Why Your Advertising Doesn’t Work!

“I don’t need advertising; I get enough referrals.” This is such a common statement in the lawn and landscape business. You may be getting referrals, but are you optimizing your potential? If Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Nike, and Ford advertise, don’t you think you should consider it? This doesn’t mean you have to spend thousands a year, but maybe send out a mailer or two. The importance to advertising isn’t just to get your name out there, it is to send the message that you are a professional company which builds your perceived value in the customers’ eyes/ If you do advertise currently, that’s great! The next thing to consider is are you sending the message you intend to send? Advertising is simple, but it is not always easy.

One huge mistake a lot of service-related companies make is having advertising material that says cheap, cheap, cheap all over it. Don’t just talk about the price, show the potential customer other reasons they should hire you such as your experience, your awards/accolades, your professional qualities such as uniforms, or other factors that make people choose a service. Think about it, is price the ONLY factor that you consider when hiring someone? I doubt it.

Another factor to watch out for when you create advertising material is “the deal.” When you create a deal, make sure it is not too good. If you are losing money on a deal, you are working for fun, and at that point, is working for no money fun? Create smart deals that do benefit the customer and is attractive enough to get a call-in, but make sure you will also make money on the job. One deal I absolutely hate is the neighbor deal. Giving a neighbor a deal is dangerous because eventually you will lose one of them and then you are doing one customer for the price that worked when you had multiple.

Advertising is a great way to get a professional message out. Control your image in a positive way and you will create some perceived value that allows you to charge a professional price. Just remember to be conscious about the message and the deals you are sending out. For more information on effective advertising check out our video on YouTube covering this topic more in-depth.