Plumbing marketing agency: How to choose one that brings in jobs
When one click can cost as much as a service call-out, the setup of your account decides whether ads make money or lose it.
Keyword tools estimate around 720 US searches a month for "plumbing marketing agency", with an average cost per click of about $100. That price tells you something: agencies know plumbing clients are valuable and they pay a lot to reach them. You should expect the same focus on results in return.
What the agency should manage
For most plumbing businesses, the useful scope is:
- Google Search campaigns split by job type.
- Local Services Ads, if available in your area.
- Landing pages for your most valuable services, such as water heaters, repiping and drain work.
- Call tracking and call recording where legal.
- Your Google Business Profile and a steady flow of reviews.
Social ads can help with planned work such as water heater replacement, but search usually comes first for plumbers.
Emergency and planned work
Emergency searches are expensive and urgent. Keyword tools estimate an average cost per click of about $75 for "emergency plumber" in the US. These campaigns should run only when someone can answer the phone, lead with speed and send callers straight to your number.
Planned work, such as fixture installation or water heater replacement, is compared more carefully. Those campaigns should lead with reviews, price ranges and financing, and send visitors to a service page. Our guide to Google Ads for plumbers explains the split in detail.
Calls are the product
An agency can generate calls, but you have to answer them. Ask for a monthly report of answered and missed calls, and set up missed call text back for the ones you cannot take. A 20% missed call rate can undo a month of good ad work. See what missed calls cost.
What it costs
Most plumbing agencies charge a monthly management fee, a percentage of ad spend or a combination. Ad spend is usually separate. Our guides to PPC management cost and lead generation agency pricing explain each model.
Illustrative example
These numbers are invented to show the maths.
A plumber pays $1,200 a month in fees and $4,000 in ad spend. The account brings 70 calls, and 30 book jobs at an average of $650. That is $19,500 in revenue from $5,200 in marketing, before job costs. Whether that works depends on your margins, which is why the report needs booked jobs, not just calls.
Questions to ask
- Will emergency and planned work run as separate campaigns?
- How do you stop clicks from job seekers and DIY searches?
- Who owns the Google Ads account and tracking numbers?
- How will we see which calls became jobs?
- What is the minimum contract length?
Red flags
Be careful with agencies that promise a fixed number of leads before they have seen your account, run everything in accounts you cannot access, or report only on clicks and impressions.
Where to start
Pull your last three months of calls and jobs by source, if you have them. A good agency will ask for them anyway. Then compare two or three agencies on their answers to the questions above.
See how we run plumbing lead generation, or request a free audit of your current setup. For more ideas, read plumbing marketing ideas and how to get plumbing leads.
Questions owners ask
What does a plumbing marketing agency do?
It runs the channels that bring in plumbing calls and forms, usually Google Ads, Local Services Ads and landing pages, and tracks which calls become booked jobs.
How much does a plumbing marketing agency cost?
Fees vary by scope and model. Most charge a monthly fee, a percentage of ad spend or both, with ad spend paid separately to Google.
Is Google Ads worth it for plumbers?
Usually, yes, when emergency and planned work are separated, wasted searches are blocked and calls are answered. Plumbing clicks are expensive, so setup matters more than in most trades.
Want us to look at your own numbers?
Get a free lead generation audit. We will review your ads, landing pages and tracking, and show you where enquiries are slipping away. If nothing is broken, we will tell you that too.
LeadWise MarketingAn owner-operated lead generation agency based in Cape Town, South Africa, working with service businesses across the United States and Europe. More about LeadWise.
