This year marks the sixth year that Timberline Landscaping, Inc. has published its annual holiday lights guide. In that time, it has become a valuable brand recognition tool for the company.

The interactive guide features a map of more than 140 light displays in the Colorado Springs area, with notes on more than 25 spots to stop for hot cocoa or coffee. The guide also spotlights displays created by Timberline. Additionally, they’ve compiled a Spotify playlist to provide a soundtrack to a holiday lights tour and promoted a hashtag for people to share their own photos (#CoSpringsLightsGuide) for possible feature on Timberline’s Instagram account.

“People have come to expect it each December 1st and look forward to it,” explained Stephanie Early, chief strategic officer at Timberline. “It has definitely driven new leads for Christmas lighting to us, and some even call stating that they want us to do their lights so that they can be on the guide.”

That lead generation was just one goal that inspired Timberline to create the guide. “The guide’s purpose was twofold,” Early said. "First, it was a tool to promote the company’s holiday lighting services. But the second purpose was “to provide a useful piece of content that residents could use to build holiday memories with their families. Last year we helped 50,000 users build memories! It doesn’t get better than that.”

How does a business compile a list of 144 addresses to share publicly? Homeowners submit their information directly to Timberline via an online form; Early noted that they understand how important it is not to share addresses without permission.

Creating the guide is a team effort between the community and the company’s sales team. The biggest effort involves communicating the launch of the guide each year, which has been successful with the help of media contacts and partnerships cultivated by Timberline staff. As the guide grows in popularity, production of it has become easier, leaving more time to spend on outreach.

Read more in this issue of Colorado Green NOW:
2019 economic outlook for Colorado predicts continued labor shortage
Living Coral is Pantone's Color of the Year for 2019
Learning opportunities abound at ProGreen EXPO 2019
Colorado Department of Revenue extends grace period for new sales tax rules