In the evolving world of digital marketing, the allure of fractional Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) has made its way into the landscape industry. These part-time executives promise strategic insights at a fraction of the cost of full-time hires, presenting both benefits and challenges. But does this trend truly benefit landscape businesses, or does it complicate straightforward marketing needs? In this article, we'll explore the considerations landscape business leaders should make when weighing fractional CMOs against a dedicated agency like Halstead Media, which specializes in the landscaping sector.

In today's fiercely competitive digital world, where first impressions matter more than ever, visual content has become essential for marketing your lawn, landscape, or outdoor living business. It's not just about decoration—it's a necessary tool for storytelling, showcasing your craftsmanship, and creating an emotional connection with customers. Top firms in the industry understand the importance of strong images and videos. These visual assets are crucial for highlighting the beauty and functionality of your projects, setting you apart, showcasing your impeccable craftsmanship, and helping you forge enduring customer relationships in an increasingly crowded market.

Sometimes running a business feels like a rollercoaster. Challenges can have that stomach-dropping sensation as you quickly begin your descent into the unknown. But consistent marketing efforts help create stability over time, and the challenges that once felt like gut-wrenching moments when you questioned your choice of career, and maybe even your sanity, become more like little bumps that quickly even out.

Sometimes running a business feels like a rollercoaster. Challenges can have that stomach-dropping sensation as you quickly begin your descent into the unknown. But consistent marketing efforts help create stability over time, and the challenges that once felt like gut-wrenching moments when you questioned your choice of career, and maybe even your sanity, become more like little bumps that quickly even out.

If it has been a few years since you updated your website, it’s time to take action now. Your website is at the forefront of your business, where potential clients form their first impressions. In this fiercely competitive online arena, ensuring your website not only looks great but also functions seamlessly and provides an exceptional user experience is non-negotiable. Let’s explore six common signs that your lawn, landscape, or outdoor living business website needs to be updated.

Imagine if your lawn, landscape, and outdoor living business could instantly stand out from the competition. Picture having a customer list filled with affluent homeowners who appreciate the finer things in life. Envision your projects being nothing short of breathtaking outdoor paradises that belong on the cover of a prestigious magazine. In today's digital age, where first impressions are often formed online, your brand is the key to ensuring your business thrives in the industry.

Did you know nearly 70% of consumers prefer to message a business on social media? It's their go-to way to connect with companies, and this trend is transforming social media into a vital customer service channel. In today's fast-paced digital landscape, businesses, including those in the lawn, landscape, and outdoor living industry, are constantly searching for innovative ways to meet and exceed customer expectations.

Gone are the days when the roar of gas-powered equipment was synonymous with lawn maintenance. Today, many businesses in the lawn and landscape industry are moving toward a quieter, cleaner future—and using marketing strategically to build credibility and trust with homeowners and property managers. As municipalities across the globe grapple with environmental concerns and the need for stricter regulations, industry businesses face new challenges and opportunities that even marketing plays a role in.

While the ultimate goal is for your target customer to accept your project proposal, it’s what happens between the first click and you handing them over your proposal that influences the outcome the most—even more than pricing.

Your business is likely one of many landscape industry businesses in your area, so how can you stand out from your competition? The key to outperforming your competition is appearing higher in the search results—and local SEO is the strategy to help you do it. 

While artificial intelligence has been a hot topic since OpenAI’s late 2022 release of their generative AI-powered chatbot called ChatGPT, you’ve likely encountered AI for longer than you realize. But what does this mean for the green industry?

Competition in the green industry market is fierce, and choosing the right marketing strategy can mean the difference between experiencing flourishing success and slowly withering away.  Working with an agency specializing in the lawn, landscape, and outdoor living industry sets your business ahead of the competition.  

In the lawn, landscape, and outdoor living world, where impeccable aesthetics and customer demands intertwine, strategically allocating your marketing budget is crucial to propelling your highly successful business toward even more significant growth and brand recognition. Marketing is an investment that builds upon its success over time.

Leading lawn, landscape, and outdoor living firms use email marketing for various purposes, including building relationships, nurturing leads, keeping your brand top-of-mind, and promoting content and services. When you create purposeful content that provides value to your recipients, there’s no question whether you should include email marketing within your strategy.

At the end of the snow season, it’s time to evaluate overall performance and create a strategy for the following winter. Top commercial snow contractors don’t wait until August or later to start this process. The more time you have to prepare and implement your strategy, the better results you’ll see.

Leading lawn, landscape, and outdoor living firms use case studies as a sales and marketing tool to help generate leads. Showing prospects how your services and work have helped others achieve their goals is impactful.

Recruiting is marketing, and your role as a potential employer is to market your company as a great place to work. Job postings must attract the candidate and include details your ideal candidate will find enticing. Just as you have a target customer persona in your marketing efforts, you need a target candidate persona for your recruiting efforts.

Successful outdoor living businesses that consistently land $150K+ projects don’t do so by chance. To make the efforts as worthwhile and efficient as possible, these top companies rely on effective marketing systems with laser-focused targeting.

Change isn’t always easy, but it’s a necessary part of growth. If you have business tasks and processes that are not contributing to your company's success, you may be holding on to bad habits that aren’t serving you anymore, especially regarding your team. 

In August 2022, Google rolled out the Helpful Content Update (HCU). The largest update began in December 2022 and was completed 38 days later in January 2023. There is hope for those negatively affected by this update, but only if you make immediate changes.