Plumbing Advertising Strategies To Help You Win More Work
January 18, 2022 | Read: 8 minutes
As competitive as it can be for plumbing businesses, it’s not always the loudest companies who’ll find the most success; subtle plumbing advertising techniques can work wonders, too…
Why not have a listen?
You can be forgiven for thinking that to win over new customers you need to shout louder than the competition. But in reality, you don’t need to use a flailing inflatable or a megaphone to find success.
More often than not, it’s subtle advertising techniques that will help you to attract attention.
Consistent effort will have a greater long-term impact on your sales than pricey one-off marketing efforts. And below, we’re sharing a few effective ideas that are sure to help plumbing businesses like yours thrive.
Can subtle advertising strategies be effective?
Yes: being loud and spending a ton of money on advertising can work, but for many plumbing and heating businesses, advertising in a big way isn’t necessarily going to be sustainable or cost-effective.
That’s why it’s important to focus on more subtle and simple plumbing advertising techniques.
Often referred to as “indirect marketing”, these methods rely on promoting your business and brand, not on trying to sell a specific product or service.
Sure, they can eventually lead to a sale, but these advertising strategies are far better at helping you to promote and establish your brand. Think of subtle advertising techniques like bait that attracts a customer and gets them curious before they actually take a bite and buy from you.
For instance, it might be that your plumbing business is advertising by making a statement about being more eco-friendly. Maybe it’s a charity fun run at a local public event, or perhaps you’re sharing helpful advice about saving money on bills. These will appeal to leads on a more personal, even emotional level, and can help win them over.
It might get them thinking “Hey, I like that company, they do some interesting things” and so convince them to check you out when they need your services.
“Think about the brands you remember. They are human and real. They get stuck in our minds because they touch on a part of ourselves that we didn’t think anyone else could see.”
Forbes
All of these promotional activities will name your brand and showcase your business’s personality. It’s all about getting eyes on your business and new prospects will have nothing to lose by simply taking a look.
Here’s how to use subtle plumbing advertising techniques:
1. Use authentic language to talk like a human
Connecting with a brand gives customers confidence and, whether it’s a visit to someone’s home or taking care of an entire office building, your customers are people and they should be treated as such.
“Be authentic and let your personality shine” [these] are words of wisdom that brands will often hear and for good reason!
HubSpot
You’ll put them at ease.
By contrast, there’s nothing worse than coming across as fake or phoney. Prospects aren’t going to respond well to a company that seems disingenuous or is only after their money.
Sure, you are after their business, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be polite, friendly, or worse, come across as robotic.
The more honest and straightforward you are, the more confident customers will feel that they’re getting the solutions they need.
With that in mind, keep things simple. Most customers aren’t likely aware of the ins and outs of all the technical work that your engineers are doing; so be clear and show that you’re troubleshooting their problems. Customers will often be looking for reassurance and your team has a responsibility for making them feel assured.
But, you may wonder: how is this a subtle advertising technique that can help your plumbing business?
Well: a great, reassuring experience is far more likely to get people talking about you.
That means that when you ask for feedback, or for the customer to leave a positive review, they’re more likely to say yes! And then, in their review, they’ll highlight how great your service was.
New customers will be on the lookout for reviews as they shop around and they’re a great way to show the excellent work you’re capable of, attracting even more people to your services.
If your business comes across as friendly and easy to work with, then your continued success is far more likely. This will only improve with every job you complete, too!
Success in the Field! Ep. 5: How Do Customers Find Your Business?
2. Give great advice to become a helpful consultant
Building on the initial bit of rapport you have with customers is also incredibly important. And when it comes to selling, upselling your customers may be a goal that’s on your mind.
After all, if you can do one job for them, why not try to find out if there’s more you can do, too? Or what if you can actively help them get a better deal?
Of course, it’s important to avoid seeming pushy.
Just because you want the customer to spend more money, it’s not going to do anyone any good if you push all the options and attempt to bamboozle them. That’s overwhelming and will put off more customers than it helps.
In the vast majority of cases, people don’t want to be sold to, at least not aggressively. That’s where it helps to take a consultative approach to sales and work with the customer to find a solution to suit them.
Similar to our first point, it’s another method of building rapport with your customers. And you’ll find customers respond positively to this approach.
By asking open questions, your team can discover more about what a customer really wants, needs, or may benefit from. You’re the experts at what you do, after all, and if a customer has hired you to do a job, there’s already reason to believe they’ll appreciate the advice you have to offer.
This is especially true if it seems like a customer might be spending too much (or even too little) on a product or service. Ask questions like:
A consultative approach may not result in an immediate sale, it might even result in losing a sale—but it’s all about building trust and helping customers make the choice they’re happy with. It’s more important to build and strengthen a professional relationship than push for the sake of a quick sale.
If you’re communicating well with customers, you’re far more likely to stay in touch and win new opportunities later.
3. Be proud and show off what you do!
As they say: “Seeing is believing!”
The simplest and best way to advertise a plumbing business is to show what you’re capable of achieving.
Traditional methods, like the design of your vans, are great, but there’s more you can do, too.
These days, it’s easy to create, share, and demonstrate what your business can do. Thanks to mobile phones and tablets, it’s easy to snap a photo or record a video and share your content.
You’ll see a lot of this online and it really makes digital marketing for your brand so much easier.
Whilst browsing through social media or searching through Google, you’ll see how easily customers and businesses alike can share real-world examples of their service experiences. It’s free, easy advertising for plumbing companies, like yours, already doing the work.
For example, a business might praise its engineer on social media:
“Jack, our trainee plumber, did a bang-up job installing this new heat pump! Just look at that beauty!”
They’re not selling anything: just being proud. But it’s also a more subtle way of showing:
- Products you’re able to install
- Work that you’re proud of
- Respect and appreciation of your employees!
Who wouldn’t be intrigued by that?
It might sound simplistic, but that’s precisely the point:
If you’re not taking simple steps to share your work, prospects won’t see it.
It doesn’t take much to show a bit of appreciation that can end up having a positive impact.
How about another example?
I recently witnessed a fantastic sale, where every single one of these subtle advertising techniques was perfectly used.
There’s no reason the same sorts of strategies can’t work for you, too.
Put these Plumbing Advertising Tips into Action!
Effective advertising is all about creating awareness and taking the time to build trust with your customers.
By being authentic, becoming a conversational consultant, and showing off the work you do. From there, you’ll attract new customers and help them feel good about choosing your services, too.
As we said, it might not always seem like you’re advertising yourself, but that’s why subtle advertising for your plumbing business can be so impactful and improve your sales strategy.
When done right, they’ll make an impression that also ensures you’re taking customers on amazing journeys that don’t cost you (or the customer) the earth, either!
