When a consumer discovers your plumbing business online, you only have a few seconds to convince them to engage with you. If you fail to convince a consumer that you can help them resolve their plumbing issues, they’ll click their browser’s back button and move onto their next option - one of your competitors.
So what can you do to ensure consumers engage? You need to align what you say and how you say it, with consumer desire - what the consumer is seeking. You need to craft marketing messages that resonate with consumers.
What is a marketing message and why do they matter?
Marketing messages are short messages intended for a specific audience, that identify a specific problem the audience faces, introduce a solution to resolve that problem, and convey an outcome the audience can achieve by using the solution.
In short, marketing messages should clearly introduce your business or a service you offer, and spark curiosity in the mind of the audience.
Marketing messages are sometimes referred to as elevator pitches. If you stepped on an elevator with someone, and they asked you “What you do?”, you would have less than 30 seconds (the time it takes the elevator to reach the requested floor), to convey to that person what you do, in a compelling way that makes them say “Tell me more!”
While most people won’t actually say “Tell me more!”, the idea is that your message is compelling enough that the person would be, at a minimum, interested in learning more about you, your company, and the services you offer.
If you asked plumbing company owners what they do, the common answer would most likely be, “I’m in the plumbing business.” While this answer might be accurate, it would likely be greeted with a shoulder shrug and a silent “Who cares.” Every plumbing company owner is in the plumbing business. That’s obvious. What is it that makes your plumbing company different- a better choice than the alternative? You need to convey to consumers why they should choose you over the competition. That’s the point of a marketing message.
Crafting marketing messages is one of the first things you need to do when it comes to marketing your plumbing business. All marketing relies on messaging. You can’t effectively create a website, ads, email campaigns, or content without clear, concise, and consistent marketing messages.
Marketing messages help convey why you are the best choice to resolve a specific problem in the marketplace.
Now you know what marketing messages are, and why they are so important to the success of your plumbing business. Let’s take a look at how you can craft marketing messages for your plumbing business - marketing messages that resonate with consumers and inspire their engagement.
How to craft marketing messages
Crafting marketing messages may seem like a low-level or boring task, as your mind is probably preoccupied with other business matters, such as generating plumbing leads to keep your trucks on the road and your crews busy. It may not be obvious yet, but marketing messages are intended to do just that - generate plumbing leads so you can keep trucks on the road, crews busy and more.
While crafting marketing messages does take some time and getting used to, the good news is you only have to do it once in a while. Once you craft an effective marketing message, you can use it for years to come. The sooner you start, the better. But take your time to do it properly, you want to get it right the first time.
Four elements of a great marketing message
Great marketing messages are comprised of the following four elements:
- A Specific Audience: Each of your marketing messages should specifically identify or imply who the intended audience is. You can’t just say you provide plumbing services to residential or commercial customers. That’s far too vague. You need to be more specific.
- A Specific Problem: Each of your marketing messages needs to identify a specific problem the audience faces. By identifying a problem, you convey to the audience that you understand how they feel and can empathize with them.
- A Specific Solution: Each of your marketing messages needs to introduce a solution (one of your plumbing services) that resolves the audience’s problem. By introducing the audience to a solution, you help eliminate any guesswork. They now know there is a way to resolve their problem.
- A Specific Outcome: Each of your marketing messages needs to convey the outcome the audience could achieve by using the solution you’ve introduced. Consumers don’t purchase products and services, they purchase outcomes. You need to convey to consumers what their life will be like after using your solution to solve their problem.
While everyone of your marketing messages should include the above four elements, there is a lot of flexibility in how you use them. Sometimes you don’t need to specifically identify the audience, because the audience is implied by the stated problem or solution. You don’t have to craft your message in order of audience, problem, solution, outcome. You can mix it up. Think of these four elements as ingredients. Use them in different proportions to craft a message that uniquely reflects your plumbing company.
Now, let’s look at each of these four elements in detail, so you clearly understand how to use them in your messages.
Define your audience(s):
In order to craft a marketing message that resonates with consumers, you need to first identify the type of consumer you want to reach. You can’t be all things to all people, so pick the various types of consumers you want as customers.
As a plumbing company, you’ll have multiple audiences you’d like to reach. Here are a few audiences you may want to consider for your plumbing business:
- Homeowners
- Landlords
- Tenants
- Commercial
- Industrial
- Retail
- Institutional
The above are just a few of the audiences you could define for your plumbing business. The more specific you are, the greater the chance your message will resonate.
The audiences listed above could be refined even further. Let’s look at retail for example. You may provide plumbing services to retail locations, but this is a pretty broad audience. You could narrow your retail audience to specifically include restaurants, dentists, or any other type of retailer that makes sense for your plumbing company.
Defining your audiences is a balancing act. You don’t want to be too broad when defining your audiences, because your messages will be too vague to resonate with anyone. You also don’t want to define more audiences then you can realistically manage. With that said, the more specific you get defining your audiences, the greater the likelihood your messages will resonate.
State the problem:
The reason any consumer contacts a plumbing company is because they have a plumbing problem they would like to resolve. By stating a specific problem, you are letting consumers know that you understand their situation. It’s only from a state of understanding that a consumer will even consider engaging with you. If a consumer doesn’t think you understand their problem, they’ll move on to the next plumbing company.
Problems are expressed both externally and internally. Let’s say as a consumer, you have a broken hot water heater. The external problem is that you have this physical device in your home that is not doing what it should be doing. The internal problem is the worry and stress this may cause. For example, if you are a parent, you may be concerned that you do not have hot water to bathe and clean your kids.
While consumers search for solutions to their external problems, they often make purchase decisions based on their internal problems. If you can speak to their internal problems, you’ll have a greater chance of engaging consumers, and converting them into leads.
State the solution:
While consumers need plumbing services, what they really want is a solution. A solution that addresses both their external and internal problems.
Consumers often don’t know exactly what it is that they need. They understand they have a problem, but they may not know what solutions are available, or which one is best for their situation. This is why consumers are searching for plumbing companies and evaluating their options.
As a plumbing company, your job is to take the plumbing services you offer, and present them as plumbing solutions. Your job is to help consumers eliminate guesswork. You need to make it as easy as possible for consumers to make a decision. By introducing consumers to a solution, you help eliminate a lot of confusion in their minds, which can lead to a quicker purchase decision.
State the outcome:
Consumers purchase outcomes. Specifically, they purchase outcomes to their internal fears and desires. You need to paint a picture for consumers as to the outcome they will achieve by hiring you, and the plumbing solutions you offer.
Up to this point you’ve defined a specific audience, conveyed to them that you understand the specific problem they face, you’ve introduced them to a solution that can resolve their problem, and now you need to let them know what their life be like after hiring you. You need to sell the outcome.
By crafting messages using the above four elements (or ingredients), you have a much greater chance of consumers engaging your plumbing business, and ultimately hiring you.
Marketing message example:
Let’s look at an example that will help you better understand how to craft a marketing message that resonates with consumers and inspires engagement. We’ll compare a broad, generic marketing message with a well crafted marketing messages, so you can clearly see the differences and benefits.
Here’s a broad generic marketing message for a plumbing company that provides leaky pipe services:
“Call us today to fix your leaky pipes right away!”
Does this message inspire you to call this plumbing company? Probably not. It’s too generic. This could be any plumbing company. It doesn’t speak to any specific audience. It doesn’t say how the problem will be fixed, nor does it state the outcome the consumer could achieve. Someone might hire this plumbing company if they’re the first call made and they can handle the problem right away. But they don’t stand a chance if the consumer sees the next plumbing company’s marketing message first.
Here’s a marketing message for leaky pipes that has been crafted using the four elements of messaging:
“A leaky pipe isn’t just a waste of water, it can lead to costly home repairs. We’ll have a plumber to your home within 60 minutes, so you can minimize water damage and rest easy knowing it was fixed professionally.”
Let’s take a look at this message in detail so you can clearly see how it is more likely to convert consumers into leads, compared to the generic message:
- Audience: While this message doesn’t specifically state homeowners as the intended audience, it is implied in the wording - “…costly home damage…”, and “We’ll have a plumber to your home…”
- Problem: This message addresses two problems, wasted water (for the eco-conscious consumer), and water damage (something every homeowner would like to avoid).
- Solution: The solution is very unique, “We’ll have a plumber to your home within 60 minutes…”, There are not many plumbing companies advertising service this quickly. Obviously, you shouldn’t be making a claim like this unless you can deliver on it, but these are the types of claims that separate one plumbing company from the next. It’s a great unique selling proposition. As the consumer, I don’t have to worry about my leaky pipe causing extensive damage waiting for a plumber, because they’ll be here within 60 minutes.
- Outcome: This message closes by letting the consumer know the outcome they’ll achieve - they’ll limit water damage and can rest easy knowing it was fixed by professionals.
How do you think this message compares to the generic one? From a consumer’s perspective, which plumbing company are you most likely to engage with- the plumbing company with a generic message, or the plumbing company that can be to your home within 60 minutes so you can minimize water damage and rest easy knowing it was fixed by professionals?
How many marketing messages does your plumbing company need?
You should create a marketing message for your plumbing business as a whole, and for each of the services you offer.
Crafting a marketing message for your pluming business as a whole, can be tricky. You may find it harder than crafting a message for a specific service. The reason it’s tricky, is because you have to convey all of the services you provide, and all of the audiences you serve, with in a clear and concise message.
It’s natural for your company’s overall marketing message to be more generic than a marketing message for a specific service.
Here is an example of a marketing message for a plumbing company:
“Plumbing problems can be stressful, but they don’t have to be. At XYZ Plumbing, we provide same day plumbing service to homeowners and businesses throughout Toronto, so you can rest easy knowing your plumbing problems were resolved quickly, professionally, and at a fair price”.
Creating marketing messages for your organization and for each of the services you offer, will not only help you engage consumers, it will provide you and your team with clarity and focus.
Your marketing messages shouldn’t be limited to only consumers. You should use them internally for all employees. Your marketing messages can help your team speak to the marketplace in a consistent manner.
Where should you use your marketing messages?
Your marketing messages should be used everywhere. They should be used both online and offline.
Put your marketing messages on your website, in your ads, emails, print materials- anywhere that makes sense.
Memorize your marketing messages and recite them to people who ask what you do. It might feel contrived reciting a marketing message, so practice saying it out loud until it naturally rolls off your tongue.
Sharing a specific marketing message is always better than saying something generic, such as “I’m a plumber”, or “I work in the plumbing industry”.
The 3 C’s of marketing
All of your marketing needs to be clear, concise, and consistent. We refer to these as the 3 C’s of marketing, and they can be applied to your marketing messages, too. When crafting a marketing message, keep the following 3 C’s in mind…
- Clear: Your marketing messages need to be clear. You need to ensure consumers clearly understand who your services are for, what services you offer, and the outcome they’ll achieve by using your services. If your messaging is not clear, you will confuse your audience and loose them in the process.
- Concise: Your marketing messages need to be concise. Consumers are inundated with options. To help break through the noise, you need to deliver your messages as concisely as possible. The longer it takes to convey your message, the more likely it is you’ll lose the consumer’s interest in the process.
- Consistent: Your messaging needs to be consistent across all of your marketing. Don’t use one message on your website and another message in your ads. Keep it all the same. If your messaging is inconsistent, you’ll confuse consumers and lose them.
Summary
Crafting and maintaining marketing messages that resonate with their intended audience is critical to your long-term success. Great messaging will help you convert plumbing consumers into plumbing leads, and plumbing leads into plumbing customers. Ultimately, great messaging will help you out-compete the competition and help you grow your plumbing business.
Key insights and takeaways
- Craft a marketing message for your plumbing company - Crafting a marketing message for your plumbing business as a whole, will help you clearly, concisely, and consistently communicate how you’re different from your competition, and why consumers should hire you.
- Craft a marketing message for each service you offer - Crafting a marketing message for each of the services you offer, will help communicate each service in a much more effective way. A way that will inspire consumers to engage with you.
- Use the four elements of messaging - Each of your marketing messages should identify or imply a specific audience, identify a problem, introduce a solution, and convey the outcome that can be achieved by using the solution.
- Remember the 3 C’s of marketing - All of your marketing messages should be clear, concise, and consistent. If you forget the 3 C’s, you may confuse consumers, and once you confuse them, you lose them.
Want help crafting marketing messages for your plumbing business?
If you would like help crafting marketing messages for your plumbing business, contact PlumberMarketing.ca. Our Advisors are here to help.