Pest News   |   July 20, 2020

5 Social Content Tips for Pest Pros

As a pest pro, your time is valuable. With accounts to service, employees to manage and pests to battle running a social media account can easily like something that will be nice to get to - someday. However, social media can be an important growth vehicle for your business. Consider, over half of US consumers indicate they use social media to research a product or service, a number that is even higher for younger generations. So, where to start? Here are 5 quick content tips you can leverage right now.

  • Start Small - while posting everyday may be a long-term goal posting once a week or a few times a month is enough to get your feet wet and start learning. Develop a content calendar and stick to it. And when you post pay attention to the impressions and engagements you get to guide future content development.
  • Steal with Glee - every post doesn't need to have some new, innovative angle. In fact, some of the best posts may be something you saw elsewhere, whether it was a pest meme or cool graphic there is a ton of inspiration on social media right now. For example, as part of the Catchmaster marketing team we have put a ton of our assets up on our social media library (https://catchmasterpro.com/social-media-resource-library/). Visit the site to "steal" your favorite graphic and post. The more we can help pest control organizations grow, the better!
  • Share Articles - article shares are great, particularly if you are strapped for time. While a blog post you can host on your website may be king, the advantage of an article share comes down to your time. Why stumble over 500 words when there are great resources to share. Look for articles online in publications like PCT (https://www.pctonline.com/) & PMP (https://www.mypmp.net/). Add some quick commentary when posting and you are off to the races!
  • Highlight Your Employees - consumers prefer to purchase local and from people they know. Chances are we are talking about your technicians. Create short blurbs that share their personality online. Do they have a favorite quote? What do they love about the pest business? What is their favorite thing about serving their community? There are lots of ways to personalize them. Smart phones are great - shoot a video with them detailing a pest tip and share away!
  • Display Your Knowledge - pests are most likely commonplace to you, however, the same may not be true of consumers. Open up the wild world of pests you know so well to consumers. The knowledge of a pest pro is one of the key things a consumer looks for when researching a service. Do you have some ant secret ant treatments or rodent go-to tips? Share them with the world!

Social media can be daunting, especially when you have a business to run and don't know where to start. Remember, start small and monitor your results. Over time you will find what resonates and can get even more targeted with your content. Pick one topic from each of the 4 buckets above and share once a week. Your first month is already in the bag! Good luck!

The author is the Director of Brand Strategy for the Catchmaster brand (http:/www.catchmasterpro.com) and has over 10 years of social media marketing experience across different industries.