Pest Control Competitive Advantage: Smart Lead Gen Strategies

Your pest control company’s growth will never gain traction without a strong lead generation strategy. When you generate leads, you’re attracting potential customers to your pest control company providing yourself an opportunity to win their business. The stronger your lead generation game is, the faster your business will grow.

Strategy 1: Embrace Digital Advertising

Today, pest control companies are generating more and more of their revenue via online sales. Because of this, it makes sense to make digital advertising a cornerstone of your lead generation strategy.

The giant in this arena is Google Ads (formerly AdWords). Search engine marketing (SEM) is the practice of paying for your business to be shown high in the results for relevant searches for pest control in your area. Without it, your pest control business may not show up at all on the first page of results in a Google or Bing search, and that’s terrible news for your lead generation outcomes.

Did you know 93% of all internet traffic comes from search engines and 60% of search clicks go to the top 3 results? If you think about your own internet usage, you’re probably not surprised.

If you don’t already have a Google Ads account, it’s time to get one. The good news is it’s free. Spend time determining the best keywords and other characteristics you're looking for in a lead and then write a simple, impactful, error-free and to begin driving more traffic to your pest control website. You can control every bit of your campaign – from how much you spend to your prioritized keywords – and continually tweak to refine your successes.

But you don’t have to stop at Google.

The top social media networks also provide paid digital advertising and can get your ads in front of highly targeted audiences. Just like SEM, you can tightly control all aspects of your ads. But they also come with the benefit of showcasing content such as video, slideshows, and interactive content. Facebook, which also can run your advertisements on Instagram, is the leader in this area, but Twitter, and LinkedIn can also be good choices.

Finally, remarketing is an option you should consider. You’ve probably noticed remarketing even if you didn’t know that’s what it’s called. Have you ever been searching online for, say, a new grill, and suddenly you begin seeing digital advertising for grills as you go about your online business? That's remarketing, and Google Ads can take care of this for you, too.

Strategy 2: Share Your Expertise – And Your Willingness To Do What Many Can’t

As a pest control owner, you are an expert on a subject that many people can’t or won’t take on. Showing off your expertise can help you stand out from the competitors in your community and highlight the great job you do at pest management.

When you position yourself as the expert that you are, you give potential customers the added reassurance that you’re the right choice to handle their pest control issues.

You can share your expert point of view in places that you control, like your company blog and your Facebook page. Be sure to highlight your expertise in dealing with pest control issues that your customers are unwilling to handle on their own. Remind them that you'll do what they don't want to do.

But it doesn’t have to end there.

Local news outlets are always looking for content for their morning and mid-afternoon news shows. Contact the news directors and offer to come on to discuss pest issues that are common in your area. Let them know when it’s time for homeowners to take specific actions to ward off seasonal pests. You’ll get several free minutes on local television showcasing your expertise for an audience of potential customers.

With this form of lead generation, it's all about educating – not selling.

Strategy 3: Establish A Referral System

One of the most effective strategies for generating new customers is getting your satisfied customers to tell others about the great work you do.

You perform your job well, have minimized your callbacks and regularly convert first-time customers into repeat customers. Now it’s time to have your satisfied customers help refer you to others who could use your help.

One of the primary things you have to do is ASK them for a referral. Train your technicians to ask customers at every interaction to refer you to others who have a pest control issue.

It will also help to incentivize them. Offer a discounted service for every referral they send your way who schedules an appointment. You can also extend the reward to the new customers being referred. By adding a benefit for the referral, you increase the likelihood that you will receive it.

Now Get Started

When you have an effective plan for lead generation and put it into action, your pest control company will begin experiencing a greater volume of inquiries, which you can then convert into sales. But you need to be patient. You may not see results overnight, but what you will see is measurable data about what works for your business. You can then tweak your strategies as you move forward, emphasizing the things that have already shown success and making them work for you again and again.