Spring is finally here and the good weather brings to mind home renovation projects, annual maintenance and, especially, lawn care and landscaping. In 2017, 2.8 million households spent an average of $2,497 to spruce up their lawns. Lawn care and landscaping are also among the most valuable curb appeal improvements homeowners can make for resale. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) “Standard lawn care services, overall landscape upgrade, hardscape upgrade and landscape management services were ranked the top four projects by [the NAR] that would add value for potential buyers as well as add value to a property at resale.”
Employing effective marketing strategies that target customers who need lawn care may be a matter of capturing the audience at the moment they are ready to act. For instance, a snowed-in Bostonian isn’t thinking about their lawn on a frigid January day, but will likely be very motivated to buy when the sun comes out in May. How and when to reach that customer is the crux of marketing a specialty service like lawn and landscaping care.
Brands Can Optimize Search For Better Market Reach
Cognitiv Search, a new tool recently launched by AI marketing company Cognitv, allows brands to optimize bids in their Google Ad campaigns and adjust creative based on internal goals and external factors, including weather and location. The Cognitiv Search platform automatically adjusts paid search bids for the correct target markets based on alignment of items for sale and predicted weather for the locations of the customers. This sort of granular optimization is ideal for a lawn care or landscaping company intent on capturing their audience at the moment they are ready to buy.
Implementing Digital Tools For Customers Allows For More Personalization
Last year, TruGreen expanded their existing partnership with IBM Watson to include a “customized” AI-powered ad. Once the user clicks on various prompts like “grass not green enough,” TruGreen launches a conversation, based on pre-loaded data, and offers images, videos and other recommendations that assist the user with their lawn issues. The data from the interaction also generates information about specific products sold by TruGreen. Like Cognitiv Search, Watson also considers the user’s zip code for current weather conditions, with ads surfacing that correspond to the targeted area.
Being Prepared For Customers During Micro-Moments May Create Conversions
Micro-moments, the spontaneous moments that have users grabbing their phones when a need or want strikes them, can be useful for a specialty offering like lawn care and landscaping. Google summarizes how brands should prepare for these moments as: “Be there, be useful and be accountable.”
The first sunny day of spring might have that previously snowed-in Bostonian reaching for their phone, looking for a lawn service. How the Bostonian’s need is answered can set a brand apart from their competitors. Have brands planned for searches at this time in this area? Are the search ads curated with suitable services for the New England climate and will customers be delivered to landing pages that offer local solutions? Meeting micro-moments with seamless, targeted user experiences that quickly meets the users’ wants with easy buying options is integral to success, because the moments themselves are often fleeting.
A recent study on behalf of the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) revealed 81% of Americans have lawns, and 79% consider lawns important features when buying homes. The market for lawn and landscaping services is there. Optimizing the best strategies to effectively target buyers where they are in the sales funnel can allow brands to secure their market share.
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About the Author
More Content by Sarah Cavill
