Photo: PexelsAre you finding that you have free time in the off season? Depending on where you are located, it can be a challenge to find ways to keep busy over the winter, and even in regions where you can plow snow, there is no guarantee the weather will cooperate.
One possible option is to focus on off-season marketing during this period of time.
“Building your brand isn’t achieved overnight,” Campaign Monitor says. “Once you’ve established a name for yourself in the industry, it is important to maintain and grow your audience for future success.”
Off-season marketing has several benefits. It can create top of mind awareness with future customers. This is also a good time to educate potential leads on what all your company offers and why you stand out from your competitors. By the time other landscaping companies start reaching out in the spring, you will already have established relationships with new customers.
Below are five marketing strategies to consider:
Stay in contact with your database
During the busy season, collect a list of potential customers who have expressed interest in your services. They may not be ready to pull the trigger quite yet or you might not be able to take on any additional work at the time, but this doesn’t mean you can’t follow up during the down season.
Keeping your landscaping business top of mind over the winter will make them more likely to reach out to you again when they finally are ready to hire a professional for their landscaping needs.
Gather customer reviews
In the midst of the growing season, many minor tasks such as requesting customer reviews, can fall by the wayside. Once things slow down, you can circle back around and reach out to satisfied clients for their thoughts on your services. Clients might also have more time as well to leave an in-depth review when things are less busy. You can then integrate these reviews into any and all your promotional materials.
Create solid content
One way to make sure that you stay top of mind with customers and potential leads is to make a point to keep creating quality, relevant content. This can also be a prime time to get ahead on creating posts for your blog in the summer months when things get hectic.
Having compelling content can add further credibility to your brand and set your landscaping company apart as an expert in the field. Providing education on topics for potential clients can also help build a good relationship with your target audience.
Staying engaged
One of the easiest ways to stay top of mind with customers and new possible clients is to stay engaged on social media. Don’t let your posts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube suddenly drop off once winter arrives. Visitors may see this inconsistency as being an unreliable company and at worst, some might assume you’ve gone out of business.
Take advantage of these channels to share your new reviews, promote special offers, spread impressive news and generate excitement for next season. You can create this sort of excitement with programs such as early bird specials or off-season discounts.
You can also try to target your niche audience with email marketing but use this form of contact with caution as it can be off-putting for some to be contacted when it’s not the peak season. When you do decide to send out emails during the down season, make sure they offer high value content that piques the interest of possible customers.
Take care of your to do list
When business is booming it can be easy to put off tasks like updating your landscaping website, boosting your social media profiles and researching news leads or services to offer. Take advantage of your downtime to prioritize efforts that will improve your brand.
“Your website needs to be well managed, while your content should display plenty of calls to action,” Campaign Monitor says. “A good tactic is to promote offers and specials that past and potential customers can redeem during the off-season. This shows that you value your customers and it also gets feet through the door during those quiet months.”
