Just an FYI from personal experience...
From the residential market (i.e. clogged drains, leaks, etc...)
The most cost effective way for a plumber to direct business to his
door is to advertise in the yellow pages with as big and as colorful
an ad as possible, with striking high-contrast graphics, an
identifiable and recognizable logo, and huge phone number. Most folks
only call a plumber when they are in dire need of someone, usually in
an emergency (or at least urgent) situation, and their first
inclination, if they don't already have a plumber that they are used
to, is to go to the yellow pages. Also, many yellow pages are now
online for free. Unfortunately, a it's still true that a name that
starts with an A will get you more results, again, because if they
don't have affinity towards a particular plumber or company, they go
to the yellow pages and select the first guy that looks like quality
that catches their eye.
For the commercial market... i.e. new plumbing jobs as a sub
contractor, your best bet is to network with contractors and
subcontractors that will outsource to you.
The annual budget that we spend on plumbing-related advertising is
about $6000. We tried valpak and local "shopper" advertising, but when
we asked people where they heard about us, it was either referral
(35%) or the yellow pages (55%) and only about 10% indicated other
means i.e. shopper ad or business card from the super market. |
