25 Plumber Marketing Ideas From the Professionals

1. Grow a DIY Guide

Zack West, Director of Digital Marketing, Novomotus, Inc..

Grow a do-it-yourself manual series for common household problems which you feel convinced the majority of homeowners could address themselves. These resources might be a series of articles, Infographics, or maybe only a YouTube video of you on the job. The commitment and quality demanded would be dependent on your competitors. It’s always best practice to create the highest possible quality content, but the practical truth is that you can skimp a little when there is less competition. One example that jumps to mind would be a tutorial about how best to alter the flapper valve on a residential toilet.

People who find these types of resources invaluable will become aware of your company and much more inclined to get hold of you for bigger, non-DIY jobs. You run the danger of losing out on several smaller projects by showing people the way to do things themselves but, generally, I detect the gain of perceived power and brand trust leads to better quality service chances that far outweigh that forfeit.

2. Claim Your Google My Listing Profile

Kevin Namaky, Founder, Gurulocity

Most people searching for a plumber will go straight to Google Maps or Google Search. For plumbers (and similar regional companies ), Google has essentially killed the old search results list by emphasizing Google My Business listings, to which Google Maps is closely connected.

The number one thing local companies need to do in order to boost their existence on Maps is to really claim their Google My Business listing at business.google.com (if they haven’t previously done so). Then, you need to finish and optimize all of the info in your own Google My Business profile. Google utilizes the information you compile in the profile to determine when to demonstrate your listing (like Maps) to people searching locally.

3. Talk to Your Customers, Not to Them

David Didier, Owner and Lead Consultant, Beyond Local

The largest change that plumbing professionals need to create is changing from”talking to” their marketing to”talking with” them. With our client, Garden City Plumbing & Heating, we now shifted their digital and social platforms to be a location of teaching and entertaining. We identified the questions and issues our marketplace had, we then provided honest and valuable answers. By changing to a community and conversation strategy, we chose their monthly website visitors from below 200 per month to more than 6,000 per month, and we were able to keep their schedule reserved two to five weeks out all year at 2017. Additionally, we were able to cut on their radio and marketing ad spend by 85 percent.

You may not think your site is important, but your site says more about you than you think. First off, an obsolete website suggests that you are an outdated company. If you want to be perceived as cutting edge and state of the art, your electronic assets will need to be congruent with this specific message.

4. ‘Work of Mouth’ is Just as Important as’Word of Mouth’

Mazdak Mohammadi, Owner, blueberrycloud

Most physicians I’ve worked with place all their eggs in the”word of mouth” basket, which literally needs zero work. Plumbers who supplement their”work of mouth” marketing channel with strategic and targeted networking may win the race. The first step is to locate contacts that have a greater probability of being your customer than the average person. By way of example, be time to go to all builder, developer and contracting conventions on your target geographical place. Go there, meet people, make friends and tell folks exactly what you’re about. Carry their business cards, log their contact details within an Excel spreadsheet and program time to meet and connect with them in the future. Invite them to lunch and make sure it stays super casual.

Be disciplined about your networking and follow along with obtain an advantage over your competition through better brand consciousness. As a result, the next time there’s a fallout between a plumber and his contractor, the contractor will have you on their mind to call . The same holds for the average person remembering you over the contest for everyday run-of-the-mill maintenance tasks.

Attending networking works for the very first time can be intimidating. Learn the basics of business networking within this FitSmallBusiness article to enhance your confidence and gain more leads.

5. Collaborate With Your Regional Home Improvement Contractor

Bradley Shaw, President, SEO Expert Brad

This tactic is what I predict a win-win program. Speak to your local home improvement, ideally the one you regular as a customer. Ask the manager if you can provide a quick presentation to the staff of the plumbing department. Make the presentation informative and educational, even bring a dozen or two dozen donuts. Establish your own professionalism and trust with them so if a client asks for a referral, they are prepared to provide your name. Ensure that your presentation features value and consider topics, such as the latest plumbing tendencies or common mistakes you see DIY homeowners create. Yet more, hang out business referral cards.

6. Give Off Community Coupons

Andy Curry, Marketing Expert Consultant, AndyCurry.com

Firms in a neighborhood can form a committee of state, eight to 10 companies. Each committee member then generates its own coupon to where all coupons match on a single page. Then, get thousands of copies printed and split evenly among the companies. Each company then hands from the page of vouchers to customers as they come and visit a business enterprise. Alternatively, they could place the coupon webpages in their own monthly billings to clients. This way, each business gets to take advantage of the fellow company’s traffic. The printed copies will be far cheaper than traditional advertising and, because they’re coupons, it is quite simple to test unique offers and track them for ROI.

7. Put Up Yard Signs and Cloverleafing

Al Levi, Author, The 7-Power Contractor

People like to hire plumbing companies which are already operating their immediate locality. Yard signs are a way to get your name out in front of the neighbors of the customer you are working for. When you utilize yard signs, set a goal for the number of signals that you wish to get out there every single month and participate your entire team in making it happen. “Cloverleafing” is leaving doorknob hangers at the nearby homes of the customer you have just provided service to. This should be done year-round but in the very least throughout your slow season. The very best approach to have this done is to get an apprentice or the tech reach on the four to six neighbors on each side that aren’t already your clients.

8. Create Service Pages Optimized for Plumbing Services Offered

Jim Milan, SEO Consultant, JimMilan.com

Long-tail keywords with research intent are ideal for optimizing your website’s site pages. Long-tail key words are keywords longer than three words that are highly targeted and specific. They also tend to be less competitive and easier to position than thoughts terms. Optimizing blog pages for long-tail keywords which have research intent behind them, rather than purchase purpose, is an excellent way to entice visitors who may be at the new awareness stage, farther up the purchase funnel. By way of instance, a plumbing firm could create a blog page on an extremely specific keyword phrase like”how to clear a clogged bathtub drain” then end the article with a call-to-action such as”Need help with clog elimination? Contact us today!”

9. Share Videos Your Work in Progress

Andrei Vasilescu, CEO & Digital Marketing Expert, DontPayFull

Plumbers are always desired at any premises where people dwell, so expect there are a range of plumbers present in a specific locality. However, as a good plumber, how do you establish yourself as the best service provider among other competitions? One way plumbers can offer good company against very small investments would be to use their mobile phone to take good quality videos showing how they are executing live plumbing works and place them to their FB business profile. There are many tutorials that can show you how to shoot professional quality movies with mobile phones that will save the price of hiring video professionals.

These live videos will create your target clients rely on you for audio DIY ideas and assist you to spread your expertise to a bigger audience . By the time your potential clients require professional plumbing service, you will probably be their first choice as your movies help you keep on top of their minds.

10. Target Your Marketing to Property Managers

Nate Masterson, Marketing Manager, Maple Holistics

If you’re looking for an uptick in business, look no further than flat complexes and land managers. Plumbing has a sort of catch-22 quality to it in it shouldn’t rely upon repeat business because repeat business is the opposite outcome than that which the client is searching for. For that reason, it’s more profitable to have big customers than it is to have several tiny customers.

11. Advertise Where It Is Least Expected

Robert Stephens, Marketing Director, MVPee.com

We print custom published urinal screens and completely 50 percent of our clients are plumbers. Our displays make a great advertisement because people don’t expect ads in the urinal, so they really stand out into a captive audience for 15 to 30 seconds. We help with timely topics and have stock artwork geared to plumbers, including a public service announcement telling customers to not drink and drive. There is so much advertising out there and this really cuts through the mess whilst comedy cuts through all demographics. Anything you can do to endear yourself to present or prospective customers is a plus.

12. Post Your Content Facebook Groups

Kyle Willis, Chief Strategist, No to the Quo

Service and commerce businesses can massively grow their business through the Facebook groups, especially local, community classes. These community groups always have people searching for referrals for service and trade companies like electricians, technicians, and contractors. The best way to become the”go to” referral in these groups is to begin posting content which helps people with basic plumbing demands: how to unclog a toilet, what not to flush down a drain, what to do when your septic tank has difficulties, and so on. Even though a plumber may not believe that they have the time or desire to be on Facebook writing these posts, they could employ a material marketer to be the face of the business on Facebook.

To take it a step farther, have the content marketer turn those”how to” Facebook posts into site articles for your website. Content marketing is the primary Google would like to see in helping you improve your rank on search engines and get more visitors to your website. Consider the five to 10 most common questions you get asked if you’re on the telephone with a client. Write 400 to 600 words on that topic. Now, you have five to ten ideas to your blog.

13. Run a Campaign to Honor Veterans

Josh Weiss, President, 10 to 1 Public Relations

We conduct this effort every year to draw attention to the women and men who serve or have served in the military. Each year, Forrest Anderson Plumbing and AC sets up a competition to give a deserving veteran a free air conditioning unit with installation. This is particularly essential in Arizona, where summertime heat can be fatal. We allow the community nominate deserving veterans through the company’s Facebook page and picked a winner from an internal panel. We sent out press releases, encouraged it on social networking and created video for broadcast use upon setup.

This campaign gets media coverage throughout the nomination process in addition to during the installation process for the happy winner, which we could later use for promotion on social networking.

Planning to send out a media release but don’t know where to start? This FitSmallBusiness informative article shares with you 40 examples of successful press releases match for virtually any event.

14. Run Your Paid Search Ads Just When You’re Accessible to Require Phone Calls

Kim Kohatsu, Creator, Charles Ave Marketing

Most clients will research a plumber on the internet but will then want to call and talk to someone. If you are running paid search ads, make sure you run them only when someone is available to answer the phone. Track incoming calls utilizing software, for example CallRail, so you are able to observe how many telephone leads your effort is driving. Most telephone monitoring software also allows you to capture calls, which you may use to monitor the client experience and train workers. The first phone call is a crucial point to turn leads into sales, so give it the importance it deserves.

15. Produce Location Pages on Your Site for Smaller Service Spots

Mike Terry, Lead SEO Specialist, NAV43

In case the plumber’s most important city is someplace like Mesa, Arizona, they may be eager to service the nearby areas like Apache Junction, Gilbert, and Gold Canyon. Even in Mesa, in addition, there are a number of neighborhood and community names that users may search for plumbers in. These smaller population areas typically have less SEO competition and, though the plumber has been situated elsewhere, they can nevertheless service those areas readily and ranking organically on Google will induce some nice prospects for surrounding areas.

16. Use Different Marketing Strategies for Past Clients and New Firms

Bob Herman, Co-Founder and President, IT Tropolis

Plumbers should market with different strategies to various audiences. For past customers, we recommend a campaign of direct mail with followup email and social ads. Studies indicate that a mixture of both offline and online digital advertising produces the maximum ROI. For new business, we recommend PPC and search ads. When folks need plumbing services, they frequently search online thus getting in front of the prospect in the moment of lookup is crucial. In this case, well-designed landing pages that result in a high conversion rate ensures campaign success. In the end, monitoring and reporting on what is effective and what’s not will help enhance ROI iteratively.

17. Use ClickFunnels as Your Own Marketing Tool

Dave Woodward, Chief Revenue and Business Development Officer, ClickFunnels

ClickFunnels is a superb advertising tool for many different entrepreneurs, including plumbers. ClickFunnels permits you to make a website easily and, more importantly, a sales funnel. Sales funnels are what you use to walk a possible client through signing up for your plumbing services after landing on your website or internet ad. ClickFunnels allows you to send the client a coupon or invite that customer to create an appointment also gives you their contact info, along with a lot more. The very best part of ClickFunnels is that it’s intuitive to use, and they even have free online training classes for all those plumbers interested in knowing more about advertising.

18. Get Listed on Other Lookup Platforms

Kate Walker, Owner, Get Better Traffic

Ensure your business and site are listed with each one of the leading search engines and that the information is uniform across all platforms. This implies ensuring that Yahoo, Bing, Yelp, Citysearch, Hotfrog and many others all have your information. Making sure your listings all represent exactly the same address and phone number is important as well. Google and other search engines rely upon these”secondary” search engines for indicators which a company is established and legitimate. Having listings that disagree on fundamental contact information creates a company look like it isn’t as established as it should be or as reliable. This can result in Google considering it a less reliable answer to search questions.

19. Partner With a Regional Independent Hardware Store

Bruce A. Hurwitz, Ph.D., Executive Recruiter and Career Counselor, Hurwitz Strategic Staffing, Ltd..

In order to entice new clients, the independent plumber should partner with applicable local companies, first of all, independent neighborhood hardware stores. They will be considering partnering since it is a way to compete against Home Depot and Lowe’s. The technicians should provide classes on how to make easy, emphasis on simple, repairs. Serve refreshments and people will come. Both the shop and the plumber will, hopefully, get new organization.

20. Engage in Trade Shows or Home Shows

Ellen Cagnassola, Marketing Manager, Pipe Works Services

Trade shows are a fantastic place to interact with potential clients and find a true pulse in their concerns while teaching them. We provide a service known as permanent-lining for sewer repair, which is dig-free. That means you don’t need to destroy your landscaping such as the conventional method. The machine we display in shows draws a crowd and you then understand that education is a big part of the marketing process. Trade shows or house shows give you an in-person opportunity to educate and clarify your services. Customer service is truly important and should you describe your process in a manner that will be”white glove,” folks are intrigued.

Also in case you do a live presentation, the sound can attract a crowd. Everybody wants an audience which may make a Q&A session immediately.

Participating in trade shows is a sure method to get your business more exposure but understanding how to create great display is key. This FitSmall Business article provides you inspiring trade show display ideas to make your booth stand out and attract more leads.

21. Know the Basics for Creating a Plumbing Marketing Plan

Marketing, generally speaking, has three components, and it’s significant that these are in the core of your plumbing advertising strategy. However, it’s easy to lose focus on the fundamentals with all these approaches and formats easily available online. This runs the risk of your strategy being limited and finally ineffective in the long term. Learn more about how to apply principles of marketing to come up with your plumbing marketing strategy by reading this report.

22. Teach Your Team to Handle Service-Recovery

Service-oriented businesses will do everything to make sure that their project is of high quality, however once in a while, there will be dissatisfied clients that will require attention so as to maintain their business. For plumbers, a favorable review or testimonial is a significant marketing approach so complaints will need to be taken seriously. If handled properly, these complaints may become a fantastic chance to enhance a business’s brand. Consider these tips in creating a service recovery process to help in resolving problems of unsatisfied customers.

23. Use Your Business Card as a Referral Form

Basically, business cards are already referral types but adding a personal touch to your business cards can boost its advertising potential easily. Include a referral program for your customers who would pass on your business card for their friends and family. By encouraging your clients to discuss your card, your business is encouraged by word of mouth.

24. Boost Your Response Letter to a Client Price Complaint

For service-oriented companies like plumbing contractors, it’s not unusual to receive price complaints from your customers. While it can look concerning at first glance, this is your client’s method of giving you a second chance to provide them with the customer satisfaction they look for, just enough to allow them to leave a great review once the contract together is finished. You may provide your clients a discount due to their next service, an extension of their warranty service or offer a one-time price adjustment which not just solves the matter but turns out an unhappy customer to one with a fantastic referral story too. Customer complaints are a great opportunity to boost customer loyalty and retention, and therefore it is important that you are ready to make the most of your answer with an ROI-boosting criticism response correspondence.

25. Send Warranty Reminder Cards

Warranties are important to clients so offer them something apart from the usual call or email reminder. Send your clients a guarantee reminder card at least a month before the expiration to provide them and yourself a opportunity to chat about any problems that they may have. Layout your reminder card, providing them an option to respond to their own favorite time and date for consultation. Include your contact info and any special bargains you might want to offer to keep them loyal to your brand. Whether you want a printed or a gentle edition, the objective is to make your customers feel special. This online shop offers reminder card templates which it is easy to personalize and download at no cost.