In the cut-throat world of the plumbing business, it’s crucial to establish a strong brand that will remain relevant and help you to rise above your competitors. When your plumbing brand is not working, you need to go back and ask yourself these questions:
Are you reaching your target audience? Is your business growing beyond its initial goals? Are you considering presenting a modern, fresh image to keep up with your client’s culture?
Perhaps, you want to explore new customer opportunities and ideas through a free plumbing inspection to supplement your current service offerings. Maybe you have changed your plumbing company mission and, thus, the need to rebrand your plumbing business.
This post will discuss why and how to rebrand your plumbing business for success.
Begin by Identifying Major Reasons for Rebranding your plumbing business
If you have built a trusted, well-loved plumbing brand yet you feel your brand needs to be revamped, you need to look at your clients and social media followers to know what is happening. To avoid losing loyal clients and rumors, let your audience know about the exciting changes you are about to make. Communication is an important step, as the reason behind rebranding your business will paint a clear overview of the type of changes that you are about to make in the plumbing business.
Tell them about your business’s aspirations and goals, along with the visible, practical actions you are undertaking to implement them. You can wait for clients to accept the changes after they have been implemented, but it is crucial to foster a sense of excitement to get them on board first.
Tactfully Consider the Kind of Demographic You are Trying to Attract
Concentrating your marketing efforts on a select group of homeowners is better than trying to appeal to everyone. Different plumbing styles, décor, and materials attract different kinds of people, which is alright.
Assess Your Budget and Determine the Kind of Changes You Are Willing to Make
Some examples of rebranding your plumbing business might include changes in the logo design, targeting new clients, optimizing your plumbing website for search engines, increasing your plumbing brand visibility on social media through paid promotion, and creating high-quality content.
Involve Your Clients and Employees
You could conduct anonymous surveys on social networks to obtain your clients’ opinions and at your office to get your employees’ input. It is also good to monitor the successes and mistakes of your competitors. Even following them on social media will give you a clear overview of what’s working for them and what’s not.
Remember that Clients Always Want to Know How Your Services/products can solve their problems
Some clients may worry that their favorite plumbing brand will become worse after rebranding; thus, you need to reassure them by discussing the changes you are making and how they stand to benefit from your new image and explain your long-term and short-term goals to them.
Create a buzz using your social media profiles, and make your plumbing company rebranding a special event. For instance, you could offer a free plumbing estimate for the first few clients who book jobs after the rebrand. Encourage clients who have had a pleasant experience with your plumbing company to leave positive reviews on directories such as Yelp or Google reviews.
Why Should You Rebrand Your Plumbing Business?
It can be difficult to maintain a fresh image in an industry where trends keep changing. Rebranding is an option that most plumbers tend to overlook, but keeping your plumbing company’s feel and look current and fresh can be crucial to staying ahead of your competitors online.
Here are the top reasons why you need to rebrand your plumbing company:
Connect With Your New Target Clients
The biggest benefit of revamping your plumbing brand’s feel and look is to reach new property owners who need your services. Your clients will notice when you concentrate on new aspects of your plumbing brand and promote them properly. Rebranding can provide the stimulation your plumbing company requires to grow in an ever-evolving industry.
Differentiate Your Business from the Competition
As you grow your plumbing brand, you may find that your capabilities contend with those of the industry’s competitors. Rebranding is one of the most effective ways of setting your plumbing services and products apart from those of your competitors. Differentiating your plumbing brand shows prospects that your services are exceptional and that you are an expert in the industry. Rebranding your business to have its fresh look, feel, and voice will help establish your brand as an authority with a personality that appeals to your clients.
Rebranding Helps Your Plumbing Business to Stay Current
Rebranding has one major aim; to keep your plumbing brand current. Graphic design trends play a crucial role in how prospects/clients perceive your plumbing brand and all it has to provide. Ensuring that your visual appeal is always ahead of your competitors shows your clients that you stay abreast of what is happening in the industry.
Reflect New Products, Services, or Goals
It isn’t easy to showcase how your plumbing business has grown over the years if your brand does not reflect it. If your business has expanded to offer more services or set new objectives for your company, then rebranding is an excellent way to show that your business is evolving.
Improve Your Bottom Line
The advantages of rebranding will not only affect your inbound marketing strategy, but they will make your plumbing business more profitable. Reaching new prospects, standing out from competitors, and showing your expertise are excellent ways of maximizing your profits by giving your plumbing brand a new look.
Partner With Blackstorm Plumbing Marketing for All Your Graphic Design Needs
A great plumbing brand deserves an opportunity to achieve its full potential through aggressive internet marketing campaigns. Stand out from the crowd and amplify your brand’s message with our professional graphic design services. Our team will work with you to create a versatile color pallet, custom logo, and other marketing materials that convey your goals and the importance of your plumbing brand. Schedule a free strategy session with our experts to start your plumbing graphic design project today!
How about other voice assistants like Google Assistant, Alexa, or Cortana?
Whether you have answered or not, the sad reality is that;
Most of your potential clients have spoken a question or command to any of these online assistants.
They have asked questions like:
“Siri, where can I find the best plumber in Tennessee?”
“Alexa, is it going to rain tonight?”
Research shows that among customers who use voice search, almost 50% use voice assistants to find a local business.
So what does that mean for your plumbing business?
Your plumbing business cannot ignore voice search and expect to win more jobs online.
Every plumber who operates a plumbing website understands the value of search engine optimization. For years, plumbing marketers, hoping to popularize their blogs, would research keywords and use them sparingly throughout the content to rank #1 on Google search results when prospects look for them online.
What is Voice Search Optimization and How Does it Work
Voice search optimization refers to the process of optimizing your plumbing web pages to appear in voice searches. Voice search is any search a prospect performs on the web using a voice command instead of text or typing.
But how does voice search work? Here is a breakdown of how things work in voice search in four simple steps:
A prospect/client initiates a voice search by addressing the device voice assistant using pre-programmed voice command (“Hey, Alexa,” “Hey Siri,” or “Hey Cortana”)
The prospect/client gives authority or asks a question: “where do I find the best plumbing contractor over here?” Or “SEO movie release date.”
Based on the kind of technology that the voice search uses, it will collect the packets of sounds as syllables, phrases, or sentences.
Finally, the voice search system will translate the sounds’ units to text and initiate the search process.
Whew! Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about that too much. But isn’t it refreshing to understand what goes behind the scenes?
What is the Role of Voice Search in SEO?
SEO is one of the most crucial marketing tools used by plumbing contractors all over the world. Since its inception, SEO has undergone various changes, most of which come from the search engines’ limitations. Voice search and artificial intelligence will affect your plumbing business progression with SEO. Plumbers will now have to align their keywords to take advantage of this new technology to drive more demand and income.
Voice search will affect how plumbing website content is written and narrow down to the target market more precisely within a short time. It will also assist offer relevant feedback after sieving through a massive amount of information. This will give your plumbing business a competitive edge as it will concentrate more on the target audience. Furthermore, artificial intelligence can be used to analyze layouts, marketing content, and UI graphics.
Experts believe that voice search will eliminate the possibilities of black hat SEO, as it will help them detect false keyword stuffing in the coming days. Be it a personal computer, laptop, or mobile, voice search makes it easy for people of all ages to find local plumbers by speaking to their gadgets. This ease of use in daily life will help voice search to grow in the coming days.
Why Do Plumbing Contractors Need to Invest in a Voice Search Optimization Strategy?
A voice search strategy is essential for your plumbing business. With more clients/prospects using voice assistants like Google Assistant, Alexa, or Siri, you need to invest in this strategy to reach them, mainly if you operate locally. More than half of voice searches are used to identify a local business.
Here are some of your plumbing business benefits of implementing a comprehensive voice search optimization strategy:
Increased plumbing website traffic
Raise your brand visibility and awareness
Enhances client engagement
High scope of plumbing sales and conversions.
Drives more prospects to your plumbing business.
How to Win More Plumbing Clients with Voice Search Optimization
Now that you have understood the ins and outs of voice search technology, it’s time to know how to use the information gained to generate more plumbing conversions and draw potential clients with voice search.
Create an Easy-to-Read Site Map
Your sitemap is how Google recognizes your search terms and their relevance to the prospect’s or client’s search. When creating a new plumbing website, consider the keywords you choose and how they will rhyme with what your clients are searching for online.
If your map is organized and clean, Google will instantly recommend your plumbing website if a web user performs a voice search for a proper phrase or keyword. It is also highly recommended that you revise your old content to see if there are revisions that you can make in your URL link. This small tweak will help your business reach more clients searching for information related to your niche online.
Re-evaluate your Keywords
It is estimated that by 2022, more than half of American households will have a smart speaker. Combine that with the fact that every adult owns a smartphone with voice search capabilities, and it is easy to see why plumbing contractors need to rethink their keyword research strategy. We need to think about how an average homeowner would initiate a search and concentrate on those keywords.
How to Prepare Your Plumbing Business for Voice search Revolution
Speech recognition and voice search software are on the upward trend like never before. If you have not been affected by the voice search yet, then know that it is around the corner, and over time everyone will be swept by the marvels of voice assistants like Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant.
It is estimated that by 2020, almost half of the total online searches will be voice-activated (source). Voice search is the new wave of a technology revolution that plumbing contractors must adapt to. But the question is, how can you prepare your plumbing company for this bleeding-edge tool? This post will discuss how voice search can be utilized and how it will change your business and the plumbing industry in general.
Here are some of the things you can do to get your plumbing business ready for voice search:
Improve Page Speed
Prospects/clients expect fast results for their voice searches. Most voice searches are performed over mobile and devices like Amazon Echo. And plumbing website loading speed is an essential aspect of cellular search ranking signals. It was found out that the average time for a voice search results was 54 seconds. If you want to increase your chances of showing up in voice searches, make sure your plumbing website loads faster.
HTTPS and SSL Certificates
HTTPS prefix and an SSL certificate validate your plumbing website security. Google had announced that in 2014, HTTPS would be considered a priority ranking factor, and this would apply to voice search as well. This shows that securing your plumbing website with an HTTPS certificate will help your site to appear in voice searches.
Informative, easy-to-read, and long-form quality content
Contents that are easy to read and have a 2000-3000 word count stand a high chance of ranking high in voice search results. However, stuffing your posts with meaningless words to appear in voice searches is not the ideal method. Google selects content quality over quantity, and if your post meets quality content guidelines, then Google will consider it the best pick.
Content engagement also plays a vital role in voice search rankings. Though Google does not consider social media signals when ranking plumbing websites, it has been observed that highly engaging content tends to rank high in voice searches.
High SERP and Featured Snippets
Domain rating is more preferable than your page authority. Hence, a plumbing website with more quality backlinks will be superior to one with an excellent backlink ratio. A plumbing website with a higher domain rating ranks better in the search results.
Another factor you need to consider is the featured snippet section. Snippets are regarded as the ideal results of voice searches. More than 40% of voice search queries are answered in these featured snippets, and they contain precise answers to users’ questions in a concise format. But you need first to make sure that your plumbing website gets on top of the search engine results. Only pages that feature in the first page results of Google will appear in the featured snippet section.
Mobile Optimization
Do you know that 1 out of 5 adults in America uses voice search at least once every month? A better mobile experience has become an essential factor in voice search optimization. Furthermore, Google has already announced that it will reward mobile-friendly plumbing websites with a higher ranking.
Strengthen Your Plumbing Marketing with these Voice Search Optimization Tips
Use Natural Language to Appear in Voice Search Results
Prospects use more conversational queries when performing a voice search. For instance, they are more likely to inquire, “At what time does plumber x open today?” or “Plumber x office hours.” So make sure that you try to include as many conversational keywords as possible. Such kinds of queries are also known as long-tail keywords, and they are usually longer and tend to take the form of questions and phrases. Voice search results are generally delivered on the 9th-grade English level, so make sure that your content is presented well and easy to understand.
Device
Check the kind of devices your prospects are using and optimize your plumbing website for such devices. While voice assistants are found on smart speakers, research shows that most of these searches are performed on handheld devices such as smartphones and smartwatches.
Locale
Prospects searching for something local (such as a local business) are three times more likely to perform a voice search (particularly on a mobile phone) than a text-based query. What does that mean for your plumbing business? It means that you need to be on top of your internet marketing game (like your online reputation and local SEO) if you want your plumbing company to get found on voice searches.
5 Voice Search Strategies that you can apply today
Strategy #1: Focus on giving answers directly
If you want to get the most out of your voice search strategy, begin by answering questions directly.
Did you know that over 50% of voice searches rely on featured snippets?
Such featured snippets answer questions from prospects directly.
Prospects normally perform voice searches in the form of questions.
(“Siri, how do you find an experienced plumber here?”)
(“Alexa, is it raining today?”)
As a plumber, you need to start posting your content on the FAQ page for the most common questions prospects ask, making it easier for your plumbing website to get found in the voice search results.
To boost your visibility, keep your answers brief.
Strategy#2: Make your Content Easy to Read
When Google gets results for voice searchers, it attempts to locate content that an average customer can read and understand.
Don’t try to show off your plumbing website using all the technical jargon you know.
Keep your website content simple so that it can be understood by ordinary people so that your sites get found on voice search results. Also, make sure that your site can be followed by all visitors who interact with it.
Strategy#3: Follow SEO Best Practices
Did you know plumbing websites that rank high in desktop searches have the same chance of getting found on voice searches?
The reverse is also true.
If you have not optimized your plumbing website for SEO, you will not get found on voice searches. But there are several things you can do to make sure that your plumbing website gets found on top of search engine results, including the following:
Speeding up your plumbing website
Integrating keywords on your plumbing pages
Make your plumbing website mobile-friendly.
So, you must re-evaluate your SEO strategy to appear prominently on voice searches.
Strategy #4: Make Business Details Accessible
Consider the kind of information that prospects might want to know about your plumbing business when thinking of using your products or services.
They might want to know your:
Business hours
Address
Phone number
Customer reviews and ratings.
And virtual assistants such as Siri are the convenient and fastest way of getting such details. Therefore make sure that these details are readily available on your blog, plumbing website, and online business listings (like Google My Business and Yelp).
Strategy #5: Invest in Local Service Ads from Google
Besides the regular pay-per-click ads, Google currently offers local service ads on top of its search engine results.
Local service ads help potential clients learn about local, Google-verified plumbing businesses and even book jobs directly from the ad.
If you have invested in these ads currently, the good news is that you will experience improved voice search visibility. If you do not use local service ads, you need to invest in them, giving you more leads in text-based and voice searches.
Boost Your Plumbing Sales with Voice Search Optimization Now
Voice search optimization will assist you in generating more leads for your plumbing business and earn more sales. Implementing the voice search optimization tips discussed in this post will drive more voice searchers to your plumbing company.
Are you feeling overwhelmed by implementing these voice search optimization strategies in your business? Don’t fret, as the Blackstorm Plumbing Marketing team is ready to help optimize your plumbing website for voice search. We have a team of experienced SEO specialists who will ensure that your business appears on top of voice search results.
Don’t miss out on potential plumbing jobs because you don’t have a voice search strategy.
Ensure that your plumbing business is visible regardless of the device your prospects are using-whether it is Alexa, Siri, or desktop using text searches.
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: 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!
