How online marketing transformed my business

Using a professional let me focus on what I do best: pest management.

To me, pest management is a straightforward business: You locate the problem, correct the problem, and then take measures to ensure the problem doesn’t return. It’s how I’ve run my business for more than 35 years, and how I will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

As you can imagine, marketing a business today doesn’t look a lot like marketing a business when I joined the industry. My first attempt to generate new business online was through YP.com advertisements, but I felt we needed to do more.

People trust me with their homes and properties because I have the training, knowledge and experience to get the job done. So I decided to do the same and reach out to a local digital marketing company.
 

Mobile friendliness

My biggest problem was our outdated website. It wasn’t mobile responsive for smartphone users; it wasn’t optimized for Google search and it had an overly complicated email submission form. This didn’t bode well for reaching or earning new customers online.

Photo: ©iStock.com/Peshkova

Before undertaking a full website redevelopment, I opted for a local search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. SEO is a marathon, not a race, but I was pleased to see an improvement in our website’s ranking fairly quickly. Relevant and optimized content made it easier for our potential clients to find us.

After seeing positive momentum, we decided to move forward with a new website. We were no longer in danger of a non-mobile-friendly ranking demotion, and we were able to add important analytics tracking elements that our older website did not allow.
 

Conversion tracking

With a new website came better online lead, or conversion tracking. Knowing how many phone calls and online submissions we received each week helped shape our digital marketing strategy, and set new company goals. A new, user-friendly online submission form helped us qualify and sort which services needed marketing help. Knowing our highest requested services and seeing the difference between industry and client vocabulary was eye-opening.
 

Call tracking

Call tracking was another big win for our team. Assuming that you don’t let bad employees stick around, every company is comprised of good, great or exemplary employees. Every single one can benefit from ongoing quality control and training. By implementing a call recording, grading and analytics system, our employees had a chance to hear themselves and make the corrections that can turn a three-star review into a five-star review.

Improving our overall customer service led to more and better reviews, and improved customer retention. In addition to improved internal practices, we were also able to see where our calls were coming from and assign return on investment (ROI) to the proper marketing channels.
 

Don’t forget offline, too

When it comes to today’s marketing strategies, it’s important to pair the old with the new. In addition to keeping up with the digital times, I did my fair share of good, old-fashioned networking. As a member of a local Business Network International (BNI) organization, I used business-to-business networking to earn new clients through referrals. As more businesses become technologically savvy and smartphone friendly, it’s important to make both lasting online and in-person connections.

If, after reading this, you decide to take your digital marketing to the next level, take the Apple Pest Control approach: Locate the problem, correct the problem and then take measures to ensure your problem doesn’t return.

Stan Goodson is owner of Apple Pest Control, San Antonio, Texas. His company has been providing residential and commercial pest control services since 1984, specializing in humane wildlife removal, organic pest control and tree and lawn care. Learn more at ApplePestControl.com.