Digital marketing has become an essential part of any business strategy and the need for this is only going to increase going in to 2019 and beyond. Working within the tree industry one thing I see is that many Tree Service companies seriously lack in their digital marketing efforts. More and more people are going to Google and Facebook to find services, this is no different to the tree industry. This affects arborists and tree service companies in the exact same way that it affects any other business. Today, we are going to be talking about the most important digital marketing tips that you can implement to your campaigns and start seeing results in 2019.
- Learn all you can about your local competitors
This is probably the most important thing that you can do with your marketing campaigns. It’s very important to find out how your local competitors are approaching their marketing strategies. Do a local organic search on your services and see if you are anywhere on the first page. If not, you still need to do this to see what the results bring.
You need to take note on the local providers and check their website, their social media and their presence. Compare your prices, your service offers, and your website to theirs and see where you could improve things for optimal results.
- Optimize your website
Being able to optimize your website in every possible way is always going to be important. The first thing to consider is your website’s responsive features. A website that is not responsive and optimized for mobiles is going to lose more than 60% of their potential customers. Most people are using their mobile to browse the web now.
The loading times on your website are also very important. Any website that takes longer than 3 to 4 seconds to load is going to have a significant increase in bounce rates. If it takes more than 5 to 6 seconds to load, the resulting bounce rates will be devastating to your conversions. Make sure that your images and header are optimized. It’s important that your content is not causing slowdown on the loading times.
- Work on your Google My Business listing
Being able to keep track of your Google My Business page and your customer reviews is going to be very useful. If you haven’t listed your site with this service, we suggest you do this as soon as possible. Be sure to avoid any duplicate listings if you want to have optimal results. There are plenty of tutorials online that can help you make the most out of this powerful Google feature.
- Create engaging blog posts
This is probably the most important aspect of marketing after optimizing your website design and loading times. Once people enter your site, you need to make sure that they will be able to find useful content. Content marketing continues to be king when it comes to organic growth, so make sure that you take the time to create valuable posts that people can use.
Tree service companies can give people tips on how to take better care of their plants, what kind of things to do for maintenance after a tree service provider does their job, etc. There are many ways to give people free and valuable information while still encouraging them to hire your services.
Consistency in your blog posting habits is essential, but quality needs to be your priority. This means that you have to focus your efforts on delivering good content even if his means you won’t be posting too often. One valuable blog post per week is going to be better than five mediocre publications.
- Engage your audience with videos
Video marketing has turned into one of the most powerful ways to promote a business. People who use mobile devices to browse the web prefer videos with audio. They are more likely to watch a video than they are to read a text article. Luckily, you can also create live streaming videos and promote certain discounts or even show people how a job is done. Either way, videos are always an amazing way to get more people invested in your business.
Create a newsletter and encourage signups
A good way to do this is to offer a free guide or small eBook related to tree maintenance. Even something as small as 10 essential tips on gardening could be an amazing way to achieve results. Give something for free or offer discounts to newsletter subscribers and you are likely to get more people to sign up. The important thing is to make sure that people can find a valid reason to give you their name and their email.
- Focus on a single social media page
Normally I am a huge fan of going for an omni presence. However, if you don’t have the time or resources that these social media platforms need, it would be best to focus your energy on one platform. If you had to choose between one form of social media I would suggest going with Facebook. The best thing about Facebook is you can merge all the content you post to be reposted onto Instagram. Facebook is always a great way to find people in need of your services. Facebook advertising is also one of the best going around today.
- Find local influencers in your niche
Any influencers that have any kind of home improvement, gardening and general lifestyle niche audience is going to be very useful for you. A popular influencer could bring in thousands of potential customers to your website and social media page with a single shoutout.
- Focus your targeting on local results
Given that this is usually a service that is given locally, the best thing to do is to target local searches. Consider the most popular keywords that are being made by people looking for your services and use those in your content. Always in moderation of course.
Final thoughts
The world of internet marketing is one that continues to grow day by day. It’s very important for people in any kind of business to implement these marketing strategies. Services that can’t be provided digitally should always focus on local results.
Don’t’ forget that your marketing efforts need to be constant. Even if you manage to achieve a good rank or gain a large following, you won’t maintain it if you stop creating content and engaging with other users.
Adam Stewart – Digital Bond Marketing
