Participate in Bed Bug Awareness Week 2020

LOGO: PPMA/NPMA

It’s time for pest management professionals (PMPs) to participate in Bed Bug Awareness Week, taking place this year June 7-13. The annual education campaign is promoted by the Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA), which serves as the public outreach arm of the National Pest Management Association (NPMA).

Bed Bug Awareness Week is recognized by Chase’s Calendar of Events and is celebrated throughout the pest management industry. Through various media relations and social media strategies, PPMA will work to educate the public on the need for diligent bed bug prevention, the signs of an infestation and the importance of working with a licensed PMPs to mitigate infestations.

“With all of the excitement the prospect of summer travel brings in response to stay-at-home restrictions being slowly lifted nationwide, it’s easy to forget that bed bugs are still very much a threat,” said Cindy Mannes, executive director of PPMA. “It’s a common misconception that bed bugs simply disappear without human hosts, as they’re actually able to survive for several months while waiting for their next meal. Bed bug populations that were established in hotels before the COVID-19 crisis impacted occupancy rates may in fact be hungrier than ever, posing an increased threat to unsuspecting travelers.”

With more than six million online conversations in the U.S. on the topic of finding bed bugs in April 2020 alone – a 70 percent increase from April 2019 – PPMA is urging PMPs to get involved by taking advantage of the custom marketing materials made available by the association.

PPMA encourages PMPs and industry members to join the cause by launching media relations campaigns, including devoting their company social media pages to bed bugs throughout the week and using the hashtag #BedBugWeek on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

“To aid our partners who have supported our industry’s initiatives by investing in PPMA, we’ve developed a robust Bed Bug Awareness Week toolkit to help promote their businesses and the importance of working with a pest control professional. We will also be unveiling a series of exclusive videos next week showing consumer audiences just how elusive and difficult to control these hitchhiking pests are,” Mannes added.

The toolkit is available for download on PPMAMainframe.org, an exclusive digital marketing hub containing hundreds of custom, professionally designed marketing materials and assets PMPs can use to promote their businesses. The Bed Bug Awareness Week kit contains a customizable press release, suggested social media content, Bed Bug Awareness Week logos, high resolution photography, media training documents and a list of video content that can be directly embedded on a company’s website.

Let us know what you’re doing for #BedBugWeek on social media or email us at pmpeditor@northcoastmedia.net.