4 Social Media Tips for Pest Control Companies

Your pest control company might be the best in the business. But that doesn’t mean the phone will ring off the hook. If you want your target audience to get to know your brand and turn to you when they have a pest problem, you need to meet them where they are.

And that’s on social media.

There are over 308 million social media users in the United States today. In other words, 93% of the population. And here’s the crazy thing: people aren’t just glancing over their social feeds. The average user spends 2 hours and 31 minutes every day on social media. That makes social platforms prime marketing space for businesses like yours.

But you can’t just open a Facebook page and post some pictures. You need to be strategic about your social media presence. You want to engage your local market and increase sales.

You may be new to social media marketing. Perhaps you already have a business page on one or two platforms. Whatever stage you’re in, we’ll show you how market your pest control business on social media like a pro.

Read on to learn how pest control social media marketing can help your business grow. You’ll also find effective tips for building an engaging social presence.

What Is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing is a powerful tool for building brand awareness and engaging with your target customers. It’s a type of digital marketing that uses social media platforms. Social media platforms include Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram YouTube and more. Each can help you reach your marketing goals in a slightly different way.

Social is interactive, timely, and perfect for sharing bite-sized, digestible content. This is why so many small businesses use it as part of their digital marketing strategy.

Over two-thirds of small businesses market on social media. At least 25% view it as their most effective digital marketing channel.

How Pest Control Social Media Marketing Can Help Your Business

You already have a website for your pest control business. You might also advertise online and off. So why bother with social media marketing?

Social media is a powerhouse digital marketing channel because it’s interactive. People can watch your how-to videos on YouTube. They can view pictures of your team on Instagram. They might even have a conversation with the business owner on Twitter or Facebook.

Social media users can like a post, leave comments, read customer reviews and testimonials, and follow your business. All these interaction points help to increase engagement. They also give potential customers a broader impression of your pest control company. That opens the door to more leads, better relationships, and long-term success.

Social Media Is a Lead Management Tool

Social media isn’t just for posting helpful or engaging content. You also should generate leads. Find out who’s interested in your company. You can then nurture those leads until they convert into customers.

One way to do this is by creating call-to-action links on your social media pages and posts. A call-to-action directs users to take an action that moves them further down the sales funnel. They move from simple brand awareness to paying customers.

Here are three lead-generation strategies you can use on social media:

• Ask users to sign up for your email newsletter. You can use social media marketing to create a list of emails of potential or existing customers. You can then send them direct promotions for your pest control services.
• Encourage them to call your company or request a callback. For example, you can share informative content on YouTube about mouse-proofing a home. At the end, promote contacting your pest control company for services by phone or email. Then viewers know that your pest control team will help them with all their rodent issues.
• Bring them to your website content. Create a helpful blog post or service promotion on your website. Share posts on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other platforms promoting it. Include a link in the post directing them to your website where they can learn more.

These strategies will help you generate leads and learn more about potential customers. As a result, you can focus on warm leads and send targeted content and promotions to people who are likely to convert.

Social Media Is the Way to Build a Community

Another advantage of the engaging and interactive nature of social media is the ability to create a community. So how can your pest control business build a community online? By interacting with your audience.

• Here’s what you can do:
• Respond to their comments and questions.
• Read what people are saying about their pest problems. That will help you develop a pest control marketing strategy around their issues and concerns.
• Make your social media content local. If your business is engaged in the community, share it on your Facebook business page, Instagram, and other platforms.

Partnering with a Trusted Pest Control Social Media Company

Are you new to marketing on social media? You might want to work with a company that specializes in social media management for local service businesses. There are pros and cons to partnering with a social media company. Let’s take a look so you know if this route is right for you.

Pros

• Your business saves time by outsourcing the work.
• You benefit from a professional social media marketing strategy.
• A social media company knows how to create content that converts.

Cons

• Cost—you’ll need a budget to pay for the service.
• The agency might not understand your brand voice as well as you do.
• You miss the opportunity to learn how to leverage each social media platform through hands-on experience.

DIY Pest Control Social Media Marketing

If you’re on a budget or have someone on your team with marketing experience, tackle social media marketing in-house.

Let’s look at the pros and cons of a DIY approach for small businesses.

Pros

• You’ll save the cost of hiring a digital marketing agency.
• Your team develops content you can reuse in other marketing channels.
• You already understand your brand. You won’t need to teach someone else how to express the mission, purpose, and voice of your pest control business.

Cons

• Unless you have experience, your social media content might not appear professional.
• It’s time-consuming. Does your business have at least ten hours a week to devote to a social media marketing strategy?
• It’s difficult to sustain. Without hiring an in-house social media expert, it can be hard to keep up as your business grows.

Build Your Pest Control Social Media Presence Using These Top Ideas

Whether you partner with a marketing agency or do it all yourself, start building your social media presence right away. Here are four ideas you can put in place:

• Choose the right platforms. If your pest control company targets residential customers, start with Facebook. If you also help local businesses get rid of pests, create a page on LinkedIn, as well.
• Create marketing goals. Goals will help you stay focused and on track. Create one to three goals for next week, month, quarter, and year. They can be engagement goals like increasing the number of Facebook followers by a specific amount. Or conversion goals, such as reaching a certain number of leads with social media.
• Optimize for search engines. Use SEO (search engine optimization) to make it easier for your customers to find you online. Use free tools like Google Keyword Planner. It will help identify terms your audience uses to search local pest control services. Then, include relevant terms in your subtitles, post text, and image alt-text. With most platforms, you can also include keywords in your name, handle, and bio.
• Leverage hashtags. Hashtags are also useful for helping people find your content. Make your content searchable with pest control industry hashtags. Combinations like #rodentcontrol, #termites, and #pestcontrolservice make you easier to find.

Social media is where customers get to know your pest control business. It’s where they’ll decide whether it’s worthy of their trust. Through this trust, you can nurture leads and build relationships with your target audience. Which will help your business become the top local pest control company in your region.

Is your social media presence on point? If not, here are some tips to get you moving.

1. Determine your customer base. Are you more interested in serving residences, businesses or both?
2. Decide which social media platforms are best worth your time. Research what the differences are and make a list of how much effort you want to put into each one. That might be 0% and it might be 100%. You can always reevaluate later. Start with the platform that reaches the largest segment of your target customers. Age demographics, user type, size of reach and time spent should all factor in.
3. Think about the brand you want to present. Do you feel comfortable producing video content for YouTube or TikTok? You might want to invest in a small tripod for your phone so that you can capture your work in a more professional way. If you prefer photography, be sure to take your camera or phone on every job so that you can add to your story organically.
4. If keeping up with it all sounds a bit too steep for your availability, now is the time to reach out to a social media marketing company. They can help you build and maintain your strategy from the ground up.

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About the Author 
Dan works with his family’s pest control companies in Kentucky. He’s involved in all aspects of operations, from hiring to servicing jobs. He also hosts a YouTube channel, Dan the Bug Man, where he explores a variety of pest control business topics.