Growing your plumbing business takes the right marketing mix. Direct mail postcards are a proven piece of that mix. They’re simple and traditional, but they work. And plumbing postcards give you room to get creative with messaging and calls to action.
In this blog, you’ll learn exactly why plumbing postcard marketing works: we’ll cover campaign ideas, best practices, and how to measure your results.
Why Direct Mail Still Works for Plumbers
Direct mail gives plumbers something digital ads can’t: a physical piece of mail people actually hold onto and engage with. Postcards land right in your local area, right when a need might come up. They build trust over time and keep your name top of mind, so when a pipe bursts at 2 a.m., yours is the number they remember.
Local targeting
Plumbing postcards let you zero in on exact cities, neighborhoods, or zip codes. That means you reach the people in your service area, and tailor messaging to fit each region’s makeup. That makes your message land better with local readers.
Credibility
Scammers can send millions of emails for pennies, but direct mail costs money to send. A real investment is harder to make and fake than a cheap email blast or ad.
You’re asking someone to let you into their home. A postcard they’ve seen helps build trust before you ever knock.
Tangibility
Because it’s a tangible item — a postcard sitting on their counter or desk — most recipients read it. In fact, one study found that 84% of consumers read direct mail immediately. The newest customer bases, Gen Z and Millennials, engage with it even more than Gen Xers or Boomers.
Direct Mail vs. Digital
Direct mail from service providers performs well in response rates, at approximately 3%. Digital campaigns often have lower ones, depending on the channel and targeting criteria.
They do, however, work best in concert: both are targetable by geography, but digital campaigns offer more ways to act based on interests, interactions, and demographics. Digital is also less of an investment, due to fewer production fees.
Digital marketing performance data is also, generally, easier to track. Though direct mail does better in engagement, it can be harder to attribute its success. You can address this, however, by using unique phone numbers, website pages, and QR codes.
Combining both efforts can yield strong ROI for all your marketing investments. Your brand can get more exposure to potential customers when you leverage direct mail and digital.
Types of Plumbing Direct Mail
Postcards
Plumbing postcards are the most popular direct mail format for a reason. Strong graphics and tight messaging grab attention fast. Add an offer, special, or incentive, and you give readers an additional reason to act. You can also personalize postcards by geography to make each promotion feel more relevant.
EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail)
EDDM is a cost-effective direct mail approach developed by the US Postal Service (USPS). It enables you to mail postcards, flyers, or other documents to every address within a specified mail carrier route, no address list required.
Since plumbing is a service that every property owner will need at some point, you can use this high-volume channel to spread the word.
Newsletters & fridge magnets
Self-mailers or multi-page booklets allow you to tell a longer story about your business. You can include customer testimonials, provided services, and promotions, all broken up by images to make it more digestible.
Magnet mailers put your brand on someone’s refrigerator — your logo, contact information, or a QR code — and it stays there. Most are a tear-off attached to a postcard, making it easier to include in direct mailing campaigns.
What Makes a Plumbing Postcard Convert
There are several criteria to consider when developing plumbing marketing postcards. As you determine your objectives for campaigns, keep these best practices in mind to boost conversions.
Personalization
We mentioned earlier in the article that emerging homeowners, Gen Z and Millennials, engage with direct mail far more than older generations. However, this new, young customer base expects more from mail than a generic postcard. The name of the game is personalization: they want postcards to be relevant, reflect their interests, and match how they already interact with your brand.
For example, areas with higher property values may relate more to visuals of luxury and wording that matches this. For lower property values, messaging around cost-effectiveness could be more enticing. Either way, you are segmenting your audience by geography and personalizing messaging so that it can better play into what you offer.
Relevant offers & CTAs
A timely, relevant, and irresistible offer greatly affects conversions:
- A defined percentage off a service that has a limited time frame to use
- Free add-ons to services that are low-cost but high-value
- Special deals for maintenance plans for those who want to be proactive about their plumbing
No matter the offer, you’ll need a clear call to action (CTA). It should be easy to understand and act upon — a clear, incentivized way to engage with clear next steps, like calling or scanning a QR code.
Design & copy
Once you’ve chosen your offer and CTA, it’s time for the creative work. Your imagery should reflect your brand and your customers. Keep it modern and high-quality, and use white space generously so the postcard stays easy to read.
Your copy matters just as much as your design. Skip long words and heavy adjectives. Focus on the benefits to the recipient and how you solve their problems. Reviews and testimonials add credibility, so include them where you can.
A few more design and copy best practices:
- Big, bold fonts and colors that are easy to read and match your branding
- The largest font size reserved for phone numbers or contact info
- QR codes linking to a customized landing page
- Your logo placed in one corner on both sides
Targeting & mailing list
As noted, direct mail targeting is geography-based. You should select the neighborhoods where you see opportunities — more often than not, these are areas where you already had success.
You could also canvass zip codes that you don’t currently have high penetration, introducing your business to new potential customers.
Some other targeting options include:
- Neighborhoods with older homes, as they may need plumbing work related to maintenance or replacements
- Household data segmentation to filter lists by income and homeownership
- Areas with low penetration or high penetration
You can build mailing lists based on publicly available information or by purchasing them from a broker. You don’t need lists if you use EDDM.
Plumbing Postcard Campaign Ideas
New-mover campaigns
New homeowners may need help with maintenance or replacements. Many times, plumbing issues are found in inspections, but sellers don’t always address them. You can build lists based on real estate purchases, focusing on those who recently acquired a property.
Some tips for these campaigns include:
- Offer low-risk hooks in your messaging like “$59 Drain Cleaning” or “Free Plumbing Inspection for Your New Home.”
- Insert a QR code to a dedicated landing page for new movers.
- Use imagery that showcases moving into a new home.
Seasonal & maintenance reminders
Many plumbing services are recurring: locking a customer in with a maintenance plan ensures consistent revenue.
Seasonality plays into this. For example, ahead of harsh winters, offer a no-cost review of pipes to identify any that could be exposed to freezing. A spring campaign could promote a tune-up of plumbing before warmer temperatures arrive.
Other offers could include messaging around replacing aging appliances like water heaters. Educate homeowners on the need to replace these before they become a problem.
Past-customer reactivation
Direct mail customer retention can be very effective for reactivating former customers, especially when the messaging is a reminder of services due.
Remind former customers of the value of your services, which keep their plumbing in good working order. Optimize conversions for this with a “we miss you” offer, such as no-cost inspections, winterization deals, or other routine maintenance. Make sure the offer is time-limited and urgent to drive a quicker response.
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How to Measure Direct Mail ROI
Measuring direct mail ROI isn’t as easy as digital campaigns. However, with the right setup, you can accurately determine the performance of your direct mailings with these strategies.
Tracking (call tracking, promo codes)
To attribute jobs booked to direct mail, you’ll need a way to track it. You can do this by:
- Using unique phone numbers for these jobs
- Providing specific promotional codes that tie to the direct mail piece
- Inserting QR codes that go to dedicated landing pages
You can then have access to data about response rates by tracking the calls by number and the views and conversions on web pages.
Cost per booking
Once you have information about booking conversions via tracking, you can calculate cost per booking.
To calculate this, use this formula:
Cost per booking = Total spend on campaign / Number of jobs booked
Example
Total spend: $2,500 / Jobs booked: 30 = $83.33
This informs you of the cost per lead in direct mail. Monitor it over time to determine if your costs are decreasing or increasing, and make adjustments accordingly.
Turn Direct-Mail Jobs into Reviews & Repeat Work
The jobs you earn via direct mail can also deliver valuable reviews from customers. These testimonials demonstrate social proof that your company is reputable and credible.
It can be challenging to manage all of this, but it’s easier when you use review generation software to automate and streamline the process.
Capture a review after the job
Reviews are critical to plumbing businesses. They demonstrate that a company delivers on its promises. Postcards can help nudge current customers to leave a review. Technicians can also leave tangible reminders, like business cards or postcards, with homeowners.
Use language about how important reviews are and make it easy for them to complete with a QR code.
Feed customers into follow-up/reactivation
When you deploy campaigns that are follow-ups, you’re more likely to build loyalty and repeat business.
You can also measure how postcards influence reactivation. Use the same type of tracking as defined above. Consider using specific triggers to activate these. You can send them after a service appointment or to customers you have not done work for in the last six months to a year.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do plumbing postcards actually work?
Yes, plumbing postcards work. They often generate a high response rate and can promote very specific offers based on the demographics of an area. Plumbing postcards work best when they have clear offers, high-quality imagery, and defined targeting.
What should a plumbing postcard say?
Plumbing postcards should grab someone’s attention quickly. The wording should be clear and focus on benefits and offers. You’ll need a bold headline, enticing offer, a list of services, pricing, trust factors, and a CTA.
How much does plumbing direct mail cost?
Plumbing direct mail costs vary. The expenses for this include printing, lists, design labor, and postage. According to direct mail printing experts, the costs range from $0.30 to $3.00 per piece.
The size of the postcard will affect costs. Volume will too. The greater the volume, the lower the postage rate.
Conclusion
Now that you know how effective direct mail campaigns can be, it’s time to start your strategy. Define your goals and budget, which will influence the type of direct mail and the messaging.
To ensure these initiatives are efficient and easy to execute, consider direct mail tools that support personalization and provide insights. pulseM can help you do this and more. Request a demo today to learn more.