The importance of marketing for a plumbing business
While word-of-mouth recommendations have always been valuable, a robust marketing strategy is the key to attracting new customers and ensuring your business thrives. In fact, according to a 2015 survey by Software Service, 96% of homeowners reported using online reviews to find a plumber.
Here’s why digital marketing for plumbers deserves a prominent place in your business toolbox:
Cut through the competition
The plumbing industry is full of qualified professionals which basically means you have competition in every area and sector. However, you may need to have a clear plumbing marketing plan if you want to stand out from the crowd.
Through this means, you will be able to showcase attributes that would attract prospective clients. Once you put out your unique selling points, exceptional service, and positive customer reviews, you convince potential customers that you’re the plumber they need.
Do you read online reviews for businesses?
Build brand awareness
A strong brand naturally creates a sense of reliability and trustworthiness. According to a WebFX study, 86% of customers check reviews before doing business with a local company.
So, incorporating marketing strategies like a professional website, social media presence, and plumbing ads ensures your business name is out there. Gradually, your business will begin to get more recognition and make you the go-to plumber in your service area.
Attract new customers
Effective marketing for plumbers doesn’t just build awareness; it actively attracts new customers. Search engine optimization (SEO) ensures your website appears at the top of online searches for local plumbers. Social media allows you to connect with potential customers and showcase your expertise.
Educate and inform
People don’t always know when they need a plumber. But the truth is there’s usually a case in the house, office, or industry that requires proven plumbing services. By creating informative content like blog posts and videos offering DIY tips, troubleshooting advice, and preventative maintenance guides, you position yourself as a trusted resource.
This establishes your expertise and makes potential customers more likely to call you when they do have a plumbing issue.
How to build a strong online presence for your plumbing business
A clogged website and a stagnant social media presence are the last things you want for your plumbing business. Homeowners are turning to the internet more than ever to find local services, so establishing a strong online presence is essential to attract new customers and keep your business flowing.
Here’s how to grow a plumbing business with the power of social media
1. Create a professional website
A professional website serves as the foundation of your online presence and is often the first point of contact for potential customers. Think of it as your online storefront —you have to make a positive first impression with a user-friendly design, clear navigation, and high-quality visuals.
Include essential information such as your services and services areas. Highlight your expertise with testimonials, and ensure your contact information is prominent and easy to find.
2. Optimize for local search
Optimizing your website for local search is helpful for attracting customers in your service area. Incorporate relevant keywords related to plumbing services and your location throughout your website content, meta tags, and headings.
Claim and optimize your Google My Business listing to improve your visibility in local search results. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews, as proven plumbing reviews can enhance your credibility and rankings. Naturally, a business with happy customers will build a good reputation, allowing it to attract top-level offers and clients.
3. Utilize search engine optimization (SEO)
Implementing SEO strategies can help improve your website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) and drive organic traffic. Conduct keyword research to identify the terms and phrases your target audience is searching for, and optimize your plumbing website content accordingly.
Focus on creating high-quality, informative content that addresses common plumbing issues, FAQs, and tips. Additionally, optimize your website’s technical aspects, such as page speed, mobile-friendliness, and metadata.
4. Leverage social media platforms
Social media platforms offer valuable opportunities to engage with your audience, showcase your services, and build relationships. Create profiles on popular platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and regularly post updates, photos, videos, and promotions.
Engage with followers by responding to comments, messages, and inquiries promptly. Utilize social media marketing for plumbers to target specific demographics and expand your reach.
5. Generate content regularly
If you are looking for how to get more plumbing leads, content marketing is a powerful strategy for establishing credibility, attracting traffic, and nurturing your generated leads. To do this, you must create informative blog posts, articles, videos, infographics, or podcasts that address common plumbing issues, maintenance tips, and DIY solutions.
Simply providing valuable content can position your business as an authority in the industry and build trust with your audience. So don’t hesitate to share your content across your website, social media, email newsletters, and other channels to maximize its reach.
How to leverage social media to attract customers
Social media today isn’t just about sharing funny cat videos (although, those can be pretty entertaining) or vacation photos. For businesses, it can be a powerful tool to connect with potential customers, build brand awareness, and ultimately, attract new clients.
Choose the right platforms
Start by identifying the social media platforms where your target audience is most active. For a plumbing company, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are often effective for reaching homeowners, property managers, and businesses in need of the best plumbing services. Focus your efforts on platforms where you can connect with your target demographic most effectively.
Optimize your profiles
Create professional and visually appealing profiles on your chosen social media platforms. Use high-quality images, your logo, and a compelling bio that clearly communicates your services and value proposition. Include essential contact information, such as your phone number, email address, and website URL, to make it easy for potential customers to reach out to you.
Share engaging content
Create and share engaging content that resonates with your audience and showcases your expertise in the plumbing industry. Share tips for common plumbing issues, maintenance advice, DIY solutions, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of your team in action. Use a mix of photos, videos, infographics, and written posts to keep your content fresh and engaging.
Encourage interaction and engagement
Encourage interaction and engagement with your audience by asking questions, running polls, and hosting Q&A sessions. Respond promptly to comments, messages, and inquiries to show that you value customer feedback and are attentive to their needs. At the end or beginning of each content you should learn to acknowledge the community by thanking your followers for their support.
Implementing SEO strategies to increase visibility
For your plumbing business to thrive online, you need to understand how to befriend these digital predators – and that’s where SEO (Search Engine Optimization) comes in. Here’s your arsenal of SEO strategies to climb the search engine rankings and attract a steady stream of customers:
Keyword research
Start by conducting keyword research to identify the terms and phrases that potential customers are using to search for plumbing services in your area. Focus on long-tail keywords that are specific to your services and location, such as “emergency plumber in [city]” or “water heater repair near me.”
Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to discover relevant keywords with high search volumes and low competition.
On-page optimization
Optimize your website’s on-page elements, including titles, meta descriptions, headings, and content, to align with your target keywords. Ensure that each page on your website has a unique title tag and meta description that accurately describes its content and includes relevant keywords.
Incorporate your target keywords naturally throughout your website content, but avoid keyword stuffing, which can negatively impact your rankings.
Local SEO
Optimize your website for local search to ensure that your plumbing business appears prominently in local search results. Claim and optimize your Google My Business listing with accurate business information, such as your name, address, phone number, and website URL.
Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on your Google My Business listing, as reviews are a key ranking factor for local search.
Utilizing email marketing to retain customers
While attracting new clients is much needed, nurturing existing relationships with email marketing is a powerful strategy to ensure repeat business and build a loyal customer base. Here’s how to go about that:
Build and segment your email list
Start by building an email list of existing customers who have opted in to receive communications from your plumbing business. Segment your email list based on factors such as past purchases, service history, and customer preferences to tailor your email campaigns to specific customer segments.
In our saturated digital landscape, consumers face an onslaught of information vying for their attention. Marketers must ingeniously pierce through this cacophony to connect with their desired audiences. Relevancy emerges as the marketer’s indispensable asset, paving the swiftest route to revenue generation. Personalized subject lines in emails heighten open rates by a staggering 26%, underscoring the power of tailored messaging in capturing consumers’ interest.
Send personalized and relevant content
Craft personalized and relevant content that adds value to your customers’ lives and addresses their specific needs and interests. Content marketing generates three times as many leads as traditional outbound marketing while costing 62% less, according to a Demand Metric study in 2017.
Providing valuable content establishes your expertise, builds trust, and positions you as a trusted resource, making customers more likely to choose you for future needs.
So, try to send targeted emails based on customers’ past interactions with your business, such as service reminders, maintenance tips, exclusive offers, and special promotions. Use dynamic content and personalized recommendations to make each email feel more personalized and relevant to the recipient.
Provide valuable tips and advice
Share valuable tips, advice, and educational content related to plumbing maintenance, troubleshooting, and best practices. Position your plumbing business as a trusted advisor and resource for your customers by providing helpful information that empowers them to take care of their plumbing systems and avoid common issues.
Offer exclusive discounts and promotions
You can’t afford to let dormant customers slip away. Run re-engagement campaigns with special offers or exclusive discounts to entice loyal customers back for future plumbing needs.
Offer discounts on future services, seasonal promotions, referral incentives, or loyalty rewards programs to incentivize repeat business and encourage customer loyalty. Limited-time offers and exclusive deals create a sense of urgency and drive immediate action from recipients.
Networking and partnerships with other contractors (HVAC & electricians)
While plumbers, electricians, and HVAC technicians might seem like competitors, a strong network built on partnership can actually benefit everyone involved. Here’s how to build bridges, not leaks, with fellow contractors:
Attend industry events and trade shows
Networking events, industry conferences, and trade shows provide valuable opportunities to connect with other contractors, including HVAC technicians and electricians. Create time to attend local, regional, and national events where professionals from related industries gather to exchange ideas, share insights, and build relationships.
Be proactive in networking and initiating conversations with potential partners who share similar values and goals.
Join professional associations and networking groups
There are various associations and networking groups that cater to contractors and tradespeople, such as plumbing associations, HVAC associations, and electrical associations. These organizations often host networking events, seminars, and workshops where members can connect with peers, share referrals, and collaborate on projects.
These groups are excellent platforms to meet and connect with people in similar sectors. Participate actively in association meetings and committees to build relationships and establish your presence in the industry.
Provide training and education
Offer training sessions, workshops, and educational opportunities for HVAC technicians and electricians to learn more about plumbing systems, products, and installation techniques. Similarly, take advantage of training opportunities offered by HVAC and electrical manufacturers to expand your knowledge and skills in related fields.
By investing in cross-training and professional development, you can strengthen your partnerships and provide more comprehensive services to customers.
Measuring success: analyzing the effectiveness of your marketing efforts
To ensure your plumber internet marketing efforts aren’t leaking money, you need a reliable way to measure its effectiveness. Here’s your guide to diving deep into the data and analyzing what’s working (and what’s not!) in your plumbing advertisement ideas:
Set clear and measurable goals
Now it’s essential to start by setting clear and measurable goals for your plumber advertising efforts. One way to do that is to identify specific objectives, such as increasing website traffic, generating leads, improving conversion rates, or boosting brand awareness.
While you consider these factors, you also need to ensure that your goals are realistic, achievable, and aligned with your overall business objectives.
Workiz is a useful tool that allows you to track leads from various sources, including your website, phone calls, and online forms. You can also manage the entire customer journey within Workiz, from scheduling appointments to sending invoices, streamlining the process, and providing valuable data for conversion rate analysis.
Use a field software management tool for streamlined ad tracking
Consider using a business management software like Workiz specifically designed for the plumbing industry with built-in ad tracking. Workiz allows you to track all of your ads with dedicated phone numbers from the built-in phone system. With reports and analytics you can know exactly how each ad is performing and be able to make better business decisions.
This eliminates the need to switch between different tools and simplifies the process of monitoring your marketing performance.
Track key performance indicators (KPIs)
Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with your marketing goals and objectives. Common KPIs for plumbing businesses may include website traffic, search engine rankings, conversion rates, customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLV), and return on investment (ROI).
You can utilize tools like Google Analytics, social media analytics, and email marketing platforms to track and monitor your KPIs regularly.
Analyze website traffic and engagement metrics
Analyze website traffic data to see how many visitors you’re attracting, where they’re coming from, and what pages they’re viewing. This helps you understand which marketing channels are driving the most traffic to your website.
Track metrics such as website visits, page views, bounce rate, time on site, and conversion rates to understand how visitors are interacting with your website. Analyze which channels are driving the most traffic to your site, such as organic search, social media, email, or paid plumbing advertisement, and optimize your strategies accordingly.
Evaluate search engine rankings and visibility
Assess your search engine rankings and visibility to determine your website’s performance in organic search results. Monitor your rankings for target keywords related to plumbing services in your area and track changes over time.
Analyze your visibility in local search results, such as Google Maps and local directories, to ensure that your business is appearing prominently to potential customers in your service area. Also, identify opportunities for improving your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy and increasing your visibility online.
Measure lead generation and conversion rates
Track lead generation and conversion rates to assess the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns in generating qualified leads and acquiring new customers. Monitor metrics such as form submissions, phone calls, email sign-ups, and appointment requests to measure the success of your lead-generation efforts.
Analyze conversion rates at each stage of the customer journey, from initial contact to service booking, to identify areas for optimization and improvement.
