote each other’s services. You can offer discounts to their customers, and they can do the same for yours. 

For example, you can partner with garden centers, hardware shops, and home improvement stores. Real estate agents and homebuilders can also recommend your landscaping services to new homeowners.

10. Set up folding sandwich board signs

Sandwich boards are affordable, sturdy structures that can help promote your landscaping business while on the job. 

Customize a sandwich board to display an eye-catching design showing your landscaping company details and contact information. You’ll catch the attention of passersby who need lawn care services and earn trust within the neighborhood. 

Pro Tip: Choose quick-change sandwich boards, so you can easily change displays in seconds as necessary. 

11. Distribute flyers to market your business

Flyers are a fantastic way to promote a local business and land commercial landscaping contracts. They are affordable and easy to distribute anywhere. 

Your lawn care flyer should include most of these details: 

  • Business name
  • Logo 
  • Contact information (landscaping website, phone number, email address, or social media pages)
  • Visually compelling photos
  • A special discount, limited-time offer, or free giveaway, like a soil conditioner 
  • An attention-catching call to action. For example, “Call 999-9999 before March 5 to get 40% off!”  
  • An exciting tagline or a funny slogan 
  • A brief mention of your referral program  

Pro Tip: Around 3% of your printed flyers will generate new leads. You can divide the number of your desired leads by 0.03 to determine how many flyers to print. 

12. Use door hangers

Door hangers are perfect for local businesses, making them one of the best in-person landscaping advertising ideas.

They are a hyperlocal marketing tool to spread awareness about your lawn care services in a specific geographic area. 

They are: 

  • A highly targeted form of advertising: You choose which houses to display your door hangers. 
  • Effective: They’re hard to ignore, as everyone has to turn the doorknob when entering a home. Visiting neighbors and friends also get to see them!
  • Relatively affordable: They typically cost less than a dollar. 

While door hangers are generally legal, check with your local city office before printing them to avoid legal issues.  

13. Find prospective customers on Craigslist

With a giant user base, Craigslist is a digital marketplace you must not overlook. 

Craigslist advertising is, in fact, great for local businesses. The site features separate pages for local communities, making it easy to reach your target customers. 

  • Include relevant keywords and provide clear contact information in your landscaper ad. 
  • Add high-quality images to let people know you’re running a legitimate lawn care business. 
  • Keep the sales pitch direct, concise, and free of errors. 

Pro Tip: Check your competitors to get ad ideas and discover what successful ads have in common. 

14. Offer landscaping and gardening classes or workshops

This can help you attract new customers and build your brand as an authoritative, trustworthy resource. You can casually mention your lawn care services for people who want to get the job done professionally. 

Host workshops within the neighborhood or offer online classes for convenience.  

Pro Tip: Create a clear schedule that lists topics for each week, allowing participants to prepare ahead of time. 

15. Focus on online reputation management

Most customers read online reviews and testimonials before making a purchasing decision. 

That’s why you must carefully guard your landscaping company’s online reputation against negative reviews. 

  • Request reviews from your favorite customers. The more people vouch for you, the more prospects will trust you. Happy clients will be glad to share their experiences. 
  • Handle negative feedback immediately. You can ask customers how to serve them better and offer special discounts to earn back their trust. 

It’s best to keep an eye on review platforms and social media networks where people talk about your brand, like Facebook, Houzz, Yelp, and Google Business Profile. 

Pro Tip: Send a customer feedback survey via email every month. Always follow up with a thank-you email when people respond to your request or give you reviews. 

16. Create a solid referral program

A referral program incentivizes your customers and employees who bring referrals to your landscaping business. 

Offer rewards like: 

  • Credit on the customer’s account 
  • Discounts
  • Special limited-time offers
  • Gift cards for online or local retailers 
  • Cash
  • Merchandise 

Spread the word about your referral program by sharing it on your social media pages. Providing an online referral form makes it easy for people to refer your business. 

Pro Tip: Distribute referral cards to your top customers to get high-quality referrals. 

17. Network diligently to expand your connections. 

Whether you’re just starting out or running a successful business, attending networking events opens the door to valuable opportunities. 

  • It helps you expand your social network.
  • You get support from like-minded people and discover the ins and outs of landscaping, especially when you’re new to the industry. 
  • You meet potential partners and customers. 
  • You remain competitive and stay ahead by learning the latest news and trends. 

Pro Tip: Join your local chamber of commerce and other local business associations to gain valuable connections. Get involved in local events, like trade shows and home and garden shows, to make yourself known in the community. 

FAQs about advertising for landscaping 

How do I create a solid marketing plan? 

Create a solid marketing plan by conducting thorough research and setting clear marketing goals. You must analyze your target market, set an adequate advertising budget, and develop an ideal strategy. Devise a proper implementation schedule, and check your results using key performance indicators (KPIs). 

How do I set a budget for my landscaping advertising campaigns? 

When creating a marketing budget, you need to consider the cost of promotional materials, marketing services, and your target return on investment. Track your progress to ensure you’re hitting your marketing goals without wasting a single dollar. 

Written by Jane Pardo

Jane Pardo

Jane Pardo is a senior contributing writer who lends insight into digital marketing methods and business solutions. She regularly writes at Scalebloom to help business owners take their online marketing to the next level.