No matter if you’re a solo plumber or own a plumbing company, you should have a robust online presence like any other business entity because most of your clients are there.
But how do you advertise yourself as a plumber? There is no doubt that you are facing cut-throat competition in the local market. So, you have to be creative in devising your marketing strategy to attract the audience’s attention and earn their trust.
To help you with that, we have prepared this guide with all of our marketing secrets! Follow our lead and dominate the market.
Common plumber advertising issues
Lack of research
Getting into business without doing your homework will put you in uncertain scenarios that will be harmful to your business. Before setting up your website, you need to understand your field. That means knowing your operating area, your target audience, and what and how they interact with businesses similar to yours.
Sometimes, it becomes more of a struggle when enough info is not available right away and you will need to do your own research from the start. Make sure to be fully aware of the situation before you put yourself out there.
Not understanding trends
Sometimes, certain trends are prevalent in the market which are essential to follow for success. As a startup, it can be difficult to identify such trends to take advantage of. And if you are too late, you may find yourself applying a trend that has already passed and people have moved on to newer things.
Lack of monitoring activities
Just advertising your business will not be efficient for your business. You need to monitor which of your advertising campaigns are bringing in customers and invest accordingly. Otherwise, you will find yourself putting resources into campaigns that do not bring you much benefits.
How do I advertise myself as a plumber?
Advertising any business is a huge challenge with a lot of tasks involved. Here are some activities that can help you with your endeavors.
Target the right audience
The key to any kind of advertisement is targeting the right audience and understanding them.
Pick a segment you can easily reach and deliver your company’s value to. Try to learn their behavior to optimize your message that can best deliver your company services.
Get your free Google business listing
Having a Google business listing is one of the best ways for your customers to find you. Google is the most used site for business reviews and a Google business listing will help you to be discovered easily by its users. Show off your business here and direct newcomers to your websites and location.
Just go to Google Business profile and open up your page right away to reach your audience easily.
Design your website
A big portion of your interactions with potential customers will be through your website. It is the first place people will visit when they hear and consider hiring you.
Make it just as professional and clear as you would your physical office. Make sure the information you want to present is clear and concise and visitors find it easy to use your website. Over 75% of people judge the credibility of a company based on its website’s design.
A couple of website designs you can use are given below.
As you can see, both these websites have all the necessary information you need right away and every detail you need to know is presented only a click away. For the first website, you see an emphasis on the employees working together.
And for the second, you see a picture of a father and his son together with a focus on them being a family business.
Show off your brand with your website and company values and provide every information they may want.
Make sure to make it easier for mobile users to browse your website. As of November of 2023, 56.3% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. If visitors find your website difficult to use on their phones, they will simply look elsewhere.
Here is a template you can choose to follow for mobile users.
As you can see, every necessary information needs to be presented vertically. Keep that in mind when developing your website.
Suitable branding
To stand out from the crowd, you need to differentiate yourself by building your brand. How you manage your brand can make or break your standings.
Try to have a friendly, easy-to-approach type of vibe. The nature of the plumbing business means a lot of the work you get will be at people’s houses, where they feel the safest. Try to show that you are a trusted brand for people to hire you for their housework.
Try to have a company name that is easy to remember, so that your name stays in the minds of your clients. A common practice among naming conventions is having a family bond to sell. For example, “Steve and Sons”. Sometimes the names can be something that takes inspiration from a local place to have that familiar feeling, like “Khor Fakkan Plumbing Services.”
Train your employees to leave a positive and friendly impression so that they can call you in regularly for their problems.
Once you settle on a color scheme for your brand, make sure to use it in your marketing campaigns so people can easily recognize you.
Pay attention to SEO
As the best way for people to find your website will be through search engines, you will want to optimize your website to show up on the first page. 75% of users do not go to the second page of results. And the click rate of websites on the first page depends on how high they appear which is given below.
You will need to research keywords that users use to find businesses similar to yours. Incorporate them in your websites and pages like titles, headings, and body.
You will find that targeting long-tail keywords is more beneficial than short-tail keywords. Short tail keywords are very generic and highly competitive while long tail keywords can be more specific to you and your company and have more chances of getting you business leads.
Short tail keywords: Keywords that are usually short and generic (e.g. Plumbing business)
Here, the search results will likely be general definitions or popular businesses around the world that may not be relevant to the user. It is difficult to appear on the first page in short keywords and appearing so does not even guarantee any possible leads. It is not worth the effort.
Long tail keywords: Keywords that are longer with more specific requests (e.g. Plumbing businesses in Sharjah)
In this example, if the user is from the mentioned area, they will find nearby businesses that they can interact and conduct business with. The more keywords are relevant to your audience, the more reason you need to appear on the first page when searching with those keywords. You are more likely to be visited by potential customers with long-tail keywords.
Put effort into local SEO
According to a Brightlocal survey, 90% of consumers find local businesses online. If you search anything with “near me,” chances are that you will find a Google Business list on top. Google recognizes location-specific searches and will cater the results to that. This is where the business account you open will come in handy.
This will be how the Google business listings will be presented to users. At a glance, they will show all the necessary info about your business like this.
You will want to optimize your business page as such that it appears on top of these location-specific business places. As mentioned earlier, the more specific the search, the more the chances of a potential lead are.
You will also want to provide as much information as you can on your business profile to stand out. The more information you provide, the more trustworthy you will seem to viewers.
The listing provides a direct click to both your on-site location and website, making it a great traffic source. Provide your contact information, working hours, photos, and videos of your place. Present yourself here as such that you can be trusted.
Use Pay-per-click ads (PPC ads)
Pay-per-click ads are the “sponsored” and “ad” posts that show up on top of organic search results when the keywords are typed into the search bar.
Here, you bid a certain amount of money for Google to put your website on the top sponsored result bar. If your bid is among the highest, your post will show up at the top. You only have to pay for every time a user clicks on your ad and the cost will never exceed the budget you fixed.
Google Local Services Ads is another resource you can use to gain more local customers. This is great for location-specific businesses like plumbing. The great thing about this is that you only have to pay for it if you get contacted by a potential client.
PPC is a great tool that complements organic SEO growth because optimizing keywords takes time to get into effect but PPC brings your business in the front right away. This is great for immediate business and if you do not want to wait for SEO to do its thing. PPC visitors are also 50% more likely to buy your products than organic visitors.
Invest in content creation
Having expert guides and how-to videos will not only help with SEO, it will give people a reason to visit your website more often and keep them engaged. The more visitors and engagements your website gets, the more potential leads you will get. Focus on blogs and video content.
Blog content
Blogs will help with more in-depth explanations of a lot of plumbing-related topics. Having useful tips and tricks to share with your audience will show off your expertise and build trust for them to hire you for all kinds of plumbing problems.
Video content
Videos can be said to be the most popular form of content today. They can be more informative than pictures or words and can inform audiences about you very easily. You can cover a wide variety of topics through videos such as
- Live demonstrations of plumbing activities
- Vlogs
- Product reviews and unboxing videos
Invest in Social Media Marketing
With how prevalent social media is nowadays, opening up a business page on various social media websites is a no-brainer. A lot of potential users are always available on these sites and you can procure a lot of revenue from them. There are a lot of successful businesses that successfully run based on social media marketing alone.
Some popular sites to invest in are:
Facebook is the highest used social media platform with around 3 billion users. 71.43% of the whole population of the U.S. and 66% of the U.K. use Facebook. These days, it is almost expected that a business should have a Facebook business page.
Open up a Facebook page and regularly post content there, like the previously mentioned blogs and videos. Interact with comments moderately and answer commonly asked questions. Having a social media presence is almost a requirement these days and people enjoy interacting with an active business account.
Alongside organically growing your page, take advantage of Facebook paid ads. Earnings through Facebook ads have been growing by around 25% each year becoming one of the best platforms to advertise on. It is a PPC service so you only pay for the impressions you make.
Instagram falls under the same organization of Meta as Facebook. While Facebook has multiple features catered to the needs of a business, Instagram is more focused on sharing photos and videos. Your how-to videos and regular work photos would be a great fit on your Instagram account. Don’t forget to post the relevant hashtags along with them.
Youtube
Youtube is the largest video platform on the internet and the 2nd most popular search engine (if you can even call it that). All your content and demonstration videos will be a great fit here as most people flock to this site for video reference of anything these days.
Investing in YouTube ads is another must-do activity. With YouTube being more popular than TV nowadays, ads have also been found to be more successful on YouTube. In fact, according to a study by Ipsos, YouTube ads are 84% more effective than TV ads.
While demographic targeting is possible for both, YouTube also allows a lot more options when it comes to targeting, especially if you need to be very specific about who you want your ad to be seen by.
Slowly grow your YouTube channel organically while you push ads to your target demographic. Utilize YouTube shorts for more outreach. Similar to how you would manage your SEO and sponsored posts on the Google search bar, your paid ads will bring in a lot of customers from the get-go while the algorithm will increase your online presence with time.
TikTok
TikTok has been the fastest-growing platform in recent times, with a whopping 1.6 billion users as of now. Similar to Instagram and YouTube shorts, post short videos there for rapid outreach. The platform allows easy creation of content so take that to your advantage.
TikTok often has these very popular trends. Integrate these trends into your content ideas to get maximum benefits from this platform.
While the previous social platforms may have helped you gain more customers, LinkedIn’s value lies in establishing an authoritative figure in your industry where you can also follow other industry leaders and interact with them.
Note: Some honorable mentions are X (Formerly known as Twitter), Reddit, Pinterest, and Threads.
Have excellent customer service
Having good customer service is one of the most important yet overlooked aspects of any business. Positive interactions with customer agents can turn a lot of potential leads into successful businesses.
A lot of people stick with companies solely because of excellent customer service. It is one of the most important tools to create and maintain customer loyalty. According to a survey commissioned by Khoros, an overwhelming 83% of participants have said that customer service has turned them from one-time buyers to loyal long-time customers.
Repeat buyers are one of the most sought-after buyer groups by most businesses so make sure to train your customer representatives and employees to be as friendly and cordial to your audience. A positive interaction will satisfy a buyer even if their issue is not cleared right away.
Apply Email Marketing
Email marketing is a personalized marketing tactic you can use to target customers with a unique message catered to every potential lead. Some important points to note here are
- Send emails to people who have listed themselves to your mail services. Buying an email list and using that will not be very effective and annoy some people enough to avoid you.
- Best to send to customers who used your service to encourage repeat business.
- Have interesting subject lines to entice people to open and read your mail.
- Offer bonuses and discounts to encourage people to sign up for your emails.
Reputation management
Over 95% of consumers read online reviews, with 57% of them saying reviews changed their initial perception of a business. With statistics like this, the importance of reviews cannot be overstated.
When you are done serving one of your clients, if they seem satisfied, ask them to leave a review. Most satisfied customers will drop a good review when asked. If they seem unsatisfied, thank their business and move on.
Clients also judge a business based on how they interact with negative comments. 62% of consumers have stated they would stop using products of a business that censors reviews.
Try to engage negative reviews with an open mind and try to see if you can provide any sort of solution. Apologize for any misgivings and offer a discount if they choose to hire you again. Most customers are likely to be happy with a new discount and may continue business with you again.
Have referral programs
Having referral programs is a great way to use your current customers to spread the word about your business. Plumbing is generally a local business so referral programs can be a great way to be able to find business among a lot of people living in the same vicinity.
Be wary of who to ask for referrals. Unsatisfied clients are mostly annoyed if you ask them to refer to your services. In such cases, thank them for their patronage and move on.
Satisfied customers are likely to refer you to their friends and family on their own. Offering discounts or benefits to both the referrer and referee will increase the chances of your referral program being successful.
Use local advertising techniques
While it is important to have a strong presence online today to have a successful business, local advertising will still be able to bring you in a lot of customers which you should not avoid. Some local and Below the line (BTL) campaigns you can run are
Print marketing
Despite what hearsay may have you believe, print media marketing is not dead. Depending on a lot of situations, it can even thrive, besides all the new methods that are more popular now.
If you are trying to do business in areas where the average age is higher and internet usage is lower compared to other places, print media can attract the attention of a lot of these areas. Advertising your services through local newspapers, community newsletters, and directories will bring you a significant number of clients.
Be sure to use posters, leaflets, brochures, and coupons whenever the opportunity arises. Here is a template you can follow to design your poster.
Bulletin boards and Billboards
Bulletin can be considered to be in a similar situation as print media, decades-old marketing techniques that surprisingly can be very useful. Keep an eye out for where bulletin boards are in areas of operation and advertise your company there.
Billboards are also great for having a strong presence in any area. Make sure to use one when you get the chance.
Networking
Networking with the local people will help you spread word of mouth in the neighborhoods of your areas of operation.
Try establishing connections with town tradespeople and other house service providers to get your word around. Take part in community centers and local events such as small-town festivals and such. If you get popular, you may even be contracted to do large community projects.
Local Branding
Decorate your company vehicles with your branding color schemes and such and arrange uniforms for your employees. This will be an almost free advertisement every time you go out to provide services and will strike an impression among the neighborhoods.
Track your leads and monitor them
Lead generation is the act of attracting and converting potential customers who have shown interest in your services. You interact and guide them through your offerings to convince them to buy into your company.
For your business to take off, you will need to keep track of all your activities to understand whether actions bear results or not. All the activities we have suggested will create leads for you. You will need to analyze these leads and keep track of various aspects of them to turn them into revenue.
This can be a difficult task, which is why a lot of companies even hire separate teams for it. The benefits will be worth the hard work and investment into it. Some of them are
Growth of sales
Having a healthy pool of leads that can be converted to successful transactions will lead to healthy sales growth. Keep on growing your number of leads and your sales will surely follow.
Target marketing
Lead generation will be indicative of the proper selection of your target market. You probably will get into business with a certain target audience in mind. By keeping track of your leads, you can potentially discover segments you previously didn’t think of. As a result, you will find a bigger pool of audience to target that has a high potential to be converted into clients.
Marketing efficiency
Marketing campaigns can be expensive, especially for plumbing services. Having a decent number of leads will help take the load of the costs. You will understand which activities are resonating with your audience and which aren’t as successful as you had hoped. You can adjust your budget according to how effective your tactics are, making your marketing efforts more efficient.
ROI improvement
Lead generation and tracking will help you focus on more effective measures and cut costs on not-so-effective ones. Having more fruitful returns alongside targeting audiences that are more likely to get into your business will consequently improve your return on investments.
Competitive advantage
Having a pool of healthy leads will ensure steady growth which will ensure a certain amount of revenue every period. As a result, in a market full of competition, you will always have a chance to stay relevant.
Wrapping It Up
How do you advertise yourself as a plumber? Now you know there are many ways to go about it! Establishing your business can be a daunting task with a lot of uphill battles. We hope this article gave you ideas suited for you and will take you to the heights of success that you want to reach.
FAQ
Q. Is the plumbing business worth getting into?
Ans: Plumbing services will always be needed no matter what. With a wide range of audience, a relatively stable growth rate, and various ways to do business suited to do, it is worth getting into.
Q. Can I use this guideline for a business providing other house services?
Ans: Yes! Most of these steps mentioned are tried and true industry-wide methods that have consistently been bringing in revenue. You can use them for any business, especially for other home services.
