Pest control is a future-proofed industry because as the human population grows, so does the number of pests. From rodent control to termite extermination, the pest control industry has a variety of niches entrepreneurs can take advantage of. But despite the soaring demand for pest control services, clients are not a given. You need to come up with pest control marketing ideas that will elevate you above the competition. Let’s examine some pest control advertising ideas and how they can fit into your business.
How to Create a Pest Control Business Marketing Plan
Pest control marketing always starts with a thorough plan. It defines your strategy, your budget, and the key metrics of success. Please note that this plan won’t stay the same; you’ll need to continually adapt your plan to market shifts. Here are six steps to building a basic marketing plan for your pest control business:
Step One – Figure out who your ideal customer is. Pest control services typically focus on local markets rather than national ones. Tailoring your pest control sales pitch to fit the customer is key to a successful campaign.
Step Two – Define your marketing goals based on a clear, measurable set of metrics.
Step Three – Identify your main competitors and what they’re doing to promote their businesses.
Step Four – Setup the infrastructure for tracking key metrics that will define the line between success and failure.
Step Five – Outline your primary marketing strategies for selling pest control. These should be specific and easily acted upon.
Step Six – Specify the reporting guidelines to properly monitor your campaigns.
You don’t need to be an expert to create a pest control advertising plan. The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is just one of many organizations with marketing plan templates for different types of businesses.
Marketing Strategies for Pest Control Businesses
Posting a pest control advert is not enough to win new business. You need clear strategies for meeting the needs of your customers, whether they are residential orcommercial pest controlcustomers. Without that, you have no chance of successfully selling pest control services. Here are some of the best pest control marketing ideas you can start implementing within your business right now.
Monitor Your Local Search Presence
Google AdWords and Google Analytics are two helpful tools that can help you to decipher how you’re doing in the search results for your targeted keywords. And when you consider thatGoogle owns 92% of the global search engine market,it’s clear that top-ranking pages on Google are where you need to be. Targeting the right keywords, giving customers what they want, and rising in the rankings are the foundation of online pest control marketing.
Manage Your Online Reputation
Figuring out how to sell pest control begins with establishing yourself as a brand that can be trusted. When consumers look at you, do they think that this is an authority within the industry capable of delivering consistently high-quality work? If not, you’re not managing your online reputation correctly.
It takes time to build an online reputation, and you can do it by:
Connecting with prospects
Encouraging customer engagement
Soliciting online reviews
Producing informative content
Remember, it takes years to build a reputation and only minutes to destroy it. Dedicate yourself to becoming a brand of excellence to attract more customers.
Paid Online Advertising
Popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have made the transition to a pay-to-play environment for brands. While organic reach is still possible, it’s but a fraction of what it once was years ago. Invest in paid online pest control advertising spots. It can take a bit of time to tackle the learning curve, but social media ads deliver some of the best returns of any advertising strategy.
Paid Offline Advertising
Since most pest control companies are trying to hit the local market, it can pay to invest in offline advertising. Some pest control advertising ideas for the offline world include billboards, radio ads, and TV ads. Unless you live in certain large American cities, like New York or Los Angeles, paying for these advertising spots isn’t as expensive as you might think. A radio ad in a small town in Louisiana could cost just a few dollars for a prime 30 seconds of promotional time. Explore the different options available in your area. Start small with a radio ad or a spot in the local newspaper to make yourself known in the community.
Optimize Your Website for SEO
Have you optimized your website for Google to crawl? If that sounds like gibberish to you, you’re not alone. However, it is a fundamental marketing tool and definitely worth pursuing. Simple SEO mistakes can cripple the flow of traffic to your site and prevent you from hitting the first page of Google’s search results. If you’re not on the first page, you may as well not exist at all, as90% of people never click past the first page. SEO optimization can be complex, so don’t be afraid to bring in a professional to audit your website and make some minor tweaks and changes.
Hand Out Marketing Material
Believe it or not, a piece of paper can be the lifeblood of your business. Business cards, flyers, and door hangers are all examples of successful offline marketing. Choose your target neighborhoods and start handing out physical pieces of promotional material. Sweeten the deal by including an introductory offer on the flyers and brochures you post through people’s doors. Special discounts often encourage people to give your services a try.
Be the King of Content Marketing
Content marketing is a cornerstone of gaining exposure for your business online. Great content engages people, demonstrates that you know what you’re talking about, and improves your SEO. What are some examples of pest control sales techniques within the sphere of content marketing?
How-to guides
Helpful blog articles
eBooks
White papers
Videos
You’ll want to mix up your content marketing strategy to reach as many people as possible. Maybe someone doesn’t have time to read an eBook, but they do have the time to watch a short video, for example.
Out-of-the-Box Marketing Strategies for a Pest Control Business
We’re all bombarded by marketing efforts every day, and thinking outside the traditional strategies will help to elevate you above the competition. You’re more likely to remember a unique advertisem*nt than a run-of-the-mill infomercial, right? But with so many pest control companies out there, you’re going to need to get creative. Being memorable is what will ultimately win you those long-term contracts. Here are some pest control marketing strategies to help you stand out from the crowd.
Create a Funny Pest Control Commercial
Humor is one of the easiest ways to make the conventional entertaining. Don’t just post an informative ad promoting your services. Make something funny, entertaining, and bold to get your name out into the community. Adding humor to your ads attracts people by getting their guard down, and they’remore likely to remember your business. Modern advertisem*nts don’t have to break the bank. A small investment now could lead to massive returns later.
Leverage the Local Community Through Facebook Groups
Become a local fixture in your community. You want to reach a point where any individual or business with a pest problem will automatically come to you. Work with the local community through Facebook groups. Most neighborhoods have groups reserved exclusively for people who live in the area. Take advantage of this, but don’t just go throwing sales blasts around. Engage with users, answer people’s questions and socialize with them to build trust.
Partner with a Parallel Business
Real estate companies, furniture stores, antique dealers, and construction companies are examples of businesses that run parallel to yours. Approach businesses like these and offer a partnership. If they refer people to your business, you refer people to theirs. It’s a win-win for everyone (with commissions often included) as you’re not in direct competition with each other.
Reward Your Loyal Customers
Loyalty programs are a huge success in nearly every industry. Brands understand the importance of courting customers and ensuring they remain loyal, and that doesn’t change with pest control marketing. Offer discounts or swag like tote bags and mugs to give to customers who have been with you for a long time. You could even choose to start a full-blown loyalty program with real membership benefits.
Sponsor Local Businesses
Get into sponsorship and pay for a spot at a local sports or charity event. There are so many opportunities for local sponsorships that can help you get your name in front of more people. You can go one step further and hunt down local online creators on platforms like YouTube, Instagram, and Tik Tok. If they’re accepting sponsorships, you could reach an entirely new audience.
Engage in Referral Marketing
Referral programs are commonplace within every aspect of the global economy. It’s a top-tier marketing move because you’re essentially encouraging your existing clients to promote you. A strong referral marketing program must come with appropriate rewards. It could involve a free pest control prevention treatment or a simple discount whenever they next need you. Make it even more tempting by offering this same reward to the client who was referred to you. It’s a great way to make a terrific first impression.
How to Help Your Pest Control Business Stand Out from the Competition
Demand has increased for pest control services, which is great but also means you need to think of ways to stand out from all the competition. It’s a lucrative business, but you’re going to have to work hard to claim a piece of the pie. Here are some top tips for using effective pest control marketing to outshine the rest:
Build a website geared toward conversions. There are lots of free templates that can get you off to a great start. But there’s no substitute for a professionally designed site that speaks to your specific target market.
Sell the benefits, not the features. Focus on why someone should choose you to handle their pest control needs.
Define your value proposition from the start. You should be able to answer why someone should choose you over another pest control company.
Invest in your SEO. The vast majority of online traffic originates from a Google search. Get your technical SEO in order, and create value to hit that number one spot.
Mix up your content. From infographics to blogs and video content, maintaining a diverse content mix will help you reach as many people as possible.
Get on the ground and network in person. Attend community events, hand out business cards, and be an active member of your local area.
Standing out from the competition is all about choosing an alternative direction. If everyone is producing the same blogs and the same worn-out social media posts, why would you do the same? Keep tabs on your biggest competitors and find the flaws in their pest control sales techniques. Outperform them, and you’ll soon start to dominate your local market.
Additional Pest Control Marketing Strategies
Marketing is such a diverse area that there are several ways you can go with your strategy. When it comes to pest control advertising, it’s important to always be experimenting with new tactics and incorporating cutting-edge techniques into your marketing plan. Here are some additional ideas for you to work with to develop your pest control marketing campaign.
Create an Email List for Customer Retention
Start an email list, and encourage your existing customers to sign up for it. Keeping in touch with your customers helps to build up those relationships. Maintain the loyalty of your client base by sending them exclusive, informative content every so often.
Solicit Online Reviews
The most common complaint businesses have is getting the reviews necessary to stand out online. Most people who’ve had a great experience won’t take the time to write a review, yet they always check them before making a purchase. Online reviews can make or break your business. A few negative reviews in a sea of positive reviews can prevent you from attracting any new clients at all. Dedicate yourself to soliciting online reviews by offering rewards like discounts in exchange for leaving a review.
Be the Salesperson on the Ground
Every time you come into contact with another person is an opportunity to sell. Train your team to get used to selling on the ground and on the fly. There are three major points to remember when it comes to in-person selling:
Don’t be too salesy
Listen more than you speak
Talk about the subjects the other person wants to talk about
If you’ve got the budget, you can even invest in dedicated sales training courses for you and your team. It’ll take time and effort to perfect your pest control sales pitch, but this is a strategy that will pay off over time.
Next Door Marketing
Knocking on doors is often considered to be a thing of the past as the next-door marketing strategy is thought to be nothing more than cold calling with a difference. But being in the pest control services world, this doesn’t apply to you. Let’s say you just removed a termite or fire ant infestation from a house. Your next step is to go to the customer’s neighbors to alert them that these pests can shift between houses. Explain the benefits of having their homes treated as well. It’s a smart way of generating additional business based on what you’ve done for your existing customers.
Hire a Marketing Professional
Are you struggling to find a pest control advert that works for you? Try hiring a marketing professional to take over this aspect of your business. You don’t need to hire another full-time employee. A remote marketing consultant hired for just a few hours per week can point out the flaws in your strategy and come up with alternatives. With the rise of remote work, there’s an array of marketing professionals that can be hired online from around the world. It’s a more affordable marketing strategy than you think.
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Pest control marketing should be a priority for your business. Grow and expand your business with the help of FieldRoutes™pest control software. This is the number one platform for centralizing your operations and giving you the tools to scale your business from asmall businessto amid-market, or even to aenterprise sized business. FieldRoutes can support your business regardless of size. Leave your competitors in the dust with easy-to-use tools that help you grow quickly, scale effectively, and make life easier for your employees and customers alike. Contact FieldRoutes torequest a free demoof this state-of-the-art platform.
