How to Build an Engaged Social Media Following for a Tree Service Business

Marketing a tree service business on social media provides plenty of opportunities to build a strong local following and convert those followers into customers when a need for tree care arises. Simply creating a business page on Facebook and setting up a Twitter account isn’t enough.

Every business has social media profiles, but the majority of them are nothing more than ads and promotional offers that are overlooked by those that come across them. There is so much noise on social media that it requires a very unique strategy content-wise to command attention and then convert that attention into followers.

Your business needs to stand out from competitors by creating creative content that creates engagement – comments, tagging, liking, etc. The social media algorithms love engagement, and when this becomes your main focus it gives your content more impressions and exposure.

We are going to highlight several tips that will help your tree care company create an effective social media marketing strategy that provides you with increased brand awareness, a following that grows consistently, and one that is simple to maintain and cost-friendly.

Organic social media marketing is extremely powerful when you know how to create content that constantly receives high rates of engagement. The long-term ROI potential can be seen after you post your first successful piece of tree care content. Implement the suggestions below to grow your tree care company’s social media following and engagement.

If you try to be active on every social media platform available you will spread your effort too thin. Instead, pick two to three social media channels that you know contain your target customer and that allow you to post content that can effectively contribute to building brand awareness and eventually converting some of your followers into customers.

The best tree care social platforms are going to be those that are used by an older demographic and are heavily video and image-focused. Twitter is great in terms of the demographic – but it’s typically statements and text posts that perform well – little tidbits of information. It’s not a visual content platform.

Instagram and Facebook, however, provide you with a great opportunity to share video and image content that has the potential to be seen by the right audience and get a little algorithm love by receiving a lot of engagement.

Before and after images of a tree trimming job to tree deforestation land clearing – anything visually appealing presents you with great content to share on social media. Showcasing your work, rather than just posting advertisements, is the best way to attract authentic attention and engagement.

You’re going to need an Instagram and Facebook business page for your business if you plan on running paid ads on either platform, so it’s a good idea to build strong social profiles on these networks.

Create a Content Strategy and Posting Schedule

The biggest mistake you can make when it comes to sharing social media content for your tree service business is to not have a plan. Flying by the seat of your pants and posting random content without a plan or purpose will not help you grow a large social media following that can then be leveraged to attract customers.

Come up with a content theme that works well when it comes to achieving your engagement and follower goals. It will take some testing and trial and error to determine what type of content works best for your business.

Memes might produce amazing results for one tree care business, while funny viral videos and on-the-job videos and pictures might perform better for another business. Find out what works best for your business and then adapt the most popular content types to your strategy moving forward.

You also need to adhere to a consistent posting schedule the same way your content marketing and blogging strategy requires consistency to deliver results. Consider using a tool like Hootsuite – they have a free plan – to help you schedule content in advance. Doing this ensures that you don’t slack. Spend a day each month scheduling posts for the upcoming month.

Post frequency will depend on many factors, with follower count being the most important to consider in the beginning. A tree care company with 100 followers will require a much less post frequency than one with 30,000 followers.

Promoting your tree care services is the ultimate goal of a social media marketing effort but that doesn’t mean your feed should be filled with promotional posts. You can sprinkle them in here and there – or when you have a truly irresistible offer – but the majority of your content needs to be non-promotional. A post that triggers engagement and gets you thousands of impressions and introduces your tree service business to a new audience is far more effective than a promo post that is seen by a half-dozen followers that already know you exist.

Before you post, ask yourself if the content – whether it’s a video or an image – has the potential to trigger a reaction (a share, tag, comment, or like) from someone that has no idea your business exists. If the answer is ‘Yes’ then roll with it.

A funny meme or a viral video is going to command attention and receive engagement before the user even looks at the profile sharing it or clicks over to view the page or profile information. It’s very hard – actually, it’s next to impossible – to target only consumers that have an interest in hiring a tree care company. So, with organic social media, you need to focus on impressions – the more organic views the content receives, the higher the likelihood it’s seen by someone with enough interest to give your profile a follow.

The average consumer loves contests and running them on social media is a great way to quickly grow your following. This is an extremely low-cost way to add local followers that you can then organically market to moving forward.

For the best results, consider a mix of prizes that include popular items like gift cards and electronics, as well as free services from your business. While some consumers will be more inclined to participate if it’s a more general prize, offering tree care services helps to attract those that have a genuine interest in the services your business provides.

Make it very simple to enter the content. An example of the requirements for an Instagram contest would be following your account, liking the post, and tagging three friends who might also be interested in the contest.

When you launch a popular contest the engagement will help push the post onto the explore page and organically place your post in front of even more users. Instagram’s algorithm is so advanced that it will target local users that have similar followers and interests.

Be sure to share the winners on your account and try to get them to post a testimonial of the win, which you can also share. This social proof will make your future contests even more successful.

Have you ever seen a local business that ran TV commercials with one very loud and vocal personality? They quickly become the face of the company and seeing them instantly makes you think of the brand?

It’s an old-school marketing trick that has worked for ages, and it’s one that you can adapt on social media. Whether it’s being the face and identifying yourself as the owner or creating multiple personalities by including your employees in the action, having a forward-facing personality creates a stronger connection between your audience and your tree care company.

As your following increases, you will want to create content that showcases your personality – or personalities. It’s a smart branding play and it is proven to be effective. This also provides you with a very subtle way to advertise and convey special offers without posting a blatant tree care ad.

Final Thoughts

A Facebook and Twitter feed that simply consisted of images from tree care jobs might get a few organic “Likes” here and there but nothing significant enough to move the needle and justify a full-blown social media marketing effort.

You need to be creative and show a little personality if you want to not only attract attention on social media but also attract followers. You must provide a reason to follow your tree care business on social media. A combination of entertaining content, informative tree care tips, and an occasional special offer is a winning combination.

If you would like to learn more about the custom tree service social media marketing campaigns we create and manage for our clients, please contact us today for a complimentary consultation. Our team of tree care marketing experts will also be more than happy to answer any questions you may have regarding social media marketing for a tree care company.

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