To grow your plumbing business successfully, you need a good stream of consistent high-value clients who bring a healthy cash flow. To have money coming in, you need to have businesses or homeowners streaming in at a steady pace (if not increasing). Customers are the lifeline of your business, and if they don’t make phone calls or write emails, you will have no one to sell your plumbing services to. Plumber marketing ideas can help you grow your business and reach more leads interested in your services.
Running a plumbing company involves a lot more than just fixing leaky pipes. Plumbing is one such home service industry where you should be able to find a consistent stream of wallet-out clients if you target them the right way. With the right strategy, marketing your plumbing business can be easy, and you need to understand what techniques to use to reach your potential clients. Keep reading our post on the 15 best plumbing marketing ideas to skyrocket your business growth. Without further hesitation, let us dive in!
Why Should Plumbers Advertise Their Services Online?
Plumbers always have a hard time advertising or promoting their services for good reasons, and this is because plumbing is a very competitive field. Where your clients are restricted only to local property owners or managers (probably within 30-50 miles) from your office, you need to concentrate on obtaining more and more leads.
The conventional way of marketing, where plumbers would pay for ads in the local dailies, do some radio or TV commercials and distribute flyers, seems expensive and doesn’t work.
We have helped many home service contractors, including roofers, HVAC, and plumbers, improve their web presence and generate high volumes of qualified leads for them. As a plumbing company owner, it can be hard to market your business because this is not your specialty uniquely. If you have come to this page, you have been looking at plumbing marketing ideas and tips on the web.
From our experience with strategies that work, we have compiled a list of 15 marketing strategies that can help your plumbing company outrank the competition. If you implement them properly, you will surely achieve outstanding results.
10 Internet Marketing Ideas For Plumbers To Grow Your Business
Nowadays, homeowners don’t have all the time to ask neighbors and friends for a recommendation for a good plumber they always used to partner with. Instead, they prefer conducting research online for plumbing services they are interested in, which has put more emphasis on digital marketing channels. Without further ado, let’s dive straight into the tips.
#1: Create A Conversion-Focused Plumbing Website
The first thing that any growth-conscious plumber requires nowadays is a professional, functional plumbing company website. Your plumbing website is the focal point of all your online marketing efforts. Today, most property owners whip their smartphones to search for reliable plumbers online, so they get their first impression from your company website.
Having a plumber website increases trust in your prospects’ minds and helps boost your business’s online visibility. Thus, your plumbing website has an important role to play, and it should be able to take your site traffic and convert it into qualified leads for your plumbing company. The posts you write, your website design, and its structure must concentrate on that main goal.
This is what is referred to as a conversion-based plumber website. It is built up to generate leads online. However, there are a few things you need to remember when designing or developing your plumbing website. Design and plan your plumber website layout properly, so it is ready to target the right clients.
Another thing you need to remember is to ensure all your contact details, such as your current email address, phone number, and physical address, are updated on your plumber’s website.
#2: Submit To Local Online Directories
Since plumbing is a local business, your prospects will find you via local business listings, which explains why having your plumber’s website listed in such directories is crucial.
Do you know that over 80% of prospects/customers research online before scheduling HVAC and plumbing service appointments? With more homeowners flocking the web for ideas, suggestions, and answers, there is no doubt that plumbers who have a vibrant online presence are the ones who seem to be booking more jobs these days.
Plumbers get in front of clients by adding their company details to local listing websites. It is important to claim your local online listing as a local plumbing business.
When homeowners conduct local searches, it generates a box, also referred to as the Google local SEO 3-pack, that appears on the top of the organic search results.
If property owners or managers find a local plumbing business instantly, they will go to this box to find a plumber that suits their needs.
The good news is that your business can appear in this local map 3-pack by claiming your local online listing. Once you have your listing, ensure that you fill it out completely.
Begin by ensuring that your plumbing company’s name, address, phone number, or email address are accurate. This will ensure that people can get in touch with you easily.
Once you add that crucial information, you can begin to add supplemental information like your business photos and description. To grow your plumbing business online, begin by claiming and verifying your local listing, which will help drive more qualified leads for your plumbing business.
Some Of The Most Famous Online Local Listing Business Directories Are:
#3: Search Engine Optimization
Your plumbing company needs a strong online presence to succeed in the modern world. However, it is not sufficient to develop or build a plumber website and then hope that homeowners will find your plumbing business online; you need to optimize your website to generate more qualified leads for your plumbing business.
Search Engine Optimization (otherwise known as SEO) is a technique to help search engines like Google or Bing understand the relevance, what your plumbing company does, and when to serve your plumber website up to searchers who utilize specific search phrases (aka keywords) online.
When homeowners discover a plumbing issue, they quickly turn to Google to find local plumber services. To capture these homeowners, building your presence with search engine results is crucial.
When people search for keywords related to your plumbing industry on the internet, Google crawls your site and finds those search terms (aka keywords) on your page, and that’s how it understands if it’s related to the organic search and that it requires to show in the search results.
Finding the right plumbing keywords is very crucial. If you don’t understand what your prospects are searching on the internet to reach plumbing businesses like yours, you will never rank for those keywords, implying no new clients/leads are coming to your plumbing website.
So, how can your plumbing service company website rise to the top of the search engine results pages? Here are a few crucial SEO best practices that you need to use in your plumbing business:
- Optimize your site for the right search terms: You need to know what keywords are most important for your plumbing company (i.e., the terms your potential clients are using to find plumbing services online) and use them in your plumbing website. For example, you could include “24/7 plumber Murfreesboro” instead of “plumber based in Murfreesboro.” If you concentrate on using the right keywords and optimize your site for them, you will achieve great organic rankings on Google for search terms related to your plumbing business.
- Optimize your Google My Business Listing: we have already discussed how crucial it is for your plumbing business to be listed in the local search directories. Thus, if your GMB profile is correctly set up for your location, you can show it in the plumber “near me “searches.
- Develop Your authority online by blogging consistently, obtaining backlinks from other plumbing websites, and posting helpful content.
- Get your On-page plumbing SEO right: Besides publishing quality content for your plumbing business, you should also be concerned about optimizing your page titles, meta tags, and image alt tags for the correct keywords.
To appear higher in the search engine results, you need to know which keywords are most crucial for your plumbing business.
There are a lot of good SEO tools that can help you do keyword research. These include Moz, Ahrefs, Ubbersuggest, and Google Keyword planner, to mention just a few.
If you are a plumber looking for a top SEO agency to take your company to the next level online, schedule a free strategy session with one of the Growth Coaches to get started today.
#4: Manage Your Reputation Online To Get More Positive Reviews
Online reviews are a critical part of your plumbing business. That said, offering exceptional service and building a great reputation in your local community takes many years of hard work.
If a homeowner hasn’t used your plumbing company services before, they will rely on reviews to get insights into working with your business. Online reviews are a form of marketing for your plumbing company, and you must incorporate online reputation management into your plumber marketing strategy.
To begin with this plumbing advertising strategy, you will want to know all the platforms where customers give reviews about your plumbing business. Such places include Yelp, Google My Business, and more.
Once you have these platforms established, ensure that you keep track of the reviews that are left on such pages. Realistically, you don’t want to delete negative reviews! This is because if your review profile only has five stars, homeowners can be skeptical or suspicious about your plumbing service business.
Homeowners expect to see both negative and positive reviews. They pay attention to what people say about your business but also want to see those unpleasant reviews.
When responding to reviews online, always try to keep your responses professional at all times. If a client leaves a great review, thank them for allowing your company to solve their plumbing problems. In case of less-than-stellar reviews, try to solve the user’s problem and advice them or encourage them to contact your plumbing business for further assistance.
So, How Do You Obtain Satisfied Clients To Leave Reviews Online? Here Are Our Tips:
- Send homeowners or property managers a follow-up email asking them to leave a review after a job well done.
- Use tools to incentivize reviews and referrals.
- If a client is happy, request them to leave your plumbing company a review nicely; this typically works magic.
Reviews don’t cost your plumbing anything, and having lots of positive reviews can be more effective than running paid ads. Because in a local business listing, your online reviews appear in search results and influence clients’ decision in hiring you over other plumbers in the area.
Online reputation management will assist you in marketing your plumbing services to prospects /clients better. It presents your plumbing business in a positive light and encourages more homeowners to come back for services.
#5: Pay-Per-Click Advertising To Attract Qualified Plumbing Leads
Pay-Per-Click advertising is one of the most effective plumbing marketing ideas on the web. If your plumbing company struggles to generate enough leads, you must run paid or PPC ads using the right keywords. Such ads will help your plumbing business to attain a top spot-on search result, which should drive more new clients to your business.
Bing Ads or Google Ads run on a pay-per-click model. Pay-per-click implies you bid on a particular keyword related to your ad, set an ad budget, and only pay anytime a browser clicks on your ad. You can use such ads to target a specific audience. You can also track your results effectively to ensure that you are obtaining a good ROI.
Those who click your ads are more likely to schedule a plumbing service appointment than organic visitors. If you haven’t included PPC ads as part of your plumber marketing strategy, you are missing a chance to grow your plumbing company.
This plumbing marketing idea begins with selecting the right keywords. The keywords trigger your ad to appear in the relevant search engine results. Long-tail plumbing keywords will work perfectly for your Plumbing PPC ads campaigns because they drive interested leads and are cheaper due to low competition.
Once you have chosen the keywords and bid for the placing of your ad, you set a maximum bid, which refers to the money you are willing to spend when a homeowner clicks on your ad. The amount should be flexible and can be adjusted anytime.
Your ad’s quality score and the maximum bid determine your ad’s placement. Once your ad is placed, you will kickstart your campaign and begin getting leads that are interested in your plumbing company services.
PPC ads are undoubtedly one of the best plumbing marketing strategies to grow your company online. These ads will appear in more relevant search engine results in front of wallet-out customers. It is a good strategy to get qualified leads for your HVAC and plumbing business.
#6: Develop A Social Media Marketing Strategy To Connect With Plumbing Leads
Social media is a great place to interact with your plumbing clients, and it helps you establish a vibrant relationship with them and possibly win their trust. When you interact with prospects or clients on social media, you get to understand them at a greater level, know their needs, and later you can offer them your plumbing services.
If you are searching for plumbing marketing ideas, developing a vibrant social media strategy is no doubt one of them. To grow your plumbing company through social media, you must begin by selecting the right platform.
Various social media platforms are available for your plumbing company, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. By investing your money and time into social media advertising, you can boost your brand awareness, establish trust and build loyalty amongst your clients, obtain better insights, get more HVAC and plumbing leads and convert them to paying clients.
But What Can Plumbers Do With Social Media Marketing Win More Clients Online? Here Are Some Tips To Get Started:
- Share Videos to Help Clients Out: Prospects or customers will likely trust your plumbing business more if you share informative videos on your site. And since there are many things, they can’t do everything alone. When a homeowner has a major plumbing emergency, it is most likely that they will give you a call.
- Offer Coupons and Deals for your Social Media followers: Create unique offers in exchange for their email. Emails are like gold in any plumbing service business because they will assist you in contacting such clients in the future.
- Share impressive images of before, and after photos of projects you have completed.
- Share DIY plumbing tips
If your plumbing business has not established a vibrant presence on social media, schedule a free strategy session with one of our Growth Coaches to learn how you can generate more leads through social media platforms.
#7: Create Multiple Landing Pages For Your Locations And Services
When crafting your plumbing marketing strategy, you need special landing pages for each service your company offers, and you should have a landing page for every area you service. Again, this is crucial for plumbing search engine optimization and showing up on top of Google or Bing for the right terms that match your plumbing services.
Let’s assume your company provides emergency plumbing services, gas fitting, and installations. Set up a landing page for every service and target the right keyword phrase for each. By doing so, when a prospect searches for “emergency plumbing” or “gas fitting,” your business will have a landing page that shows up. Of course, the same applies to different locations that you service.
#8: Utilize Email Marketing To Develop A Client Referral Program
If you want to skyrocket your company’s growth, begin by using plumber marketing strategies that help you get new leads. One of the most effective plumbing marketing strategies is to create a referral system through email marketing.
To start creating your client referral plan, you require a list of subscribers. If you don’t have them, you can obtain subscribers via email sign-up bars on your plumbing website.
The best referral systems incentivize both the person referred and the referrer. You must motivate homeowners to send friends and family to your plumbing business. For this plumber marketing hack to work, you must ensure that your target audience is ready to participate.
For instance, you can try to woo the two parties with an offer of $30 off their next plumbing service. This will create a win-win situation for the parties involved.
If you are searching for one of the best plumber marketing ideas to level up your business on the internet, a referral plan through email marketing will help you get more leads.
#9: Accept Online Bookings
If you want to obtain more leads, especially when homeowners need emergency plumbing services, you need to make it hassle-free for customers to contact your company and schedule service appointments. A smart strategy is for plumbing contractors to accept service bookings online, direct from their sites.
Thus, they should put calendars on their landing pages. New clients can click on the plumbing website, select the date and time, and easily book the plumber services. This saves a lot of time compared to making bookings over the phone and back or through back-and-forth email conversations. It makes it simpler for the customer to book online plumbing services and helps plumbers manage their schedules effectively.
#10: Partner With The Right Plumber Marketing Agency
At Blackstorm Design + Marketing, we often hear similar stories from home service contractors.
It begins with a plumber, roofer, or HVAC professional who doesn’t know anything about marketing and feels he’s been scammed by his marketing agency. As we examine facts, we get details of how the agency promised earth-shattering results and did nothing to achieve them. And how his plumbing marketing campaigns were too expensive. He could not contact his website design guy, and his social media expert never sent reports.
Simply put, the plumber had different providers for each plumbing marketing strategy separately. They don’t talk with each other because they aren’t in sync.
The issue here is more than just poor communication. In the modern competitive marketplace, developing a stellar plumbing marketing strategy is impossible when you have independent service providers with different goals or agendas.
Start Implementing The 10 Plumber Marketing Strategies Today
With all the ten plumbing marketing ideas discussed above, you will be on your way to establishing a vibrant online presence and getting more leads afterward.
At Blackstorm Design + Marketing, we know how to develop plumber marketing strategies to set your business for success.
As a full-service plumber marketing agency, finding clients for a local home service business such as plumbing can be daunting, but it’s not an all-impossible task. We will ensure that our team gives you everything you require to succeed with your plumber marketing strategy.
Want to improve your online presence and plumber marketing but don’t have the expertise or time to make it happen? We understand it. Running a successful plumbing company takes a lot of hard work, so we offer professional marketing services to reach more clients.
Ready to see how our plumber marketing plan can help your plumbing company to grow?
Schedule a free strategy session with one of our Growth Coaches to discuss how our internet marketing services can help your company(plumber marketing ideas) flourish today.