Pestworld Magazine Focusing on the Business of Pest Management
As pest control marketers and owners, we’re often taught to “think big” and present unique campaign concepts that will not only capture the attention of our target audience but will also spread across a much larger segment of people, or as we love to call it in the industry, “go viral.” We read about massive global brands winning accolades for their work and aspire to model after them, only to learn that they invested millions of dollars to earn such achievements, and we know our budgets are incomparable. For the average smaller businesses of the world, like many of our locally owned professional pest control companies, strategic marketing tactics are still essential to stand out from the competition despite having resources appropriate to a small business. There are many ways to help a business grow and meet its bottom line with quicker and simpler marketing efforts. Below are a few of my favorite ones.
Commit to social media
The importance of your business having a social media presence is no longer a novel subject and those who haven’t adjusted to this are widely missing the mark for optimal marketing and revenue results. With that said, there has been a lot of discussion about the rise of paid social content to break through digital clutter. Truth be told, in order to be successful, you’re going to need to commit both time and a little bit of money to your social media efforts to help drive engagement and ensure your posts are being seen. But a small amount of money can go a long way when used correctly. AgoraPulse.com reports, “It is possible to reach a high audience on a low budget using Facebook advertising and Facebook post boosts. When it comes to boosts, success depends greatly on the quality of your post, the graphic you use and the audience you select…by using Facebook ads correctly, $1 per day for several weeks can grow your audience by thousands.”
The idea is to spend wisely when you pay. According to SocialMediaToday.com, marketers may make the mistake of cramming ad dollars into several social media posts without fully considering the level of quality those posts may have. “If you’re simply pumping out poor quality content, people won’t stop to look at it, click-through, or call,” SocialMediaToday.com reports. “Hence, sometimes going back to basics and focusing on creating really good quality content, which will perform well organically, can be the key to your social media success.”
There are also other important, free aspects of social media to consider that can help maximize marketing efforts. Monitoring content and conversations, for example, helps inform what current and potential customers are talking about right now and what’s important to them. For example, if various people are taking to social media to express that professional pest control is expensive, it may be an appropriate time to disseminate messaging about how the home repairs required from pest infestation damage can be more expensive than ongoing pest control or that health threats related to pests can be an issue.
