Promotion of plumbing merchant

Paulthermo

looking to promote a plumbing and heating merchant .looking for the most cost effective way also. Can somebody throw some marketing ideas at us???

Peterdalkey

You might get some advice/feedback if you gave some information about the business, the market you serve, details of what you have tried and what you are trying to achieve. Your request, as posed, screams for a one word answer, Advertise!.

Paulthermo

we are based in clondalkin, and serve the domestic and industrial plumbing market. and i have just finished a cold calling exercise based on the rgi list. we were thinking of a leaflet drop and an advertisement in the local paper??? do people feel email campaigns are worthwhile???

Peterdalkey

Short version: It is illegal to blanket email prospects unless they have specifically agreed or requested to be emailed by you or you have an existing relationship with them that has been active in the last 12 months. It also tends to have a negative impact on your image if you do so.
Unless you have some spectacular offer to make and are in a position to take a very large advert, the general consensus on here is that Local Freesheets give a very poor rate of return.
Leaflet drops typically work best if they contain a catchy special offer, have decent quality print/paper ( no need for OTT stuff) and are professionally designed. These issues are VERY important or you will just waste your money.

People generally don't like plumbing "issues", you might consider offereing a free "helpline" for plumbing advice and even an introduction to one of your local loyal plumbers where the customer needs an expert visit. You can expect to have a happy customer and the plumber should buy the components from you. You will also become the automatic first stop destination for the customer when they have other plumbing needs, customers are like water, they take the path of least resistance!

I am sure you will get some better ideas on here, now your topic is up and running!!

Froststop

It's every business's nightmare, how to advertise without breaking the bank. Every business involved in different advertising methods swear by their way. Printers love leaflets, radio & newspaper love adds and boy do they know how to charge for their services. Finding the right way for your business is really trial & error depending on location and type of business.

You need to consider how you find a service when you need one, do you look up adds in a news paper? do you keep leaflets for use later? do you call someone you know or who knows someone?

You really need to try a little of everything and keep an eye on the results to find what works best for your business. Social media is good but you need your friends support to like and share your posts to get the business out and build followers, but it is free, & time consuming. Your friends will know people in your area who you don't and it will spread in time.

The idea in the previous post with the plumber is good but be careful not to show favouritism to one plumber or you will only have one loyal plumber. Plumbers will use a supplier who has the best supply of stock and at the best trade price. First you could try contacting all the local plumbing contractors who don't buy equipment off you and invite them to call and see the premises and stores.

Public customers will hold up your counter as they don't know what they need most of the time, this pisses plumbers off if they are in a hurry to get going. Have a trade only counter separate to the public counter.

Getting involved in local groups and activities is another way to spread the word by mouth which is the best way as people will react to referrals. Either way you choose is going to take time or money.

lucky john

Now that we are heading into the winter it might be worth while as a promotional idea putting together a little maintenance pack for oil and gas boilers. Something simple like Riello boiler parts, tape, spanner, phase tester ect. Its promotional so price it at as close to cost as possible. Maybe include a diy instruction leaflet and of course your own promotional leaflet.

This way you have something worth putting in your local free sheet or even on local radio. Rather than a small add you could try and submit your offer as a press release. If your unsure how to write an add have a look at www.fivesquids.co.uk Someone on there will write it for you for £5.

If you dont have a web site make sure that's a priority. Google is the new golden pages so you need to be there to be found. Your local only so clondalkin and plumbing supplies are your key words. Unless you're into facebook I won't bother with that short term. Its more of a slow burner.

Peterdalkey

Looks like the OP has not logged on since his second post!!