Lawn Care Business Advertising

When doing business at the local level advertising doesn't have to be expensive. In fact there are many ways to advertise your lawn care business without spending a penny. Lets have a look at a number of lawn care business advertising options that you may consider to get word out about your services.

Vehicle Advertising

Firstly you should use your vehicle to advertise your lawn care business. This option is not entirely free as companies that specialize in vehicle wraps charge between $500 and $4000 depending on your requirements. However, once you have it done it is extremely effective as your truck will be parked all day in locations where potential customers can see it. You will also spend a fair bit of time out on the road where huge numbers of people will view your message.

It is estimated that the average vehicle wrap is seen by millions of people a year. A great design will make your mobile advertisement even more noticeable. Try to park in places that will increase the number of views that your advertising receives such as right outside the entrance to the shopping mall or sporting events.

'Word of Mouth' Marketing

Some 'word of mouth' business will come naturally but the best way to encourage word of mouth is to provide outstanding customer service and to encourage customers to refer your lawn care service to their friends. Always leave a few business cards with your customers and let them know that you have some spare time on a certain day if they happen to have friends that might require your services. Pass your business cards on to everyone you meet and politely let them know what you do without giving them a hard sell. For more ideas see our article on 'Word of Mouth' Marketing for a Lawn Care Business.

Promote your Lawn Care Business Door to Door

Going door to door in your target area to promote your lawn care business is one method that is quite hard to beat. As long as you take a cautious approach and try not to bother people it can be a great way to promote your lawn care services.

Some areas have local regulations forbidding non-authorized door-to-door soliciting so be careful about how you go about this and check your local ordinances beforehand. If you stress the fact that you'd just like to offer them a free quote and will only take a few minutes of their time you should get a reasonable reception from most people

A personal approach to lawn care business promotion is generally more effective. However, if you are not a natural salesman you can always consider hiring somebody to go out door to door for you, generating leads that you can later follow up on.

Flyer Advertising and Direct Mail

Consumers receive piles of direct mail in their mailboxes every week so you have to make your lawn care business flyers stand out from the rest if you don't want them to immediately be deposited into a trash can. One way of doing this is by addressing envelopes by hand to increase the chances of having them opened. Another way of ensuring that your promotion avoids the wastebasket is to mail out a useful product with your branding on it such as a pen, fridge magnet or a calendar.

Direct marketing can work out to be costly by the time you pay for postage and purchase a database of prospects. It can be effective though if the list that you purchased is highly targeted.

There are other ways to distribute flyers as well. For more information see our article on lawn care business flyers.

Community Notice-boards

Advertising on community notice boards can be a free and effective way of reaching the market that you are targeting. Try the usual locations like churches, libraries and other community centers. Always ask permission before posting your advertisement.

Advertising in Local Publications

When doing your market research you should ask your prospective customers where they would look for a local business such as a lawn care company if they needed one. They may tell you about some local newspapers, directories, publications or websites that you are not familiar with. Survey enough people and you will get a good idea about what is going to work well.

The Yellow Pages is seen as a basic requirement for local business advertising. Due to the expense though it is not always a cost effective method. Your ad will be placed right next to those of your competitors so your design and copy will be crucial if you want to get a good response rate.

Advertising a Lawn Care Business Online

Some online community sites that have forums relevant to certain cities let you post free ads within reason. Websites such as Craigslist.com can be a goldmine if you use them carefully. You can't 'spam' these websites constantly with advertising but you can get away with posting an advertisement occasionally.

When doing any form of print or online advertising make sure that you include some customer testimonials if possible. If you are doing extensive landscaping work on a property you can also add 'before' and 'after' photos to highlight the improvements that your lawn care company can offer. Have a special folder made up with these references and photos that you can take with you to show potential clients.

There are many advertising options available to entrepreneurs starting a lawn care business. The best approach is to try all of the reasonably priced methods and measure the results to find out which methods work best in your area.