Last updated on February 16th, 2024 at 01:50 pm
The plumbing industry has grown at an annualized rate of 3.2% in the last few years according to IBIS World. Your plumbing business should be growing at least that rate per year to keep up with the market, but you probably want to grow faster than that. Use these marketing ideas for plumbers to catapult your business past the competition.
Check out our quick outline of the best marketing ideas for plumbing companies below.
Modern, Fast, & SEO-Optimized Website
Your marketing strategy starts with aย modern, fast, and SEO-optimized web design. You will also need to have someone dedicated to yourย website hostingย to keep your site up to date. Without both, you risk losing organic online leads, as well as, plumbing leads who review your website and leave underwhelmed.
First, make sure your website is mobile-friendly. A quickย test on Googleโs toolย can tell if it is or not.
Next, check your web speed withย GTMetrix. A low web speed score can lead to lower conversions and lower rankings in search engines.
Finally, sign up forย Google Search Consoleย to monitor your siteโs performance.
If your website is clean, mobile-friendly, fast, and optimized in Google Search Console you are in good shape.ย However, you may also want to review our checklist below as well!
-
- Easyย navigation and organization.
- Contact information that the consumer doesnโt have to search the pages looking for. It should be right there for the consumer.ย
- Statements that are of value, such as why your company is better and what you can provide to the customer.ย
- Images that are engaging, relevant, and high quality
- Portal for the customer. Having a place online where the potential customer can access their account and pay their bill is amazing!
- A blog that addresses issues that are relevant to the industry and to the potential customer.
- A place to โsearchโ in case the potential customer wants to look up information about plumbing or the company.
- Proof of why your company is the best: online reviews, testimonials, industry affiliations, and awards.ย
- Links to social media sites that your company is present on and updates and posts regularly.ย
- Online scheduling capabilities. People like to be able to have the option to schedule service via the computer. Having a link that allows the consumer to do this is priceless.
Search Engine Optimization
Next up is your search engine optimization, SEO, and strategy. SEO is how your business is optimized for search engines and includes many different facets including local SEO, blogging, and general SEO. We highly recommendย going to a professional for help on this,ย but in case you want to try SEO yourself weโve included a checklist of items to focus on.
Search Engine Optimization Checklist
-
- Use HTTPS
- Mobile Friendly
- Fast website speeds and good core website vitals
- Quality content
- High social signals
- Quality backlinks
- Optimized images, with keywords in file names, titles, and alt text
- On-page SEO: meta-descriptions, keyword optimization, quality content
- Sitemaps
- Schema Markup
- Good internal linking
- Domain Age
Local SEO
Withย Local SEO, you are focusing on search engine rankings in cities or local areas. Most often, this has to do withย Google Business Profile optimization, as well as other local directory sites like Yahoo, Bing, Facebook, Apple Maps, etc.
Our Local SEO services handle all of this for you with 60+ local directories, but you can also manually update your business information on these sites.
Local SEO also has to do with optimizing your web pages for your services in city keywords. For example, your homepage might be optimized around the keyword โPlumbing Companies in Orlandoโ.
Learn more aboutย why local SEO is important for your small business.
Blogging
Blogging is another critical aspect of SEO. The best way to get started with blogging is to just write posts on common questions your customers ask.
However, you can also use many strategies to increase your effectiveness of blogging such as doing keyword research, optimizing blog posts around keywords, and then sharing your blogs in newsletters and social media.
Ultimately, blogging helps drive users to your website who can be potential customers. In addition, blogging attracts quality backlinks when your website content is highly authoritative. At the end of the day, more users and more backlinks will bring more leads to your plumbing business.
At WolfPack Advising, we offerย just-blogging SEO plans.
Create & Post Videos
Videos are very entertaining for most consumers. Your videos can be on Facebook, TikTok, or even YouTube. Topics may be to show how to DIY certain tasks but also about specific information. According toย Hubspot, a video is 50 times more likely to garner attention from a viewer than text! Videos can tell us information in a short period of time without hunting for it in text.ย
What do videos do to help? They provide content right away, improve SEO, increase engagement with the website, and help you showcase your brand even more!ย Here is an example of a great video that is good for any learner.ย This is because it is for auditory and visual learners and clearly explains a topic.ย
Some other ideas for videos are an introduction to the technicians, common plumbing issues in the area, or quick plumbing repairs (make sure you have permission to film it from the homeowner). Readers might also like to see videos on commonly asked questions. It might be some trial and error but you will figure out what the readers like.
Video is super easy to start doing out in the field during your plumbing tech day. Pair your videos withย WolfPackโs social media managementย to ensure your message gets broadcasted to your audience.
Use Paid Ads Like Google Ads
Many businesses will use traditional flyers and ads that are in the newspaper or the mail. However, these arenโt always the best bang for your buck. Since most people are online, digital ads are the way to go withย Pay Per Click (PPC). This is what an advertiser pays for each time a consumer clicks on their ad.ย
Google Ads is the most common platform for pay-per-click advertising, but you could also use Yelp Ads or Bing Advertising.
A word of caution, these platforms have salespeople that constantly call to get you to spend more money on their platforms. Donโt fall for these traps, instead hire a professional to monitor your Google Ad campaigns.
Example: Plumbers Near Me
One of the most common keywords is โPlumbers Near Meโ. Simply target that keyword in your Google Ads dashboard to bring in quality leads.ย Google Guaranteed Adsย is another great way to get started.
Google, Facebook, & Yelp Reviews
According to Forbes.com,ย 90% of consumers read online reviews before they go to a business. Additionally, 84% of people trust online reviews just like they trust recommendations from others. It is important to have reviews on Google My Business and also on your website and Yelp as your number of reviews and average rating is factored into Googleโs search results.
We find the most important platforms for reviews are Google, Facebook, & then Yelp. This is because 33% of local searches go to Google Business Profiles which rely heavily on reviews. Secondly, Bing uses Facebook reviews in their algorithm, and finally, Yelp has a large consumer base as well as, a significant hold of organic rankings for local plumbing companies.
Read our blog post on how to get more reviews.
Email & SMS Marketing
Email & SMS marketing is another way to market your plumbing company. Use email marketing to retain existing clients, reach new clients, and revive clients who recently dropped your service.
While ourย marketing automation platformย can manage all of this for you, using a platform like MailChimp or Constant Contact can get you started.
Additionally, check out ourย guide on SMS marketingย or ourย guide on email marketing.
Social Media Marketing
Social media is another great way to market your plumbing business. You can use social media to stay in contact with current customers or reach new ones. In addition, social media can be free through organic posts or you can use paid advertising.
Use the other marketing strategies we mentioned above like video and blogs with your social media strategy to increase your marketing performance.
The most critical platforms for plumbing companies to be on right now are TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, & Instagram. Searchย #plumbersย to get some ideas on whatโs trending right now for your business.
Other Plumbing Marketing Ideas
For other plumbing marketing ideas, check out our list below.
-
- Flyers, Postcards, & Paper Materials
- Facebook Groups
- Nextdoor
- Sponsoring Local Events
- Cold Calls
- Door Knocking
Many neighborhoods are built with homeowner associations that have homeowner Facebook Groups.
These groups often speak to each other for referrals and sources. Moreover, these communities are typically built with the same plumbing products which makes it easy for your technicians. Ultimately, if you offer competitive pricing and do a great job, you are more likely to get those referrals. But, you can also have creative marketing to capture more business.
For example, you can use a neighborhood referral program to increase awareness in a given community. Consider using coupon codes or sending postcards for a given neighborhood if you want more business. Just be sure you have a way to track your ROI on any given marketing campaign.
Conclusion
Check out our other blog post on plumber advertising strategies!
It can be difficult to know what you need to do in the area of marketing to help you market your plumbing company. Need a consultation with a company to figure out where to begin? Contact us,ย Wolfpack Advising has all your marketing needs!