What You Should Market and When: The 2027 Playbook for Grunder Landscaping

Join Us for a GLC Field Trip (Dayton, OH) Join Us for GROW! Snow 2026 (Dayton, OH - September 21-23, 2026) Connect with Fellow ACE Members at ACE Connect (Tucson, AZ - November 17-20, 2026) Master Aspire Software at the GLC Aspire Workshop (Dayton, OH - August TBD & December 2-3, 2026) Register for GROW! 2027 Annual Conference (Savannah, GA - February 17-19, 2027) Episode #183: In this episode of The Grow Show, Emily Lindley shares how Grunder Landscaping Company evaluates its marketing channels, which efforts are worth the investment, and which ones need to be cut. The goal isn't to market everywhere. It's to give every channel a clear job and build a plan that supports where your company is headed. BOBYARD is an AI-powered takeoff and estimating platform that automates the most time-consuming parts of bidding work. Contractors report up to 65% reduction in takeoff time and 3-5x more bids submitted per estimator. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Leave a Review for the Grow Show! ️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  Subscribe to Our Youtube Channel! Key Learnings Every Channel Needs One Clear Job: Ask what specific job that channel does for your business. Design build leads? Lawn care leads? Residential maintenance? If the job isn't clear anymore, cut it or shrink it. Balance the Jobs Across Your Marketing Mix: Make sure you have enough coverage for every line of business, and that no one service line is eating all the attention. Residential Design Build Drives Broadcast Marketing: It's easier to drive inbound leads for design build than for commercial or maintenance. The strategy at Grunder: capture a design build client, then convert them into a maintenance client. Postcards Still Work (When Timed Right): Start with an aggressive spring push. Every other week for design build, every other week for lawn care, alternating so mailing list recipients get a card weekly for 6-8 weeks. Capture spring demand or you won't make it up later in the year. Email Is the Best Marketing Channel Right Now: Grunder is seeing 40% open rates. Marketing Pro integrates with Aspire, so lists stay current with actual maintenance and lawn care route data. Every other week, March through November, with rotating seasonal messaging. Skip the Rigid Newsletter Template: Templates feel stale and restrict what you can say. Instead, rotate messaging by season: design build in spring, mosquito fogging in summer, aeration/overseeding in fall. Small Add-Ons Add Up: Mosquito fogging is a great example. Techs are already on the property. No extra drive time. It's profitable per stop and adds real value for the client. Small services stack up over the year. Time Add-On Emails to the Application Route: Send the mosquito fogging pitch BEFORE the tech goes out for the round, not mid-round. Otherwise you're asking your team to backtrack. Social Media Is About Consistency, Not Perfection: Post consistently so prospects can verify you're a real, polished company when they Google you. Paid social gets zip code targeted and overlaid on postcard drop zones. That's reinforcement, not redundancy. Door Hangers Work in Neighborhoods You Already Serve: Neighbors of active jobs, HOAs where you maintain the common areas, streets with existing maintenance stops. Brand reinforcement is the win here. ... Chapters (00:00:00) - Start(00:01:32) - The Framework: Give Every Channel One Clear Job(00:03:03) - Why Residential Drives Broadcast Marketing(00:04:25) - Postcards: The Aggressive Spring Push(00:07:32) - Email: The 40% Open Rate Playbook(00:14:13) - Social Media: Consistency and Zip Code Targeting(00:15:14) - Door Hangers: Working the Neighborhoods You Serve(00:17:38) - SEO: The Sleeper Channel for Commercial Leads(00:18:57) - Sign Up for a GLC Field Trip!(00:19:17) - Adjusting the Budget as You Grow(00:22:20) - What Emily Is Considering for 2027(00:25:45) - Final Takeaway