Looking to buy exclusive plumbing leads? There’s a lot of misinformation across the internet regarding this subject. As the top digital marketing agency for plumbers, Plumbing Webmasters understands the best lead sources for plumbers and the best plumbing lead generation tactics.
We have worked with thousands of plumbing companies and are updated on the best places to acquire new plumbing customers.
Here’s what the lead generation industry doesn’t want you to know: building a brand on “The Big Show” (meaning Google) allows you to generate exclusive plumbing leads without needing to rely on 3rd party sources. Many of these “lead generation companies” are charging you a premium for low-quality leads.
What Are Plumbing Leads?
Plumbing leads are prospects that show interest in your plumbing services by submitting contact information like a phone number, email address, or social media handle. Consumers who submit information on your branded website or business listing become exclusive leads with a high conversion rate. The top-rated plumbers in the U.S. generate a consistent stream of leads online.
How Much Do Plumbing Leads Cost?
A typical plumbing lead costs between $30 and $150. However, with Plumbing Webmasters’ Lead-Gen system, plumbing companies can generate unlimited leads at a lower price. As a result, some months, plumbers will generate leads for less than $5 per lead.
Types of Leads for Plumbers
Not all leads are the same for plumbing companies or home service professionals. You’ve probably experienced some horrific things with leads in the past and may even maintain your disgust for other lead-generation companies. With this in mind, it’s critical to understand the different types of leads so that you can decide what to pay for and what their long-term value will be for your business.
Exclusive Leads
Exclusive plumbing leads are prospects who contact your business directly without going through a 3rd party. These kinds of customers typically find your information through your company website or Google Business Profile.
Exclusive leads are the most valuable type because they are more likely to convert into an initial sale and also more likely to transition into a regular customer.
Shared Leads
Shared leads are prospects who contact a 3rd-party company to find plumbing services. They aren’t interested, especially in your brand or company, but merely in the service you provide. In addition, the 3rd-party company shares its information with multiple competitors, which decreases the chance of a conversion.
Even those that convert are less likely to become repeat customers because they hold allegiance to the 3rd party rather than your company.
Emergency Leads
Emergency leads are customers with flooding, broken pipes, or no running water that require immediate attention. An emergency lead’s value depends on how it is acquired in the first place.
Emergency plumber leads coming through your branded web effort (website, GMB, etc.) are extremely valuable because they convert instantly. Conversely, shared emergency leads will fall through the cracks if your competitors beat you to the phone.
Free Leads
If you believe free plumbing leads actually exist, some scam artist has got you to hook, line, and sinker. However, there are proven ways to decrease your cost-per-lead and cultivate a substantial ROI. Of course, you must be willing to create your own brand and platforms to acquire new clients.
Plumbing Lead Generation Tactics
The lead generation process is what determines how frequently you acquire high-quality prospects. To put it more casually, the process is where the magic happens. As a top-rated digital marketing agency, we know where leads come from for various businesses.
The reality is that the best leads come through online marketing in the form of SEO. Advertising is another method to get new customers, but the cost per lead is much higher.
Citation Listings (NAP)
Plumbing Webmasters generates leads for our clients through NAP citation listings. These business listings are a modern iteration of Yellow Page citations. Today, consumers don’t look in the “phone book” but rather online via directories like Google Business Profile, Facebook, and Yelp.
These websites and their corresponding apps are easily accessible via smartphone and are critical to plumbing contractor lead generation. We focus on listings from the following:
- Better Business Bureau
- Google Business Profile
- Yelp
For those unfamiliar with the acronym NAP, it stands for name, address, and phone number, “must-haves” when citing a business listing. However, the inputted information must extend beyond NAP to truly optimize such listings.
Other pieces of information, like your company’s website and about-us section, will add context to your service’s nature, which will be plumbing-related for everyone reading this. Some platforms also offer Q&A sections for each business profile.
DataPins Software
DataPins is probably the easiest tactic for producing exclusive leads. The captions help your Google Business Profile rank with website justifications. Essentially, it populates your website with various terms related to your plumbing services, allowing your profile to rank for those terms.
Once you appear on the Google Map 3-Pack for a wide range of service types, the lead volume increases exponentially. Furthermore, DataPins also helps generate reviews for your GPB, which is another Google Maps ranking factor.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization has lost its luster over the past decade. Plumbers have lost money investing in low-quality marketing services claiming to perform SEO. As a result, contractors cringe when they hear the term because their experience with it was inadequate.
Since SEO is always evolving, quality services require special attention to detail. Our plans give plumbing companies a layer of protection if the SEO results fail to meet standards. Some SEO aspects include:
- Local SEO: Optimizing for local search results
- On-Page SEO: Optimizing page content, meta tags, title tags, header tags, etc.
- Off-Site SEO: Optimizing social media profiles, business listings, inbound links, etc.
- Technical SEO: Optimizing website speed, presentation, and navigation
Local plumber leads come from search engine optimization. The question is, will the prospects come to a 3rd party lead broker website or your branded company website? Paying a 3rd party broker helps strengthen their brand and allows them to enjoy the fruits of repeat visitors and ongoing branding.
If the consumer comes straight to your website, you are the brand that reaps the long-term benefits and sustained growth.
Social Media Marketing
As part of our services, Plumbing Webmasters performs essential social media marketing. Because it overlaps with off-site SEO, social marketing is an integral part of a broader digital marketing strategy.
While Facebook’s organic reach eliminated the reach of business posts, other social channels like Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube still present intriguing opportunities. Furthermore, a presence on Facebook is always essential.
Top social platforms include:
- YouTube
Many concepts overlap within the realm of online marketing for plumbers. For instance, Facebook is listed as part of the NAP citation process but is also considered a social media platform.
The reality is that these two things overlap in many cases, and establishing a presence throughout all corners of the web can help plumbing companies generate leads at a higher rate. With our system, social signals strengthen your overall web presence, including on search results.
Website Design
Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace have grown in popularity over recent years, and some in the marketing industry refer to these platforms as website factories. They empower the user, which in many cases is a small business owner, to design and publish a website on their own.
While the theory is undoubtedly appealing, its actual execution leaves something to be desired. Using these sites limits the potential of your SEO from both a technical and conceptual standpoint. The better option is investing in professional web design, which will include:
- Custom Design: Instead of picking from templates, publish a uniquely designed website.
- Graphic Design: Integration of company logos within the code of your website
- Mobile Design: Websites created with the mobile user in mind
- WordPress: The usage of the popular content management system; WordPress
A custom-designed website is sure to increase lead generation for plumbing contractors. Proper CTA placement, appealing photos, and a sleek, engaging user interface encourage users to take action. Some plumbing companies do all the work of getting onto search results but fail to convert their prospects through amazing website design.
Plumbing Webmasters ensures that each visitor ready to buy your services will have a high chance of doing so after experiencing your site first-hand.
Final Thoughts on How to Buy Leads for Plumbers
Whether or not you buy leads or generate them comes down to semantics. However, the best lead generation strategy is to create your own plumbing brand on Google. When you rank on Google search and Google Maps, you will acquire the low-cost leads you desire.
However, doing so requires investing in a website, SEO, and digital marketing practices. Your other option is to remain beholden to 3rd party lead sellers that overcharge your company and prevent your business from reaching its peak potential.
