Even if your plumbing business is fully established, you should always be selling and promoting it for growth and the natural client attrition that happens over time. Referrals may make up a large portion of your business, but it’s still important in the 21st century to have a solid digital ads strategy
And if you are just starting our or seeking to rapidly expand, a digital strategy is a must. Here are our top ideas for building effective plumbing ads that will bring in new leads and generate new work for your business.
Do I really need to pay for plumbing ads?
You clicked the article, so presumably, you’re at least a little bit sold on the notion of putting money into advertising.
Site likes Thumbtack and HomeAdvisor are great for getting qualified leads, but they can be expensive and competitive. The service always makes a buck, where you’re not always guaranteed to win work on every job request.
Better, if you can, to cut out the middle man. That’s where ads come in. Let’s take a look at some ad types.
Print Advertisements
Yes, physical media still works! Mailers, door hangers, and local press advertisements – not to mention the white pages – still have their place. Especially in communities that have less internet access and older communities.
You can’t neglect print. Especially the kind that ends up on peoples’ doorsteps.
These have been done since time immemorial, so we’ll assume you’re familiar with your physical media options as we discuss digital plumbing advertisement ideas and the avenues available for your business on digital.
Ultimately, our goal is to close the loop fully between physical promotion, digital, and invaluable one-on-one interactions that keep customers coming back – and making those critical referrals.
Crafting the Right Ad Messaging
So let’s talk creative.
First, think about your audience. Is it broad? Old? Young? Homeowners? Businesses?
To some degree, the form of your ad will dictate what type of message you can provide, but here are some broad category types you can use from print to digital:
Problem-solving ads
These are probably the most common effective ad types for a service business. Within it, you’re trying to identify and anticipate your target audience’s needs.
As a plumbing company that means starting with the kinds of problems consumers face. If you’re mostly a residential serviceperson, you might write an ad like:
“Time to call the plumber? We fix it all – leaks, cracks, clogs, and more. Call the Plumbing Pros today.”
If you want, you can add one more hook that appeals to your trustworthiness, such as how many years in business you have or how many positive reviews you have (on Google or elsewhere).
Testimonial ads
Consumers trust other consumers more than they do businesses themselves. A lot.
According to Forbes, 74 percent of consumers say positive reviews improve their trust of local businesses. So take a killer testimonial from a satisfied client and use that to backbone your ad.
This is especially effective when you target an area that customers are typically disgruntled about your particular field. For instance, if people are too often dissatisfied with the responsiveness of companies in the field, your testimonial should focus on your speediness and customer service.
Find your wedge and use satisfied customers to drive home the difference.
Don’t be afraid to mix it up.
Being direct is best, but it’s good to mix up your ad creative to show your business’s personality.
That might mean incorporating humor in your ads – commiserating about common plumbing problems and lightheartedly pitching your business as the solution, for instance.
Or maybe your business has a philanthropic side, volunteering or donating to further a good cause. Use that to spread the word about your main business, showing your potential customers that you live your values.
Evaluative advertising
Given that plumbing projects are often big ones, another ad tactic you can employ is the evaluative comparison, or the “before and after” photo ad.
That’s pretty self-explanatory, but it gives a potential new customer a chance to compare your work and feel competent about its quality and execution.
Picking your platform
Mailers and newspaper placements you know, but what about digital advertising? There is a vast array of ads to choose from to create the best plumbing ads possible.
Here are some plumbing advertising ideas and the platforms you can use them on.
Your website
Your biggest plumbing ad in the online space is your website, so make sure it isn’t out of date. You want it to load fast, look great on mobile, and have a killer front page that delivers the value of your business – the complete proposition – in the way that will result in someone picking up the phone leaving and email for work right then and there.
Google ads
Google reigns supreme for a reason. The tech giant can deliver ads based on language, popular occurrences of families of words and other “apoltical” cooking work.
The advantage of putting ads on Google Search is to appear at the top of the page when a potential customer fires up their web browser in search of a plumber to fix their problems. You can do this with a lot of hud work, time, luck, and an already visually appealing website that gets to the heart of what you can do for the customer (remember those problem-solving ads).
With Google Ads, you only have a handful of words and characters to work with, so you have to make them count. You can also choose different ones depending on who you’re targeting.
The message that relates to trying to win a corporate client is not going to be the same as the message trying to win over an individual.
And to get more targeted and specific, you’ll want to create multiple Google Ads for multiple potential sources. Think phrases like “Plumber for my business” versus “kitchen sink won’t drain.”
In any event, the same principles of problem-solving advertising apply. Here’s an example of Google Search ad copy for your plumbing business:
Google lets you choose several pages on your website to link to, so think about what’s most important to someone searching terms related to your business. Above, we used a few popular services and one direct link to the estimate page to move potential customers further down the sales pipeline.
Social Media Ads
Now, we know what you’re probably thinking: Social media for my plumbing business? The last thing we need is a Twitter for pipes!
And while you don’t need to be super active on social media, placing ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram can help you get eyeballs on your brand and leads in your inbox.
Social media ads offer format flexibility
Remember when we discussed those various ads ideas, from problem-solving to testimonials, to before and after promotions? The beauty of social media advertising is that you can test all of these at once.
There’s no printing overhead and not even a lot of financial investment. Put a little money behind and ad and see how it does. If it’s working, put more money in. If it’s not, stop it. In that sense, Facebook and Instagram make a great testing ground for your advertising ideas.
Targeting and Retargeting
The other big benefit of putting money into a digital plumbing ads strategy is the ability to narrowly target your audience. Whether Google or Facebook, you can target people by what they’re interested in, what language they speak, and which geographic area they’re living in. That’s handy for a local business.
There are other differences on the platforms but Facebook you can also target based on elements like homeownership – helpful if you’re a residential contractor!
Finally, there’s the enormous power of retargeting. Retargeting, as it sounds, automatically places ads in front of people who’ve visited your website. You place a piece of code called a “pixel” in your site and you can automatically serve your ads to folks who’ve visited your page on both Google and Facebook/Instagram.
We know it takes multiple “touches” to secure a client, and this is one of the best ways to achieve that and win new leads.
The right (software) stuff
Whether you do traditional print advertising or a mix of print and digital, you need the right software to help you “close the loop” on your advertising and turn it into actual paying work.
That’s where FieldPulse’s field service software comes in. With the ability to track your leads wherever they come from and inject them into your sales pipeline, as well as do follows up, and automatic invoicing after a job, it’s purpose-built to ensure you’ll not only grow new business but retain the customer base you already have for years to come.
Try our fully featured 14-day free trial here.
