Keeping homes clear of unwanted pests is your priority as a pest control technician. But could you do your job if you had no customers — if nobody knew who you were? Making yourself more visible to those who need your services must also be a priority, and that's why pest control social media marketing is so necessary.
But social media marketing for pest control techs isn't as simple as it sounds. You can't just start sharing content without thinking — that's a road to nowhere and wasted money. Instead, it's about picking the right social media channels for your business and maximizing them to the best of your ability.
Let's take you through some ABCs of pest control social media marketing, from creating impactful campaigns to building great relationships with your customer base. This is a fun, meaningful way to attract new leads and grow your business, so let's get started.
What Social Media Channels Should You Be On?
“All of them” is not an answer!
No pressure, but deciding which platform to use is the most important decision you’ll make in social media advertising. The simple fact is that not every social media platform plays nice with every kind of business. Becoming a social media influencer on Instagram is all well and good, but pest control customers want you to kill bugs for them. So stay focused! Only pick platforms that actually help you reach your goals.
And that’s why goal setting comes first.
Choose Your Mission
If you don't have any clear goals in mind for your advertising, at least have smart goals. This means:
- Specific: Clarity, specificity, and accuracy. Keep those words in mind when you write your goals down. This isn’t the moment for vague, fuzzy goals that help no one. Map your goals item by item and concretely, and thank yourself later.
- Measurable: Measurement is the uncertainty killer. Anyone can say, “I think” or “It is my opinion that…” Numbers go beyond and tell you what actually is. Use them to clearly prove what succeeds, what fails, and everything in between.
- Achievable: Keep it realistic and don't try to do too much. Your goals shouldn't be outlandish or pie-in-the-sky. They should be the kind of goal that makes you say, “I can do that, and I know how long it will take me.”
- Relevant: In the same vein, goals need to apply to your actual business objectives. It's alright to have long-term goals that only relate tangentially, but we're trying to grow a pest control business here. Make sure your goals color within the lines.
- Time-bound: Do you ever notice how giving yourself all day to finish a job makes the job take all day? That's a bad habit. However much time you think it'll take to achieve your goal, cut it by 20 percent. A little pressure won't hurt you!
Hence, why they're called “smart” goals. You can and should frame your goal-setting around these specific metrics, emphasizing what you hope to achieve in the short, medium, and long-term. It'll help you decide what social media channels to prioritize and where your attention should go.
Choose Your Vehicle
Now you know what you want to accomplish. Different social media platforms handle different forms of content best. Instagram is good for story-driven visuals, TikTok for short videos, LinkedIn for B2B selling, and so forth. It's going to take experimentation to figure out what works best for your pest control business.
Understand the range of social media platforms. Know their strengths, weaknesses, and the audiences that gravitate toward them. For instance, as a professional pest control service, Facebook could be your best bet.
Why? It’s got a massive user base, and that user base clusters around local communities (like your service area). You can exploit Facebook’s entourage of advertising tools to woo your customers with unsurpassed tracking abilities. Likewise, your customer support teams enjoy free access to the “Facebook silverware” — messenger, groups, live streams, and all the other instruments of customer interaction.
If you’re a forward-looking pest control marketing strategist, don’t hesitate to use Facebook. But it’s not the only option. Make an informed decision about the other social media networks, weighing their pros and cons evenly. Find where your potential clients spend their time and meet them on their platforms of choice.
What Kinds of Social Media Posts Should You Do?
Companies need original social media posts if they’re to succeed in the ultra-competitive online marketplace. A platform that offers countless occasions for showcasing brand voice is ideal, but not just any social network will do. Some platforms work better with educational content, some for promotions, others for filmed customer testimonials, etc. There’s no lack of options, but that’s all the more reason to choose wisely.
Focus on posts with specific relevance to the pest control industry. That could mean health and safety tips for residents in your service area, everyday tools for pest prevention, or any other interesting topic. Likewise, you could elaborate on seasonal prevention or describe some benefits of picking your company over a competitor. There's also the possibility of joining your efforts with other companies in your service area for cross-promotion.
There are as many pest control marketing ideas as there are pests in the world, so don't limit yourself to only a few. Content marketing is about engagement and lead generation.
Your posts don't need to be perfect. Forging and maintaining valuable relationships with potential clients, even those who haven't bought from you recently, is worthwhile in and of itself. It keeps you top of mind and helps you become a respected figure in the industry.
Local SEO
Pest control businesses have to focus their efforts on specific geographic areas. Social media marketing should emphasize local search engine optimization (SEO), optimizing your pest control website and online business pages for local search results. When someone from your service area does a Google search for pest control, you want your company to come up.
To achieve that, you'll need:
- Localized social media content: articles and blog posts about your particular service area.
- Location tags for your social media posts.
- Keywords framed around your actual service area.
- Regular updates about your location that your customers will easily recognize.
For example, you could set up a Google My Business profile containing necessary information about your business: its hours of operation, address, contact information, and whatever else customers might need. You might think of running local social media ads, replete with geotargeting, to narrow down your leads even further.
At all times, increasing visibility and awareness in your service area will be your goal.
Pest Control Social Media Examples
Pest control companies can use social media platforms as fuel, projecting their superior brand awareness, growing leads, and other metrics to superior heights. It has limitless possibilities for word-of-mouth advertising, particularly when paired with example posts like these.
Proof of Results
Think about the times in the past you saw someone’s before-and-afters of their makeover, or how they changed the design of their home. Impressive, wasn’t it? That’s the same principle behind any kind of “social proof.” Don’t just tell people you solve home infestations; show them you do and show them how good you are at it.
Use pictures. Display the conditions of client houses “before and after” your intervention in as much exquisite (maybe a tad disgusting) detail as you can muster. And if you plan to use some “bold” images, make Instagram or Facebook your jam.
Would it be so bad if a shocking image or two from a particularly memorable pest infestation went viral? On the contrary, that’s the gold standard! That's tons of engagement, like hilarious and entertaining comments and shares spreading across the internet like tentacles.
Educational Content
Leverage your pest control expertise by serving up educational blogs, articles, or videos about various kinds of infestation. This isn't just to turn a profit. You're actually doing a valuable public service when you inform others about the dangers of infestations. They're a health risk for children, pets, and entire communities.
So share some tips for dealing with them. Not every presence of bugs rises to the level of infestation. Some things your customers are perfectly capable of dealing with on their own, whether through their own domestic preventive measures or learning more about pest habits.
You can write about:
- What kinds of infestations need professional intervention.
- DIY solutions for low-grade pest problems.
- Best hygiene practices for keeping a clean home that keeps the critters away.
- Safety measures they should employ when using certain pesticides.
Educational posts are one of the easiest ways to establish yourself as an authority in the field. So take some of the ideas we've given you here to get started.
Case Studies and Testimonials
Trust is critical for your marketing efforts as a pest control professional. Your target audience needs to know that you're reliable and effective in your line of work. That sort of reputation takes time to build, but you can speed up the process by collecting testimonials and success stories from your satisfied customers.
Sourcing them is easy: Just do more work. After you finish a job, ask the customer if they'd like to share their experiences with others. Most of them will be happy to agree! They might even agree to let you share their story online. If you can make a video testimonial, that's even better — video is one of the best marketing strategies you can employ.
Testimonials elevate your social pages to ever higher rungs of the success ladder. Use them to:
- Infuse your social media posts with personality — uniqueness and originality matter a lot.
- Further, adorn your social media page with more leads, fans, followers, and, ultimately, conversions.
- Inspire future customers to use your services when they see how you've attended past ones.
At Scorpion, we use all these forms of social media posts to furnish pest control clients with more engaging marketing content and higher-quality leads. We assist clients in transforming their businesses by increasing their online visibility with customer reviews, educational information, and other resources.
Pest Control Social Media Strategy
Social media strategies are the blueprint for architecting your entire pest control business going forward. With a strategy, you can actually hit the targets you outlined earlier. Although you could “wing it” and hope for the best if you truly want to, or you could use these approaches to:
- Excite more leads and drive more interactions.
- Offer more interesting and engaging content across all mediums and channels.
- Turn them into steady customers now and in the future.
So now you need an operable approach for social media pest control. Mind if we make some suggestions?
Use a Detailed Content Calendar
Know what you want to say, how to say it, and when to say it — these are three things that come together to connect a true brand message. Your readers will resonate with it; you'll know they resonate with it when they convert from readers into buyers. If you're not hitting measurable results — like more signups and sales — you know something isn't working.
Detailed calendars don't need to be fancy or elaborate. Just write down the messages you want to convey, then brainstorm the right medium.
Is it a customer success story? Maybe a video. Is it a “How-to” guide? A listicle with actionable tips and tricks could work best. Just experiment, and don't let your inner perfectionist slow you down.
Develop a Peerless Brand Identity
Companies aren't people, but people make companies. When customers contract with your company, they're really contracting with you (and your team). Your unique skill set, knowledge base, and even character make up your social media presence.
Everyone using the internet for business wants to stand out. But you should already stand out in your:
- Professionalism: Showing customers respect, responding quickly to questions, and having natural expertise.
- Creativity: Hatching innovative and effective solutions for infestations of every kind.
- Quality: Meeting and exceeding the expectations of your customers.
Some say it's “all about authenticity.” No, it's about authenticity, results, and more. The “more” is something you alone can define. It's what makes you 'you' in your service area. Scorpion can't tell you what it is, but we can help you find it.
In fact, helping small businesses discover their own brand identities is a large part of what we do. We'll conduct an “audit” of your company's messaging and look for potential areas of improvement. It also helps to ask your customers straight, “What do you want?” (in surveys and the like), and offer it to them exactly.
Social Media Awaits
Ultimately, it's about giving customers the right of way. If you let their preferences and actions guide you, then you can't go wrong. Social media is just a customer engagement tool, but you're the one who has to get out there and do the engaging.
Of course, Scorpion is there for you if you need help. Our team of social media marketing experts knows this field inside and out, and we can help you become the premier pest control provider for your service area. Schedule a consultation with one of our reps and see what we can do for you.
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