5 SMS Marketing Ideas for Gardeners & Groundskeepers
It may have seemed like a long winter, but with Valentine’s day just around the corner one thing is for sure – spring is almost upon us. And for gardeners and groundskeepers, it will soon be back to business as usual, with businesses looking to fill their calendars as the greens begin to grow and property owners look to get the garden back into order. With a business that requires you to always be on the move, SMS Marketing is a perfect way to reach out to customers, keep them updated and manage your marketing. Here are some top tips.
1. SMS Marketing – made for mobile
There are many advantages to SMS Marketing, including cost-effectiveness and ease of use. But above all else, the distinguishing factor that sets SMS Marketing apart from its alternatives is that it is made for mobile. In a world where the majority of people now spend more time with their mobile phone in their hand than sitting at the computer, this is the natural place to find new customers and keep in touch with existing clients. Not only does this result in exceptionally high open and click-through rates, it also allows you to connect with your customers in real time – including when they are outside in the garden.
Although instant messaging platforms such as Messenger and Whatsapp have risen dramatically in popularity, especially amongst the younger demographic, statistics indicate that the majority of UK property owners are older, meaning that SMS messaging is likely to be the ideal way to engage with them.
2. Existing customers
SMS Marketing is a great way to reach out to existing customers that you have worked with in previous seasons and remind them about the services you offer. A simple text message could be all you need to get the ball rolling and begin to fill the diary. A simple message might read something like:
“Lawns looking worse for wear? Hedges in need of a trim? Book a spring clean for your garden now with Green Fingers Gardening Services. Call us now on 0800 242 3356.”
The same format of message would be equally well suited to prospecting for new customers, although in both cases you do need to ensure that you have their express permission to send them SMS Marketing messages – this can be more of a challenge for those who you have not yet provided services for.
To take things a step further, consider adding the option for customers to reply by SMS. This would use a Virtual Mobile Number (VMN) to allow them to reply directly to the SMS message, just as they would reply to messages from friends or family. Click here to learn more about receiving messages.
3. Confirming bookings
A great way to deploy SMS Marketing within your business model is for sending booking confirmations and reminders. Not only does this improve the customer relationship and take away any uncertainty, it also ensures that property owners remember that you need access on the specified day or time, and allows them to make any preparations, from clearing the lawn of furniture or toys to ensuring dogs and other pets are safely out of harm’s reach. A booking confirmation might look something like:
“This is to confirm your booking with Green Fingers on Monday, 5th March at 08:30….”
Shortly before the booking, a reminder message can then be sent:
“This is a reminder for your booking with Green Fingers on Monday 5th March at 08:30. Plans changed? Call us on 0800 242 3356 and we’ll be happy to rearrange.”
Using this strategy allows you to manage the diary more efficiently and rearrange appointments as early as possible so that you can reallocate spaces to minimise losses due to cancellations.
4. Feedback surveys with SMS Marketing
Like many sectors, gardeners and groundskeepers rely heavily on direct recommendations to build their businesses, and the easiest way to make sure people are saying the right things about you is to ensure that they are happy with your services. With SMS Marketing, it couldn’t be easier to conduct feedback surveys to measure customer satisfaction. After completing a job, you could send an SMS message inviting your customer to participate. Once they’ve agreed, send them some simple questions that can be answered using a scoring system, for example:
“Where 5 is the highest, How satisfied were you with the quality of the work done on a scale of 1-5?”
The information that can be collected using this simple approach is invaluable in helping to improve and grow your business.
5. Sharing tips and tricks
Another great way to establish your company as the experts and turn to people is to use SMS Marketing to share tips and tricks that will help your customers to look after their lawns, hedges, drives and more. If you can come up with some simple tips or cheats that fit within the character limit of an SMS message, then send them out in this format. If, on the other hand, you prefer to provide more detailed blog updates, then why not send out a link by SMS whenever you post something new. SMS messages support link opening, so your customers can visit your blog directly from their mobile phone with just a click on the message.
Want to learn more about how to build your business with SMS Marketing? Give us a call now on 0800 954 5305 to speak to one of the experts here at Fastsms and we’ll get you up and running in minutes.
Related Articles
How One Small Business Keeps Her Customers Happy – and On Time!
People have their mobiles within arm’s reach about 22 hours of every day. That means even while they are sleeping! It makes sense then, that if you want to remind someone of an important event (an appointment with your small business for example) you should use their mobile.
Emergency SMS Messages for Vehicle Accidents: A Fastsms API Case Study
This SMS messaging case study explains how a student at the University of West England used the fastsms API in an experimental project aiming to improve vehicle safety. The post is Q&A session between Thomas West, the student, and fastsms, relating how the project unfolded.
Creative SMS Crowdfunding Campaigns for Independent Film Productions
No matter what the task is, any campaign can be boosted by SMS marketing. It's great for businesses and charities but could be especially utilised for the creative industry. From the largest scale (mainstream TV shows, Hollywood blockbusters) to low budget independents, there is an SMS campaign to fit all needs and perform a vital profile-boosting function.
SMS Marketing for the Domestic Pets Market
With consumer spending on Britain's 57 million furry friends valued at over £4.5 Million and all the signs showing that this is only going to increase, there has never been a better time for the sector to invest in marketing - and SMS marketing should be top priority. As pet owners spend more and more time pampering their pets and investing in pet paraphernalia, the opportunities are infinite. SMS marketing is one of the best ways to ensure that your offers get seen - and in most cases, instantly. With its low costs, exceptionally high open rates and above average response rates, SMS Marketing offers huge potential for ROI.
How Text Messaging Can Revolutionise The Police Force
Text messages are fast, secure, subtle, simple and reliable - and those aren’t the only qualities they have to offer. Preferable to other forms of communication in many circumstances, they can prove to be a highly useful addition to a police force’s armoury.
3 Retail Predictions to Increase Footfalls This Holiday Season with SMS Messaging
Last year footfalls for some high street shops dropped during the Black Friday weekend. Even though the UK spent a record breaking £1.1B, some saw their in-store sales slump. Find out the three things retailers need to do to get customers to come back.
Promoting Your App Using Your Website and SMS Messaging
By 2017 there will be 270 billion app downloads worldwide. And the Google Marketplace and the Apple App Store each have over 1.3 million apps available. You need to help people find your app if you’re to break through all that noise. Your website is a great place to start promoting your app, but maybe not in the way you might think.
8 Ways Veterinary Practices Can Use SMS Within Their Business
Although SMS services are usually associated with retail marketing campaigns, you can also use these communication tools across many other industries. SMS text messaging can be used to provide a perfect veterinary patient/clinic communication tool, and because of this it is becoming increasingly popular within the specialist animal care sector.
The Top Two Ways Restaurants and Takeaways Can Use SMS Messaging to Drive Sales
There are many, many different ways SMS messaging can be used for marketing and sales. But if you could only use it just a little, here are the two we recommend for restaurants and takeaways to help increase sales. If you put these two SMS messaging ideas to work for your restaurant you just may be surprised how quickly your list grows, and how fast your sales improve.