Fence Marketing: Your Best Salesperson Is the Neighbor's New Fence
Fence-of-the-month posts, home show booths with real panels, and deck builder cross-referrals. Hyperlocal fence marketing.
A fence company owner in Phoenix told me something that completely reframes how you should think about local marketing: "Every fence I install sells two more fences on the same street."
He was not exaggerating. Fencing is the most visible home improvement you can do. A new cedar privacy fence transforms a yard overnight, and every neighbor on the block notices. Some think, "That looks great, I should do that." Others think, "Now I am the only house without a fence." Either way, your next lead is living three doors down.
The fence installers who dominate their local markets understand this compound visibility effect and build their entire marketing strategy around it. Here is how they do it.
The Post-Install Blitz
Within 48 hours of finishing every fence, you should have three things in motion:
A yard sign. Ask the homeowner if you can leave a professional sign in their yard for 2-4 weeks. Offer $50 off the invoice or a $50 gift card. A fence yard sign works better than almost any other trade because the sign sits right next to the product, so people can see your work and your name simultaneously.
Door hangers on 20 homes. Walk the immediate neighborhood. Leave a hanger on every door within two blocks: "We just finished a fence installation on [Street Name]. See the [cedar/vinyl] fence at [house number]. Neighbor discount: 10% off if you book within 30 days." Include a photo if you can.
A social media post tagged to the neighborhood. Post a before-and-after on the neighborhood Facebook group and Nextdoor: "Just completed this 6-foot cedar privacy fence on Maple Drive in [Neighborhood]. The homeowner wanted a private backyard for their kids to play. What a difference." Tag the neighborhood. Tag the city.
The combination of physical visibility (the fence itself), passive marketing (the yard sign), direct outreach (door hangers), and digital visibility (social posts) creates a saturation effect. Your name becomes synonymous with fencing in that neighborhood.
Home Shows: Bring the Fence
Most contractors show up to home shows with a table, some brochures, and a pop-up banner. Fence installers have a unique advantage: you can bring your product.
Set up a booth with actual fence panels: a section of cedar, a section of vinyl, and an ornamental aluminum panel. Let people touch the materials, compare the styles, and feel the weight. In a room full of digital displays and photo albums, a physical fence panel draws a crowd.
One installer said his home show booth with actual panels generates 40-60 leads per show. At a conversion rate of 15-20%, that is 6-12 jobs from a single weekend. At $3,500-$5,500 average job value, a $500 booth rental returns $20,000-$60,000 in revenue.
Have a "show special": 10% off for anyone who books during the event or within two weeks. Collect contact info from everyone who stops by. Follow up within 48 hours.
Google Business Profile: "Fence of the Month"
Your GBP is where most fence customers find you. When they search "fence installer near me," the map pack shows three businesses. You want to be one of them.
The strategy is simple but requires consistency: post a "Fence of the Month" to your GBP every single month. A featured project with multiple photos, a description of the materials and style, the neighborhood (not the address), and the homeowner's reason for building (privacy, pets, kids, curb appeal).
Upload photos weekly. Different angles of completed projects. Close-ups of gate hardware. Wide shots showing how the fence transforms the property line. Google rewards active profiles, and most fence contractors post once and forget about it.
Reviews are non-negotiable. Ask every customer. Text the link the day after installation. "Really appreciate your business. If you have 30 seconds, a Google review helps other homeowners find us." Aim for 4-6 new reviews per month. At that pace, you will pass most competitors within a year.
Respond to every review. "Thanks, Dave! That cedar fence on your corner lot came out great. Enjoy the privacy this summer." Specific, personal, brief.
Cross-Referrals with Deck Builders and Landscapers
Fence companies and deck builders serve the same customer at the same moment: someone investing in their backyard. The homeowner building a deck often needs a fence, and vice versa.
Find two or three deck builders in your area and propose a referral arrangement: when one of their deck customers mentions needing a fence, they refer you. When one of your fence customers mentions wanting a deck, you refer them. No money changes hands; the referral itself is the value.
Landscapers are even better partners. Major landscaping projects often include fencing as a component. A landscaper doing a $15,000 backyard renovation might need a fence installer for $4,000 of that scope. Be their person.
The approach: invite a landscaper to coffee. Bring your portfolio. Say: "I would love to be your go-to fence subcontractor. I will match your timeline, keep the site clean, and never poach your customer for other landscaping work." That last promise matters; landscapers will not refer you if they think you will steal their clients.
Three active referral partners (a deck builder, a landscaper, and a pool company) can generate 3-5 leads per month with zero advertising spend.
Nextdoor and Facebook Groups: Be Helpful, Not Salesy
When someone posts "Looking for a fence installer recommendation" on Nextdoor, the thread fills with suggestions. The companies that get mentioned most are the ones whose customers are loudest advocates, and that starts with asking.
After every install, text the homeowner: "If anyone on Nextdoor ever asks about fence companies, it would mean a lot if you mentioned us." Most will, because they are genuinely proud of their new fence and want to show it off.
On Facebook neighborhood groups, the approach is similar but with one addition: post your own content. "Fence of the month" posts with beautiful photos work in Facebook groups just as well as on GBP. The difference is you are reaching people who might not be searching for a fence installer yet, but when they see that gorgeous cedar privacy fence three streets over, the idea plants itself.
The best fence marketing creates desire in people who were not even thinking about a fence. A beautiful installation photo, posted in the right neighborhood group, is worth more than a hundred Google Ads clicks. Because it does not just generate a lead. It generates a want.