This plumber marketing strategy guide will give you 10 out of the box tips to help your plumbing company blow up!
We literally watched one of our most successful home services companies implement these strategies and many of these things helped them get acquired for tens of millions of dollars by a national brand.
Here are 10 of those out of the box methods to make it happen.
1. Arrange A Meet For Your Fleet
[Summary] Get your trucks all branded and wrapped. Make the colors bright and snappy. Then leverage a mass spectacle in your town or city. Roll deep with every asset you own and meet for breakfast once or twice a week at a different location each time. People will notice.
Finding ways to make your business stand out from the crowd isn’t always easy. However, with a little creative thinking, it is often possible to do this by using the resources that you already have. The branded vans and trucks that your engineers and technicians use are a great way to gain free promotion on the roads. Uniting them as one will create an even bigger punch.
One of the best options is to have the entire fleet of branded vehicles meet up at a specific time and place. Do this in a place with a lot of foot traffic, and people will take note. Drive them into a formation and you’ll create an even bigger impact, which can be repeated by visiting other areas throughout the city or state. Just be sure that the trucks and vans are all clean before the meet.
Aside from the immediate benefits, this will provide some excellent photography opportunities, particularly when you choose a decent backdrop. These images may gain local press coverage, be used on the company website, or used in a variety of alternative solutions. Either way, you should find that arranging a meet can be one of the most powerful branding techniques of all.
Overall, this will create an extremely memorable impression for the people that saw it while also highlighting that you have a large team as well as the right vehicles. The organizational aspects, combined with the cleanliness of the vehicles, will have a telling impact on the brand appearance too. This unique element of getting people to talk is very useful too.
#2. Embrace The Power Of Recommendation
[Summary] People are going to research your online reviews. Use a company that makes that review collection easy while utilizing the power of technology to mitigate bad reviews and emphasize the good ones.
While it’s very important to run positive ad campaigns, you should accept that the impartial words of other customers will have a far bigger impact than self-boasts or bragging. Getting lots of verified positive reviews and testimonials should, therefore, become a priority or all plumbing companies and traders. After all, reputations count for everything when seeking new clients.
The term ‘verified’ carries huge significance because consumers (and B2B clients) will have cynical thoughts and won’t simply believe statements such as “90% of our customers are happy” without citations. Therefore, using Trust Pilot or Google Reviews can be highly beneficial. The verified third-party platforms will go a long way to inspiring trust, which will send conversions soaring.
While reviews from other clients will have a huge impact on prospective customers, you should not ignore other forms of recommendation. People talk and the referrals gained from friends and family are shown to be the most effective tool of all. Encouraging customers to start talking through affiliate schemes can be a particularly popular strategy.
First and foremost, recommendations and referrals bring increased trust and generate hot leads. Another key feature to consider, however, is the fact that any benefits gained from the endeavours of other people will come without any additional effort on your behalf. In today’s climate, you could look at social influencers too, especially when the plumbing firm operates on a national level.
#3. Partner With Some Big Names
[Summary] Hire someone who is dedicated to establishing and maintaining relationships in your locale. We watched a local company partner with the local Home Depots and it blew up their brand.
In the world of modern business, it’s very easy to adopt the ‘us versus the world’ philosophy. This is especially true when providing a service such as plumbing. In reality, though, there are several outside companies that you can partner with in order to boost your marketing strategies. In truth, it may be the secret weapon to success.
The best option is to link up with companies that sell water heaters, boilers, or other products that could potentially require the help of a plumber for installation, servicing, or future repairs. The major retail outlets like Home Depot and Lowes stand out as prime candidates. However, the nationwide companies aren’t the only ones to consider.
Teaming up with local bathroom showrooms and other associated businesses can be equally telling. For starters, the mutually beneficial relationship can lead to increased custom as you work on behalf of your partner to complete those various jobs. Meanwhile, simply having your logo displayed in-store or on their marketing strategies can bring increased success.
Spare part suppliers are another good option. In return for using their parts, they can send their customers to you when in need of a plumber. Essentially, it’s a form of networking that will boost awareness and sales in one fell swoop. Frankly, then, striking a winning partnership in the near future should be considered essential for all plumbers – local or national.
#4. Use Proximity Beacons In Your Trucks
[Summary] There is something called a proximity beacon. You can place one in your trucks and then everywhere your trucks go, those beacons will send push notifications to people’s phones up to a certain range.
Beacon marketing isn’t a strategy that is commonly used by plumbing companies, but that shouldn’t deter you. If anything, it should be seen as an additional incentive to capitalize on the opportunity currently being missed by your competitors. Using Beacon Stac or a similar service to install battery-powered beacons into your fleet of vehicles can make a world of difference.
Once installed, the beacons use WiFi and Bluetooth signals to connect to devices in the nearby area before sending push notifications via SMS or App notifications. This is a particularly strong strategy for encouraging past customers to use your services again, as well as convert sales from prospective leads that have shown a genuine interest in potentially using your services.
If a customer does contact the company on the back of receiving a notification, it’s likely that an agent or technician will be ready to complete a visit very soon. This speedy response can have a huge impact on their subsequent decision as to whether your service signals a worthy investment. It’s also a great way to get even more value out of the company vehicles.
The types of notifications sent to users can be tailored accordingly, focusing on a specific plumbing service depending on your location or time of year. It’s even possible to use their previous investments and history to tailor the correspondence sent from the beacon. When used in an effective fashion, then, this can transform your marketing strategies entirely.
#5. Utilize Plumber Optimized Pay Per Click Ad Campaigns
[Summary] PPC gets you leads… if it’s done right. It is predictable and easily analyzed for ROI.
They say that there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world, and this is especially true in the world of marketing. Despite the fact that some campaigns and ideas can be incorporated for free, you will inevitably need to spend money to gain leads. As such, it’s imperative that you make the right investments. Efficient PPC adverts are perhaps the best option at your disposal.
PPC ads ensure that your business gets seen. Moreover, the fact that you only pay for clicks rather than impressions reduces any potential waste, making this a far better option than many offline ad campaigns. Meanwhile, it’s very easy to track the progress of all PPC ads, giving you the very best chance to adjust your strategies to guarantee the best long-term returns.
Hiring experts to ensure that PPC bidding is handled in the right way will help your budget work harder. More importantly, you should use filters and analytics to ensure that adverts reach the right demographic of homeowners, landlords, and businesses in the local area while also focusing on those that have shown an interest in upgrades, servicing, and other plumbing-related items.
A good PPC campaign can be one of the most effective strategies of all, particularly in regards to the Return on Investment figures. In truth, no business can afford to operate a digital marketing strategy without getting this aspect under control, and plumbing contractors and companies shouldn’t be exempt from this.
#6. Give Added Value With Low Cost Or Even Free Visits
[Summary] Invest a little to gain a lot. If you’re always gouging people, word will get out. But if people start talking about how you did things for a very low cost or even free from time to time, word will travel. I had a plumber at one of the most successful companies in the state come to my house and I expected to pay hundreds. He charged me $35 bucks. It endeared me to them forever. So when my water heater goes out, guess who I’m going to call?
Everybody loves getting value for money, and there’s no greater value than getting something for free. When you go the extra mile to provide your customers with something for free, it can encourage them to take a far more positive view on your products and services. Moreover, many consumers will look for the additional incentives to choose one plumber over another. Embrace it.
There are many options at your disposal, such as offering free (or very low call out charges) or a free annual service following installations. Even something as simple as offering free telephone calls and video chats to talk users through simple fixes like adding pressure to the boiler can make a big difference. Crucially, it’s something that can impact commercial contracts as well as residential ones.
It’s also worth remembering that the small gestures can go a long way to securing long-term customer loyalty. Rather than spending heavily to win new customers, try to keep existing clients happy. Providing cables ties or an overflow reducer without charging the customer will cost you a couple of dollars at most, but could result in an increased Customer Lifetime Value worth thousands.
When you treat customers well, they will inevitably return the favor by choosing your service time and time again. This is especially true when you follow this approach with quality services. Better still, this approach will almost always lead to recommendations by the client when speaking to friends and family, which means your audience can grow alongside the value of each customer.
#7. Volunteer Coupons and Discounts
[Summary] Imagine you’re getting work done on your house and then you get the bill and then the technician volunteers a coupon that you didn’t know about in order to save you money. Sweet right? Also, coupons on your PPC landing pages rule. They increase conversions consistently.
Sticking with the idea of promoting value for money, offering coupons that entitle users to a discount can generate big returns. Moreover, by using timed promotions, such as 20% if they book an appointment or service in the next 48 hours, forces visitors to make a choice. Even if the conversion rates are low, the speed of conversions ensures that the overall returns are positive.
Coupons can be sent via email, on PPC adverts, or even in traditional marketing. However, studies show that landing pages with 40+ landing pages generate 1200% more leads than those with five. So, attaching coupons to the landing pages relating to specific services can work wonders, not least when they form a part of your CTAs (calls-to-action) that would naturally appear on the page.
One of the very best features of this marketing strategy is that there are no risks. It doesn’t cost any money to create a landing page or operate a sales coupon. The only expense comes from the slight reduction in profits, but this is a good trade in return for guaranteed sales. And if you fail to acquire additional sales through this method, you won’t have wasted money on an ineffective solution.
The money off coupons are a particularly good way to promote servicing and other jobs that homeowners have been putting off despite knowing deep down that they should be completed. This is one of the best situations in which to send the coupons in email marketing, especially if a user has previously requested a quote or further information about a particular service.
#8. Make Sure Someone Is Managing Your Directories
[Summary] This is plumbing marketing SEO 101. Get listed in every online local directory with good reviews and with consistent information. This is the key to ranking in Google Maps.
It’s important to reach out to people through successful marketing strategies, but the reality of the situation is that most of your business will come from people actively seeking plumbing service. After all, it’s not like buying a t-shirt or a kitchen gadget that may be an impulse buy. Items and services associated with plumbing are bought out of necessity. And most people find service based companies online.
With this in mind, it’s essential that your business boasts great visibility on any platform that users may utilize to search for local plumbers. Google and search engines are the first ports of call for most prospective clients, which is why investing in SEO is vital. Right now, the Google My Business listing tool is one of the most significant features by far. Signing up for yours is vital.
A good GMB listing that includes all the necessary NAP details and regular updates, including photos, will give you the best shot of appearing on the Snack Pack at the top of page one on the SERPs. Given that over half of clicks for local services are gained by these spots, it can have a telling impact on traffic. Better still, the visits will be considered hot leads as they’re ready to buy.
Google isn’t the only place that people will search. Therefore, it’s important to appear on other local business directories like Yelp and the Yellow Pages. A lot of plumbers forget to do this, which makes it far easier to climb to the top positions. When added to the benefits gained for your SEO and general visibility, the incentives for signing up to all business and industry listings are clear.
#9. Embrace The Local Community
[Summary] Hire someone that is 100% focused on partnerships and local events. Find ways to give and to get involved. It will come back to you in spades.
It’s one of the oldest cliches in the manual, but there’s no denying that you often get more out of life when you’re prepared to put more in. When combined with the fact that consumers are more interested in the people behind the brand than ever before. Therefore, some of the best marketing strategies have nothing to do with plumbing. Instead, they’re all about giving something back.
Participating in local events can be a great way to meet prospective clients and spread the word. Opening a stall at the event to run demonstrations of how to check for plumbing problems or what to do following a leak will grab the attention. As long as your talks are memorable, it’ll keep the business fresh in their minds. Promotional gifts like key-rings and t-shirts are great additions too.
Given that you work in the field of plumbing, supporting water-related initiatives in Africa or developing communities can win new fans too. Environmental issues are extremely important right now too, which is why showing how your services and greener technologies help will also gain positive reactions from existing and prospective customers alike.
Showing that you care is one of the most powerful branding tools of all. Perhaps one of the least creative but effective ways to achieve this is through sponsoring an event. This ensures that your company is promoted on all marketing materials and will gain press coverage as a direct result. In truth, the impacts can be far greater than your own endeavors. And you’ll be helping society.
This approach will certainly aid the commercial relationships that your company possesses. However, home customers are the ones that will respond best to these, especially when you offer a coupon on a service that they need right now. Landing pages for those services and geographic locations will also bring a lot of organic searches from hot leads, so you should see big ROIs.
#10. Your Technicians Are Everything. Hire The Best.
[Summary] It’s not too long… read below: 👇
Last but not least, you should invest heavily in assembling the right technicians. Word of mouth will spread quickly if your team performs in a winning fashion. Ensure that they represent the business in a winning manner, and the results will soon shine through. If you’re looking to secure loyal custom, this is one of the most important ingredients in the recipe for success.
