Smart marketing: A conversation with Ineke Clark
By John Corban
In October, I invited my friend and business ally, Ineke Clark, to speak with my clients in an 80-minute Zoom session about how to market our businesses more effectively. Ineke is the owner of Ambition Social, a social media and brand strategy company based in Adelaide that provides mentoring and consulting to business owners around Australia. Here are some of the highlights from our chat.
How can someone create a strategy for their business?
‘It starts with defining their goals for their business. Whether that is attracting better clients, increasing average job value, or improving recruitment, and then building marketing activity around those outcomes. For one South Australian pool and landscaping company, success meant fewer but higher value projects. We upgraded their website, refined social media, and ran targeted ads to attract clients ready to invest in large scale work. Their average contract jumped from $80,000 to $250,000, not by posting more, but by aligning marketing with business goals.’
Many landscapers and horticulturists post beautiful photos, but results are inconsistent. What separates effective marketing from random posting?
‘Strategy and consistency. A stunning photo means nothing if it does not serve a purpose. Know your audience and your message. Are you trying to attract high end clients, highlight craftsmanship, or show team culture? Every post should connect to that. Without strategy, even great content gets lost in the noise.’
How can a landscaping business stand out online when everyone is showing similar work?
‘Show the people and process behind the projects. Clients love authenticity. Short behind the scenes clips, time lapse reels, and stories about your team go further than perfect portfolio shots. You do not need to be an influencer, just show your genuine energy and what makes your business different. People connect with honesty more than polish.’
When does it make sense to start spending on paid advertising?
‘Once your organic content is strong and consistent. Start small, even $10 a day on Instagram can build awareness. If you’re hiring or filling your calendar, increase it to around $50 a day. The key is patience: let ads run for at least two weeks so Meta’s system can optimise them. Boosted posts are fine for beginners, but for serious results, use Meta Ads Manager to target and track properly.’
What makes a strong website for a landscaping company?
‘Think of your homepage as your digital handshake; it needs to impress instantly. Use high-quality full-screen images or short videos. Curate your gallery carefully to show only the kind of projects you want more of. Keep your “About Us” page human and conversational, not corporate, and make contact details obvious. Add enough text for searchability but never at the expense of clean design. Balance beauty with usability.’
And SEO, is it still worth paying for it?
It depends. For high-end design and construction, most clients come from referrals and social media, not Google. For maintenance or smaller jobs, SEO and Google Ads can help, but be cautious. Many SEO agencies overcharge and underdeliver. If you want measurable results, Google Ads or Meta campaigns are usually more transparent. Blogs can keep your site active and help SEO, but they rarely bring clients on their own.
What kind of content performs best right now?
‘Reels and carousels tend to perform best because they are engaging and easy to interact with, but a single photo that tells a genuine story can still beat everything else. Aim for one strong post per week, consistency matters more than frequency. The time of day does not matter much anymore, since algorithms focus on engagement quality. Use Stories in between to stay visible, especially in the evenings when people are scrolling.’
What is the single most important thing to remember about marketing in this industry?
‘Consistency and authenticity. Do not chase trends or copy others. Show who you really are, regularly. The best landscaping businesses use marketing not just to win jobs but to build reputation, attract great staff and earn long term trust. Keep it simple, local and honest, and the right clients will find you.’
To attract the right employees, clients and partnerships we need to continually market our business with consistency and purpose. Ineke’s insights gave us all a boost of confidence and clarity, and a reminder that marketing does not need to be complicated, just strategic and authentic.
Thank you, Ineke!
John Corban
Landscapers Coach
M: 0433 271 980
E: john@landscaperscoach.com.au
W: landscaperscoach.com.au