The pest control industry is growing as demand rises. However, despite the increase in demand, it’s still a highly competitive market. With new companies frequently entering the market, you don’t want your business to stagnate. You want to remain competitive. You want growth.
Simply put, growing a pest control business means attracting new customers. But how? The best way to be proactive about increasing your business is by crafting a solid marketing plan.
Marketing is a broad strategy. However, there are specific things you can do to deliver more revenue. In this article, you’ll learn about the basics of pest control marketing and how to apply them to your business.
Know Your Audience
The first step in pest control company marketing is to define your audience. First, you’ll consider residential versus commercial pest control. These are two different areas of expertise, and you may choose to offer both.
Let’s look at the audience type for each.
Residential Audiences
The first considerations lie in some basic demographic and geographic data.
With residential services, you’re targeting a homeowner or renter demographic. It’s possible to make this a trait that aligns with any advertising you do. You may narrow that further by household income or real estate value.
Geographic targeting would include all your service areas. Much of the time, this is by ZIP code.
Identifying what residential customers want in a pest control company and how they find them is important. A good reputation and dependable service are at the top of the list.
You can demonstrate both by asking for and publishing reviews. Reviews matter. In fact, 50% of consumers trust online reviews as much as those from friends and family.
They also want knowledgeable technicians who arrive on time. But that’s not all.
Other things to research when building a customer profile include:
- How price-sensitive they are
- Seasonal trends that may increase residential demand
- Steps they take to find a pest company (e.g., searching on Google, social media profiles, or review sites)
- Pain points they want a pest control company to address (e.g., convenience in scheduling, ability to purchase recurring services, or the type of chemicals used)
Commercial Audiences
Just as with residential audiences, begin with demographic and geographic details.
Demographically, you may be looking at businesses with:
- Many locations
- Specific industries (e.g., restaurants, hotels, or offices)
- Certain building types
The geographic targeting would work the same as residential. Determine your service area by ZIP code, city, or county.
Other ways to profile commercial customers will be unique.
Due to safety or public health regulations, they may have more distinct requirements. There may be restrictions on the use of pesticides. For example, California banned second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) in 2021.
Businesses require convenience and flexibility in scheduling. They will likely want to schedule treatments in off hours to minimize contact. They may also opt for recurring services on a monthly or quarterly basis, so that needs to be easy to set up.
You may be dealing with businesses, but people still make the decisions. Business owners are just as likely as homeowners to read reviews.
Companies find pest control services by searching online, including reviews, or asking colleagues for a recommendation.
Regardless of your audience, gathering all this information will require:
- Market research to determine the number of potential customers in your area.
- Competitor research, so you know who you’re up against.
- Customer research, so you learn about your customers and their needs.
Branding and Positioning Your Pest Control Company
Your brand is vital in marketing.
At its core, your branding and positioning should focus on consistent messaging and visuals across platforms.
It’s not only what you say but also how you say it. This is your voice and tone.
Style guides keep colors, logos, and imagery cohesive. Use them for everything from a brochure or email template to your social media profile.
Why does branding matter?
When there’s consistency, your brand will be more trustworthy to potential customers.
A recent study on brand trust found it’s critical to driving revenue. If customers trust you, they are 59% more likely to purchase from you.
They are inclined to look at you favorably when your style is professional, too. Overall, a brand identity legitimizes your company. People will feel more confident in choosing you.
RELATED ARTICLE: Pest Control Branding Guide
Digital Marketing Strategies for Pest Control Companies
Since we live in a digital world, marketing for pest control companies centers around digital methods. These include all online interactions.
Let’s look at each avenue of digital marketing:
A High-Quality, Mobile-Friendly Website
All digital marketing tactics drive traffic back to your website, so establish that first.
Your site should represent what you do and who you serve. Some critical things to include:
- Fast loading speed: The longer it takes, the more likely people will leave.
- Mobile optimization: At the end of 2023, over 55% of all website activity was mobile.
- Easy navigation: It should be easy for visitors to find their way around your website.
- Customer reviews: They should be front and center.
- Contact forms: Simple contact is essential for gathering leads.
- A click-to-call button: This makes it easy for customers to get in touch directly from their smartphone.
FROM ONE OF OUR PARTNERS: How to Take Your Pest Control Web Strategy to the Next Level
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Content Marketing
SEO is the practice of optimizing website copy for keywords potential customers would search for on Google.
The higher you rank in search results, the more likely people will click on your website. It gives your business digital visibility.
Local SEO will be your focus since you operate in specific areas. It is the optimization of your website for local searchers.
Content marketing is also vital for SEO. A blog will be the center of it. You should aim for the consistent delivery of relevant, valuable, and optimized content.
As you do this, it will help you improve rankings for keywords. It also gives potential customers many resources to view and understand your brand and services.
Fresh content is the heart of a long-term SEO strategy.
Another way to excel at this is to improve your Google Business Profile.
Complete your Google Business Profile in full. Include all the details about your company’s contact information, services, and hours. Using images on the profile helps make it more appealing. Also, be sure to manage and respond to reviews.
Social Media Engagement
Being social matters in modern business. Many people conduct research on these sites—85% of consumers, according to one report.
Pest control social media offers another touchpoint for people to learn about you. Customers can leave reviews as well.
You can use social media to:
- Increase brand awareness.
- Generate leads.
- Build a community by responding to comments and questions.
- Share content on best practices and case studies that showcase your experience.
In creating a social media strategy, review who your audience is. It will help determine what platforms make the most sense. For example, Facebook may be ideal for homeowners, while LinkedIn is better for commercial prospects.
Email Marketing To Connect and Engage
Email marketing is one of the best digital marketing tactics for ROI. It delivers a return of $36 for every $1 spent. Email is considered a “logged-in” channel, meaning people give it more attention than things like banner ads on a website.
It can be highly effective for delivering promotions, content, and key information. Segmenting your email marketing also enables greater personalization. When the email is more relevant to your leads, they may take action.
You can use email marketing to:
- Upsell current customers with bundles or plans.
- Reengage cold leads with a special promotion.
- Deliver timely information through a newsletter.
- Remind past customers they haven’t had a service in a while.
FROM ONE OF OUR PARTNERS: The Best Email Marketing Services for Small Businesses
A Positive Online Reputation
Potential customers may dismiss you if you have few reviews. Remember, they look to these as social proof that you’re trustworthy.
Your online reputation includes digital properties you control, like your website, and those you don’t, like social media and review sites.
It’s important to have a strategy for managing this as part of your marketing plan.
You can do this using these tips:
- Ask customers to review you after each service via email or SMS.
- Monitor all sites where people can leave reviews and promptly respond to both good and bad.
- Remind technicians to bring up reviews when they are face-to-face with customers. You can even create a card for them to leave behind with a QR code to scan.
- Follow up regularly with customers about reviewing you.
Paid Advertising for Pest Control Companies
You also have many paid advertising options to promote your business. These campaigns can target specific customer types for high performance.
Here are some options:
- Search engine marketing (SEM): You’ll bid on keywords to appear on Google search results.
- Display advertising: These ads appear on many different websites and are targetable for demographics and geography.
- Geofencing ads: You can “fence” a ZIP code, for example, and ads will show up on mobile devices.
- Social media advertising: Place ads on social profiles. You’ll be able to target by demographics and interests.
- Streaming audio ads: You can buy ad spots on streaming radio stations or podcasts to target your area.
6 Tips To Get Started Marketing Your Pest Control Company Right Now
Here’s what to do to improve marketing for pest control companies:
- Claim, optimize, and improve your Google Business Profile.
- Encourage reviews from customers with follow-up emails after services.
- Start tracking your keyword ranking and optimizing pages with terms people would use to find you.
- Enhance your social media profiles with more information and images. Commit to posting at least five times a week.
- Create an email marketing campaign to reintroduce your services to customers you haven’t heard from recently.
- Publish a blog on your site if you don’t have one. Consider increasing your posting frequency to support SEO if you do have a blog.
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