Pest News   |   June 8, 2018

It's Bed Bug Awareness Week: Step Up Your Marketing Efforts and Bring Awareness to the Problem of Bed Bugs

This first week of June (June 3-9, 2018) is Bed Bug Awareness Week. Once again the Professional Pest Management Alliance (PPMA) is using their annual awareness campaign to help the public prepare for their summer travel plans by encouraging education about the problem of bed bugs. Consider having your pest management business join in on the efforts! Increase awareness about this blood-sucking pest while maximizing your online marketing efforts, not just this week, but all summer long. The following tips can help:

  1. In accordance with Bed Bug Awareness Week, the National Pest Management Association (NPMA) just released the results of their 2018 Bugs Without Borders survey. And they packaged the results up into an easy to read infographic that is pleasing to the eyes and easily conveys some startling statistics for the public about bed bugs. Click here to get the results of this year’s survey and download the infographic to use on your own social media pages.
  2. When it comes to your marketing efforts, be sure to use plenty of images of bed bugs. These can be ones that your technician has taken for himself or ones from scientific journals or websites (used with permission).  Nobody likes a bug in their bed, but everything from stink bugs to spiders can be confusing if your clients don’t know what to look for. Adding photos and visuals to your blogs, social media posts, emails and more can assist your customers when traveling, in their own homes and in their businesses as well.
  3. Make sure travelers know what to do once they get home. Bed bugs are hitchhikers, which means that unbeknownst to a traveler, they can tag along on suitcases, bags, purses, and even clothes. Help your clients to protect them from bed bugs entering their home. Considering preparing an eBook on protecting themselves from bed bugs during the summer travel season. Make the content free and downloadable but gate it so your website visitors are required to share their name and email address before downloading so you can get their information and continue marketing to them.   
  4. For an entire week, let bed bugs infiltrate your social media feeds. Using pictures, facts, and other helpful educational information, let your readers get a firm understanding of bed bug prevention. Be sure to use the hashtag #BedBugWeek, so your efforts are part of the national conversation while connecting people to your thread.

One of the best ways to educate your customers is through a bed bug prevention program. From bed bug detection tools, mattress covers, glue boards, and educational materials, you can support your customers with early bed bug detection. From college students living in dorms and those living in multi-until housing to professionals traveling for work, there is no limit to the possibilities of offering a program that introduces proper treatment of bed bugs.