Are You Covering Your Marketing Basics?

Editor’s note: David Schaedel, digital marketing manager, Walker Pest Management, Greenville, S.C., shared the following article on where pest control companies can start for effective digital marketing and advertising. 

Recently, I had the opportunity to present at South Carolina’s Pest Control Summit. I took the time to explore how we can work to demystify digital marketing. While everyone knows that they need some sort of marketing to reach their target audience, it can be hard to know what to do, where to start, or what is effective. In order to help make this more digestible, we broke this presentation into 4 parts. If you didn’t catch part 1, you can find it here!

Are You Covering Your Marketing Basics?

Marketing success doesn’t start with ads! It starts with a strong foundation. Before you invest the time and money into campaigns, make sure you’ve covered the essentials. This means knowing your audience, optimizing your digital presence, and regularly reviewing your strategy.

Who Are Your Customers?

Before you launch any marketing efforts, you need to define your audience. If you try to market to everyone, your messaging will become too broad and ineffective. Please don’t say everyone! If your goal is to target everyone then you will never be able to tailor your messages at all! You don’t need a hyper-specific niche, but you do need to know a general idea of who you’re targeting.

For example, in pest control, while we serve a wide range of customers, our core audience is often homeowners in their mid-30s and older—Millennials, Gen X and Boomers who own property and want to keep it pest-free. Identifying this audience helps us stay focused and avoid wasting resources on marketing efforts that don’t align with where our customers spend their time.

This simple framework will shift where and how you choose to advertise. Since more established adult homeowners are the main focus, that means that you probably won’t heavily invest in ads on Snapchat or TikTok. While some of your target market may spend time on those platforms, you will have a much wider reach on Facebook or Instagram.

Before running a single ad, ensure your website, Google Business profile, and social media pages are set up properly. These are the foundations of your online presence, and they need to be accessible, accurate, and consistent.

· Website: Can customers quickly find out what services you provide, how much they cost, and how to contact you? A sleek design is nice, but clarity and usability matter more.

· Google Business Profile: Are your hours, contact details, and service areas correct? Keeping this up to date improves your visibility in local searches.

· Social Media Pages: Do they clearly showcase your work, highlight customer reviews, and direct people back to your website? Are all links and contact details accurate? You don’t need to run this page like you are some sort of Instagram influencer, but if someone finds your page, do they understand what your company is all about?

If any of these areas are weak or outdated, your marketing efforts will struggle to convert interest into actual business.

When Are You Reviewing Your Plans?

Marketing isn’t a “set it and forget it” process. Every new tool or platform requires maintenance, and if you don’t have the time or resources to keep up with it, it’s not worth the investment. Too many business set up pages on every platform and don’t maintain them. This leads to customers finding dead and out of date pages. In addition to being a frustrating user experience, it can also lead them to believe your business may no longer be in business if you haven’t posted in several years.

Regular internal audits at least once per quarter to help catch errors and keep everything running smoothly. Even small issues, like an outdated phone number or a broken link, can create roadblocks for potential customers. Get an outsider’s perspective by asking someone unfamiliar with your business to navigate your website and social pages. If they struggle to find important information, it’s time for adjustments.

Building a Strong Foundation

Effective marketing starts with understanding your audience, perfecting your digital presence, and consistently reviewing your strategy. Once these basics are covered, you can confidently build out your marketing efforts, knowing they’ll have the best chance of success.

Up next, we’ll dive into "How to Navigate the Marketing Hype?"—how to separate real opportunities from empty promises in the marketing world.