Finding Homeowners Who Are In-The-Market with Facebook Ads for Pest Control & Wildlife Removal

What’s up everyone. Happy Friday!

Today we’ll discuss a common misconception I come across often while advising clients about running ads for their pest control or wildlife removal businesses. This misunderstanding mainly involves the difficulty of targeting potential clients through Facebook ads, as expressed by several agency owners, pest control operators, and wildlife control operators.

The prevailing belief is that it’s challenging to target potential customers on Facebook since the platform does not inherently provide options to reach people needing pest control or wildlife removal services. However, this isn’t entirely true. There’s an effective workaround for this that involves leveraging Facebook’s audience manager.

Here’s the strategy: In Facebook’s audience manager, you have the option to create a custom audience based on people who have viewed a specific percentage of a video. This means if a Facebook user has watched 50% or more of a specific video, you can target them explicitly with an ad.

How can this be used in your pest control or wildlife removal businesses?

You begin by creating a simple video ad aimed at maximizing video views, which are relatively cheaper compared to clicks. This budget-friendly approach can help you narrow down your target audience effectively. The video, ideally 60 to 90 seconds long, should explain what your business does, how it stands out from competitors, showcase some positive reviews, and relevant experience. Wrap up the video with a swift call-to-action (CTA), like your contact information.

This video ad should be targeted to a specific region, neighborhood, or your entire service area. One effective trick is to target a neighborhood where you know there’s a specific pest problem, perhaps due to servicing multiple homes in that area.

Next, create a second ad, which could be a lead form or a call ad. This ad targets people who have watched at least 50% of the first video.

Why does this strategy work?

People generally do not want to waste their time watching a video that doesn’t concern them. Hence, if someone watches 60 to 90 seconds of a video about pest control or wildlife removal, it’s reasonable to assume they may be dealing with such a problem. By creating a second ad aimed at people who have shown interest in the first video, you can target potential customers for a minimal cost, narrowing down to those who have shown a potential need for your service.

The beauty of this approach is that those seeing your second ad have already interacted with your brand and understand how you’re uniquely positioned to help them, as they’ve spent 60 to 90 seconds watching the initial video. The results? A much lower cost per acquisition, even with two separate ad campaigns.

Opting for video views initially, which are substantially cheaper than clicks, makes it more cost-effective than driving traffic to a landing page, your website, or opening a Facebook instant experience.

Give this strategy a try and see the impact it has on your marketing efforts. For those interested in learning more about setting up this specific campaign, follow the link included at the end of this post, which will guide you to a comprehensive blog post on our website.

Getting Set Up Step-By-Step

Here’s a step-by-step guide on creating a Facebook ad targeted to people who have watched a certain percentage of one of your videos:

1. Log in to your Facebook Ads Manager account.
2. Click on the “Create” button to start creating a new ad campaign.
3. Select your marketing objective. Depending on your goals, you may choose options like “Traffic,” “Conversions,” or “Video Views.”
4. Give your campaign a name and click “Continue.”
5. In the ad set level, define your target audience:
   a. Under the “Audience” section, click on the “Create New” button.
   b. Choose the “Custom Audience” option.
   c. In the custom audience creation window, select the “Engagement” option.
   d. From the engagement options, choose “Video.”
   e. In the “People who watched at least” field, specify the percentage of your video that the audience must have watched. For example, if you want to target people who watched at least 50% of your video, enter “50” in the field.
   f. Select the specific video from your Facebook Page or Instagram account that you want to target viewers from.
   g. Define additional targeting parameters such as location, age, gender, and interests to narrow down your audience further.
   h. Save the custom audience by giving it a name.
6. Configure the rest of your ad set settings, including budget, placement, and scheduling.
7. Proceed to the ad level, where you can design the visual and written components of your ad.
8. Choose an ad format that suits your campaign objectives. For example, you can select a single image, video, carousel, or collection format.
9. Upload or select the creative elements for your ad, such as images, videos, headlines, ad text, and a call-to-action button.
10. Review your ad to ensure everything is set up correctly.
11. Click “Confirm” or “Publish” to launch your Facebook ad campaign.

As always, hope this helps! If you have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out using the form below or give us a call.

-Tate