Social Media is a valuable tool to increase brand awareness, communicate with customers, share pertinent information, and exhibit exactly how your company differentiates from your competitors. It is an integral tool that gives small businesses the power to establish themselves as part of the local market.

Why is Social Media Important?

Customers today have a surplus of options when it comes to pest control and lawn care services. They are well-informed and can search your brand with ease, which is why the right social media strategy is a valuable element in attracting and retaining customers. 

When it comes to choosing whether to invest in in-house social media or enlisting the services of a marketing agency, it's important to ascertain exactly what you are looking to gain from establishing a social media presence.  

The Benefits of Managing Social Media In-House

• Establishes a clear sense of brand identity and company culture. You know your business better than anybody. When it comes to effective social media, it is imperative that there is a clear sense of brand identity and company culture. 
• Increases customer engagement and authenticity. You want your social posts to encourage engagement and authentic communication to better build relationships with your customers. Marketing Dive, a leading publication that covers impactful news shaping the marketing industry, notes how in-house social media allows for nimble decision making and the ability to act quickly on trending topics and platforms. This often includes answering questions that pertain specifically to your business. Being timely, friendly and informative is the name of the game when it comes to customer interactions. 
• Allocates your money into what will really make an impact. Social media is a valuable tool in establishing brand awareness and building customer relationships. As far as getting the best bang for your buck, however, it is more impactful to allocate your money towards higher level strategies such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and other areas. Digiday, an online trade magazine that specializes in media and marketing, revealed that outsourced social media often comes with a price. 
• More Involvement that Leads to Better Strategy-Planning and Decision-Making. Taking the reins of your own social media means being more involved with every facet of your business. This means that there is less back and forth when making decisions and more intentional choices about what to post. Instead of going through middle men who do not know the ins and outs of your business, in-house social media comes straight from the source. This means more intentionality and authenticity, which translates to increased engagement and meaningful exposure.
• Enlisting the Services of a Marketing Agency. The biggest benefit of enlisting the services of a marketing agency is that effective social media strategies can often take up time that business owners simply don’t have. For this reason, the quantity of posts is often higher when using a marketing agency to publish content. Unfortunately, these posts often lack the attention to detail & business-specific content that makes social media truly effective. If you are overwhelmed by the prospect of managing your own social media, there are certain steps you can take to ensure that you feel confident when taking the reins.

Tips & Tricks for Effective Social Media

No matter if you are using Facebook, Instagram, Google Business Profile (GBP), or other platforms, there are certain rules of thumb to keep in mind to maximize your social media’s impact while minimizing the time and effort you are putting into it. The key for successful in-house social media includes:

• Have clarity of purpose (communicate with your team on what you want to say and what you want to accomplish).
• Quality >Quantity!
• Keep your posts simple, authentic, and informative. 
• Consider hiring an intern, new tech, or enlisting the services of a receptionist to focus on creating social media content!
• Share articles on relevant topics from reputable sources. Sharing an article from one of these sources is a great way to interact with your customers, without having to start from scratch. Check out The Spruce, PestWorld, and Country Living.

Make sure to focus on informative posts about services, special offers, unexpected closures, or other local-relevant content. You want your posts to encourage customer engagement so keep any responses to customers timely, polite, and informative as well.

A Valuable Tool for Community Engagement and Recruiting

Social media can be used not only to foster engagement and establish yourself in the local market, but it can also be an excellent resource  in recruiting team members who are a part of the local community and share the same company values. How to use social media specifically for recruitment:

Post any job openings.

This one sounds simple, but it’s important! There are plenty of qualified candidates out there who simply don’t know of the opportunities present. Spread the word!

Showcase your organizational culture.

Things such as photos of your team volunteering or celebrating any holidays. Social media is the perfect tool to show prospective employees why working at your business is the right path for them!

Make sure your social media content is up-to-date and accurate.

This goes hand in hand with community engagement. Future employees often look up the social media of companies they are considering to apply at. You should also be on the lookout for employment inquiries in your direct or private messages. 

Parting Words

Ultimately, the choice between keeping social media creation in-house or outsourcing to a marketing agency is one that only you as a business owner can make. If you want to make room in your budget for higher level marketing strategies, such as SEO SEM, in-house social media should be considered as it allows for your budget to be allocated most effectively. Whichever path you choose, it's integral to understand just how important a strategized social media plan is and how you can best use these platforms to help you.