Why Plumbing Marketing Is Essential for GrowthFresh plumbing marketing ideas are the key to winning more leads! In this article, Valve+Meter Performance Marketing shares practical tips for plumbers looking to improve their digital marketing strategies.
Today’s potential customers find local businesses in entirely new ways.
With insights from our experienced plumber marketing agency, you’ll discover fresh perspectives on attracting new customers and keeping current clients engaged.
We’ll cover everything from defining your ideal customer to dominating online search results. Get actionable tips and strategies to transform your plumbing business – starting today!
Why Plumbing Marketing Is Essential for Growth
Marketing is the lifeline of your plumbing business’s growth, enabling you to:
- Stand Out in a Crowded Market: In a sea of competitors, effective marketing ensures your business shines, highlighting your unique selling points and the value you offer to customers.
- Connect with Your Ideal Clients: By understanding your target audience, you can tailor your messaging to address their specific needs and pain points, attracting the right customers to your business.
- Build Trust and Credibility: Establishing a strong online presence, garnering positive reviews, and maintaining consistent messaging all contribute to building trust, reassuring potential customers that you’re the reliable choice.
- Gain a Competitive Advantage: Effective marketing strategies allow you to outshine your competitors and position yourself as the go-to plumber in your area.
A plumbing business delivers local services. Small business owners lead most. When marketing strategies for plumbers become focused on the latest technologies and marketing platforms, things can quickly go awry.
Stop chasing the latest plumbing marketing ideas and focus on local customers within your service area.
Plumbing companies succeed when they turn great customer service into a brand name. This starts long before your target audience ever sees your name or visits your website.
The best marketing campaigns for plumbers align your business goals with your lead generation efforts.
Understanding Your Target Market
Who exactly are you trying to reach with your plumbing services?
The homeowners and commercial businesses within your service area are unique. Knowing where they spend time and how they search for plumbing services helps you tailor your marketing efforts effectively.
By understanding the specific needs and preferences of your target market, you can craft messages that resonate deeply with them.
Does your service area include many older homes? Is there a trend in your community for green plumbing technology?
By aligning your services with their most pressing plumbing concerns, you ensure that your marketing speaks directly to their unique requirements.
How Do I Market Myself as a Plumber?
Knowing your target audience is the first step, but defining your plumbing company’s identity is equally crucial.
This is a big question. Even for a plumbing company that has been established for years, working with a plumbing agency can help you answer some key questions about your business.
Marketing yourself as a plumber involves showcasing your unique strengths and expertise. Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, branding is essential. Nowadays, customers are more likely to search online for local plumbing services than ever.
In fact, 97% of internet users turn to online searches to find local businesses. If your plumbing company’s identity doesn’t stand out online, it’s time to consider a ThinkFirst session with Valve+Meter!
To enhance your plumbing business’s reach, consider elements like slogans, taglines, logos, and brand colors that create a memorable online presence.
You want to reflect professionalism and reliability? Or do you prefer to be seen as a down-to-earth plumbing business that doesn’t take itself too seriously?
Defining your plumbing company’s identity is more crucial than any marketing tactic or strategy.
Why do customers choose your plumbing business? Analyze your current customer base and ask new clients. Showcase your skills and experience on platforms where potential customers are likely to find you.
In the following sections, we’ll explore digital plumbing marketing strategies that ensure your business is top-of-mind when someone in your area needs a plumber.
By understanding the ‘why’ behind your business, marketing ideas will flow more naturally.
Leveraging Online Marketing for Your Plumbing Business
In today’s digital world, a professional plumbing website is non-negotiable. It’s often the first point of contact between you and potential clients, so make sure it’s well-designed, user-friendly, and showcases your services effectively.
To increase your website’s visibility, utilize search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. This will help your site rank higher in search engine results, making it easier for prospective customers to find you. Additionally, make the most of social media platforms. They offer a great way to engage with your audience, build brand awareness, and showcase your expertise through helpful tips, project highlights, and customer testimonials.
12 Marketing Tips For Plumbers To Achieve Lasting Results
Let’s get to it.
Consider these questions and see how our marketing tips can help.
Are You Making the Right First Impression?
Your plumbing website is a direct connection between your business and the modern consumer. Nearly half of all online searches have local intent.
What does that mean for your plumbing company?
If your plumbing website looks dated, loads slowly, or is missing a key plumbing service you offer, then you are going to miss out on plumbing leads.
Tip 1: Invest in a professional website.
Why It Works
Your website should appear in Google search results within your service area. We’ll discuss how to achieve this shortly, but first, let’s address any issues with your plumbing website.
A well-designed, user-friendly website not only effectively showcases your plumbing services but also establishes credibility and professionalism.
Your plumbing company must be visible online and across all devices. This means your website must function flawlessly on both desktop and mobile devices.
Modern designs and clear contact information set your plumbing company up to win more plumbing customers.
Your website is a lead generation tool not just a digital business card.
Is Your Plumbing Business Easy to Find Online?
Why does one plumbing company always seem to rank ahead of other plumbing businesses in Google search?
Google search results in the local pack and organic results are earned based on hundreds of ranking factors.
The most basic factors considered by search engines are: relevance, proximity, and prominence.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving your plumbing business reach online.
Tip 2: Utilize SEO techniques.
Why It Works
There is no magic wand to twirl around your website and suddenly change how Google search results work.
You need to use consistent and ongoing marketing strategies to improve the content, structure, and perception of your website.
Content includes finding and utilizing plumbing keywords throughout the relevant service pages. This helps search crawlers connect plumbing leads looking for those services with your website.
The structure refers to how your website functions and how it is organized. You can build an incredible website, but are you creating a seamless user journey from every landing page to contact forms and other calls-to-action? Menus, internal linking, and other technical structures improve the user experience.
Perception builds online reputation. This refers to earning reviews and backlinks from local directories and citation websites. The more prominent your website is across the internet, the more likely you are to outrank your competitors?
Are You Connecting with Your Audience Where They Spend Their Time?
If your plumbing company is running paid advertisements on radio, television, or through paid search online, but not reaching prospective customers, then you are wasting marketing dollars.
Research helps you find new customers by marketing on the right channels.
Tip 3: Engage on social media.
Why It Works
Social media platforms are where much of your audience spends their time.
In fact, Americans spend on average 2 hours 24 minutes on social media each day.
By actively engaging on these platforms, you can build brand awareness, showcase your expertise through helpful tips, project highlights, and customer testimonials, and create a community around your brand.
But you don’t just have to build an organic following. Paid social ads can deliver your plumbing brand to a very specific audience often more effectively than traditional Google Ads.
This not only enhances your reputation but also promotes trust and loyalty among potential and existing customers.
Is Your Plumbing Business Standing Out in Local Searches?
Improving your Google search results is not limited to website optimization. Optimizing your Google Business Profile other online plumbing directories can get your business page noticed and drive plumbing leads.
Tip 4: Optimize your Google Business Profile.
Why It Works
A complete and accurate Google Business Profile is essential for boosting your visibility in local search results. Formerly known as Google My Business, this profile appears in Google Maps and alongside your home page when someone Google’s your plumbing company by name.
If someone refers to your plumbing business or when potential new customers notice that incredible new vehicle wrap design, they may find this business page without ever visiting your website.
By keeping your profile updated with your latest information, including services, hours, and contact details, you make it easier for potential customers in your area to find and choose your plumbing business when they need it most.
Essentially, your Google Business Profile is a second website that only appears on Google’s network.
Are You Being Found by Customers in Your Local Area?
Let’s slice through some confusion when it comes to SEO. There is conventional SEO that every plumbing marketing plan should deploy.
Unlike national brands or e-commerce websites, you are serving new customers within a specific geographic area.
Local SEO adds an additional layer of content and technical structures to your website to increase visibility in local search.
Tip 5: Employ local SEO strategies.
Why It Works
Your plumbing company needs to reach people searching from within your service area.
When someone searches for “plumber near me,” search engines display relevant results. This means you don’t need to compete with businesses outside of your service area.
The challenge is Google and Bing don’t know who you serve unless you tell them. Creating city pages, service specific content, and high-quality local content marketing solves this quandary.
Focusing on local SEO helps ensure that your plumbing services are visible to customers in your specific geographic area.
Are Your Ads Reaching the Right People at the Right Time?
Many plumbing marketing campaigns use Pay-per-click ads on Google, Bing, and social media platforms. Are you using your marketing dollars effectively?
Tip 6: Use Google PPC Ads for targeted advertising.
Why It Works
A core philosophy of Valve+Meter is to execute effective and sustainable online marketing. We call this Math-Before-Marketing.
PPC ads allow you to carefully select keywords and craft compelling ad copy, ensuring that your plumbing services are displayed to the right audience when they’re most likely to need them.
This targeted approach increases the chances of your ads being seen by potential customers who are actively searching for plumbing services.
But are you counting the wrong metric?
Clicks don’t matter. Only plumbing leads become new customers. Measuring the right metrics of your PPC campaigns leads to higher conversion rates and better ROI for your advertising efforts.
More on that later in our tips.
Are You Maximizing Your Visibility in Local Searches?
Google Local Service Ads are specialized pay-per-lead ads. As part of a broader digital marketing strategy and your PPC campaigns, these ads can vault your plumbing company to the top of search results and local map packs alike.
Tip 7: Leverage Google Local Services Ads.
Why It Works
Google Local Services Ads are specifically designed for local service providers, offering prime visibility at the top of search results.
The pay-per-lead model ensures that you only pay when a potential customer contacts you directly through the ad, making it a cost-effective way to connect with people actively searching for plumbing services in your area.
These ads display above all other ads and organic results. You also have the added benefit of Google’s reputation screening your plumbing company for new customers that may not have heard of your business prior to searching.
Are You Keeping Your Plumbing Business Top-of-Mind?
One of the best sources of new customers are existing customers. This can include referral business, online reviews, social likes, and word-of-mouth.
Email marketing can help you with plumbing marketing strategy and stay engaged with existing customers.
Tip 8: Implement email marketing.
Why It Works
Email marketing allows you to craft personalized and relevant content that keeps your business top-of-mind for existing customers.
By regularly communicating with your customers, you can strengthen relationships, provide valuable information, and gently remind them of your services, encouraging repeat business and referrals.
Plumbing marketing can use great content from blogs, social media, and videos within your email campaigns.
Are You Encouraging Your Customers to Spread the Word?
Everyone asks for referral business, but how can you say thank you consistently?
Tip 9: Create a customer referral program.
Why It Works
Offering incentives for customers to refer your services to others can significantly boost word-of-mouth marketing and loyalty.
Whether it’s discounts, gift cards, or other rewards, a referral program motivates satisfied customers to become advocates for your business, helping you grow your client base organically.
Are You Building Trust and Credibility with Online Reviews?
Referral programs can also help manage online reviews. Creating a formal program with your happy customers is often overlooked in a digital marketing strategy.
When you perform a great service, people are likely to reward you.
Tip 10: Manage online reviews.
Why It Works
Positive online reviews are crucial for building trust and credibility in the plumbing industry.
By actively encouraging satisfied customers to leave feedback and responding promptly and professionally to both positive and negative reviews, you demonstrate your commitment to customer satisfaction and can turn a potentially negative situation into a positive one.
Make the process easy with a simple mention on your invoices.
A QR code to Google Business Profile is even easier!
Include links to your review pages in email marketing campaigns.
Most importantly, respond to every positive review with clear and courteous recognition.
Are You Using Video to Showcase Your Plumbing Expertise?
From your website and Facebook business page to YouTube and Instagram, videos can help you standout.
Tip 11: Explore video marketing.
Why It Works
Video marketing allows you to create concise, informative, and visually appealing videos that showcase your plumbing services and expertise.
Videos also let you show your personality to potential customers.
By sharing these videos on your website and social media channels, you can engage potential customers, demonstrate your skills, and build trust, making it more likely for them to choose your services when they need a plumber.
Let’s face it, there’s plenty of plumbing projects that homeowners think they can solve without a plumber. Videos help the DIYer become a plumbing lead.
Are You Measuring the Impact of Your Marketing?
No? Then you are wasting your marketing budget on tactics that don’t drive results.
Even in the most well planned and finely researched marketing strategy, there are opportunities for improvement.
Tip 12: Measure your marketing success.
Why It Works
Utilizing analytics tools to track website traffic, social media engagement, and conversion rates provides insights into the effectiveness of your marketing strategies.
The real way to measure the return on marketing spend is by connecting these metrics to your CRM. Knowing the source of your plumbing customers allows you to build a repeatable, scalable, and profitable marketing strategy.
By regularly reviewing these metrics and adjusting your strategies based on data and feedback, you can ensure that your marketing efforts continue to drive results and growth for your plumbing business, making your marketing more efficient and cost-effective.
A Final Checklist On Plumber Marketing Tips
In conclusion, your plumbing company’s health and future are never decided by one marketing tip or even a comprehensive set of plumber marketing strategies.
Valve+Meter collaborates with plumbing companies on innovative digital marketing strategies, but the ultimate success will always be operating your business effectively.
When you earn great online reviews, manage your online reputation, plan a sustainable and profitable marketing campaign, and continually improve the quality of your plumbing services, great things happen for you.
Consider how each of the following marketing tips for your plumbing brand:
- Invest in a professional website.
- Utilize SEO techniques.
- Engage on social media.
- Optimize your Google Business Profile.
- Employ local SEO strategies.
- Use Google Ads for targeted advertising.
- Leverage Google Local Services Ads.
- Implement email marketing.
- Create a customer referral program.
- Manage online reviews.
- Explore video marketing.
- Measure your marketing success.
If you are missing any element from this checklist, then it may be time to assess your current digital marketing efforts and identify areas for improvement.
Ready To Build A Better Marketing Campaign?
Connect with Valve+Meter for a comprehensive plumbing marketing consultation. Our free marketing assessment includes a one on one consultation with our strategists to help you maximize lead generation and eliminate marketing tactics that don’t drive results.