PEST CONTROL MARKETING IDEAS AND STRATEGY GUIDE FOR A DIGITAL WORLD (2019)

MARKETING IDEA 3: IMPROVE YOUR LOCAL SEO

What is local SEO? It?s the type of SEO that makes you show up for local search queries and in Google?s local pack (that group of businesses under the map). For example,

• ?What?s that scratching noise in my attic???is a search query without local intent?where the proximity to the user doesn?t matter.
• ?Squirrel removal near me,??is a search query with local intent, so Google wants to provide localized content.

Take a look at the search results for both of those queries:

In order to rank for local searches and get your company into that local pack (the map listings), you need to improve your local SEO. You can do this by:

• Optimizing your Google My Business (GMB) page?(more on that below)
• Connecting all your businesses to your GMB account
• Making sure you have a consistent NAP?(name-address-phone number)?across the web (including directory listings)
• Having a large number of 4 and 5-star reviews?(see more below)

MARKETING IDEA 4: POLISH YOUR GOOGLE MY BUSINESS PAGE

Have you?claimed your GMB page? Go do that. I?ll wait.

Done? Great!? An optimized Google My Business (GMB) page will allow homeowners and property managers to:

• See your location
• Find your contact details quickly
• See your business hours
• Discover reviews written by others
• Immediately book your services
• See photos of your business and your work
• See your posts and offers

To optimize your GMB, make sure you?ve completely filled out and updated:

• Your company?s categories
• Your company?s description
• Your hours of operation
• If you offer online booking, add the ?booking button? feature
• Google posts
• Your company photos
• Your current offers and discounts
• Frequently asked questions and the answers to them

Here?s an example of a well-optimized GMB listing for a pest control company:

MARKETING IDEA 5: CLAIM YOUR LOCAL SEARCH LISTINGS

We discussed your GMB page and how a few different factors come into play in order to get your company into the local pack. One of those factors is your consistency and presence on relevant local directories and listings. One of the easiest, best pest control marketing ideas is to go and claim your local search listings on the following platforms (in order of importance?find the full list here):

• Google My Business
• Facebook
• Yelp
• Thumbtack
• Angie?s List
• HomeAdvisor
• Porch
• BBB

MARKETING IDEA 6: MAKE A PEST CONTROL BLOG

The modern consumer is now research-obsessed thanks to how easy it is to get information on pretty much anything. According to Google?s research, ?Consumers use search to optimize their lives. It lets them feel more confident and less anxious.?

You can simultaneously satisfy homeowners? craving for information and turn them into leads (or lifelong customers) with a pest control blog. Not only that, but blogs can also drive SIGNIFICANT traffic to your website.

Here are some great pest control blog ideas:

1. Create a pest library

2. Blog about recent news and events that affect local homeowners
   
   
3. Create a DIY section

4. Create a bug bite identification chart

5. Make video blogs on YouTube with how-to and informative shorts

Which brings us to?..

MARKETING IDEA 7: SHOOT COMPANY VIDEOS

YouTube is technically the second most popular search engine after Google, and a video is 50 times more likely to rank organically in the search results than text pages. By 2019, videos will account for?85 percent of online traffic in the US.

And if that doesn?t knock your socks off, get this:?in the past 60 seconds, YouTube users have uploaded more than 300 hours of videos.

Holy monopoly.

What?s even more important is that pest control companies that use video in their marketing strategy experience on average a 27 percent higher click-through-rate (CTR) and 34 percent higher web conversion rate than those that don?t.

This means that video can:

• Provide content for the?research-obsessed consumer
• Improve your SEO efforts
• Increase customer engagement with your website (further improving your SEO)
• Give your brand a personality

Start with these videos for pest control companies:

• How-to videos on keeping pests at bay and simple solutions
• Review and testimonial videos
• Company introduction videos
• Technician introduction videos
• Videos of jobs and what different types of pest damage looks like
• Informative videos that answer commonly asked questions

MARKETING IDEA 8: CREATE EASY-TO-UNDERSTAND INFOGRAPHICS

Your pest control marketing materials should include infographics. They?re all the rage?for a good reason.? They?re perfect for condensing a lot of information while still getting your message across.?Humans are visual creatures by nature: 90 percent of the information transmitted to the brain is visual and is processed?60,000x faster?in the brain than text. That?s why people prefer to watch videos and look at infographics to get information.

MARKETING IDEA 9: USE PAID ADS (PPC)

Most small businesses invest in one kind of pest control ads: print. It?s usually the same deal: pest control advertising flyers or postcards, either attached to someone?s door or slipped in their mailbox.

Why not try digital with pay per click ads???Pay per click?(PPC) is a form of advertising in which you pay for each click on your ad. The reason you should use them is that PPC ads have a prominent place in search results, and you can use them for?remarketing(where you show ads to people who have already visited your website).

When someone goes to Google and searches for something, the top 3 ? 4 listings are usually advertisements from Google?s AdWords.?It?s a pest control marketing strategy that is also highly scalable and affordable.

We recommend PPC ads recommended because:

• PPC campaigns can be turned on and off?at any time
• PPC campaigns are highly scalable, allowing you to increase or decrease your ad budget at will
• PPC ads generate visits from qualified visitors?who have a high intent to request pest control services
• PPC ads are timely, allowing you to run ads whatever days and times of the week you?d like, including after hours and holidays
• PPC ads are highly targeted,?allowing you to show your ads for the top-converting keywords for your industry

MARKETING IDEA 10: GENERATE RAVING REVIEWS

If you don?t have a strategy to generate reviews, you?re in trouble?90 percent of consumers read online reviews before visiting a business and 88 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. On top of that, your number of reviews and average rating is factored into Google?s search results.

To get more online reviews, you should start by asking for them.?In my experience, one of the common reasons pest control companies don?t have many reviews on Google or Facebook is because they just plain?don?t ask for them.

Want to take it to the next level?! Invest into video testimonials from your clients!?

MARKETING IDEA 11: TEST EMAIL MARKETING AND MARKETING AUTOMATION

While I wish it were otherwise, not everyone who fills out a contact form on your site bites the bullet and becomes a customer.

But, this doesn?t mean they?re lost forever. You can always get them back by keeping your company on their radar with opt-in email marketing.

Opt-in?email marketing?is a highly effective way to grow your pest control business:

• The first thing?66 percent?of business leaders do in the morning is check their email
• 61 percent of consumers enjoy receiving promotional emails weekly, and 28 percent would like emails to come even more frequently
• Email marketing has a?4,400 percent?ROI, with a return of $44 for every $1 spent

Email marketing allows you to nurture unclosed leads and keep in touch with past customers, and?it can be automated! However, email marketing is not the same thing as marketing automation. Marketing automation is an umbrella term that can include any form of messaging that is triggered automatically. This can include everything from email marketing to automated texts and messenger marketing on Facebook and LinkedIn.

We like the platforms?Campaigner?and?MailChimp?they?re easy to use and provide great analytical insights.

MARKETING IDEA 12: REVAMP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING STRATEGY

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?No, social media marketing probably?won?t result in hundreds of leads from Facebook each month?that?s the same for most pest control companies. That doesn?t mean there isn?t a HUGE amount of value in social media marketing, though. We encourage our pest control clients to use social media to:

• Earn reviews (get as many reviews as you can!)
• Run paid campaigns to energize a fan base
• Drive traffic to your website through Facebook
• Raise awareness of new products and services
• Give your brand a personality
• Show that you?re a company with real employees and friendly service

Get More Pest Control Marketing Ideas and Find Your Starting Point with a Pest Control Digital Marketing Analysis

Hopefully, you have enough pest control marketing ideas to last you through 2019. But, if I could give you one piece of advice?right now, it would be to contact an agency and have a?digital marketing analysis?done. Good ones (like ours) evaluate your web presence to come up with actionable insights on where you need the most improvement and where you stand against your competitors. A good analysis will:

• Evaluate your website?and locate areas of improvement (assuming you have a website, of course)
• Determine available search engine real estate?and social visibility
• Identify digital assets used in the buying funnel?(blogs, videos, team pages, etc.)
• Evaluate how you present your services?and value proposition, including the sales funnel you and your competitors push potential customers down
• Pinpoint online advertising strategies?across various channels
• Assess your customer satisfaction?and employee feedback, including your online reputations

If you don?t get an analysis done, you run the risk of employing marketing strategies that just plain won?t accomplish what you really need to in order to grow your company.

Give us a call or?contact us online.?Our internet marketing experts will help you get your website ranking and help put your company on the right path for maximum growth.