What Social Media Platform Should I Use?

by | Oct 2, 2018 | Marketing | 0 comments

What Social Media Platform Should I use?

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, YouTube. Social media can be overwhelming. #AmIRight One of the top mistakes I see business owners make is pushing themselves to do too much with social media, becoming overwhelmed, and giving up entirely. It does not have to be that way. My advice for business owners who know they need to be involved with social media but don’t know where to start, is to pick two or three platforms, get to know them well, and use those to connect with followers. You may find that one platform works extremely well, and another does not. When the time is right, switch out the platform that does not work for your customers and try a different approach. Finding the right balance of platforms is essential to your growth as a business.

Below, I’ve briefly explained the more popular social media platforms. Because every tree service is unique and has their own target clientele, which platform you utilize will be based on who you are trying to reach. Always keep in mind, the main goal of any social media efforts is help you promote your business to customers and prospects.

Facebook

Oh, Facebook, the birthplace of social media. Create an account, “friend” your friends, post photos, start a business page, gain followers, utilize hashtags – Facebook does it all. If you are looking for a quick and easy way to connect with many followers of all ages, Facebook is the way to do so.

Instagram

Brush up on your photography skills! Instagram is the place to showcase photos of yourself, your business, and your passion for the tree care industry. Plus, like Twitter, Instagram uses hashtags to connect you with other users and push your content to those who search for #trees.

LinkedIn is typically used to post an online resume. Have a skill you want to promote? LinkedIn. Want to boast about your background or assure a potential client you have the correct credentials? LinkedIn. LinkedIn is also a great place to “connect” with colleagues and clients and promote business-oriented content.

YouTube

If you have read my article entitled “5 Ways to Better Your Social Media Marketing” (and if you haven’t, you really should – it’s great), you’ll know that I stress the importance of moving your business towards videos. Utilization of video is key for your business in 2018. A YouTube channel is the way to do that! Showcase yourself, your employees, your equipment, a job site. This creates a more intimate, personal connection with your clients.

Twitter

Have you ever tried to condense your thoughts into 140 characters? #Yeahmeneither Luckily, Twitter allows 240 characters now and you can enhance your content by using hashtags. Hashtags allow your content to be discoverable by others so that when client is searching for #treeservice, any content you post with that hashtag attached will pop up in their search.

Snapchat

If you are looking to appeal to a younger crowd, Snapchat is 100% the way to go. Snapchat allows you to display a photo or video for 1-10 seconds, with your “snaps” being able to be added to your “story” where followers or subscribers can watch them after the fact. This is a great way to interact with clients if you want to tell a quick story or give a follower a quick burst of information.

Pinterest is a great place to organize ideas, thoughts, and lists and present them in one simple “board” to all of your followers. If, for example, you want to showcase steps, tricks, or items with which to prune a tree, all of these ideas and examples could be “pinned” to one board, allowing you to easily share it with your followers.

Google+

Contact a Google employee to learn more ☺

Written by: Katie Petersen

5 Ways to Better Your Social Media Marketing

by | Aug 27, 2018 | Marketing | 0 comments

5 Ways to Better Your Social Media Marketing

If you’ve ever found yourself staring at your computer screen, wondering what to post on your social media accounts, you are not alone. Digital marketing success remains elusive to most small business owners. The fact of the matter is, 46 percent of (small) business owners are unsure their marketing strategies work and 17 percent know they aren’t working at all (source). #WHAT. This does not need to be you. While I cannot tell you that there is one simple, fix-all option available for individuals struggling with digital marketing, I can give you 5 strategic ways to better your social media marketing and help your business thrive.

Strategy #1: Use Real Photos and Personal Stories

Do your followers know who you are? Have you given them a reason to connect personally with you? Spoiler Alert: majority of customers are not impressed by the type of equipment you use.Posting photos of your truck fleet will not gain you more business. But, you can certainly tweak those posts and use them to your advantage. Perhaps you are still using the very first truck that your father bought when he started your tree service. Posting a narrative about that, talking about the history of your company and what your father meant to this company, will give customers a reason to connect with you. It humanizes your business and gives them a trigger to remember you when they need your services.

Strategy #2: Shoot (More) Videos

Video, video, video. I cannot stress this enough: the future lies in videos. While videos can seem overwhelming, take it step by step. Start off small – use your phone and record a quick video introducing yourself, your company, and share three fun facts about who you are. As you become more comfortable conversing in front of the camera, up your techniques. Have someone else shoot you discussing a common misconception about tree care, like how trees with early leaf drop does not mean they are a lost cause and need to be removed. If you have the funds, invest in a video marketing company, and allow them the opportunity to come in and shoot your work day. By taking what would normally be multiple paragraphs of text and translating that into video form, you are allowing your customer a new avenue to engage and connect with you. Plus, the stats don’t lie: 59% of executives agree that if both text and video are available on the same topic, they are more likely to choose video (source). #VideoForTheWin

Strategy #3: Engage and Reward your Followers

I’m not sure about you, but my Instagram and Facebook feeds are scattered with individual and company accounts that receive tons of engagement. How are they succeeding at this? By giving their followers a reason to engage with them. Successful digital marketers know that the best way to increase engagement is to incentivize your following:

Create a contest for your follows (ex. Upload a photo of yourself with your favorite tree. The best photo receives a $25 credit towards your next service)
Host a giveaway (ex. The first 10 likes on this post receive a $10 Starbucks gift card)
Offer discounts (ex. Like this post and receive 5% off your next tree removal)
Elaborate or superfluous giveaways are unnecessary. Simple, easy offerings are the best way to create a buzz around your company and have your followers watching your page for your next giveaway.

Strategy #4: Collaborate with Others in Your Niche

We all have people we look up to in our businesses, the individuals or companies that set the bar high, keep us chasing growth, and that every customer seems to know. If you have not used these individuals to your advantage, it is time to start. Reach out to them and propose collaboration on a blog post, a video, or a quick photo on your page. Set-up a lunch and learn with your employees or clients and have this expert come in to teach on a specific topic, all while promoting this on your social media. Business is not always about competition – customers love to see individuals working together to bring them the best possible product. Meeting with others and collaborating with them will not only give you an opportunity to learn something, it will open up your business to a whole new set of followers.

Strategy #5: Use Online Tools to Find Top Content for Posts

Do you struggle to find relevant content that your followers not only appreciate, but also understand? #beenthere. Many individuals find it difficult to engage with certain companies on social media because they do not equate the relevance of the post to their individual lives. Try one of these content sourcing tools for mainstream articles, on topics that businessmen and stay-at-home moms can both understand.

Google News Alerts are a great way to keep yourself informed of headlines that are happening in your industry. Nuzzel connects with your Twitter feed and shows you the most shared content from users you follow. If you follow numerous accounts that are relevant in your industry, the content provided by Nuzzel is invaluable. Mix (formerly StumbleUpon) is a discovery engine that finds and recommends content to users. All you have to do is select a few interests, and hit the ‘Mix’ button and the platform will show you pages relevant to your interests. Finally, Reddit is the hot bed of the Internet, and it’s a great place to find content. Subreddits enable users to browse different topics, where users post and “upvote” the best content. Subscribe to subreddits that are the hottest in your industry so, when you log into Reddit, your front page will be full of content specific to you.

Pro Tip: Reddit can also be a great place to share your own unique content. If you’re active on the platform and get familiar with some of the subreddits, submitting links can be a great way to get more traffic to your website (source).

These five action items are just a few easy ways to up your social media marketing game and propel your business forward. Doing these things will not only set you apart from the competition, but it will open up your business to an entirely new client base.

Written by: Katie Petersen

Gain Customers Without Having to Sell: Content Marketing Part 2

by | Aug 27, 2018 | Business Strategy | 0 comments

Gain Customers Without having to sell: Content Marketing Part 2

In my last tip, I introduced the concept of Content Marketing. In case you missed it, you can read it here. Today, I’m going to give you the framework to set up a successful Content Marketing campaign.

Target Audience – Define your target audience. Who are you trying to help with your content and how will you help them in a way that no one else is? Make sure that you get specific enough to know what your target audience values and where they get their information from. Brainstorming sessions with your team members are the easiest way to define your target audience. A word of caution with brainstorming sessions; appoint someone to facilitate the conversation and ensure that the group remains on task not veering off into a different direction.

Type of Content – After you know who you are targeting and where they learn about things. Determine what type of content your target audience consumes as well as what type of content your team can produce. Start with whatever is easiest for your team. It may be small videos from the field explaining situations or problems that you typically run into or it may be in a written blog format like this post. Whatever it is, don’t try to do too much at first. It is best to get good at one type of content before adding others to the mix. Which leads me to my next point.

Consistency – Content Marketing thrives on consistency. Whichever type of content you are delivering, make sure you are doing it on a regular basis. Your audience will come to expect the information that you are putting out there and will be disappointed if they don’t receive it. Not every piece of content will be relevant to everyone and that’s okay, it is more important to be consistent in your production of the information.

Champion – Lastly, who will be your Chief Content Officer? This does not have to be a formal position with a pay raise and all, but simply someone that is in charge of the content that gets sent out. This person shouldn’t be the only one that is creating all of the content, just the last person to review it so that the messaging is similar across all pieces of content.
Once you have your basic Content Marketing campaign strategy in place, it is time to actually start creating the content. I recently attended a seminar session from Marcus Sheridan of The Sales Lion. In his presentation he gave us the five areas that you need to address within your content.

Cost/price questions – Explain the range of costs for typical tree care services and what factors play a role in determining the final cost.

Problems/issue questions – What are the most frequently asked questions from your customers? Create content aimed at solving your target audience’s problems. Two examples may be: Why are the leaves on my trees turning yellow? Or how do I know my tree is safe?

Comparison questions – Help your audience determine what the best choice for their situation is by giving them the honest advice about the options to their issue. Example: How to minimize the impact of Emerald Ash Borer; give them information on treating the trees versus the cost to remove and replant.

“Best of” Lists – Many internet searches start with “what is the best…”. Create a list of topics that you can write on including; best trees for backyard shade, best practices for hiring a tree service, best tree services in my area, etc. Yes, you read that right, “what are the best tree services in my area” should be a content piece that you produce. By highlighting a few other professional tree care companies in your area you actually prove that you have the customer’s best interest at heart and more times than not, they’ll call you to do the work because of your openness.

By installing the principles of Content Marketing and committing to the process, you will gain new customers without having to sell them.

Written by: Eric Petersen

Gain Customers Without Having to Sell: Content Marketing Part 1

by | Aug 27, 2018 | Business Strategy | 0 comments

Gain Customers Without having to sell: Content Marketing Part 1

Gone are the days where consumers purchase a product or service based solely on the salesperson’s ability to convince them to buy. Today, the vast majority of the sales process is done by the consumer before they even reach out to you. So how do you earn the trust of your future customers before they pick up the phone to call you? You do it with Content Marketing.

What is Content Marketing?

Content Marketing is a strategic marketing approach where you give valuable information to your prospects and customers without trying to sell them anything. It allows the consumer to learn about their problem on their own using information that you created. Because it does not involve you thumping your chest saying why you are the best, the consumer appreciates the expertise you bring. And guess what? They will start to buy from you because they now know you and trust that your intentions are in their best interest.

Information can be created and shared in a number of different ways. The more ways you incorporate into your content marketing strategy, the more effective you will be at reaching your target customer. Blogs, newsletters, email campaigns, home & garden show presentations and social media posts are all ways that you can get content out.

Why Content Marketing works in the tree care industry?

Content marketing isn’t about your brand or the services you sell, it is about your audience and what they care about. The tree care industry is perfect profession to utilize content marketing because it allows you to develop rapport with your target customers. For most professional tree care companies, the target customer is someone who has a strong emotional connection to their trees but also understands that their level of knowledge on how to properly take care of their trees is lacking.

Take tree removals for instance which can be viewed as a commodity service. As long as the tree guy gets the tree on the ground without hurting anyone or damaging your property, they’ve done their job. So why should the consumer choose you over the next company? Using content marketing, you explain what goes into a successful tree removal job, such as, what factors affect the price of the removal and what dangers are in performing the job. It is your chance to show that you are the expert by advising them on all things related to the removal without asking for them to call you, thereby transforming your business from being seen as just another provider of a commodity service (tree removal) to a leader in the industry.

An even more powerful way for Content Marketing to work within the tree care industry is using it to promote proper Plant Health Care. Creating a dialogue on all aspects of tree health will demonstrate to your potential customers that you know how to care for their trees and why they need to hire a professional arborist to handle this for them.

Lastly, it’s important to note that Content Marketing isn’t for everyone and it is not always the best way to get in front of potential customers. However, in my opinion it is the best way to get in front of the right potential customer and build a strong customer base who hold the same values as you do. When done properly, Content Marketing helps you remove the salesy feel to a new customer relationship.

In my next tip, I’ll show you how to start a Content Marketing campaign and give you the 5 areas you should be addressing in your Content Marketing.

Written by: Eric Petersen

6 Stages of the Customer Journey

by | Aug 27, 2018 | Marketing | 0 comments

6 Stages of The Customer Journey

We all want more sales, right? The easiest way to do that is to create an endless amount of referrals from your existing customers. To do that you must provide an exceptional customer experience that motivates people to tell others. I wrote on this a while ago, in an article titled 3 Tips for Redefining your Customer Experience. In that article, I talk about focusing your attention on every touch-point with your customers to improve the way your customers feel about your company. I’d like to take this a bit further and share with you the stages of the customer journey to help you and your team enhance the customer experience and turn your current customers into promoters of your business.

Stage 1: Research – The first stage is where the customer gets to know you, and guess what, they are doing this on their own. It’s no secret that the primary research tool today is the internet. Therefore, you must have an attractive, mobile friendly, easy to navigate website that helps the prospective customer answer as many questions about your organization and the services you offer before they contact you. It is estimated that 80% of the sale is done before the prospect reaches out to the business. People do not want to be sold anymore. They will research your company and only contact you if they feel comfortable. You must grab their attention here and provide them with access to reviews and social media accounts to give them a feeling of what they can expect from your company. Also, there must be ample opportunities to contact you on every webpage so when they are ready, they know how to reach you.

Stage 2: Connection – When the prospect does reach out to your organization either via phone call, email/text/chat or in person, the initial conversation is critical. It sets the tone for the entire relationship. Training your team on how to engage with a new prospect is very important. What message do you want to portray? Consistency is the best way to successfully deliver your message. If you use a tag line on your website, make sure everyone uses that in conversations with customers and prospects. This goes for field employees as well since a lot of referral business actually happens on the jobsite when a curious neighbor asks one of your crew members what they are doing. When everyone within your organization talks the same way, the customer experience is heightened.

Stage 3: Decision – Your prospect has completed their research and has either chosen to use your company or not. If they have chosen your organization, celebrate this decision by confirming why they made the proper choice. You can do this verbally, with a hand written thank you card or an automated email. Whichever way you decide to do this, make sure the customer gets an immediate response from you. There is nothing more unnerving than to sign up for a service and not feel like your business is appreciated because you don’t hear from them. If the prospect did not choose your company, institute a follow up procedure to gain insight as to why they chose someone else. This will show the prospect that you truly care about their experiences with you by learning what you could have done better to earn their business.

Stage 4: Define the Experience – Because there are a number of variables that determine when tree work will actually be done, you must set up a realistic expectation for the customer. Tell them what factors come into play and what you will do to notify them of changes or delays in their project. Every tree service has lost a customer because the customer got anxious to have the work done and went with someone else because they didn’t know when you were going to get to it. Eliminate this risk by defining what the customer experience will be right at the time of the sale.

Stage 5: Performing the Work – Now it is time to deliver the promise that has been sold to the customer and perform the work. Because the salesperson is rarely at the job site when the work is being performed, the crew leader must have been informed of any concerns by the customer before the job starts. Internal job briefing is vital to make sure the crew performing the work meets the expectations of the customer.

Stage 6: Review and Promote – Once the job is complete you must check in with your customer to see how satisfied they were. Again, you can do this a number of different ways from an automated email survey to a written card to a phone call whichever fits best with your company. Similar to the lost prospect, by asking the customer to review the services you provided, you gain an opportunity to learn how to improve. Remember to ask all happy customers to give a testimony or direct them to online to give a review. It is in this last stage where you truly see whether or not your customers are enjoying their experience with your organization.

Being able to provide great tree care is expected by your customers and that is why they contacted you. What sets your company apart is mastering the customer journey so they are left feeling fantastic about their decision to choose your company. So take time to dig into each of these stages with your team members and come up with ways you can improve on each stage.

Written by: Eric Petersen