Landscaping Marketing: What Actually Works, and How to Tell
Every marketing channel has a good use and a bad one, and the same channel can work beautifully for one green-industry company and burn money for the next. So this guide doesn't rank them. For each one, it covers what it's good at, where it falls short, and how to tell whether it's working for you.
The test is the same for all of them. Most marketing gets judged at the lead: clicks, calls, form fills. But a lead that never books costs you exactly the same as one that does. So judge every channel by booked jobs and what they're worth.
Before you judge any channel: two numbers
- Cost per booked job. Take what you spent on a channel in a month and divide it by the jobs that came from it and actually booked. Not calls, not form fills: booked jobs.
- Your call answer rate. Of the calls that came in, how many did someone actually answer? Every missed call is marketing you paid for and then dropped. If this number is low, fix it before you spend another dollar on any channel.
When owners say they need more leads, the real constraint is usually somewhere else. These two numbers are how you find out where.
Google Ads (search)
- Good for
- Reaching people at the moment they search for your service. You control the budget, the area and the services.
- Falls short when
- Clicks are expensive in your market, or the ads bring searches for work you don't do. You pay for every click, whether or not it turns into a call.
- How to tell if it's working
- Track which booked jobs came from Google Ads, not just calls or clicks. Check the search terms report for searches you don't want to pay for.
Local Services Ads (Google)
- Good for
- Showing up at the very top of the search results with a “Google Guaranteed” or “Google Screened” badge. You pay per lead, not per click.
- Falls short when
- The leads are for jobs outside your area or services, or you can't answer quickly. Your ranking also depends on reviews and how fast you respond.
- How to tell if it's working
- Answer every lead fast, dispute the ones that don't qualify, and count how many LSA leads became booked jobs.
SEO and your Google Business Profile
- Good for
- Being found without paying per click. A complete, active Google Business Profile with steady reviews is often the cheapest source of local calls there is.
- Falls short when
- You need results next week. SEO builds over months, and it's hard to know what an agency actually did.
- How to tell if it's working
- Calls and direction requests in your Business Profile, and booked jobs from people who say “I found you on Google.” Ask for a plain monthly report of what was done, and what it produced.
Facebook and Instagram ads
- Good for
- Staying in front of people who already know you, seasonal offers, and hiring ads. People aren't searching for you there, so the ads show up on their feed.
- Falls short when
- You expect it to act like Google search. Most people scrolling aren't looking to hire anyone today.
- How to tell if it's working
- Booked jobs and hires from the ads, not likes or reach.
Referrals and reviews
- Good for
- The best customers you'll ever get, at close to no cost. People trust a neighbor's recommendation far more than an ad.
- Falls short when
- You rely on them alone. They're hard to scale, and they slow down when you need them most.
- How to tell if it's working
- Ask every new customer how they heard of you, and write it down. Ask for a review after every job you're proud of.
Direct mail, door hangers and yard signs
- Good for
- Building density in the neighborhoods you already work in. Yard signs on active jobs are free advertising to the neighbors.
- Falls short when
- It's sent to everyone. Printing and postage add up fast, and a response is hard to trace without a dedicated phone number or offer code.
- How to tell if it's working
- Use a separate phone number or code for each drop, and count booked jobs against what the drop cost.
Marketing agencies
- Good for
- Doing the work you don't have time or skills for, when they're held to the right number.
- Falls short when
- They report the numbers that flatter them (impressions, clicks, “leads”) instead of the ones that pay you. No one gets better at what they aren't measured on.
- How to tell if it's working
- Agree up front that you'll judge them by cost per booked job, and make sure you, not the agency, own your ad accounts, website and tracking.
Questions to ask any marketing agency
- How will you report booked jobs, not just leads?
- Who owns the ad accounts, the website and the tracking numbers if we part ways?
- How do you track which calls became customers?
- What will you change if my cost per booked job goes up?
- Will you tell me when a channel isn't worth the money, even if it's one you manage?
- What do I pay you, separately from what I pay the ad platforms?
- How long is the contract, and what does it take to leave?
The book comes with the Positioning Fix bonus, which includes fix checklists for your website, Google Business Profile, reviews, trucks, crew appearance, proposals and brand consistency.
Questions
What is the best marketing for a landscaping business?
There isn't one best channel. The best one for you is the one with the lowest cost per booked job in your market, for the services you want to sell. Start by tracking that number for every channel you use.
Is SEO worth it for a landscaping company?
Often, especially a complete and active Google Business Profile with steady reviews. It takes months to build, so it works best alongside a channel that produces calls sooner.
Should I hire a marketing agency?
If you don't have the time or skills to do it well, an agency can help, as long as you judge them by booked jobs rather than leads, and you own your accounts, website and tracking.
How do I know if my marketing is working?
Divide what you spend on each channel by the booked jobs it produced. Then check your call answer rate: calls nobody answers are marketing you paid for and lost.
How do I get more landscaping leads?
Before chasing more leads, check what happens to the ones you get: how many calls are answered, how many become estimates, and how many estimates book. The fastest gain is often in there.