The employment of plumbers is expected to grow by 6% from 2023 to 2033, a growth trajectory that’s steeper than most other occupations. Since there’s an increasing demand for plumbing jobs, there’s an opportunity for you to reach more property owners and serve them. In addition, about 39% of plumbing companies experienced growth between 10 – 20% in the recent few years, indicating that there’s a significant growth opportunity in this industry. In this guide, we’ll tell you how to grow a plumbing business so that you can focus your resources in the right places. Let’s dive in.
Know Your Target Audience
Audience analysis is one of the first things you need to do as a service provider. Are they homeowners? Property managers? Commercial property owners? Or all of them? Knowing who you want to target helps you craft effective marketing and growth strategies.
Claim, Verify, and Optimize Your GBP
This is another crucial step you need to take right away. If you don’t have a verified Google Business Profile, you’re missing out on a big chunk of search engine leads. Once you’re a verified business owner, optimize your GBP. This will improve your chances of getting found on Google Maps and the top 3 search results for your primary search query. For instance, “Affordable plumbers in [City name]”.
Build a Recognizable Brand
If you want long-term growth, you need to work on your branding. It helps your business become more recognizable to your target audience. Creating content on different online platforms and using recognizable colors and graphics are the key to brand building.
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Re-evaluate Your Existing Strategies
If you already have a strategy in place, but it’s not getting you enough leads and customers, it’s time to re-evaluate it. Think things over and identify the loopholes that are costing you customers.
Set Your Goals
No growth strategy is effective without clear goals. You want to set realistic, achievable, and specific goals. For instance, you may want to get 30 new leads per month from local SEO. Goals help you stay on track and move forward without distractions.
Have an SEO-Friendly Website
Having a professional website isn’t an option in a world where most people use Google to find services like yours. If you don’t have a website, get one. Plus, make it search-engine-friendly by implementing SEO best practices during the development process. Create SEO-friendly blog posts on a regular basis to demonstrate your authority to Google. SEO has two major categories: On-page SEO where you optimize the content on your site. This also includes technical SEO (Making your site technically sound and easily accessible to search engines). Off-page SEO is where you optimize your website’s online presence.
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Leverage Email Marketing for Relationship-building
Email marketing offers a $36 return for every dollar spent, making it one of the most effective marketing strategies for plumbers. Build an email list and send different types of emails to educate your audience, build trust, and eventually promote your services:
- Share maintenance tips
- Send reminders for inspections
- Promote seasonal discounts and offers
- Request reviews from customers
Email marketing can also help your business remain top-of-mind when customers need any type of plumbing service.
Invest in Paid Ads for Fast Results
Organic marketing involves attracting a target audience to your marketing funnel with helpful content on in-demand topics. But, it takes time. Consider running paid ads if you want quick results and can afford to invest upfront. Google Ads, for instance, helps you get high-quality search leads. Meta Ads, on the other hand, can help you get more eyeballs on your services and build a brand.
Consider Outsourcing Some Tasks
As a plumbing service provider, you already have a lot on your plate. Managing your team, communicating with customers, and growing your network are probably a few things you need to focus on. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to outsource some tasks to experts, especially digital marketing. For instance, if you don’t have the time to manage your social profiles, hire a social media manager.
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Expand Your Service Range
Offering a broader range of services can get you more clients, especially if you can add complementary services like drain cleaning or leak detection. Study your competitors and see what they’re doing. Identify gaps in their services and create an offer your audience has a hard time ignoring.
Partner with Non-Competitive Local Businesses
Another powerful way to grow your plumbing business is by partnering up with local businesses that aren’t your direct competitors. For instance, you can collaborate with real estate agencies and strike a deal where both of you refer each other to clients.
Hire a Mentor or a Coach
If you want to eliminate guesswork and move in the right direction, hire a mentor. A mentor may require an upfront investment, but they can help you avoid costly mistakes and pick the most profitable path forward.
How to Grow a Plumbing Business: FAQs
Let’s address some frequently asked questions about how to grow a plumbing business.
How Do I Make My Plumbing Business Successful?
Focus on exceptional customer service, build a solid online presence, work on local SEO, and invest in high ROI marketing strategies.
What Type of Plumbing Makes the Most Money?
Specialized plumbing services like gas plumbing, pipe fitting, and commercial plumbing typically offer higher pay rates due to their complexity and higher demand.
How to Get More Plumbing Leads?
Optimize your GBP, work on your website’s SEO, create blog posts, partner with local businesses, leverage paid ads, and use email marketing.
Conclusion
Plumbing services have a high demand, which is why it’s tricky to stand out and attract high-quality leads as a business. Understand your audience, rethink your marketing strategies, and understand what you’re competitors are doing. Create a growth strategy based on your existing resources. Local SEO and a solid social media presence are crucial to attracting leads and converting them into paying customers. Use email marketing for long-term growth and Google ads to get quality leads quickly.
Sources:
- https://www.ruby.com/blog/25-easy-ways-to-grow-your-plumbing-business/
- https://www.getjobber.com/academy/plumbing/marketing-strategies-for-plumbers/
- https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters.htm?
- https://buildops.com/resources/plumbing-company-growth-data/
- https://www.constantcontact.com/blog/what-is-the-roi-of-email-marketing/
