I recently made a door hanger and posted it on a forum to ask people what they thought of it. I had lots of comments some good some bad mostly one liners like “I like it” and “It’s ok”. But I had one comment from a gentleman named ‘John White’. I was first pleasantly surprised by the length of his post and then I got into reading it…this lad actually knew what he was talking about! He gave me some great advice and also agreed to write an article for The Lawn Blog. The following is an original article and I would like to extend many thanks to John White for his time and efforts in preparing this for The Lawn Blog.
Advertising for Start-ups and Growth
by: John White
Getting new customers is often the hardest part of the gardening, landscaping and planting business. Advertising is often the best vehicle to generate new business, given the old tried and true word of mouth as the exception. Many contractors also find new customers at client properties, as their work speaks for itself and nearby homeowners will approach them at the client property. Instead, this article is about how best to obtain new customers through advertising avenues.
As with any plan, and your advertising program should be a planned strategy, but first some goals have to be outlined, and the target market should be well defined. For instance, if your target market is middle class income, smaller sized properties, it needs a different approach than going after five acre estates in the most affluent sections of your territory. Budget restrictions may limit what you can and can’t do in terms of advertising expenditures. Define which and what segments of the market offer the most opportunity for revenue growth in your working territory, and let that dictate what the highest priority will be in terms of advertising investments.
Door hangers - These are very effective ways to advertise. This vehicle does have some drawbacks, however. Distribution is labor intensive and time consuming, but the 0.5 to 2% response rate beats any other method out there. Why such a big variation in response rates? That is primarily a function of how effective the layout, design and appearance is, particularly as it does or does not appeal to the target client base.
For very upscale areas, a four color single fold 8X11” brochure-hanger with photographs would work better than a single one color half sheet hanger would. Use that piece on a middle income 80X100 plot homeowner, and it would scare him off. Affluent areas that fall between these two target markets might respond well to a four color 4X11 door hanger, while middle income homeowners won’t be left with a bad first impression from a single one color hanger, as long as the information is easy to read, clear and concise.
There are few hard and fast rules with advertising, but there are some. People are inundated with signs, ads and commercials. Often, they will simply filter out most advertising, but a door hanger requires action, even if it’s to remove it and throw it out. The vast majority of people will at least glance at a door hanger. That means there are two or three seconds to communicate a message. THAT message should always convey who you are and what you offer. When designing a door hanger, keep this in your foremost mindset. The eye should be automatically drawn to the who you are and the what you are offering in a second or two. That is all the time you have.
Once the target client has that first, most important message, then a clear concise easy to scan listing of services offered will be read by any potential customer that might be interested in getting or changing their existing contractor.
Be sure to differentiate yourself from other companies. Free front lawn double cuts for new customers, free soil testing for customized soil and turf treatment plans (even though it is likely that they will get the same program you offer other customers…. It is still a custom plan if the soil test is normal) or if you are a start up with not much heavy equipment, sell the idea that you will do fall cleanups in three trips instead of one for the same price. Little do they know, nor do they need to know that is what you would have to do anyway, given your startup equipment inventory. Soil testing kits are dirt cheap. It’s a way to differentiate your business from others for nearly no cost. Find a way, no matter how creative to separate yourself from your competition.
Other Advertising Print Media - The same general rules for door hangers still apply to local advertising newspaper type ads but while these local community “flyer” type booklets seem inexpensive, the cost per response falls far short when compared to door hangers. Half page ads work well in these publications as far as image goes, but image is not what small localized businesses should care about. Reputation is far more important, and that cannot be purchased.
Silver Bullets:
Consider advertising in local church bulletins. They are inexpensive, and extraordinarily effective. People trust companies that advertise in church bulletins, and it’s important to live up to that trust as well. It is a vehicle that is very local, keeping new customers close by in your target territory which saves on expenses when servicing any new accounts you may win. Keep in mind that if you don’t live up to your commitments with these customers, the church will refuse future ad placements. Every silver lining has a dark cloud.
Inserts, Newspaper ads, local advertising mailers:
As previously mentioned, the number of responses per dollar is very small using these vehicles. Lawn and landscaping referrals are the norm, responses to ads in these publications is rare. Now, if you are looking for an expert spackler, or a reliable local plumber, people will use these vehicles as they are not contractors that show up every week. The next door neighbor may not have someone to recommend. Not so in this business of lawn care and landscaping.
The last thing is that even though there are a few solid rules in advertising in this service industry which should be followed, it is still your business. Where and how to advertise is your decision. You after all are the one who has to live or suffer with the results of spending hard earned cash.
Be brief.
Make you and your services offered easy to read and up front in a matter of seconds.
Start pre-selling your services AFTER you have established the WHAT you are and the WHAT you offer has been clearly stated.
Answer phone calls the same day.
After that, it’s a matter of how you want to do things. Best of luck, and happy advertising!
