Grow in a competitive industry with strategic marketing

By Emma Peterson. 

Rob Murray shares modern marketing advice for contractors and outdoor pros. 

For over 18 years, Intrigue Media has delivered marketing solutions for landscape contractors and other outdoor professionals across North America. During that time, they have learned a lot about how to stay successful in an increasingly competitive market. To learn more, Rob Murray, one of Intrigue’s co-founders and their current CEO, sat down with us for an episode of From the Ground Up™.  

Like many trade and skill-based industries, landscaping has a long history of word-of-mouth advertising. And this is still a very powerful tool today. Rob explained, “Companies can get really, really far on word of mouth. Building that popular reputation is like building a black box that you can hit and it pops money out.” The downside of relying on word-of-mouth is that it is unreliable. Rob elaborated, “It takes years of doing good work for great clients to build it out and even then, it’s unpredictable. You don't know when it's going to pop money out.” 

Rob’s advice for contractors navigating this unpredictability? Don’t let word-of-mouth be your only form of marketing. Especially in the modern technology age, digital marketing tools should not be overlooked. He explained, “If you're really busy and you're making money and you want to keep growing, getting into the digital space is a great idea.” 

What exactly does this look like? Rob laid out how he and the team at Intrigue Media approach digital marketing with their clients:  

When my team works with clients on this move, we start with making sure they have a wonderful and consumer-oriented educational website. And then after the website, we get into search optimization (like SEO). From there, we look at reviews and ads. 

While this might seem a bit overwhelming if you haven’t moved into the digital space yet, it is something that can be done in phases. Rob laid out some general guidelines, sharing, “Let's say you're a million-dollar business, $30,000 should be put into marketing.” Putting the time and money into your digital presence will help you bring in customers, eventually leading to sustainable business growth. Rob added, “A lot of people sacrifice long-term results for short-term results. They're like, ‘I need business the next 90 days.’ That puts you in a tough spot. And in my experience, it’s the people who start building foundational components to help themselves win in the long-term that build a stronger company and ultimately win.” 

Listen to the whole conversation or Watch the podcast to learn more about how long-term marketing strategies can help your business succeed.