Every year, mosquito season motivates homeowners to take out pest control service contracts.  As the hot weather of summer arrives, mosquito season is at it’s peak. Homeowners get tired of swatting and scratching. They are ready for a solution. If you market to them and address their pain points, you can earn their business.

These pests are the bane of summer. Homeowners enjoying their pool or patio need protection from these little buggers and are desperate to have their lawns sprayed to rid them of mosquitoes.  Consider mailing to women between 21-50 years old. If they have children, they do not want their kids to get bitten. If they do not yet have children, mosquito-borne viruses,  like West Nile or Zika, are huge concerns.

Because of that, mosquito season motivates pest control business. Even if they don’t take you up on your offer right now, a good mailer will sit on the kitchen counter until they are ready to make that phone call to you.

Every pest control company needs a planful year-round effort that continuously reaches out to generate new leads. You will always lose some customers to attrition. But if you stop marketing, even for a month, you will lose  marketing momentum. The truth is if a homeowner is not happy with their current service they will switch to someone – anyone – they think will do the job better. If you’re not out there actively marketing, they will go to whoever is.

The most efficient & cost-effective way to market your services is to target your lead generation program to a few key market segments that return the most for your money.

In pest control marketing the top segments are:

• New Homeowners
• Homeowners with Children
• Environmentally Conscious Homeowners
• Homeowners with Dogs
• Homeowners with Swimming Pools
• Homeowner by size of lot
• Women age 21-50

New Homeowners

70% of new homeowners will buy a pest control contract in their first year. New Homeowners need to be a focus of your marketing strategy. They will almost all buy a pest control contract in their first year. They might as well buy it from You!

You can obtain a list of New Homeowners through many sources, including the newspapers, local realtors, the country courthouse, or through a New Homeowner list provider. You can select your list by county or zip-code, dwelling type and home value. Depending on how you want to structure your program, you can opt to receive data on either a weekly or monthly basis. Data is also available for mail or phone.

Weekly New Homeowner data gets you in the door about 21 days after a new homeowner closed on their home.  That’s a good time to reach out to them. Most of the new homeowners don’t know about the pests endemic to their new area and this is a great time to educate them about local pests and impress them with your knowledge on how to handle them.

BTW – New Homeowners are also a great group for your Termite Service. Think lifetime value. I have been with the company that handles my Termite service for over 20 years.

Homeowners with Dogs

A month before Flea & Tick Season, smart pest control companies will mail to Homeowners with Dogs in their area. Every dog owner wants to protect their pets.  Send an oversized postcard to affluent dog owners featuring a dog being cuddled by children and you are pretty much guaranteed that they will look at your mailer.

Offer a box of treats as a gift that you will bring when to come over to inspect & quote the job. In marketing, sometimes you need to give someone a little push to help set the appointment. It will help you close the sale. Your offer really helps you entice your prospect to pick up the phone and call you. Or, push that button on your website.

If you offer products featuring an environmentally–friendly, organic approach, consider reaching out to known environmentally conscious households. The GreenAware overlay lets you target this very specific group, so you can provide them with a product especially for them. Homeowners with Children are also a strong market for organic pest control products

You can also select prospects by lot size. Summer in Florida. Talk about treating crabgrass or brown patch to a homeowner with 1+ acre lot and you will get their attention. Treating these is much cheaper than re-sodding.