In 2025, Retargeting Ads for plumbers remain one of the most cost-efficient investments for your plumbing advertising campaign.
While rising costs make cold-targeting a greater risk, retargeting empowers you to allocate your budget toward consumers who’ve already shown interest in your company.
Advancements in technology, such as AI-powered targeting, first-party data strategies, and cookieless tracking, have made retargeting ads even more efficient.
As a result, it costs 8x less to reach retargeted users with plumbing ads than it does for non-retargeted users.
Retargeting is a great way to leverage existing digital marketing assets, such as your SEO-optimized website and Google Business Profile, at a lower cost for advertising.
In the following post, we’ll outline how local plumbing contractors can maximize retargeting ads in 2025.
What are Retargeting Ads for Plumbers?
Retargeting ads for plumbers are online ads shown to users who visit your plumbing website but exit before completing a call to action.
The technique utilizes various forms of tracking to retarget users as they browse the web elsewhere.
Aside from Google, plumbing companies can also utilize retargeting ads on Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, among other platforms.
Plumbing Retargeting Ads Basics
Retargeting ads can significantly boost click-through rates. People are more likely to click on an ad if they are already familiar with the brand, product, or service.
However, plumbers must first understand how to properly track users interacting with their website and other digital entities.
There are two primary types of retargeting concepts: pixel-based retargeting and list-based retargeting.
Pixel-Based Retargeting
Pixel-based retargeting utilizes JavaScript code, known as a “pixel,” embedded in your website’s HTML code to track visitors.
When someone visits your website, the code stores their visit and other on-site behaviors, such as other pages they clicked through and which services they interacted with.
Using this data, plumbing companies can serve highly-targeted ads to these users based on their behavior.
For example, a visitor who navigates to the sewer line repair page can see a Facebook ad focusing on sewer line repair services.
List-Based Retargeting
List-based retargeting involves uploading stored contact information, including names, phone numbers, and email addresses, to ad platforms, typically in CSV format.
Top advertising platforms can often match the uploaded information to users in their system and serve personalized ads based on that data.
Plumbing companies may have collected this information over time through various sources, including past transactions, newsletter or lead magnet opt-ins, or email and SMS correspondence.
Users who voluntarily submit their contact information are pre-positioned to book your plumbing services, making list-based retargeting a very cost-effective approach.
Engagement-Based Retargeting
Engagement-based retargeting triggers ads for users who completed a specific action, such as watching 50% of a promotional video, engaging with your GBP post, or liking your company’s Instagram reel.
AI advancements have made it easier to determine which actions are most likely to result in goal completion, allowing platforms to help advertisers invest resources more efficiently.
Engagement-based retargeting also eliminates low-intent users who may visit your website or social media pages without a clear intention to use your services.
Let’s say a visitor lands on your water heater repair page and then is served your YouTube Shorts ad. If they watch more than 50% of that video, they see a special offer advertisement within their Gmail account.
Retargeting Benefits for Plumbers
Retargeting ads for plumbers isn’t just about making more sales. That’s more of a short-term perk to these types of ads.
Retargeting ads should be part of your marketing campaign for the long term, ensuring sustained lead generation and conversion.
Ads can also auto-personalize messaging (i.e., city + service name) using dynamic creative optimization.
Besides increased sales, here are some critical retargeting ad benefits:
- AI Overviews & LLM Brand Mentions: Retargeting enhances brand recall, which in turn influences LLMs and AI search results related to plumbing.
- Increase Brand Awareness: Many professional marketers say that retargeting helps increase their clients’ brand awareness. When people see your ad in multiple places, they become more aware and, typically, more trusting of your brand. Retargeting is great for letting people know who you are and what you do.
- Customer Retention: Retargeting is also beneficial for customer retention. When someone has hired you in the past, they are more likely to return to you when reminded of your plumbing services. Retargeting ads for plumbers can serve as this friendly reminder.
- Market Research: Most retargeting ad tools will allow you to see where customers were when they left your website. This data can provide valuable insights into what is working and what isn’t.
- Upselling Opportunities: This benefit goes hand-in-hand with the customer retention point. Retargeting ads can help you sell more expensive services to people who have already hired you in the past. These customers are more likely to spend more money on higher-priced services.
Retargeting Platforms for Plumbing Contractors
Multiple popular advertising platforms support retargeting, and some plumbing campaigns simultaneously choose to be retargeted through numerous platforms.
Retargeting ads are typically less expensive than initial PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ads, offering a higher ROI (Return on Investment) value.
The following platforms offer retargeting ads:
Google Ads
Google Ads is one of the most effective platforms for retargeting (also known as remarketing) ads.
Google Ads includes a remarketing tool that displays your ads for plumbing services in front of both Google users (who number in the billions) and people who aren’t on Google.
One of the significant advantages of Google for retargeting ads is its extensive network of partners, which spans millions.
Even if your target audience isn’t searching on Google, they will likely visit a partner site because millions of sites partner with Google.
Here’s how it works:
- Searches: When someone performs a Google search related to your service(s), your ad will appear near the top of the search results.
- Outside Browsing: When someone who has interacted with your brand in the past ventures off of Google to one of Google’s many partner sites, your ad will still show up somewhere on the site.
Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads is the most well-known platform for retargeting because of its pixel tracking code, which can be installed on your website.
The pixel code allows you to target Facebook users who have interacted with your website or Facebook business page with customized promotions.
Meta – Facebook’s parent company also owns Instagram, so your ads can appear on people’s IG feeds.
Users can also be retargeted through Facebook Messenger and the mobile messaging app WhatsApp.
Here’s how it works:
- Install the Facebook Retargeting Pixel on your website.
- Match existing customers through their email addresses to their Facebook accounts.
- You can also manually upload an email list of the current customers that you want to see your retargeting a.d
- Display your ad on any website part of the Facebook advertising network.
Other Retargeting Platforms
While Google and Facebook are most commonly associated with retargeting, other popular platforms also offer retargeting capabilities.
- TikTok Ads: Increasingly popular for local service retargeting and engagement-based retargeting
- YouTube Ads: Both Pre-roll and Shorts are useful for retargeting and brand recall
- Programmatic / CTV Ads: An increasing number of local plumbers are experimenting with retargeting ads via streaming (Hulu, Roku, sports broadcasts, etc.)
Final Thoughts on Remarketing & Retargeting
Retargeting ads for plumbers is just one way to target your local market. They increase brand awareness, help with customer retention, and usually offer a great ROI.
The team at HVAC-Plumber SEO Webmasters can integrate retargeting ads into a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that yields the highest return and most sustainable lead generation.
We specialize in organic SEO services that drive more traffic to your website and social pages. We also offer a complete website design service emphasizing local SEO for plumbers and HVAC contractors just starting.
Plumbers can enhance CTR and conversions by utilizing remarketing and retargeting. The data reveals that users previously exposed to your company and its services are more likely to engage with subsequent advertisements than brand-new consumers.
Beyond that, retargeting is an investment in your local brand presence across multiple channels (all of which your target customers frequent).
Ultimately, retargeting helps plumbers capture more water heater installations, repipes, and drain cleanings by keeping their company at the forefront of consumers’ minds after they initially visit their website.
