Drive More Pest Control Bookings with Content Marketing

How Does Content Marketing Work in Pest Control?

Content marketing is any form of written or recorded communication with the goal of creating awareness or driving leads for your pest control business. The most common form of content marketing is blogging, but it also includes short- and long-form videos, email newsletters, social media marketing, and infographics.

That said, content marketing is not publishing content and marketing material whenever and wherever you want and hoping something sticks.

Blogs are only useful to you when they drive traffic to your website. Video marketing works best when it builds trust and authority for your pest control brand. Email newsletters should convert leads to customers.

For a piece of content to be considered part of a content marketing strategy, there should be intent and thoughtfulness every time you click “Publish.” Only then will your pest control content convert leads to customers and get your business in front of new leads who maybe didn’t realize they need your services.

3 Ways Content Marketing Drives Bookings for Your Pest Control Business

Content marketing works at all stages of your marketing funnel. At the top of the funnel, video marketing and blogging helps you get the attention of consumers looking for pest control services by answering their questions. At the middle of the funnel, it can introduce your brand by letting you talk about the kinds of pest control services you offer and when people should reach out to you. At the bottom of the funnel, pest control content marketing removes any obstacles someone may have about booking with your business over another pest control company in your area.

1. Answer common questions from pest control consumers

When consumers have a pest problem, they want answers fast. More often than not, they’ll turn to search engines like Google to find out how concerned they need to be about their pest problem and how to get rid of it. That’s where your marketing efforts come in.

Answering the most common questions you get from consumers helps you show up in search results when consumers are looking for answers and offer up your pest control business as the solution to their pest problem.

You could write blog posts or record short videos answering some of those questions like:

• How to know if the spiders in my house are poisonous
• How to get rid of ants
• What do cockroaches look like
• How to keep mice from coming in my house
• Ways to get rid of mice humanely
• What do bed bugs look like and how do you get rid of them
• What are the tiny black spiders I keep seeing in my house

When your content helps someone get rid of or diagnose their pest problem, you become someone they trust and turn to if and when they have pest problems in the future. This can go a long way in turning a potential customer into a new customer.

2. Establish Authority and Trust

Answering common questions is just one way to build trust. You can also use former customers’ experiences as part of your pest control digital marketing strategy to showcase your skills and expertise. Customer testimonials, case studies, and before and after spotlights are some of the best ways to market your pest control services to potential customers in the middle and bottom of your funnel.

As they’re vetting different pest control companies, customer testimonials can showcase your level of professionalism and expertise. Case studies walk consumers step-by-step through your processes and how you operate so they have no surprises when they book with you. Before and after spotlights show off your impressive results and give potential customers a picture of what they should expect when you’re finished.

3. Convert Leads to Customers

Think of content marketing like a guide for your potential customers, helping them move from one stage of the funnel to the next. How? By providing clear calls-to-action (CTAs) throughout your content and marketing material.

For example, you might publish a blog post about “Ways to get rid of mice humanely.” In that blog post, you could include all the products and tricks you’d recommend, and include one to call a professional pest control company to take care of potential mice infestations. In that section, you’d include a link to your services page or contact info so potential customers can easily reach out.

As your content marketing strategy matures, you should track how many leads you get for each CTA using data analytics and dashboards. This shows you which pieces of content are contributing the most bookings and which you should test for better results.

4 Common Content Types to Include in Your Pest Control Marketing Strategy

There are many types of content organizations can include in their content marketing strategy, but they’re not all equally valuable. Some kinds of content just work best for certain industries and businesses. For pest control, there are four distinct content types that produce results.

1. Blog Posts

Long-form blog posts (between 500 and 1,500 words) are great for making your website findable on search engines like Google and Bing. They also build trust with consumers by answering their most pressing questions about common pest problems.

Top tips for writing blog posts:

• Use common phrases your consumers use and avoid industry jargon
• Include pictures to make it easy for readers to understand what you’re talking about
• Hyperlink from blog posts to service pages so users don’t leave your site before booking

2. Email Newsletters

Email newsletters are recurring emails that current and potential customers can subscribe to and receive weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. These are great for keeping your brand top-of-mind, even during slow seasons.

Top tips for sending email newsletters:

• Pack a ton of value for your consumers in each email
• Keep your content short, to-the-point, and easy to read
• Include promotions, incentives, and contact information so customers can book with you

3. Videos

More and more, video content is reigning as the content king. Use short-form videos (less than five minutes) to explain quick tips or tricks surrounding pest control service and long-form videos (more than five minutes) for product demos or behind-the-scenes looks at what it takes to do your job.

Top tips for producing video content:

• Go pros, handheld video cameras, and cell phones are enough to get started
• Capture the video footage in the moment and add commentary later
• Work with a pest control digital marketing agency like Scorpion to produce your video content

4. Infographics

Visuals are great ways to explain how pests enter homes, where they tend to hide, and how to identify poisonous from non-poisonous pests. You can easily share them on your social media platform, use them on-site with customers, and share through blog posts to help you educate consumers about your industry.

Top tips for designing infographics:

• Find a designer you trust either in-house, as a contractor, or as an agency partner
• Consumers should be able to understand your point in less than five seconds
• Less text is always best

6 Tips for Writing Pest Control Content That Converts

Writing content is good, but writing good content takes practice. You don’t have to be the best writer for your pest control content to drive leads, you just need to provide value for your readers. That said, there are a few tips and tricks that can give you content a boost.

1. Identify Your Objective

Every single piece of content you publish should have a specific objective. Some common objectives for content are:

• Attract website visitors
• Grow your email list
• Increase your social media engagement
• Improve your local SEO strategy
• Increase authority

Identify your objective before you start writing or recording so you know how to make it successful.

2. Make it Findable

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of updating your pest control website to show up more often in the top results when your potential customers search for things like “pest control company near me.” When writing content, use common phrases (otherwise known as keywords) to help your content rank higher. Include hyperlinks to your service pages and other blog posts to strengthen your website and help the search engines better understand the context behind your blog post.

3. Tailor Your Content to Specific Locations

In pest control specifically, targeting your content to geographic locations is a strong SEO tactic and confirms for your potential customers that you operate in their area. To create strong content for your local SEO strategy, make sure to hyperlink to any location-specific service or contact pages on your site to boost your local site rankings.

4. Provide Helpful Content That Adds Value

In August 2022, Google launched its “Helpful Content Update,” aiming to remove low-quality content from top search rankings. In March 2024, they launched yet another update, this time targeting AI-written content. Both of these updates prove that search engines are constantly looking for content that’s valuable for users. The days of writing content just to write content are gone. You should aim to pack as much actionable value into your content as possible every time you click “Publish.”

5. Produce a Variety of Content

Every person prefers learning in different ways. Some understand best by looking at images and infographics. Others prefer watching an expert demonstrate their expertise on video. And still others prefer reading content at their own pace. A good pest control content marketing strategy includes multiple types of content—even if they’re talking about the same topic.

6. Publish Consistently

One of the easiest optimizations for your pest control content strategy is to publish consistently. Whether that’s monthly, bi-weekly, or weekly, it doesn’t matter. Search engines and consumers like to see businesses consistently pushing out new content on social media, in email, or on a blog. Find a cadence that’s manageable for you and stick to it as closely as you can.

Wrapping Up

Content may be king, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It takes intentional thought, clear strategy, and consistent execution to see real and lasting results.