Plumber Digital Marketing Starting Guide

Let’s start with the basics:

1. To make money as a plumber, you need customers.
   
2. To get customers, you need good leads.
   
3. To get good leads, people have to know your shop exists.
   
4. For people to know your shop exists, you have to tell them it does—otherwise known as marketing.

Now, there’s no shortage of marketing options for plumbers, and plenty of advertising companies will be happy to take your money. From billboards to vehicle wraps to direct mailers to yellow page ads, you can spend a kerpillion dollars to get the word out about your business.

My guess is you don’t have a kerpillion dollars.

Fortunately, smart marketing strategies don’t require nearly that much money. Yes, you’ll have to invest some resources toward marketing—but if you choose the right channels, it’ll pay for itself over and over and over again.

With traditional marketing (newspaper ads, mailers, radio and TV spots, and so on), there’s a good chance a whole lot of people will see your message—but there’s no way of knowing if they’re the right people. Of the thousands of people who drive past your billboard, a tiny percentage actually need a plumber and care about your sign.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to spend thousands of dollars every month to reach a handful of people who might be in need of my services.

This is where digital marketing shines: It allows you to target the exact people who are looking for your exact service. When someone’s sewer line starts backing up into their shower, do you think they’re going to jump in the car and start driving around the city looking for your billboard? Or start digging through their recycle bin for your postcard? Of course not.

What they will do is grab their phone and search Google for “plumbers near me” or “plumbers + [your town].”

Any marketing you do online falls under the broad category of digital marketing: website, email, social media, video, online ads, and so on. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with all of those options, and not all of them are useful for every shop.

Okay, we normally ascribe to the “you get what you pay for” philosophy of business, but Google My Business is both completely free and incredibly useful. Not only will Google My Business help your customers find you, but it also offers insights into how they found you—so you can direct your marketing energy and dollars in the right direction. Plus, your current, happy customers can share their positive reviews for potential customers to see, and those referrals are a significant part of growing your business.

Google My Business will help with some searches. But what about people who type in “how to fix my garbage disposal” or “where’s my water shut-off”? Wouldn’t it be great if your shop showed up in those searches? Having content on your website that’s tuned for SEO can make that possible. Learn more about SEO for plumbers over here.

SEO is a critical part of a lead-generating marketing strategy, but it’s not especially fast. Google’s algorithms are a bit skeptical, so it takes a little while for the search giant to decide that your website is a good, reliable answer to the questions people are asking. So, while you’re gaining credibility organically, you’ll need to spend some money on Ads.

Caution: It’s easy to waste money on AdWords. They’re not a set-it-and-forget-it-option. (Unless, of course, we’re wrong and you actually do have a kerpillion dollars.)

Yes, it’s true: Facebook is good for more than just political arguments and cat videos. Facebook offers several free ways to engage with prospective customers , and the targeted advertising options are effective and easy to use.

According to recent data , 97% of consumers look at online reviews of local businesses and 85% of people trust those reviews as much as personal recommendations. As a plumber, you’ll want reviews in at least three places: Google, Facebook, and Yelp .

Pro tip: When you start gathering reviews, be sure to respond to them. All of them. That same study cited above found that 30% of people judge local businesses by how (or if) they respond to reviews.

Ready to explore digital marketing for your plumbing company? Let's talk !