How to Make the Most Out of Social Media for Outdoor Contractors

Whether you love it or hate it, social media is an essential part of your digital marketing strategy. Without social media, you’ll be missing out on the opportunity to connect with some awesome, high-value clients.

Many landscaping companies and outdoor contractors think having social media accounts isn’t needed because they get a lot of work through word of mouth and referrals. But ignoring this great chance to connect with clients (old and new) is incredibly short-sighted. Having an active social media presence helps you become a more prominent figure in the industry, nurture relationships with clients, and grow your business too.

But how do you make the most of social media as an outdoor contractor, and what social media platforms should you even be using?

Today we’re going to show you how to make the most out of social media and how you can use social media to improve your business as an outdoor contractor.

Why is social media so important?

Before we get into how you can put together a one-of-a-kind social media strategy, we should probably talk about why social media is so important.

There are over 4.62 billion people on social media. If you’re not posting regularly on these platforms, you’ll be missing out on a huge opportunity to interact with and secure profitable clients for your landscaping or pool and spa business.

Social media will help you become a more prominent player in the online world. It will allow you to spread awareness about your landscaping business, so more people will check out what you have to offer.

Not only this, but social media is a great tool to use to back up your company. Consumers don’t trust many companies these days unless they have a prominent presence on social media. Plus, 71% of consumers with positive brand experiences on social media are more likely to recommend them to friends and family.

This makes social media an integral part of your digital marketing strategy and an essential tool for improving trust with your audience.

How to use social media for your landscaping business

1. Always make a plan

No company can create an excellent social media presence without the help of a thought-out social media marketing strategy.

A strategy will help you figure out precisely what you want to post, when you should post it, and who you’re talking to.

Before you write out your detailed calendar about what kind of content you want to upload to Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn, take a moment to figure out who you’re talking to.

Building a customer persona

Step one of any great social media strategy is developing a customer persona that you’ll be able to use for every single part of your marketing strategy. If you don’t already have one, sit down with your team and build your ideal customer.

Write down who they are, their age, where they live, what they do for a living, and why they need your help.

By figuring out precisely what your audience is looking for, you’ll be able to target posts directly to them.

It would help if you documented your user persona so you can read through it whenever you want to make a new post.

What to post on social media

Once you’ve got a clear idea of who you’re speaking to, sit down with your team and develop a series of posts you can use to market your company on social media.

These can include:

• Behind-the-scenes videos
• Project pictures – before and after
• Testimonials
• Staff highlights
• Deals and offers
• Links to blog posts or articles
• Links to informative videos
• Tips about landscape, garden, pool, or spa management
• Events you’ve gone to
• Staff parties you’ve had (family-friendly photos only, please!)

Remember to post different things in different formats. The same thing being posted repeatedly can get a bit boring, so be sure to spice things up by posting a mixture of text, images, and video.

Once you know who you’re posting for and when you’re uploading each post, it’s time to set some goals to help you stay on top of your social media marketing strategy.

Setting some goals

You should also always set SMART goals for your strategy. These are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals.

These types of goals will help you stay focused on your marketing strategy, and they’ll also keep you motivated to continue posting once you’ve succeeded in reaching your goal.

An example of a SMART goal could be getting three new customers from social media in the next quarter.

This is a specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-sensitive goal!

Now you have everything you need for the perfect social media strategy, but what social media platform should you use?

2. Use the right social media platform

Not every social media platform will be suitable for your business. Choosing a social media platform that works for you is critical to the success of your social media strategy.

But how do you know what social media is the perfect choice for your company?

Easy, find out where your clients are.

Remember that handy customer persona you just made. You can also include where your target audience likes to hang out online. Do they prefer surfing through Instagram? Or are they Facebook connoisseurs?

As soon as you figure out where your audience is, that’s where you should be heading too. There’s no point in signing up for a social media account only to discover that none of your customers use it! That’d be like fishing in a pond with no fish in it – pointless.

This isn’t the only thing you should consider when choosing the perfect social media platform for your business. You should also think about what kind of posts you want to upload.

For example, LinkedIn is probably a good choice if you want to be all business with a little bit of fun. But, if you want to upload images with fun, exciting taglines, then Instagram is the better option.

3. Post often, but don’t spam your audience

Social media is a fantastic tool to have in your arsenal – if you’re updating it regularly.

An up-to-date social media profile with relevant and informative posts will show your audience that you’re an expert in your niche. They’ll come to see you as a respected outdoor contractor and feel confident in your abilities to do the job right.

But, you could be damaging your reputation if you have a social media profile that’s completely barren, with not a single post or image on it. An empty social media page looks untrustworthy, and if a potential client sees your unloved social media, they might turn around and go straight to your competitor.

So, if you want to ensure that your potential clients check out your business when they land on your social media page, keep it updated regularly with relevant and valuable content.

That said, it’s important not to overload your audience with too much information. You don’t want to spam them with content every hour on the hour because they might get annoyed and unfollow your account.

Try to limit yourself to posting once a day or at least 3-5 times a week. Consistently post content that’s relevant to your company too. Your audience will just ignore anything irrelevant, dull, or unattractive.

4. Use social media management tools

Are you worried about finding the time to post regularly on social media? We get it! You’re a busy company and don’t have the hours available to invest in social media right now – it takes up too much time!

But there is an easier way.

There are so many excellent tools you can use these days to make managing social media super easy.

From social media automation to publishing tools and automatic engagement tools. There are loads of ways to speed up your social media management, so you post regularly, engage with your audience, and stay relevant all year round.

A few social media management tools we recommend are ContentStudio, HootSuite, and SproutSocial. These tools allow you to quickly post on social media, stay up to date with the latest trends in your niche, and keep on top of audience interactions.

5. Provide your audience with valuable information

One of the most important things to take away from our blog post today is getting your target audience’s attention and engagement. You have to offer them something valuable.

Nobody will follow you on social media and interact with your post unless they get something good out of it.

When you post on social media, ensure you’re posting the information your audience will enjoy. The more informative and valuable it is, the more they’ll come to see you as an expert, and the easier it’ll be to convince them to work with you on their next project.

Social media marketing strategies can be pretty complicated to build, but they don’t have to be. With the right help and a team that knows what it’s doing, your business can create a unique social media strategy that works perfectly.

We’re specialists in helping outdoor contractors excel online by building them unique websites and helping them create the ideal social media marketing strategy for their company.

At Chili Pepper Design, we will help you reach new heights online and get the sales and projects your company deserves.

Get in touch with our team today if you want to build a social media marketing strategy that works for you!