Did you know you already have a tree service marketing funnel? There are many tree service companies that have no clue what a marketing funnel is or how to even measure it. 68 percent of companies don’t know or understand marketing funnels.
If you feel that you provide a great service, provide great pricing to your customers, and pride yourself on excellent customer service, but your not generating phone calls, leads, or making sales, there is a reason for this you don’t have a tree service marketing funnel. If your tree care business is doing well and you haven’t looked into your current marketing funnel, then this will help you maintain and even improve your sales and conversion rate.
This powerful marketing tool can dramatically increase your tree service companies sales, increase repeat business, and word of mouth if you take the time to structure it. With a properly built tree service marketing funnel, you will be able to regularly attract new leads, convert them into customers, and increase your company’s revenue year over year. No matter where you are located, if you have a physical location, regardless of the current size of your company, doesn't matter this is for you.
9 out of 10 tree service companies we talk to don’t have a marketing funnel. What is a tree service marketing funnel and how do you utilize it? I will guide you through simple steps so you get the most out of a marketing funnel.
A tree service marketing funnel is a customer’s journey. It is the path that your customers take from the time they find your business to the time they become a paying customer. The funnel is just a visual on to conceptualize the process.
When you think of a funnel you picture in your mind a cylindrical object that is wider at the top and narrow at the bottom. You are probably thinking of an actual funnel used to move and control liquid from one source into another, without spilling. A marketing funnel is considered in the same way. You want to channel your customers from not just being visitors but to becoming paying loyal customers that repeat. So how do you do that, with a solid marketing funnel for your tree service.
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There are four stages to a marketing funnel regardless of the type of business you run. All potential customers will take a similar path in becoming a paying customer of any business. The four stages are the marketing efforts that are specially designed and targeted to your specific clientele.
As an example, let's say you get a new visitor to your website that did a Google search found your website on the front page, that new visitor is considered a prospect. Even if they spent a short time on your website, they might have read your blog posts, maybe looked at what tree services you provide, and then decided to sign up for your newsletter. That visitor has now become a lead and you are able to advertise and market your services to them outside of your website using emails and other strategies. You do this in a funnel in hopes to get them to return to your website, email or call you for a paying service later on.
Understanding the path will help you find holes in your marketing funnel where prospects and leads leak out of the funnel, they never convert, which allows you to find ways to fix those holes in the funnel to increase sales.
The four stages awareness, leads, prospects, and sales. To take a more in-depth look at each stage.
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This is the first stage you get noticed, you have to get attention, make yourself seen to even get a new customer. Creating attention is getting your name out there so people are aware of your tree service company. This is why Arborists Near Me is valuable, get listed in up 20 cities, thousands of people a day come to our site looking for tree service companies. When people have a specific tree care problem, and you are capable of solving their problem, you now have the opportunity to make yourself recognizable and memorable. This is the first critical step in creating a functional tree service marketing funnel. If a new customer can’t find you, how can they hire you.
How To Create Awareness For Your Tree Service Company
Google – When your future customers have a need, whether it be tree trimming, tree removal, stump grinding, you know they will go to Google to find it. According to Statista 90 percent of online searches are performed on Google, and Google sees 3.5 billion searches every single day. If don’t have an online presence in your local area, then these stats should tell you that it’s time to invest in SEO, create a website, or get listed on a site like Arborists Near Me.
Blogging – Creating valuable content for your leads is a great way to build awareness. Why do you think we put out free content like this, you might become a lead or sign up on our site. When your customers perform an internet search for a problem that needs to be solved, they can find you to be a leading resource on the subject. Blog posts provide the customer with knowledge and prove that you are a solution to their problem plus gives you credibility.
SEO – Within your website copy and blogging, you must use SEO to ever appear on the front page of search engines. Using SEO will help you rank higher in Google searches and provide the organic growth that you’re looking for. Blogging on a regular basis improves SEO, the more words you have on your website, the more likely a search engine will be able to learn what your site is about and the quality of the content on it to recommend your site on the front page of when people search. You can read our article on tree service SEO here.
YouTube – 96 percent of people in America between the ages of 18 and 24 use YouTube according to Statista. It is the third most searched platform behind Google and Google Images and is nearly double the size of Bing and Yahoo combined. YouTube is second to Google in terms of number of searches. This platform is being underutilized by tree service companies.
Social media – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn are all social media sites in which you can get seen and heard, gather a following. Use multiple social media platforms for your tree service marketing funnel. The best part about social media is you get to interact and engage with your potential customers it gives your business a personality.
In this stage the awareness you created turns into leads. The goal in this step is for the content and presence to get them to bite so they are ready to move forward and hire you for solving their tree service needs. As a lead they might not call you right away or be ready to hire you at that time, but you can market your services with specific information. This is why having great content is a great, because you can provide specific information. Customers are sometimes still in the shopping stage, reading into things, comparing pricing, researching several companies, etc.
Your job at this point in the tree service marketing funnel is to draw them in further get them closer by communicating your value, get them more motivated to hire you so they follow you. This will require some kind of call to action maybe having a pop up on your website asking them to subscribe to a newsletter, blog, or YouTube channel.
This is the consideration stage, when your potential customers are starting to seriously consider to hire you. These leads have turned into prospects, they have done the research, you keep popping up, your tree service company has been on their mind, they know what they need to do, but what makes them choose you instead of your competition? You have to realize that other companies are hitting them with ads and information all the time.
Chances are you have competitors in your area, if you have a marketing funnel in place for your tree service then you have an advantage but you still have to convince your prospects that you are the right choice. Keep in mind that at this stage, you are educating them and nurturing them along the way. If you make $500 to $2500 profit per job why wouldn’t you be doing these things.
Continue producing them with quality content – Create and show your value by sending them more content that you have. For example, you can send them information pertaining to How to Choose the right Tree Service Company. You are not pushing sales, you are providing value. Be a giver.
Testimonials and online reviews – Send them an email to show them how great your ratings are, put your reviews on your website. Display testimonials showing that your customers are happy with your services.
Create a nurturing system – A nurture system is a set of planned emails that guide your prospects into becoming paying customers. A series of 5-10 emails that go out every few days, switch it up. Send an article from your blog, then a video from your YouTube Page, then an email asking them to follow you on Facebook, be creative.
You’ve done everything possible to show the value in why they should hire you and by now they are the cusp of making a decision. They might be on the fence about 90% there and need a little push to convert into a paying customer. There are a variety of ways to do this, several options could be
Free service with purchase of a service – Some tree service companies will reach out to the customer and say, if you hire us remember those bushes in front of your house. You hire us to trim your trees in the front we will take care of your bushes for me, how does that sound?
Discounts – You can offer them discount especially since these are first time customers. Discount the first service because they will come back to you again and again.
Your not done yet, once your customer makes a purchase. When a customer has purchased your service, this is when you welcome them into your community of loyal customers. Make sure they are happy with your services, ask them to write a review on your business, then that's when you ask them for a referral. Offer them a referral bonus for anyone they refer that hires you give them something, some companies will give customers a $50 Amazon gift card for every referral. More than likely, if they had a great experience not only will they hire you again, but they will tell their friends and coworkers about you. And that’s the kind of free tree service marketing you really want.
The fact is you will not capture and convert every person who comes to your site. It’s normal to lose people during the funnel processes. If you do notice a large amount of people leaking from it, then you might want to go back to prior stages because your missing something. Experiment with different options and systems until you nail it down and have a lead generating machine that produces a consistent flow of new leads for your tree service company..
