May 2022 The 4 Most Common Mistakes Landscaping Companies Make on Social Media
When you are flat out running your landscaping business, it can be hard to find the time to focus on social media. It can be even more difficult to work out what to post and when to make sure you are attracting the right clients for your business. But, as a landscaping business in 2022, you can’t ignore social media. Now more than ever, it’s so important that you elevate your business profile online, or risk being left behind.
You may be working away at your social media but finding it hard to get results. You may also notice your competitors kicking goals on social media and wonder how on earth they do it – how do they find the time, and how do they know what to post?
This article addresses the 4 common mistakes that landscaping companies make on social media and offers some simple tips that you can implement in your business to make the most of your social media marketing.
From my years of experience working with landscaping companies to improve their social media marketing, here are the 4 most common mistakes we see when we first start working with a client.
1. NOT INVESTING IN PROFESSIONAL CONTENT
Professional photo and video shoots are worth the investment. And yes, they are indeed an investment: an upfront expense that may take months or years to pay dividends, but also an essential part of marketing your landscaping business.
Don’t get us wrong…we love an iPhone photo, and when executed properly a smartphone photo can perform very well on social media. But, unless you happen to be a total whiz on your phone, amateur photos alone won’t elevate your business to the next level.
You wouldn’t expect a client to get a great result for their landscaping if they hire an amateur, and the same goes for your social media. Factor professional photoshoots into your marketing budget at least a couple of times a year and you will end up with dozens of high-quality post options for your social media (and website!). This will ensure you can attract the right sort of clients to your business.
2. NOT BEING CONSISTENT
Even if you are an active user of social media, there is a difference between being active as a user and being consistent in your social media habits for your business.
Perhaps you go on a posting spree once or twice a month, and then neglect your social media in between posts. This is a common problem for landscaping business owners, who are so caught up in running their business that they don’t have the bandwidth left to think about marketing.
If you take one thing away from this article, it’s that consistency on social media gets results. Consistent posting, consistent engagement with other users, and consistent content (choice of photos, style of captions, clear branding, etc.). If you find yourself guilty of being a sporadic poster, the best remedy is to set calendar reminders to post a minimum of once or twice a week to ensure you don’t forget. That way, you don’t have to carry the mental load of remembering to post on a regular basis, and you also meet your marketing goals for the month.
3. GETTING WRAPPED UP IN LIKES AND NUMBERS
Sure, it’s great to be popular online. It’s certainly not the be all and end all, however. Every company that ‘makes it’ on social media had to start somewhere. Social media is an investment: of time, energy, and money – there’s no way around this. Stop focusing on how many followers your competitors have or how many likes your photos get and start being consistent in the way you show up online and investing in the right areas to get results. With time and dedication, you will get the results you seek from your social media marketing. Comparison is the thief of joy, and only takes your focus away from your own brand.
4. NOT ASKING FOR HELP OR OUTSOURCING WHEN ITS GETS TOO HARD
As your company grows, you can’t be expected to wear all the hats in your business on a daily basis. As Director, you are likely not on the tools – or if you are, it’s only on occasion. The same should apply for your social media. If your business is growing and your attention is required across multiple areas of your business, it becomes harder and harder to commit time to marketing your business and generating new leads. But it’s extremely unwise to neglect your business pipeline in favour of running your business and attending to day-to-day operations.
What’s more, it can be difficult or impractical to delegate your social media to a staff member. Staff are usually either too busy with their regular job or simply not be capable of presenting your business in the way you would like it to be portrayed online.
If any of this sounds familiar, you may have considered outsourcing some or all of your marketing. When you partner with the right social media agency, you will quickly get to the point in your partnership where you can focus on running your business knowing that your social media marketing is taken care of; generating a steady stream of leads and presenting your business in a professional way online.
If you’re struggling to keep all your balls in the air, consider either sending a key staff member to a social media coaching session or outsourcing your social media marketing entirely to an agency that you trust to speak on your behalf. The investment will transform your business whilst making your life a whole lot easier in the process.