There are numerous exciting ways for local contractors to generate plumbing leads in 2024.
Plumbing is an essential service, meaning its demand can withstand almost any market conditions. As a result, homeowners will always seek access to a reliable plumber.
Plumbing impacts Americans ‘ everyday lives, whether it is a toilet, bathtub, shower, or sink.
Because the plumbing industry continues to grow at a faster rate than other home services, the opportunity is vast, and so is the competition.
I’m Nolen Walker, and I founded Plumbing Webmasters more than a decade ago. Since our opening, I’ve helped thousands of plumbers generate high-quality plumbing leads.
What are Plumbing Leads?
Plumbing leads are inquiries potential customers make to your business through various mediums, including phone calls, website form submissions, text messages, and emails.
Plumbing Lead Types
Numerous types of plumbing leads exist, including exclusive, shared, residential, and commercial. Your ideal inquiry may vary depending on your business type and sales structure.
Check out the types of plumbing leads below:
- Shared Leads: Contact information forwarded to multiple plumbing companies by a 3rd party
- Exclusive Leads. Contact information submitted directly to a plumbing company
- Residential Leads: Inquiries made by residential homeowners
- Commercial Leads: inquiries made by commercial business owners
- Emergency Leads: Urgent inquiries requiring immediate response
Below, I’ll outline 25 proven ways to generate plumbing leads in 2024 based on my first-hand experience and expertise.
1) Local SEO
According to SEMRush, 46% of all search users are looking for a local business. As a result, most search marketing occurs on the regional level, especially for plumbers.
Claiming and verifying your Google Business Profile is the foundation of Local SEO for plumbers, but it expands beyond that to your website, citations, and reviews.
Helping Google and its users associate your company with your target service area is the key to unlocking local leads in 2024.
Local SEO Keyword Research
Keyword Targeting: Keyword research tools won’t pick up many local terms, so keyword targeting is more important than “research” at the regional level.
However, SEMRush’s location field allows you to estimate the volume of primary terms like “plumber” on a hyperlocal level.
Still, over half of all local clicks come from hidden terms or long-tail keywords, meaning your keyword strategy must expand beyond data from 3rd party research tools.
Google Business Profile
Claiming and verifying your company’s Google Business Profile allows you to rank on Google Maps and the Google Map 3-Pack.
Please make sure to upload your company logo and other unique photos and include your website URL and social media links.
Your business address plays a significant role in your local rankings on Google Maps, so a legitimate address close to the city’s center is ideal for visibility.
With that said, using a fake address, a virtual address, or a friend or employee’s address may trigger a profile suspension.
Local Website Optimization
Your website’s homepage should feature your business address and include your target city within its title tag, H1, and primary content.
Including your location on your website helps you rank in organic results for local queries and also helps your Google Business Profile rank higher in Google Maps results.
You can expand your visibility into other nearby cities with local landing pages or “city pages.” Be careful with how many city pages you produce, as creating too many similar pages can make them appear as “doorway pages,” which violate Google’s guidelines.
2) Organic SEO
A Google Business Profile is not sufficient for earning local leads online. Your company must also invest in an organic search presence through traditional on-page SEO and content.
For example, Roto-Rooter Chattanooga hired Plumbing Webmasters to generate 7,000 website visits in 2024.
While organic SEO has earned a bad reputation because of bad actors throughout the industry, it is a wise long-term investment when adequately implemented.
On-Page SEO
SEO fundamentals like title tags, header tags, URL slugs, and meta descriptions remain integral to ranking on Google.
Ensuring each website page targets an exclusive user intent is essential to providing Google and its users with what it seeks.
Common-sense changes to website pages can make the difference between a top-three Google ranking and a page-two ranking.
Technical SEO
Plumbing business owners shouldn’t be expected to understand the intricacies of technical SEO, but their agency should.
After all, nothing you do matters if Google and other search engines cannot crawl and index your website.
As a result, it’s essential to cover technical basics like XML sitemaps, canonical tags, SSL certificates, and Google Search Console submissions.
Off-Page SEO
Organic rankings rely not just on on-page signals but also on off-page signals. For example, citations and backlinks help distribute credibility to your plumbing domain.
As a local plumber, you want to be listed in all the major directories with a consistent business name, address, and phone number.
From there, it helps to build legitimate local links with credible and authoritative websites like plumbing suppliers, adjacent local businesses, and other topically relevant entities.
3) Google Ads
Paying to appear at the top of Google search results can quickly generate leads.
Pay-per-click or PPC campaigns through Google Ads are one of the most reliable paid advertising platforms for plumbers.
Plumbing companies can strategically deploy Google Ads campaigns to complement or jumpstart their broader digital marketing efforts.
Search Campaigns
While it could take months or even years to rank in the top 3 organically for your primary keyword, Google Ads search campaigns can instantly make you visible.
Of course, this “jumping in front of the line” comes with a considerable price tag, something you must weigh into your broader financial projections and cost-per-lead appetite.
Nevertheless, the opportunity to secure a top position for your chosen keyword term is a surefire way to attract nearby customers.
Local Service Ads
Local Service Ads (LSA), sometimes called Google Guaranteed, is a unique Google advertising opportunity for plumbers.
LSA ads appear above standard PPC ads at the top of search engine results. Unlike search ads, local service ads utilize a pay-per-lead model, which changes the ROI dynamics.
Google’s LSA system ensures your plumbing company only pays for qualified leads, though the expenses can still add up quickly as the lead qualification process increases the cost per lead.
Landing Page Optimization
Maximizing the impact of Google Ads relies on landing pages optimized for conversions.
For example, search campaigns that generate clicks to a specific page will only convert if that page includes a unique value proposition (UVP) and a user-friendly call-to-action (CTA).
Unlike pages optimized for SEO, PPC landing pages should prioritize quick actions to secure as many lead captures as possible.
4) Social Media Ads
Social media users increased from 2.07 billion in 2015 to 5.17 billion in 2024, doubling the total number of users in a nine-year period.
As a result, plumbing company’s presence on social media is more critical today than ever in history.
While organic social media posts have limited reach for plumbing companies, investing in paid social media ads can break through to users scrolling through their social feeds.
Meta Ads
The Meta Ads platform consists of paid advertising campaigns for Facebook and Instagram and, when properly implemented, can yield the highest ROI of any social media advertising platform.
Meta offers various types of ad campaigns, from lead ads to image and video ads, each of which can be used within a plumbing advertising strategy.
Targeting is the key to efficient ad spending and ROI, and Meta’s Advantage+ targeting algorithm learns users’ behavior regarding your plumbing ad.
YouTube Ads
Nearly 60% of consumers consider YouTube Ads more relevant than TV ads. With this in mind, plumbers can advertise on YouTube to reach target customers.
YouTube offers various ad types, such as in-stream ads (skippable or non-skippable), bumper ads, shorts ads, and more.
For plumbers, the non-skippable in-stream ads can prove highly effective when combined with strategic targeting.
TikTok Ads
TikTok advertisers have the potential to reach over 1 billion adults monthly, creating an unforeseen opportunity for local plumbers.
The social platform was once populated mainly by younger people who were not yet homeowners, but the demographics have shifted in recent years.
While TikTok’s most popular content remains geared toward entertainment and social trends, “meeting people where they are” has never rung truer.
5) Email Marketing
Email marketing helps generate plumbing service leads based on simple math. About 88% of people check their email accounts daily, which makes it one of the few places where you can reach nearly all of your target customers.
The challenge with email marketing is getting people to subscribe to your email list and then open your emails.
You can generate more subscribers through paid advertising campaigns and email sign-up forms on your website.
To maximize your open rates, exceeding the industry average of about 25% requires personalization, list segmentation, and automation-based campaigns.
List Segmentation
Email marketing platforms like Aweber and Mailchimp allow list segmentation so that plumbers can segment subscribers by service type, home type, location, etc.
By segmenting subscribers, you can send target emails to each list, increasing open rates and engagement while reducing unsubscribed.
Personalization
Aweber and Mailchimp also allow for email personalization using shortcodes like (customer-name), which can be inserted into email templates.
Personalized emails are proven to increase open rates and avoid the pitfalls of “mass emails,” which are largely discarded by email users.
Addressing your customers by name can quickly foster a sense of customer care that is absent in generalized email copy.
Discounts
One way to increase open rates is to periodically offer subscribers something of value, like a discount on plumbing services.
By strategically including discount emails in your broader campaigns, you can keep subscribers engaged with your email schedule and build goodwill for future conversions.
Themed discounts typically perform best, especially when presented as a limited-time offer to encourage quick response.
6) Online Reviews and Reputation Management
About 99.9% of American consumers read online reviews before making a purchasing decision, such as hiring a local plumbing contractor.
Online reviews are one of the least expensive means of lead generation for local plumbers, as they can influence search engine visibility and conversion rates.
Google reviews are particularly impactful to lead generation as they can directly influence Google Maps rankings for plumbers.
Reputation management software with automated review requests can help increase your testimonials on platforms like Google, Yelp, and BBB.
Ensure your plumbing staff is trained to ask for reviews in person. This face-to-face or over-the-phone request can inspire your customers to act.
Once more customers use your services, your company will inevitably receive some negative reviews. An encouraging professional response will typically appease other consumers, weighing the pros and cons of the various testimonials.
7) Website Conversion Rate Optimization
A/B testing website pages can increase conversions by 30%. My agency, Plumbing Webmasters, has conducted these tests, so we have internal data that informs our website design practices.
Optimizing your plumbing website for conversion rate is an effective way to get more inquiries, as the number of visitors who call or submit a form will increase substantially.
While design is the main component of CRO, other factors, such as the website’s copywriting and narrative, also play a role.
Homeowners don’t want to read a boring novel about the intricacies of plumbing, but instead, what is the answer to the simple question: Is this plumbing company trustworthy?
Considering this, showcasing award badges, license numbers, and original photos can foster trust and increase conversions.
Of course, CTAs remain the most tangible factor in conversion rate, and red buttons have been shown to outperform other colors.
8) DataPins
Most plumbing websites feature cookie-cutter content, a quality that has only worsened with the emergence of AI-generated content.
This widespread issue has prompted Google’s algorithms to prioritize unique, people-first content that demonstrates experience, authority, and trust.
I spent millions developing a software tool called DataPins, which generates digital branded signals based on real plumbing jobs, including schema markup, geo-coordinates, mini-maps, job images, and job descriptions.
Each pin gets published to its corresponding website page, signaling fresh updates for each service and location with SEO-friendly signals.
Our clients who regularly use DataPins experience significant spikes in traffic, such as Steve’s WaterWorks Plumbing, which enjoyed a 122.6% increase in a 30-day span.
Pins are easy to create with the mobile web app and can be used by any plumber to generate more leads.
9) Social Media Marketing
Building a digital brand in 2024 requires a presence on social media platforms.
We mentioned social media ads earlier in this post as a method of generating plumbing leads, but a widespread marketing presence on the most popular social platforms also contributes to lead generation.
Social media profiles serve as a content hub for your business and a citation. For example, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube all leave space for your website URL.
Facebook even features a CTA that can prompt users to contact your business directly through their platform.
Other forms of social media marketing include posting videos, joining groups and engaging with followers.
Focusing on trending content types like Instagram Stories and Reels is an effective way to garner attention from homeowners seeking plumbing services.
10) E-E-A-T
For plumbers who believe SEO is dead, the concept of E-E-A-T should invigorate your quest for plumbing leads.
E-E-A-T is essentially the modern equivalent of SEO in that it’s what Google’s search quality raters look for when “grading” website pages.
Google’s algorithm favors websites that demonstrate experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
I spoke about how the DataPins software tool can insert E-E-A-T signals onto your plumbing website, and there are additional ways to showcase these qualities.
Award badges, review widgets, license numbers, and original photos are all examples of E-E-A-T.
Brand mentions, and backlinks can also contribute to E-E-A-T, so building a comprehensive digital brand for your plumbing business can pay major long-term dividends.
11) Local Directories
Industry experts have debated the value of local directories for plumbing lead generation.
As a long-time plumbing marketing agency owner, I can tell you that local directories are beneficial in generating leads.
First, local directories help send brand signals to search engines, which contribute to search visibility and potentially higher rankings.
Secondly, building general trust with your consumers is a great way to influence conversion rates.
While some directory listings are unnecessary (like those that Google doesn’t even bother to index), the well-known ones serve as valuable business citations.
In addition to Google Business Profile, Yelp, BBB, Angi’, HomeAdvisor, and Apple Maps are all great places to create citations.
12) Referral Programs
Creating a plumber referral program capitalizes on the most effective testimonial source, which is word of mouth.
Sure, most consumers check online reviews on platforms like Google, but recommendations from friends, family, and neighbors are even more influential.
As your digital marketing campaign generates new customers, you can use them to further expand your clientele through referrals.
Try offering incentives to existing customers using referral codes, which can yield significant returns.
Referrals also increase the ROI of other lead generation methods, such as local SEO and website CRO, as they expand the reach to those people’s inner circle.
The key to maintaining a successful referral program is customer service so that your customers feel validated for participating.
13) Retargeting
Most of your website visitors also spend time on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, which makes retargeting an intriguing way to generate more leads.
Installing a Meta pixel in your website code allows you to retarget visitors on Facebook and Instagram.
This way, someone who finds your website through SEO will then see your Facebook Ad.
Studies show that retargeted users are 8 times cheaper to reach per click than standard users.
In addition, the more a nearby homeowner sees your plumbing brand, the more likely they will recall it when a plumbing issue arises.
You can expand your plumbing business by driving down your cost per lead and focusing on consumers with clear interest.
14) YouTube Marketing
Video content creates an 85% increase in retention among consumers compared to text.
This statistic highlights the emerging importance of video content on plumbing websites and, specifically, YouTube video content.
For one thing, consumers spend nearly 49 minutes on YouTube per day. Uploading videos on your plumbing YouTube channel can attract leads directly on the platform.
Also, Google owns YouTube, which means that YouTube videos are part of search engine results pages (SERPs).
A well-optimized YouTUbe video can rank directly on search results for plumbing-relead queries.
Considering all these factors, embedding YouTube videos onto your plumbing business website is an outstanding strategy for increasing engagement and attracting more customers.
15) Truck Wraps
A single plumbing truck wrap can garner up to 80,000 daily impressions, making it one of the most undervalued lead generation methods.
Truck wraps serve as mobile advertisements for your plumbing company, featuring your brand logo, phone number, and website (in most cases).
Almost every American city has a vehicle wrap design business to help plumbers wrap their trucks and benefit from these vast impressions.
Aside from expanding brand awareness, truck wraps serve the purpose of traditional advertising platforms like billboards and print ads by working on the consumers’ subconscious.
Wraps work while you drive and when you’re parked in a public space, constantly reminding nearby prospects of your business.
Your previous legwork of choosing a memorable brand name and domain name is rewarded with vehicle wraps.
16) Local Sponsorships
Sponsorships build local authority both offline and online. For example, when you sponsor a Little League team, the team will wear your brand logo on its uniforms and potentially link to your website.
You want to negotiate these considerations within the sponsorship opportunities as your goal is to gain exposure and expand brand awareness.
The visual component of your sponsorships can increase trust in your services and prompt parents to search for your brand name online, sending credible signals to Google.
The links from your sponsored organizations are also influential in Google’s local algorithm, as these partnerships are far more trustworthy than a random “guest post” on an unrelated blog.
I recommend prioritizing local links, such as those you acquire through sponsorship opportunities, over other link-building techniques that some SEO agencies promote.
In summary, local sponsorships have widespread benefits for your local plumbing business and can produce qualified leads.
17) NextDoor
The NextDoor platform has 88 million users, of whom 79% were influenced by a neighbor’s business recommendation.
Marketing at the city or state level is one thing, but infiltrating neighborhoods can be more challenging for plumbing companies.
NextDoor’s platform is the digital doorway to influencing specific neighborhoods throughout your service area.
Nextdoor offers paid advertising opportunities to local businesses as a hyperlocal neighborhood platform.
While the cost per lead is estimated to be higher than Meta, the conversion rate is often also greater.
Strategically running Nextdoor ads is an effective way to attract hyperlocal plumbing prospects.
18) Promotions \ Special Offers
Over 70% of consumers say promotions and special offers are among the top three factors in their purchasing decisions.
Plumbers can benefit from first-time customer discounts, which are proven to incentivize prospects on the fence.
Running promotions on your website or social media pages can energize consumers about your services.
Some companies use coupon codes for an entry point service, like a free consultation, to get new customers “in the door” and earn their repeat business in the future.
Plumbing companies can expand this further by providing membership benefits like waived emergency fees to capture long-term prospects.
Integrating these promotions with your border digital marketing strategy can benefit your company in various ways.
19) Business Networking
Connecting with other businesses can result in a new stream of qualified plumbing leads. Building your network can pay off whether you attend trade shows like Flow Expo or other business networking events.
While these relationships are B2B – business to business rather than B2C – business to consumer, the one thing most companies share is access to consumers through digital branding, marketing, and word-of-mouth.
For example, you partner with a local real estate agent who recommends your plumbing company to its clients. You can build similar relationships with other complimentary industry tradesmen, like foundation repair specialists.
For a more aggressive networking approach, consider hosting your own event and promoting it through your website, email list, social media posts, and anywhere else you can reach potential guests.
These events can help foster new business network opportunities while expanding your company’s brand awareness.
20) Lead Generation Services
Buying plumbing leads from a third-party service can help you attract new customers, though this method has some downsides.
For instance, most 3rd party lead sellers provide shared leads, which means the customer’s information is also given to competitors.
Like pay-per-click advertising, lead generation services cannot be your only lead source if you plan to run a sustainable and profitable plumbing company.
However, leveraging your purchased leads into reviews, testimonials, and brand recognition can help spur your long-term lead-generation strategies like organic SEO and brand building.
If you do sign up with a lead generation service make sure they document what constitutes a lead and whether they have a system for detecting spam or bots that emulate prospects.
21) Word-of-Mouth Marketing
An estimated 88% of consumers trust word-of-mouth over any other marketing channel. Plumbing companies that can earn personal recommendations typically have a steady incoming stream of quality leads.
The challenge with word-of-mouth is ensuring it occurs at scale rather than merely in your close inner circle of friends and family.
For startup plumbing companies, initial word-of-mouth should be used for reviews, testimonials, and social proof as part of their broader digital marketing strategy.
When thinking more long-term, word-of-mouth at scale occurs when enough people in your service area learn about your company through advertising or organic marketing.
Once they have a good experience with your plumbing company, they are more likely to recommend it to others, which can happen in person or online.
22) Lead Magnets
Some studies have found that lead magnets can increase conversion by up to 785%, making them a surefire method for generating more leads.
If a plumbing website’s average conversion rate is roughly 4%, 96 out of every 100 visitors will leave the website without calling or submitting a contact form.
You can increase that conversion rate by offering lead magnets, which give a “middle option” for visitors who are not immediately ready for your services but are generally interested.
Examples of lead magnets are plumbing homeowner checklists or a homeowner plumbing quiz requiring the user to submit their email address or phone number in exchange for the content.
Once you have their contact information, you can gradually move them through a funnel so they can use your plumbing service when they are ready to choose a plumber.
23) CRMs
CRMs, or customer relationship management software, are tools widely used throughout the plumbing industry to organize existing customers, receive payments, and send out invoices.
Several modern CRMs include lead tracking analytics, which allows you to identify prospects’ sources by campaign types, such as email, flyer, or SEO.
These data points can inform your plumbing business on where to invest more marketing resources and increase lead volume.
For example, if you find that most of your best phone calls come from people who find you on Google Maps, you can invest more resources into ranking in the Google Map 3-Pack.
Some of the most popular CRMs for plumbers include ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, and Jobber.
24) Artificial Intelligence / LLMO
AI has emerged as part of the national discourse in a way few predicted before 2024.
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini, and other platforms have become part of homeowner’s regular online activity.
Optimizing your web presence to appear in answers from these platforms is a practice called Large Language Model Optimization or LLMO.
Large Language Models power tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini to deliver answers based on training data and various online sources.
Google has started integrating AI overviews into its standard search results for plumbing-related queries, which appear above traditional search results.
This new SERP position gives plumbers an opportunity to capture new leads by appearing in these AI answers.
25) Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency
Hiring a digital marketing agency is a great way to get more plumbing leads. However, it’s critical that you choose the right provider.
Digital marketing agencies have generally lost the trust of plumbers because of overhyped services and overpromised results.
In addition, some agencies have misled plumbing companies about the efficacy of some “marketing tactics” like blogging, which violates Google’s Helpful Content Update.
The shaky foundation of the digital marketing industry makes signing up with one seem risky for plumbing companies.
However, the right digital marketing agency can implement all the most effective lead-generation methods in a comprehensive campaign that will outperform anything you can do alone.
Considering these variables, choosing a trusted digital marketing agency remains an excellent investment for plumbers.
How to Get Free Plumbing Leads
Startup plumbing companies often ask for ways to get free plumbing leads. I tell them the same thing: There are no genuine free leads.
While organic visibility on search engines can ultimately produce zero-dollar plumbing leads, the initial investment of building a digital brand worth that visibility costs money.
Word-of-mouth referrals from friends and family may also constitute “free leads,” though that is not a sustainable way to run a plumbing business.
Those jobs are only valuable if you can leverage them into a brand reinvestment through customer reviews and online reputation.
For newer plumbing contractors without a large budget, starting with the basics of a Google Business Profile and a one-page website can lay a solid foundation for future expansion.
Still, you will ultimately have to invest to get a return from quality leads.
Common Lead Generation Mistakes for Plumbers
After working directly with plumbing companies for over a decade, I can speak to the common mistakes plumbers make with lead generation.
It’s not always the plumber’s fault because sometimes their marketing company is investing in the wrong channels, but in many cases, it does come down to a business mindset.
Below, I’ll outline the most common lead generation mistakes I see from plumbers:
Gig Economy Mindset
Plumbing companies living “lead to lead” exist in the gig economy, preventing any business from scaling.
The business model cannot sustain itself when focusing on short-term lead acquisition rather than long-term lead abundance.
That’s why I discourage placing all your emphasis on short-term lead generation tactics like PPC and lead buying and promote long-term techniques like SEO and Google Maps.
Failure to Follow-Up
If it takes your office days or even weeks to follow up with a lead, they’ve probably already moved on to one of your competitors.
It’s essential to have a system to nurture leads and quickly respond to them in some fashion.
This may include CRM software and email or SMS automation to let the prospect know you value their inquiry.
Misinterpreting Lead Quality
Some plumbing companies try to get every possible lead – even for services their company does not provide.
This influx of bad leads can make attending to qualified prospects more challenging and create resentment toward people who feel misled by your content.
Qualified leads are homeowners who know their problem and that you can solve it. You should attract these prospects by creating suitable types of website pages, paid advertisements, and video content.
Next Steps for Plumbing Lead Generation
Over my decade-plus in the plumbing lead generation industry, I’ve witnessed each of these tactics succeed or fail, depending on the quality of the campaign and the service provider’s integrity.
I can assure you that plumbing leads are accessible to local companies that invest time, effort, and resources into building a digital brand.
I’ve seen it happen so many times, including when Westside Plumbing generated a 315% website traffic increase in a major metropolitan area.
You can take the next steps by assessing your current marketing presence and determining whether you have a digital brand.
From there, I recommend reaching out to a marketing professional who you trust.
If you want to further discuss how to get plumbing leads in 2024, call my personal cell phone at (877) 388-9884.
