How Plumbers Can Use Social Media To Grow Their Business

Social media may not be the first place you would expect to find a plumber, but since it's not a service that's needed everyday, it makes sense for them to be there.  It's important for service and trade industries to constantly be in front of their potential customers so that when something happens, they are remembered.  The days of push marketing (radio, TV commercials, direct mail, door hangers, etc.) are slowly fading away.  The new form of marketing is inbound and relationship building marketing.  The beauty of social media is that it acts like an interactive billboard for our businesses.  Consider this: With social media, we get to change our "online billboard" daily, respond to questions and comments in real time and attract a laser targeted audience (ex: a Plumber in McKinney,TX could market directly to home owners in McKinney). Here are a few ways in which a plumber can benefit from social media marketing:




1. Give Tips:  Facebook is a great place to share valuable information with our followers.  It may seem counterintuitive to "give away" free advice, but trust me it works.  By giving out helpful tips a plumber not only comes off as the expert, but they gain trust because they are giving first and not asking for anything.  This will lead to people actually looking forward to their posts instead of dreading another sales pitch.


2. How-to videos: This goes inline with giving tips, but now a plumber can actually SHOW their expertise.  Simple videos on how to change out a toilet flapper will gain the trust of our prospects.  When a big project comes along such as a leak or broken pipe, they will remember the company that helped them and gave them valuable information.


3. Show pictures of projects:  Most of us are visual and like to see the work of others before we use them.  Plumbing is no different.  Before/after photos of projects go a long way in the decision-making process of who gets hired in today's market.


4. Show pictures of the staff: Not only do people want to know what a company does, they also want to know who is doing the work.  Posting pictures of the staff on Facebook, Twitter, etc. shows a human side to the company and people can make an emotional connection with the company.  It's about the people and not just a logo.


5. Encourage their customers to follow them:  This is huge, but pay close attention.  Avoid just asking a customer to follow you.  Be sure to give them the selfish reason why.  As humans (whether we verbalize it or not), we all have a "what's in it for me" mentality.  So for this example, a plumber could request a follow by saying, "please be sure to like our Facebook page because we give tips on how take care of simple plumbing projects around the home as well as save money on water."  That should be a guaranteed "like" and gives the plumber a chance to stay connected with their customer so they will remember who to call when something major does go wrong.


We live in a relationship-driven business world now.  People like to do business with those that they know, like and trust.  Hiring a plumber is no different, and with millions of users on social media, it only makes since for a plumber to have a presence there.  Follow these tips and watch the business flood in!  If you have anything to add, please be sure to comment below.  Thank you for reading.