Consumer attention is rapidly shifting from traditional marketing channels (TV, Radio, print etc.) to much newer platforms such as Facebook and Instagram You cannot just cut a check blindly and win with social media without actively participating in the platform. You need to become a practitioner and become dedicated to understanding and learning this new world to have success with it. While many of the same tried and true methods for making customers properties gorgeous haven’t changed, the ways that we in the green industry must adapt our sales cycle and process must. Customers today make decisions quicker and do their due diligence when searching for home services.
Below are 4 tips that you can implement in your business to see measurable returns on your energy and effort invested into the social media cosmos.
Trying Is lying – You cannot try, you must do. If you dabble in these spaces, you will get crushed. I see it so often. Companies think they can post once a week and not do any creative or paid ads on social media and then they run around and say “Facebook doesn’t work for my business.” You need to invest the time or the resources (money) to have your social strategy succeed. There are so many great resources on the Internet to learn how to do this including many local social management firms who offer great consulting and additional help in this process. If you don’t want to be the expert you need to find one. Don’t just hand the task off to the youngest person at your office and say, “here you go kid.” Whoever is managing these platforms needs to have skin in the game so they maximize the dollars you inject into the space so you can leverage them for the lowest cost per sale possible.
I recommend posting multiple times a day, every day. Two to three times a day. Never go more than two days without posting. Photos, videos, reviews, employee profiles, tips. Share posts to personal Facebook profiles to get maximum reach and attention. We have closed over 4k in sales ytd from Facebook alone.
Leverage social proof / influencer marketing – Influencer marketing is one of the hottest things in social marketing right now. A social media influencer is anyone who has a large social media following or friends list. We currently work with six or so social influencers in town and we negotiated deals with them where they agree to post and tag our business several times throughout the year in return for free service to their personal home.
It’s wonderful. This is forward thinking. The best sectors to target would be realtors or anyone involved in multi-level marketing. These people typically have large followings, are huge networkers, and are often very active in the community. For example, we do Jimmy Lee’s lawn for free, who is a big social influencer here, and in return he agreed to post twice a month via video, photos, text testimonials etc., and the results have been astounding. They've been following our Facebook page and then share a post from our Facebook page with a personalized message to their network on Facebook so we leverage their social clout.
Other influencers have posted just to help a business owner do well. People want to help other people be successful but many don’t ask. By simply having these people post about your product or business, your company can potentially reach thousands of new customers for a very low cost per sale.
Storytelling – People on social media love to see the story. Storytelling is the most effective way to promote your business on these social platforms, and in this business, creativity matters. Interview team members, showcase the office dog, or simply tell customers what’s unique in your business. All of these are great stories to tell on your social platforms. They resonate with consumers and have many positive ripple effects that go well beyond attaining new customers. They make your business and brand relatable and tangible.
Video – The use of creative content and video is visible across all online platforms. Just scroll through your Facebook feed. How many videos are in your feed compared to text posts? We are quickly becoming a video driven society. Just like with storytelling, be creative with your video content. Upload a welcome video on the homepage showing the owner as they introduce the company or post videos of community events that your company is involved in. These, and other unique informational videos about your company, will separate you from the big corporate lawn care and landscape companies.
Something to remember is that it doesn’t have to be fancy. Grab you phone and shoot a quick video and upload it. In today’s age, there is no need for preparation – this isn’t a TV commercial. Use these videos to tell your story and help your community see you and your company as more than just a business. You must get frequent before you get good. No one ever did something 100 percent right on the first try. Experiment and see what works for you and your company’s culture.
Once you find your lane, dominate the space so you become omnipresent to the consumer so that every time they think of anything close to what you do, they think of you.
Kendall Hines is the sales and marketing director for Lawn Doctor of Greater Grand Rapids. visit www.LawnDoctorGrandRapids.com
