PCOs Show Growing Interest in Social Media Advertising, Poll Finds

CLEVELAND - In a recent PCT reader poll, most respondents said they’re beginning to explore paid social media advertising for their pest control services, signaling growing digital marketing opportunities in the industry. Fifty-three percent of respondents said they use paid social media advertising only "a little" to market their pest control services, while 33% reported not using it at all. Just 15% indicated they market extensively through paid social platforms, highlighting a cautious approach to digital ad spend in the industry.

Massey Services has increased its paid social media advertising over the past year. The Orlando, Fla.-based company had tested a few smaller campaigns over the last few years, but didn’t see great results. After working its agency partner, Massey Services was  able to create a stronger campaign in 2024 and “we achieved a much better response rate, so we continued it in 2025,” said Beckie Church, vice president of marketing, Massey Services. “This has also allowed us to experiment with platforms we have never previously utilized in our advertising strategy.”

Church said Massey Services has found that social media advertising works well in some of its markets, but not as well in others. “While we do generate leads from our social campaigns, we find it performs better from a brand awareness standpoint,” she said. “Typically, people aren’t actively searching for a pest company when they’re on social media, but if they see your ad and then discover a pest or lawn problem a few days later, Massey should be top of mind for them.”

Arrow Exterminators, Atlanta, has kept its budget the same as in 2024 for social media advertising. Jason Pelham, vice president of marketing, said Arrow has found paid social media to be an effective advertising tool for two primary reasons. “We use it to (1) boost posts, allowing us to reach potential customers who may not already follow our page or be familiar with our brand, and (2) we leverage targeted campaigns to grow our follower base by reaching specific demographics that align with our ideal customer profile.”

© credit | Arrow Exterminators

A successful Arrow Exterminators campaign Pelham cited was from Facebook and featured Arrow team members and community outreach from the company. The post reached 110,077 people, and 106,172 of those people were reached by the ads boosting the post.  Ninety-five percent of the total views of the post were from non-followers, which means we reached over 106,000 people who are not following the Arrow Exterminators page.

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