Social media can be a powerhouse of awareness for plumbing companies who have a solid social media strategy. If you’re not using it at all, you’re probably leaving money on the table. However, it’s difficult to harness and if you don’t spend a lot of time on these platforms it’s often a confusing mess of options and post types. Let’s look at a few options that you have when it comes to creating a killer social media strategy for your plumbing company.
Stay tuned to the end of this article for real talk about expectations on results and how your can almost guarantee people will see your posts.
1. Define Your Personality as a Plumber
You’re most likely to attract the person you are to your own business, this is only amplified when you’re managing your own social media content. You’ll want to take some time to determine the voice of your company. Are you a witty, jokey plumber? How about a serious and professional plumbing company? There’s no wrong answer. Keep in mind who you want to market to with your content, residential or commercial companies. The two voices are VERY different.
2. Determine Frequency of Posting for Your Social Media Strategy
We like to see at least 3 posts a week go out into the market. So this would be a pace of Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Usually, we let the algorithm decide when they serve. The days of tying to find the ideal hour is behind us. So we post that morning at roughly 6am to give the early risers and feed scrollers a change to see the posts in their morning routine.
Remember, won’t need a plumber every day. You’re not trying to catch them when they have a problem. Social media is all about putting your plumbing company in front of them before they need you, making you their first stop.
It’s also important to realize that you have a finite amount of energy to create and distribute social posts. So keep that in mind.
3. Pick Your Social Media Strategies Marketing Channels & Media Type
You can’t do it all, so do what you know you CAN do. Not everyone is a graphic designer, photographer, videographer and not every platforms will take all types of media. So focus in on what you think is most important in your region and to your audience.
When we’re working with plumbers. Here is the “stack” we typically choose from, in priority order.
- Google My Business
- YouTube
- TikTok
This list will change over time but if you look at 1-5, you’ll notice they primarily work for photo and text based posts. 6-7 are pure video platforms. However, the only one that doesn’t do ANY video is Google My Business. We hope they will soon, because we love video as content.
4. Write for Engagement, not Plumbing Repairs. A Key Social Media Strategy Pillar.
People are on social media for entertainment, so do your best to entertain them. Don’t write interruptions that ruin the flow of their feeds. You’re going to need people to interact, so talk about things that matter to them. If they don’t need a water heater, they don’t want to hear about a water heater.
Social media content, is not a place for you to be making ads. If you’re leveraging content right, you’ll breed engagement and then you can use that as an audience in your actual ads later on.
Here are a few things you can write about that will get people noticing:
- Ask people for their worse clogged drain story.
- Tell them the crazy stories your company has seen in pipes, drains and homes (all in good fun)
- Highlight accomplishments, education, or certifications your crew has made
- Thank your customers with a selfie pic of you and them together in front of your van.
- Birthdays are for everyone! If you have a staff member celebrating a run around the sun, post it.
- The types of coffee you brew for the crew.
- Memes or jokes surrounding the plumbing industry.
These are just some ideas but pay attention to what drives likes, comments, shares and more. Then lean into that type of content.
5. Schedule Your Posts Monthly
As an agency, we have our process for creating content for our clients. We write in the first week, get revisions done in the second week, schedule in the third and ask clients for their feedback in the 4th. You can do this without hiring an agency (but if you’re interested, just schedule a consult), and there are some sweet tools for helping you manage all the posting.
Software to help you post monthly.
Usually you can map it all out in a spreadsheet and get upload it to these platforms, then it’ll run without you. This will save you TONS of time. Don’t try to piece meal this out over the month, you’ll never be able to keep up. Instead schedule time in your month to write 12 posts and get them scheduled using a tool. Time is money and tools free up your time.
6. Add to Your Social Media Strategy Foundation
Plumber we talk to are often scared they’ll “mess it up” if they post in the middle of all our posts. Nope, you can’t screw it up. Mostly. We always tell Clients to post whatever they want in addition to what we do. It won’t be too often, too much or overwhelming for your audience. Remember that only 3-6% of your audience will actually be served your content unless you put the bonus tip below into action.
More is always better and you can’t accidentally overpost. The volume required for that, is far beyond what you think it is. So go nuts, post up to 5 times a day if you want.
BONUS SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY TIP: How to Get Your Plumbing Company in Front of More Customers
These platforms are entertainment platforms and they use the same model for distribution that TV, Radio, Newspaper, and Direct Mail do. If you truly want to reach more people you gotta play the paying game. So we like to sprinkle a little magic money dust on our content strategies.
To give you an idea for every $5 you spend on Facebook’s network, you’ll reach about 1,000 people. Most posts you send out will cap out at 30-100 people if you have 1,000 followers.
The amount of eyeballs you can reach is staggering when you compare the two. So plan to spend some money. You’ll increase awareness, engagement, and good old top-of-mind awareness.
And that’s the true power of Social Media Marketing.
Need a Digital Marketing Roadmap for Your Plumbing Company?
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