Social Media Approaches for a Pest Control Company
-
Hi Everyone, I am working with a pest control company that is looking to branch out into social media. Their primary goal is to connect with their existing customers to improve retention. The secondary goal is to potentially pick up new clients.
With that said, I wanted to see if you all had some ideas on things that they could tweet/facebook about on a regular basis? Posting about bugs on a daily basis gets pretty boring.
I know Rand has been talking a lot lately about not being so narrow, so maybe we should talk more about general home improvement? Any thoughts or ideas?
Thanks!
EDIT:
I should clarify that this is a company that has maintenance plans. You don't call them only when you have a problem. You sign up with them, and they treat your property every 3 months, or whenever you call. Only about 2% of their customer base is one-off phone calls to fix 1 problem and never come back again.
I don't think their existing customer base will have any issues with Liking them on Facebook or following them on Twitter. The initial plan is to incentivize them to do so, but once we get the like/follow, we want to continually be in front of them with interesting content, contests as Jay suggested, etc.
-
First off, social media for pest control companies isn't nearly as sexy as social media for a taco stand. So any ideas of glitter and glamor are going to be as helpful as a rainbow colored unicorn. Just wanted to get that off my chest before diving in here.
How I see social media as a pest control guy:
1- Maintaining conversations about interesting pest control subjects.
2- Building relationships with current customers.
3- Building relationships with current employees.
On Facebook after establishing a fan base you can use paid advertising to friends of fans, using fans as endorsements. But don't expect huge returns here. It's more building awareness and trust. You will most likely not see Facebook as a last touch for sales. And it's hard to track the first touch.
Funny videos can build links, but I wouldn't consider them great for building trust. I prefer the class nerd image over the class clown image. Nerds are allowed to make jokes, but your know for being smart, not for being funny.
Lastly, check out http://www.familyownedpestcontrol.org we have just launched this lead sharing network, no cost to you.
And if you want to guest post on blogpestcontrol.com I could probably get you in.
-
Thanks Matt! That makes sense.
-
This is great; I especially like the idea of giving 1 free treatment to a friend - that is clever
-
EGOL,
I think humorous video would be a good idea for spreading the brand and I would expect it to work on a subconscious level (as with most marketing the psychology behind it is important) - if people need a pest control company and a decent viral video campaign has made an impression on them then they should remember the brand. When remembering the brand rather than the term this should hopefully influence their search i.e for the specific company rather than the generic term - do you agree with my thought on this?
-
Matt,
What do you think about humorous video? That would be great for getting links and attention... but would that attract customers?
-
Hi Brian,
I think EGOL is pretty much spot on with the fact that your average person won't want to stay connected with their pest control guy other than using them to discretely fix a problem. However I have seen examples of other pest control companies using games and creating characters to help educate customers and keep them interacting with their brand - but this is still a sensitive area.
-
Brian, I would recommend creating a strategy that focuses on engagement with current customers. Prospective customers who then land on their social profile, such as Facebook, would then see ongoing conversation with current customers that will build instant credibility.
For example, you could suggest a Bug of the week contest - post a picture of a crazy bug and ask customers to name the bug. The customer with the right guess gets to give 1 friend a free month of pest service. That way the friend will become the referral source and address both your goals in 1 contest. To get current customers aware of the promotion create a 1 page flyer that posts 1 of the contest bug pictures and include a picture of the winner and quickly explain the contest. Asking the field team to make current customers aware of the Facebook contest will increase current customers to become fans of the page and help increase awareness to their friends as well.
images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRraHyyPTSP-9qMiWD36LMGdg67_GtO-_xQjT7KmuLhnl3tws_1
-
"I am working with a pest control company that is looking to branch out into social media. Their primary goal is to connect with their existing customers to improve retention."
I don't think that the average person is looking to link up with and stay connected to their bug guy about bed bugs, rat droppings and flea problems. They want a bug guy who will fix that problem silently and get out of their space ASAP. If bug guy can do that then they will call him if they ever have another problem.
My message to people would be that we fix your problem quickly and with minimal visibility.
Posting about bugs on a daily basis gets pretty boring.
ABSOLUTELY!
I would go with informative content that people can share when conversations arise.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Does Google give more ranking weight for Shares for One Social Network over Another.
We are using BuzzSumo to explore the types of content that generate the highest number of shares per article. Does anyone have data to suggest that a share on Google+ carries more ranking weight than a share on Twitter or Facebook, or LinkedIn? We have seen a recent case with one of our client's competitors where they significantly grew their Google+ shares within a relatively short period of time and gained a higher rank for a key search phrase that my client is also targeting. Thank you, Rosemary Brisco
Social Media | | RosemaryB0 -
What's your preference - regurgitate content on social media or just post it the once?
Hi All, Not been on the forums for a while and this isn't really an SEO question. How do you feel about Twitter feeds that constantly regurgitate the same content. It's pretty much industry standard on most pages but if the content is yours, no affiliates or other people are involved - is it really necessary to plug the same 500 word blog post over and over? Personally, I don't like it. I think it looks spammy and unprofessional and in all honesty, I unfollow pages regularly because of it.. What do you guys think? Am I squandering content by not regurgitating? Happy Monday all - Jamie
Social Media | | SanjidaKazi1 -
Google Plus Company Page Verification
Hi How do you test successful G+ company page/publisher integration/verification if using the less technical methods such as linking between the Home page and the G+ company page instead of adding code to the head section? Since i take it the google structured data testing tool cant work in these cases since no code on the head section ! Is it best to add the code anyway ? I note my clients still not achieving a knowledge graph card/section in the search results for a branded search but i have heard that doesnt come until you have at least hundreds of followers and/or G+ interactions. All Best
Social Media | | Dan-Lawrence
Dan0 -
Analytics tagging on social media links
Curious: do you all tag your social media links with Google Analytics parameters? I know Google Analytics automatically tags referrals from social channels, but I am interested in possibly adding additional tracking parameters to links that I share and potentially promote. If I tag my social links with GA tracking codes, and they are shared widely, do I lose any potential SEO value from those links? I know Google isn't necessarily factoring in social shares from Facebook, etc. yet, but it would seem that, since tagged links are ones that we've influenced, any shares of that link would potentially be considered unnatural? Just curious what others' best practices are for social sharing. Thanks, in advance.
Social Media | | kylie_rw1 -
Best Social Sharing Platform for B2b sites
Guess that title of the question says it all. What is the best social platform for dull b2b sites? The kind of content that you wouldn't want to share with your friends and family.... Not that type of content before anyone gets the wrong idea 🙂
Social Media | | DavidLenehan0 -
How to best promote this content via social media to gain backlinks
I have created this content http://www.musicliveuk.com/live-music/the-worst-function-bands-and-wedding-bands-ever in order to promote it via social media. Ideally I want it to be shared across the web in order to gain backlinks. My question is how can I best do this? I know I can post it on twitter, facebook, google plus etc... but is that it? I'm new to social media and don't really understand how to use it to good effect. By posting it on social networking sites am I risking people copying the content and duplicate content penalties? Any help would be much appreciated!
Social Media | | SamCUK0 -
What Are Your Favorite Social Plugins for Wordpress?
Hey everybody, Thought I would poll my fellow Wordpress users about their favorite social plugins. Mine are WP Socializer for customizable buttons, Facebook Like Box for my Facebook pages, and SEO Facebook Comments for crawlable Facebook comments. Happy Holidays, Jared
Social Media | | JaredBroker1 -
ROI in Social Media Optimization
Could you please explain the link values to be earned through Social Media Optimization?
Social Media | | gmk15670