The ultimate guide to social media marketing for small business owners in landscaping

Social media marketing is an essential tool for small business owners working in the professional landscaping industry.

Where it was once enough to rely on word of mouth, small businesses are now using the power of online social media marketing tools to find customers and grow their business.

Not only is advertising your business on social media quick, easy, and cost-effective, it can also help make your business more recognisable and attract new customers, capturing enquiries and turning them into retained clients and contracts. With over 5 billion people now using social media around the world, social media marketing isn't just a nice-to-have for small businesses – it's a must.

At Kawasaki Engines, we want to support landscapers as you grow your business. In this guide, we'll cover the benefits of social media marketing, strategy for social platforms, as well as our top social media tips and tricks for growing your business' digital presence. In short, everything you need to help your landscaping business succeed online.

What are the benefits of social media marketing?

More people than ever are spending time on social media platforms like Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

A significant portion of that time is spent interacting with businesses people like and follow. Indeed, according to data from Salesforce, 56% of small business customers have increased their social media use, which means there's an untapped resource sitting and scrolling, waiting to be engaged.

If you don't make use of that resource, then other businesses will. It's a classic case of keeping up or getting left behind.

Benefits of using social media platforms to promote your landscaping business include:

Increase awareness of your business with a few clicks

Reach a potentially limitless audience from your smartphone, increasing your business’ visibility and recognition, and helping you achieve your company goals. Because you can start creating content online from your phone, there's no initial investment or outlay in terms of equipment costs. Plus, you can do it from anywhere – at work, at home, or even parked up in your van or truck.

Talk directly to your target audience...

With sophisticated paid social targeting options based on a variety of metrics (demographics like age and gender, interests, behaviours, location), small businesses can reach out to and engage with their key audiences. This is particularly important if you only work in a specific location or area, filtering out those further away and therefore engaging with your most likely next customers.

... and hear what they have to say

In turn, customers can engage with your business, leaving comments on posts or providing feedback on your services in the form of reviews or ratings. This can improve customer loyalty by building a positive relationship with your business, helping you retain clients and get more work.

You can offer customers incentives to grow your bank of online reviews – the more five-star reviews you have, the better impression you'll give to new and potential customers.

Cost-effective, pay-as-you-go marketing

Compared to traditional marketing methods like print advertising, radio, and directory listings, social media advertising is usually much more affordable.

Plus, you only pay for the reach you want. Coming up to a naturally busy season? Dial down the paid ads. Business slowing down? Spend a little bit more. It's simple but very effective, and also handy if you're working with a limited budget but still want great results.

Why every landscaping business needs a social media marketing strategy

Research tells us that half of all customers use social media to learn about small businesses. But to succeed online and grow your social media presence, you don't have to be a social media marketing wizard or invest thousands just to gain cut-through. All you need is a smartphone and a strategy!

Not sure what makes a good social media strategy? Here are five key things to consider:

1. Set realistic business goals

The first thing you should do is establish measurable and achievable goals for your business on social media. This might mean gaining 1000 followers on Instagram, 20 five-star reviews on your Facebook page, or getting a set number of likes on your YouTube or LinkedIn posts. You can adapt your strategy to help you meet your goals, depending on how you're progressing with them over time.

2. Understand your target audience

You know your customers better than anyone, so everything you put online should be tailored to appeal to them and address their pain points. What specific problems can your business or services help them solve? How are you different to your competitors? What do you offer that they don't? You should look to communicate the answers to these questions in your social media content.

3. Choose which social media platforms to post on

Different social channels have different advantages: lots of people use TikTok, but a staggering 38% are Gen Z or Generation Alpha (born after 1996) – so possibly not those looking for landscaping services.

Have a look at each platform and select a couple you think your target market is most likely to use. Facebook is probably your safest bet, with around three billion monthly active users; it's the largest social media platform in the world and perfect for small businesses that want to interact with a vast pool of potential customers. 

Instagram is also a good choice, as it’s very image-focused which lends itself to advertising your work, but a social platform like LinkedIn, which is more corporate, may be worthwhile if you're hoping to reach commercial customers.

4. Plan different kinds of content

There are lots of different kinds of social media posts (text posts, photos, videos, stories, live streams) to experiment with, and these will differ according to the social platforms you're using.

With Instagram stories, you'll want to focus on short, engaging video content; whereas, on Facebook, a longer written post could be best to detail your service offering. Just remember, your content shouldn't just be solely promoting your landscaping business – it should show how you can solve a problem.

Not sure what to post? Check out our social media post ideas for your landscaping business and find out how to create engaging content.

5. Keep track of engagement and note down what works

To succeed online, you don't need to obsess over charts, create reports, or pay for the latest social media management tools. Of course, these can help, but simply keeping track of what social posts are performing well and what's getting the most engagement will pay dividends in the long run. So, identify your strengths and lean into them!

For example, if before-and-after photos of your projects regularly get 50 likes but five-minute-long behind-the-scenes videos only get five, then post more before-and-after shots! Sometimes it's as straightforward as giving the people what they want.

How to succeed online: three essential social media marketing tips

Succeeding in social media requires more than just posting content when you feel like it. Here are three top tips to help you level up your social media marketing efforts.

1. Dedicate some socials time every week

For many small business owners and sole traders working in landscaping, a big concern is how much time social media marketing will take – hours that could be spent working and bringing in revenue.

However, as we've covered, marketing your business on social media can lead to improved customer relationships, build awareness of your services, and help scale your business – which means more revenue in the long run.

So, try and set aside a small amount of time each week to set up social accounts and maintain and grow your online presence across them. For example, the last hour of the working week. When this becomes part of your routine, you'll probably even look forward to it!

2. Make sure you post regularly – but focus on quality, relevant content

As a general rule of thumb, you should post at least three times a week across your different social media channels to achieve the best results in terms of growth and engagement.

Although it's certainly true that the more you post, the better the likelihood of your page and content being viewed by new customers, high-quality, engaging content should always be your priority.

If it's not worth reading, viewing, or watching, or there's simply too much to consume, then chances are people won't engage with your posts – let alone react to it or leave a comment.

Because of the visual nature of landscaping, we recommend visual content like before-and-after shots, using a 'swipe to see the difference' element.

Not only is it incredibly satisfying to see a space completely transformed, it's also great evidence of your landscaping ability. Always look to take part in the latest social media trends, too, as these can prove popular – and you could be one post away from a viral hit.

3. Build a community and interact with your audience

If you're a small business, it's important to boost engagement on your socials through online community building. This could involve responding to comments, replying to direct messages, and tagging or mentioning other social media accounts run by like-minded content creators or respected brands used in the landscaping industry.

For example, remember to tag @KawasakiEnginesEU in all your landscaping projects that have used our engines. We're always looking to share content from the professionals that use Powered by Kawasaki equipment every day – so don't hesitate to show us the results of your efforts!

Social media for landscapers doesn't have to be difficult. With these tips, you'll be able to grow your online presence, attract more social media users to your page, connect with other professionals and drive growth for your business! If you're ready to get started, have a look at ideas for your first posts here.