Lawn Care Marketing Mastery: 10 Traits From Leaders

Remember those childhood days, dribbling a basketball like you were Michael Jordan, or gripping a tennis racket as if you were Serena Williams?

Those legends did more than just play a game; they set a standard, inspiring awe with their every move. We tried to emulate them, mimicking their stance, their swing, their signature moves.

What we missed was the countless hours of practice, the strategies, and the nuances that made athletes like this truly great.

Fast forward to your professional life in the lawn care industry. Just like those sports heroes, there are leaders whose success seems almost magical.

We see their thriving businesses, their innovative marketing strategies, and the seamless way they connect with clients. It’s easy to spot the big wins, but what about the behind-the-scenes traits that drive their success?

Rob Reindl - Oasis Turf and Tree

Image Source: Oasis Turf & Tree

I’m truly blessed to regularly see behind the curtain. At Landscape Leadership®, our clients are some of the most inspiring companies in the green industry. In this article, I’m going to share some of the habits and qualities that set these success stories apart.

Whether you're growing a relatively new lawn care business, or looking to refine your current strategies years down the line, these insights will help you master the game of lawn care marketing.

Table of Contents

Creating Standout Branding
Insisting on Thoughtful Content
Visual Assets Aren't an Afterthought
Have an Aggressive Marketing Budget
Create a Sophisticated Sales Organization
Innovate & Experiment
Leverage Multiple Marketing Mediums
Meticulous ROI Tracking
Embrace Reinvention & Renovation
Hire Expert Practitioners

1. Creating Standout Branding

Here are some powerful brand moves I see our lawn care (fertilization, weed control) clients making.

Narrow Positioning

Positioning is what you do, where you do it, and for whom. These are some positioning characteristics I see from leaders:

They say “No”. They understand that focusing on fewer service divisions allows them to be remembered for their core competencies. They’re not a “one-stop shop”.
When it comes to residential vs. commercial, they pick a lane. (Psst, it’s most often residential.)
Their lawn care marketing strategy gets most of the attention. Exterior pest control and plant health care may be great upsells, but they don’t have 7+ service divisions dividing their attention.

Unique Visual Style

A great brand is memorable, simple, and clear.

lawn care van - lawn buddies

Image Source: Lawn Buddies

Here are some of the characteristics I see in winners:

They don’t try to use too many colors. They sometimes choose an atypical color to stand out. Many of you are using green and white. Try using a different shade of blue, purple, pink, or orange, and see how you stand out.
They know that overusing using grass and a tree in their logo can be a crutch for poor brand recognition. Some even opt to use a relatable mascot.
Their logo, fonts, colors, and visual style are consistent across all they do to market a lawn care business. Trucks, their website, emails, postcards, you name it…it looks like the same designer created them.

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2. Insisting on Thoughtful Content

Leaders give plenty of attention to content marketing on their lawn care website and distributing it across social media and other lawn care marketing channels.

lawn care blog - rainmaster lawn systems

Image Source: RainMaster Lawn Systems

This is what I often see in leaders.

Passionate Involvement

Growing a lawn care business means divided attention. However, the leaders I see winning at lawn care marketing are actively involved in the content creation process.

They occasionally offer unique article topics that we fit into our content strategy.
When interviewed for articles, they add their unique perspective and experiences.
They proofread the articles and suggest minimal (but necessary) edits.
They use lawn care marketing assets as educational resources for their team and customers.

Purposeful Brand Voice & Messaging Guidelines

These thought leaders have created a brand voice that has a personality. They also intentionally develop messaging guidelines that emphasize:

Defining their audience’s problems (internal and philosophical)
Focussing on empathy vs. their authority
Knowing their brand is not the main character or hero in the customer’s journey
Clearly articulating a simple process for their prospective lawn care customers
Assertively calling their audience to action
Tastefully positioning potential failure vs. success

Many of our clients take this to heart and I’ve seen this permeate their entire organization’s communication style.

Leveraging Client-Generated Content

Boastful claims are empty promises. What truly impacts potential customers is client-generated praise.

lawn care reviews - limbwalker tree service

Image Source: Limwalker Tree Service

Here are some of the key ways our clients have used this content in growing their lawn care business:

They are relentless in soliciting customer feedback and generating reviews.
They respond to every review, good or bad.
They leverage positive reviews in many areas of their lawn care marketing.
They feature real customers and their stories in their marketing campaigns.

Content Quality & Quantity

Leaders understand there are mere seconds to make a great impression with their lawn care marketing. But they also know people are easily distracted and embrace the following truths:

Hooks are essential for website copy and blog articles.
Content must be digestible in visually bite-sized pieces.
Content must answer the reader’s question in a clear, meaningful way.
There are hundreds of important topics to tackle.
Growing a lawn care business is easier when content creation is part of the company culture.

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3. Visual Assets Aren't an Afterthought

Words are vital but marketing a lawn care business should also leverage powerful images and videos.

dog and lawn care customer - kingstowne

Image Source: Kingstowne Lawn & Landscape

Some of the traits I see in leaders are:

They understand the value of a high-level professional photography and video production company.
They apply the defined messaging guidelines and brand voice to their video content.
They use images of their team doing work, properties they service, and actual customers in their lawn care marketing strategies.
They combine written content with images and video for a better customer experience.
They create a company culture that embraces photo and video creation.

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4. Have an Aggressive Marketing Budget

Instead of viewing lawn care marketing as the red-headed stepchild, these leaders frequently look for investment opportunities.

outback-landscape-chase-coates-team-773130-edited

Image Source: Outback Landscape

Just the other day I was talking to a client and he said (unsolicited):

“People are crazy…the last thing you should cut back on in uncertain times is marketing.”

- Chase Coates, Outback Landscape & Lawn Buddies (10-year Landscape Leadership client, with a $15M company, and 6x on the Inc. 5000 list)

Before we begin discussing our clients’ lawn care marketing plans for the following year, they often tell us they have additional budget set aside already and want to know what we suggest they invest it in.

It’s this kind of forward-thinking, hopeful outlook that propels leaders forward.

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5. Create a Sophisticated Sales Organization

Remember the cult classic 1992 film, Glengarry Glen Ross? Jack Lemon utters, “The leads are weak.”, to which Alec Baldwin replies, “YOU’RE weak!”

While that’s not a great lesson in how to inspire salespeople, there is some truth to this.

sales team meeting

To grow a lawn care business, you can’t just piss away good leads with a poor process and mediocre sales skills. These are the critical traits I see in healthy lawn care sales organizations:

They immediately follow up on leads (within minutes).
They expand their hours in peak times of the year.
They recruit and hire great salespeople. They’re not part-time CSRs or managers.
Compensation plans are based on performance. Big commission, small salary.
They shorten the sales cycle for customers. Most circumstances don’t require onsite visits. They sell over the phone.
Open estimate follow-up calls and upsell campaigns consistently happen.
Recording calls and ongoing training are part of weekly sales meeting training.
Education is intentional and extensive. They train on both technical lawn knowledge as well as sales skills.

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6. Innovate & Experiment

If you want to be seen as a relevant innovator, you’re willing to try things out that aren’t tested and proven. These leaders want to be early adopters, not follow the pack 10 years later.

Here are some of the things I have seen progressive clients try out:

AI website chat agents
E-commerce tools to sell lawn care
1-1 sales videos
Marketing and sales process automation
SMS marketing

lawn care website with ai agent - turf pride (1)

Image Source: This is the AI website agent we built for Turf Pride Lawn Care

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7. Leverage Multiple Marketing Mediums

Lawn care marketing strategies also do not put all of their eggs in one basket. While most of our clients wisely allocate the largest portion of their budget to digital mediums, they also have a healthy mix of other sources.

Lawn care postcard - grassperson

Image Source: Grassperson Lawn & Landscape

Leaders often combine the following mediums to grow their lawn care business:

Website design and development
Content marketing
Google Ads
Email and SMS marketing
Organic social media content
Direct mail and print media
Paid social media ads
Home shows
Signs and vehicle wraps
Customer referral programs

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8. Meticulous ROI Tracking

One of the smartest initiatives you can take in growing a lawn care business is paying close attention to measuring your ROI (return on investment) of various marketing campaigns.

Some lawn care marketing activities are hard to measure and just part of defending your brand’s position in a competitive market.

lawn care lead report

However, leaders know that ROI can be measured for many others using the following:

Use QR codes on print marketing (easy for the client, easy to track).
Build various landing pages for campaigns (vs. making users find their way through your website)
Use call tracking numbers.
Review results regularly.
A/B test (change small things and see what performs better)

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9. Embracing Reinvention & Renovation

Leaders realize that lawn care marketing can get stale. Visual style becomes dated. New trends emerge.

Video Source: Seacoast Turf Care

Some of the things I see savvy brands doing are:

Refreshing their old logo
Redesigning their website every 5-6 years
Changing print and direct mail creative to keep things fresh
Trying different video styles
Updating vehicle wrap designs
Updating service packaging to adapt to consumer trends (i.e., monthly subscriptions)

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10. Hire Expert Practitioners

Before you think this is the part of the article where I get all promotional, I’d like to point out that we practice what we preach at Landscape Leadership.

When we underwent a rebrand, we hired a specialized agency whose focus was in this area.

When we wanted to improve our processes as an agency, we hired outside consultants who were expert practitioners in their various fields.

When you go to the doctor, you're not forming a partnership. They're an expert practitioner and you're the patient under their care. Remember this analogy when you hire a lawn care marketing agency.

Chad Diller - Landscape Leadership client meeting 3

Here’s what a leader in the lawn care industry does:

They admit when their skills are limited and get help.
They don’t look for partners. They look for expert practitioners and take their advice.
They’re not interested in using vendors who need constant direction.
They want to succeed with their marketing agency, not at their detriment. Both sides make money and everyone is treated with respect.
They’re in it for the long haul. They know building a foundation takes time and don’t lose sight of the overall goal.

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Mastering Your Lawn Care Marketing Moves

Just like dreaming of being the next Michael Jordan or Serena Williams sparked a fire in our younger selves, adopting the secrets of lawn care marketing masters can ignite your business’s growth.

It’s not just about the big plays. It’s the daily drills, the strategic decisions, and the relentless pursuit of perfection that set the legends apart.

joshua tree experts - meeting

Image Source: Joshua Tree Experts

Imagine your lawn care business as a championship team. You’ve got the talent, the drive, and the ambition. Now it’s time to master the moves that will take you to the top. From crafting a standout brand to leveraging client stories, embracing innovation, to tracking every ounce of ROI, these are your playbook essentials.

The lawn care field is your arena, and with these ten traits, you’re not just in the game – you’re setting the standard. So, lace up your sneakers, grab your gear, and step onto the field with confidence. The crowd’s waiting, and your moment of glory is just a few strategic plays away.

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