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How Marketing is Risk Management

How Marketing Is Risk Management

Written by Eric Petersen, CIC

Yes, you read that title correctly. The marketing your company is doing to attract new customers and employees is actually a form of risk management. In a previous article, Building a Risk Management Mindset, we discussed how a business intentionally creates opportunities and avoids problems by installing a risk management mindset. Those same principles are very true when looking at your marketing. 

Let’s first define what I mean by marketing. Marketing can be any outward action or impression of your company that is released into the world that will either attract customers or employees to your company. Most people think of marketing in an active sense only, where the sales flyer or social media post that is created is marketing; however, many times marketing happens in a passive way without the business owner truly knowing that it is occuring. The appearance of who you are sets the stage for the customers and employees that will be drawn to your company. 

We are going to explore marketing from a risk management perspective to help you intentionally create the business you desire by looking at both external marketing (for customers) and internal marketing (for employees). 

 

External Marketing – This is what most people think about when they use the word “marketing,” which is the action taken by a company to attract new customers or sell more products/services to existing customers. All too often we see tree services advertising or promoting a unique one-time job that they did for someone, that, while they are really proud of that job, chances are they won’t be doing it again for a long time. This could be a removal job on an island or large crane job or a project in a remote area. Whatever the job is, when the company advertises it, their potential customers begin to connect that unique job to the expertise of the tree service. 

Those unique jobs typically are not ones that you want to rely on as a business and more often than not don’t fit into your Sales Sweet Spot. Your Sales Sweet Spot is where your Specialty Service intersects with your Ideal Customer. (To learn more on the Sales Sweet Spot read our article here). When you are operating outside of your Sweet Spot, the risk to your company increases dramatically. 

Therefore, it is the goal of your marketing to showcase the type of work that you are truly experts in and the type of work that you want more of so you can continue to operate within your Sweet Spot. To help your marketing team utilize a risk management mindset, ask yourself these questions: 

  • Have you defined the Sales Sweet Spot? (For one-on-one help in developing this, enroll in our Thrive Sales & Marketing Package)
  • Does your entire team, including the marketing team, understand your Sales Sweet Spot?
  • What type of jobs are you attracting through your marketing materials? 
  • Do your social media posts talk about and show the type of work that you want more of? 
  • Does your website accurately depict what type of work you want more of?
  • Have you ever run a marketing campaign that focused on a product/service that was outside of your Sales Sweet Spot? If so, how did the results end up?

 

Internal Marketing – Internal Marketing is the action or inaction to get new, quality employees interested in your company. This can be more difficult than external marketing, because it often happens without your conscious thought, yet is one of the main drivers for whether or not you are actually attracting quality employees. It goes without saying, but the better, more professional employees you have, the lower the risk of injury and accidents happening within your company is. 

Therefore, by intentionally marketing to the type of employee that you want, you are practicing risk management. To subjectively look at the internal marketing that is happening within your company today, ask yourself these questions:

  • Have you defined what your ideal employee’s characteristics are? (For one-on-one help in developing this, enroll in our Thrive Hiring & Recruiting Package)
  • What type of employee are you attracting through your external marketing? The adrenaline junkie or a professional arborist? 
  • Are all of your marketing pictures and messages focusing on projects or jobs outside of your Sales Sweet Spot? 
  • Does your messaging align with your staffing needs, today and into the future? 
  • What do your trucks, equipment and uniforms say about the professionalism of your team?
  • Do you promote employee appreciation in your social posts and on your website? 

 

Simply put, marketing, both external and internal, is happening every day within your company. How intentional you are about getting your desired customer and employee is what separates the good companies from the great ones. Employ a risk management mindset when thinking about your marketing and your company will be miles ahead of others in your area. 


If you’re struggling trying to implement a risk management mindset within your marketing, reach out to an ArboRisk team member today or enroll directly into our Thrive Sales and Marketing Package for one-on-one help.

Margaret Hebert

Attention is the New Currency

Attention is the New Currency

Written by Katie Petersen

,Commitment. In today’s fast paced world, the one thing all companies and people are looking for is commitment. When you get a customer to commit to you, and become a repeat customer, you are winning the “game.” 

But how do you establish commitment? To begin to focus on commitment, many companies need to change their mindset. Rather than worry about the money or potential money a customer could bring in, think of them in terms of commitment. And how do you get someone to commit to you? You give them ATTENTION. In other words, give your customers the attention they deserve and they’ll reward you with dollars for your business.

Attention to your customers in the marketing and sales world is just as important as it is in your personal life or real life. So how do you make your customer and potential customers feel special? Below are our good, better, best ideas for giving your customer the attention they deserve!

 

GOOD – EMAIL NEWSLETTER

An email newsletter is still an excellent way to stay in touch with your clients and prospects. Crafting a newsletter, whether weekly, monthly, or quarterly, is a great way to contact your customers and remind them that you are there! If you can, include a “client highlight” section in your newsletter where you talk about how you helped someone, have them discuss what you did, or let them review your company. Again, give your clients the attention they deserve! Some great options to develop your email newsletter are MailChimp, Constant Contact, or Active Campaign.

 

BETTER – FREE COMMUNITY

Do you offer your clients a place to connect and come together? Fostering a community that they can join where you offer them company updates, free information, or new services is another great way to give them the attention they crave! Being able to have 1:1 conversations (even through an online platform) is a great way to show your clients that you care and you are keeping them top of mind. If you haven’t yet, look into creating a Facebook Group for your business! 

Shameless plug: ArboRisk’s FREE facebook group, Tree Talk by ArboRisk, gives our clients a network to bounce around thoughts and ideas! Plus, our podcast, The IndusTREE Podcast, is featured in there monthly with Eric Petersen being joined by one of our industry experts to discuss our topic of the month! Join FREE today!

 

BEST – PAID COMMUNITY

Perhaps you have curated your free community and email newsletter to the MAX and are ready to take the plunge to have people pay you for your information! If you are continually giving away tree care secrets or have found a niche of people who are willing to pay for additional content from you. Start a subscription fee-based newsletter or group! You can upsell joining this group by offering them access to your calendar ahead of regular clients or provide them with extra tips for keeping their trees healthier throughout the year. You could provide them with insider discounts or sample products to try. Giving certain clients this special attention and extra care will keep them returning to you year after year! 

 

These are all great ways to stay top of mind to your clients and give them the attention they deserve! A client that sees the value in the attention you bring will provide you with their investment and loyalty year after year!

If you need more assistance with your marketing or sales plans, contact ArboRisk today! Our Thrive Sales and Marketing Risk Management Package is the perfect solution for any tree care company stuck in a rut (no pun intended) with their marketing!

How to Audit Your Website

How to Audit Your Website

Written by Katie Petersen

A website review, or audit, can seem daunting, overwhelming, and paralyzing. Where do you start? How do you know what to do? What parameters do you measure? Thankfully, a website audit does not have to be stressful or overbearing – it just has to be something that you get yourself organized for and then actually do it. 

Below are a few tips for prepping for a website audit, followed by potential items to have on a checklist as you review different areas of your website. 

Prepping for a website audit

The number one advice I can provide to you in conducting a website audit is to be as prepared as possible. What do you hope to accomplish with the audit? Where do you want your website to go in the next 5 years? Is there a specific product or service you offer that you specifically want to drive people too? Most importantly, don’t try to do too many pages at once! Pick your five most visited pages, or the five pages that best drive your business goals, and start with those! Making sure these pages are where you want them will help you adjust the additional pages on your site in the future.

Web Design

Next, take a look at your web design. Is your website design easy to read? Research has shown that websites that are too complex actually turn off potential clients. Simple, cleaner website designs actually help drive customers to your business! Make sure your pages’ structure – headers, body content, footers – are all easy to distinguish and help a visitor navigate your pages correctly. Do you include photos to break up the text? Do you have CTA (call to action) buttons throughout that make purchases simple? Does the design of your website align with your company’s brand? Does your website also show up well across all devices – computer, laptop, mobile? Looking at all of these design elements will help you showcase your products and services to visitors in a way that successfully aligns with your mission.

Lead Generation

Does your website convert your visitors into leads? This is the most crucial step when designing and auditing your website. Make sure your pages have clear CTA buttons that are positioned in a visible way and easy for the visitor to understand. If you have a potential visitor who begins filling out a contact or purchase form, but ultimately abandons the form, do you have some type of retargeting set-up to reach back out to them? Many times, companies will automatically send a “Looks like you forgot something…” email to remind the visitor to finish the form. If they happen to try to click out of the form, pop-ups offering an incentive or free consult are another great way to grab their attention and entice them to continue filling out the form.

Content

The content on your pages is also as important as your potential lead generation. Does your content make sense? Is it concise while still providing visitors with the necessary information to move forward with your business? Make sure your content is structured correctly – with the most important information at the top. Ensure there are no grammatical or spelling errors on your site; this is an incredibly easy fix that companies often overlook! Finally, the content should complement the design of your website. If you use blocks, bullets, white space, photo dividers, make sure these all align with your brand and vision!

SEO Generation

Finally, audit your SEO! SEO is a MUST to have your website to rank well on Google and ultimately have your website seen by visitors. To start, set up a tracking tool to find out what is going on with your site – audience, traffic, clicks, etc. Use tags, meta descriptions, keywords and phrases throughout your site. Ensure that you have outbound (links to outside sites) and inbound (links to your own website) links throughout your pages. If you use WordPress for your website, Yoast SEO is a great tool to help organize your SEO – plus, it helps make SEO less overwhelming!   

Auditing your website can seem daunting and overwhelming. However, by breaking it down into simple, easy to follow steps, that mountain is not insurmountable. Being prepared ahead of time and understanding what you want to accomplish will help you complete the audit and put you ahead of your competition.

If you need help with a website audit or your sales and marketing techniques, contact ArboRisk! Our Sales and Marketing Thrive Risk Management Package will help you create the appropriate marketing message to land more of the jobs and customers you want.

Marketing Trends for 2022

Marketing Trends for 2022

Written by Katie Petersen

2021 was a unique and interesting year for marketing trends – but let’s be honest, at this point, every year the world sees new and interesting marketing trends that take us by surprise. That being said, it should come as no shock that diverse and different marketing trends are on the rise for 2022. As you dive into your marketing for 2022, let’s take a look at what trends you should be looking at and how you can incorporate them into the marketing plan for your tree care company!

Video Marketing

Coming in as no surprise, video marketing continues to be a rising trend. More specifically, short-form content, in the form of Tik Toks and Instagram Reels, are the hottest platforms. With Instagram Reels, users enjoy the quick snippets of information, while creators see their account being prioritized by Instagram, due to their focus on Reels within their algorithm. To set your tree care company up for top level video marketing in 2022, I suggest becoming active on Instagram and Tik Tok. Start playing around with ideas for short videos you could promote – a “day in the life of an arborist” video may interest your clients, a bad pruning vs. good pruning job, or creating a montage of customer reviews from satisfied clients. 

 

Influencer Marketing

Raise your hand if you have ever bought something off of the internet because an account you follow promoted it and gave it good reviews. Yes, we’ve all been “influenced” at one point or another. 2022, however, has been dubbed the “year of the creator,” so it is important for your tree care company to understand and embrace this trend. When you think of the tree care world, is there anyone who comes to mind that you trust their opinion on? How could you partner with them to promote a service, a product, etc.? Is there a clothing wear company that you could partner with to promote their product while also having them promote across their channels? Perhaps one of your clients has a substantial following on a social media platform; work with them on how they could promote your business. Influencer marketing knows no boundaries – it is simply a matter of reaching out to connect and cross-promote products or services.

 

Audio Content

2021 saw the rise of Clubhouse as a social audio app that allowed users to listen to, learn from, and chat with like-minded creatives. So it is unsurprising that 2022 will definitely see an increase in audio content consumption. If you have a blog post, consider moving that content to video or audio form. Having audio on your website will help with Google rankings in the coming year. If you have the time, starting a podcast is another great way to create audio content (who doesn’t love listening to a podcast while driving?!). 

 

Livestreaming

In addition to audio, livestreaming is also on its way up for 2022. Users viewing live content is actually shown to be up about 250% from last year. Livestreams allow viewers to connect immediately with sellers and builds trust and rapport in real time – as opposed to perfectly curated content. One way to get into livestreaming is to host a Facebook Live discussing what your company does, host a Q&A session allowing potential clients to engage directly with you, or announce new services or products that your company offers directly to the consumer. ArboRisk, for example, hosts a Facebook Live the last Wednesday of each month in our “Tree Talk” Facebook group, where we discuss our topic of the month (Hiring & Recruiting, Business Planning, Sales & Marketing, etc.). Livestreaming is an easy way to connect immediately with customers and should definitely be a part of your marketing for 2022.

 

Organic Marketing

It’s 2022 and SEO isn’t going anywhere. The tried and true way to drive individuals to your website is still holding strong and can be a leading source of new business for your tree care company. To increase your SEO, if you have not done so already, consider starting a blog! This is a great way to continually update content on your website and drive users to your business. Make sure to write long-form content when doing so – search engines favor content that is 2500-3500 words. Ensure that your website is mobile friendly, as well! Roughly 60% of searches are done on a mobile device and ensuring your website is mobile friendly is an easy way to increase your SEO.

 

These are just a few of the emerging trends that are expected in 2022. The more you are able to look forward and plan content accordingly, the better positioned you will be with your marketing now and into the future.

Need help creating a marketing strategy for 2022? Check out our Thrive Sales and Marketing Package or contact an ArboRisk team member today! It has all you need to help take your company to new heights!

Easily Increase Your Social Media Engagement

Easily Increase Your Social Media Engagement

The number one question I am asked when consulting with different tree care companies is, “How do I increase engagement across our social media platforms?” It can be incredibly frustrating to work so hard to produce quality content and have your followers scroll past without taking the time to even LIKE your post. Fortunately, there are some quick and fairly simple ways to help your engagement increase across your platforms.

Tip #1: Earn engagement

The top piece of advice I can give to help increase your engagement is to earn it. What do you do on a daily basis to encourage your audience to engage with you? Are you commenting and engaging on their posts? Are you posting content beyond sales pitches? Are people seeing #BTS (Behind the Scenes) of your life and business?

In order to see your engagement increase, you need to be an ACTIVE participant on your social media.

Tip #2: Create a trackable strategy

First and foremost, you should have a strategy when it comes to your social media accounts. Second of all, you should be able to track it in a way that makes sense to you. Take the time each month to analyze what you are doing. Which posts received the most likes? Which posts were saved the most? How many people viewed a particular story? How many DMs did you receive regarding your content? Which hashtags increased your exposure?

In order to up your engagement, use these numbers and create new content around what has already worked for you.

Tip #3: Likes does not equal reach

You never know who you are influencing. Just because someone doesn’t take the time to hit that “LIKE” button (even though it is literally the easiest thing on the planet to do), doesn’t mean they are not watching you. Something you post may trigger a sale or outreach 2, 4, or 6 months down the line. Do not give up simply because you are not seeing the “Likes” come in like you want. By continuing to show up with quality content, you are positioning yourself as the expert in your industry.

Even when you think you are not, you are making connections that will someday positively impact your business.

All in all, increasing your engagement does not need to be frustrating or defeating. Take the time to look at your strategy and Keep. Showing. Up. The more times you show up authentically, the better your engagement will continue to be.

 

For additional help with objection handling and one-on-one sales training, check out ArboRisk’s Thrive Sales & Marketing Package! Our team of industry experts has the skills and knowledge to help you take your tree care company to new heights. Click here to learn more!

Written by: Katie Petersen