As a plumber, you might think that branding should be left to the big names in the plumbing industry. But the sad reality is, it doesn’t matter how small or big your plumbing company is. If you are in business, you need to think about branding your plumbing business critically.
Branding is just as crucial for small plumbing businesses as it is for major plumbing brands. Indeed many corporate brands try to appear like small businesses to appeal to their target clients that opt to support independent businesses.
In the words of the Founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, “Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.” Branding your plumbing business allows clients and prospects to recognize your business while getting a feel of your values. More importantly, it differentiates you from your rivals. It is key to sustaining your plumbing business and growing a loyal client base.
What Are the Major Steps of Building a Successful Plumbing Brand?
Over 90% of small plumbing business owners strongly believe that having a superior brand that sets them apart from rivals is crucial. More than 50% of plumbing contractors say that branding is very helpful in attracting new business. What secrets do large plumbing contractors hold? And how can small plumbing business owners use them as inspiration?
Here are the four steps of building a successful plumbing brand that every plumber should know:
1. Research Your Competitors and Your Target Market
Before you begin making any decision about branding your plumbing business, it is very critical that you understand the prevailing market conditions such as your potential customers and competitors.
Here are some tips that will help you determine your rivals and potential clients:
- Google your plumbing service or product category and analyze the indirect and direct rivals that show up.
- Look at the relevant social media pages or profiles that your potential clients normally follow and reprieve too.
It is crucial to handle this research phase before anything else because it will inform what your brand should concentrate on and set your business apart from the competition.
2. Define Your Plumbing Brand Mission
State the values that you want to incorporate with your target audience base. Your mission and vision statements show the purpose of your business’s existence. It will help you brand your business across various channels. You need to present an original image of what your plumbing business strives for.
Everything from your tagline to plumbing logo design, your communication should portray your mission. Your plumbing brands mission should strive to answer the following questions:
- Why you started the plumbing business?
- What are your core objectives/goals?
- Who is your target potential client?
3. Create a Value Proposition for Your Plumbing Brand
Always concentrate on what makes your plumbing brand valuable and unique. Find out something that will set your business apart from other plumbing contractors in the market.
Incorporate your value proposition in every plumbing marketing collateral that you are putting across various platforms. It is one of the essential steps in creating a successful plumbing brand.
4. Market Your Plumbing Brand
Develop a solid plumbing marketing strategy to market your plumbing business. Apply your branding in every plumbing business material, from marketing collaterals, and the website to staff uniforms. Put your branding in as many places as possible.
Identify new channels like affiliates, web, and email to promote your plumbing brand. Also, promote your plumbing brand in unexpected locations such as staff t-shirts, office goodies, and social media pages.
Building a successful plumbing brand is a continuous process, and following the steps outlined above will help your business stand out from the competition.
Here are the top 9 Strategies to Brand Your Plumbing Business & Crush the Competition
1. Find Your Place in the Competitive Plumbing Market
Before launching any plumbing brand building activity, you must understand the property owners you will serve. This includes understanding what your competitors are offering in the same area. More than being a plumber who solves a specific problem that businesses or homeowners have, you need to know the demographics interested in your plumbing services.
Your plumbing website content should be focused on the buying behavior and motivations of your potential clients. In trying to unlock all these important client details, you will realize the competitive advantage you have over your rivals.
The exercise to identify your potential clients will benefit all aspects of your plumbing brand-building process. Get a clear picture of who your potential customers are C-suite executives, middle-class earners, affluent residents, or working parents. Build what is known as a “brand persona,” an identity that your clients can resonate with and understand.
2. Develop Your Unique Plumbing Brand Voice and Identity
Once you have crafted your plumbing brand persona, the next step in branding your plumbing business is developing a voice and an identity unique to you.
At this stage, you should be able to respond to the questions listed below:
- What do you stand for as a plumber?
- What do you want your prospects to recognize you for?
You can kickstart the process by developing your unique selling points and positioning your brand as a plumbing industry leader. Define clearly who you are, the plumbing services you offer, the clients you serve, and how you will serve them. Another excellent exercise is developing a list of keywords you would like to be associated with your plumbing brand. Adjectives that describe the kind of plumbing contractor you are will resonate with your potential clients.
Your voice and personality should reflect your digital plumbing marketing campaigns, taglines, logo design, and communications. Consider your plumbing brand as a metaphor and personalize it to identify the traits you are synonymous with.
3. Have a Consistent and Strong Online Presence
So you have figured out your brand personas and the message you want to convey. But where and how do you do that? The buyer profiles you create will assist you in identifying where prospects spend their time online. The most effective way to interact with potential clients is on their terms.
According to a study by BigCommerce.com, 21% of online buyers are likely to buy a product that has been featured in a brand’s Facebook post. A strong presence on social media profiles matters.
Remember to portray a consistent brand image on all your social media handles, blogs, trade shows, marketing materials, plumbing websites, etc. Consistency matters since it results in familiarity.
4. Provide Exceptional Client Experiences
What do clients say about you? More often than not, when clients talk about your plumbing brand, they usually base it on experiences they have obtained engaging with you.
If you want them to speak about your brand in a positive light, you must do what you can to offer them exceptional service. This is not limited to the duration of the plumbing service. It goes above and beyond that. Providing consistent and post-sale client support and service are equally important.
5. Improve Plumbing Brand Visibility and Awareness
All this time and effort you are devoting to building a brand for your plumbing business will only yield desired fruits if you enhance your brand’s visibility online. And a great way to do this is through influencer marketing.
Influencers offer credible and unique voices to the plumbing brand message you are trying to convey. In their social profiles, they are the voice of reason that many clients tend to listen to. Whether through reviews, testimonials, or giveaways, they have their unique way of convincing your prospects to engage with your plumbing brand.
6. Get Visual with Branding Your Plumbing Business
Once you have defined your prospects, unique selling points, and what’s working in the plumbing industry, now you need to start designing your brand. Here are a few tips to improve the feel and look of your plumbing brand.
- A logo: Your plumbing company logo is like a business. It is the very first thing that your clients will see when they encounter your brand. If you are starting a plumbing business, a logo is the first thing you should design, as it will act as the starting point of all other visuals (like your business cards and other visuals).
- Business Cards: Â If you are in the plumbing business, you need to have a business card, and the design should match your plumbing logo and other marketing materials.
- A Plumbing Website: Your plumbing website is like your digital real estate investment. When prospects visit your website, the feel and look should be consistent with the other branded materials.
- A Plumbing Brand Style Guide: Before you start designing, you must consider the details of your graphic design strategy, such as your fonts, color palette, and design dos and don’ts. A plumbing brand style guide is an excellent way to organize your design so that you, your designer, and other team members working on your brand are on the same page.
Regardless of where a client sees your brand –whether by visiting a plumbing website or seeing your logo, the feel, look, and design should be consistent across various platforms.
7. Integrate Your Plumbing Brand in Everything You Do
This is a pro-tip when it comes to branding your plumbing business. The process of building a brand is a continuous process. The idea of portraying a constant brand image online should translate to the real world as well.
Your plumbing brand voice and image should be reflected and visible in whatever the clients interact with. If a client drives to your office, your plumbing brand identity should be on display. Your interactions, as well as the environment, should reflect your brand’s image. Your logo design, plumbing website, and slogan should reflect what your plumbing business stands for.
8. Establish Yourself as an Authority by Using the Right Content
As a small plumbing business owner, you might not have a huge marketing budget. But fortunately, you don’t have to spend millions of marketing dollars to get in front of the right customers. There is a simple and more affordable way of getting your plumbing brand name out there – content marketing.
Plumbing content marketing works on various levels. First, it allows you to show off your plumbing industry expertise. By positioning yourself as an expert in your field, your prospects will trust you. When the time comes to select a plumber to work with, they choose your business.
Content marketing is also great since it helps you to strengthen your plumbing business branding. By developing a strong voice for your brand, you can strengthen your relationship with clients and assist in driving your business.
The point here is, there are tons of details about your plumbing company that clients need and want to know. And if you can offer value and answer their queries through your content, you will build trust with those clients and translate it into doing business together.
9. Look for Partnership Opportunities to Brand Your Plumbing Business
Customers like to partner with plumbing brands they can trust. But if you are a new plumber, establishing that trust can be a daunting and time-consuming task. Is there a great way to speed up the process of building trust with clients? Search for partnership opportunities with other plumbing brands that your client has already worked with.
For instance, if you are introduced to a plumbing brand by another business that you have already worked with, then they are likely to transfer that trust to you, and as a result, benefit your business as well.
Work with our Team to Brand Your Plumbing Business.
A proper plumbing brand-building strategy can elevate your plumbing company to the next level. Fortunately, you don’t need to break your bank account to brand your plumbing business effectively. All you need to do is partner with a visionary and creative plumbing marketing agency like Blackstorm Plumbing Marketing. If you need help branding your plumbing company and differentiate your business from the competition, kindly schedule a free strategy session with our experts to brand your plumbing business today!
