This blog explores the difference between organic and paid social media campaigns and how each approach works best for your plumbing marketing practices.
Engaging with people on social media adds a personal touch to plumbing marketing. It’s no wonder more and more people prefer doing online searches to find plumbers in their area. If your plumbing business has finally decided to invest in social media ads, you may be at a fork in the road. Organic or paid social media—which channel works best for promoting your plumbing services?
To answer that question, you must first know where these channels diverge. From a basic standpoint, organic posting sounds ideal because you can launch your campaigns for free. On the other hand, paid social media is also promising because of its precise targeting feature. Considering all this, it’s best to weigh your options before making decisions.
In this blog, we’ll highlight the differences between organic and paid social advertising, so that you’ll be empowered to choose the best channel for your plumbing marketing campaign.
Table of Contents
How Organic Posting Helps Plumbing Marketing Campaigns
A good marketing mindset is to jump at any opportunity to advertise your plumbing services for free. Organic social media offers you this as you share content with your followers free of charge. Since this approach relies on natural engagement, it’s the best choice if your plumbing marketing plans aim to polish up your social network.
Many plumbers rely on word-of-mouth referrals. Organic social media marketing complements this by encouraging authentic interactions with Internet users. Generally speaking, people who value local expertise prefer this approach. That’s why most marketers who use this channel add client testimonials to their marketing content. That is actually a plumber advertising power move since 86% of people go online to check reviews before choosing a local company. So if you want to establish trust with the community, maximize organic posting over paid social media.
Other than that, organic posting is also a great way to establish authority. Sharing DIY tips to fix plumbing issues can keep your target audience engaged. At the same time, your plumbing marketing efforts can build a following of people who believe in your expertise. That can lead to organic referrals and conversions from the connections your content nurtures.
User-generated content turns your customers into micro-influencers who can encourage other people to choose your plumbing services.
The Downside of Organic Social Media Marketing
On the flip side, since posting on social media organically requires no fees, its results are not immediate. In reality, this approach can be time-intensive, which means you should be ready to dedicate continuous effort to make your campaigns work. In the context of your business, that requires regularly producing quality plumbing marketing content.
Content marketing is one of the best ways to draw high-intent prospects, which, if you didn’t know yet, can be extra challenging. That’s because organic posting doesn’t have the precise targeting features available in paid social media advertising services.
On top of that, the algorithm is also a significant drawback. With frequent updates, your plumbing marketing posts may not always reach your intended audience. Therefore, unless your content already has high engagement rates, those changes can be frustrating. On top of that, more business owners are also realizing the value of organic growth and using it. This makes local competition more intense, and as a result, makes it harder for your plumbing business to stand out.
How Paid Social Media Marketing Helps Plumbing Ad Campaigns
Now there are paid ads for social media, which are a form of pay-per-click or PPC marketing. While that means you need to spend money to see the benefits, it offers precise geo-targeting. For your plumbing marketing plan, that means your ads will be shown to home and business owners within your service area.
It’s also an ideal way to promote your emergency services and special offers. With paid social media marketing, your business can easily highlight time-sensitive promotions. An example of this would be ads that create a sense of urgency, which can help convert ad viewers into plumbing customers.
Because of all of those, paid ads drive faster results compared to organic posting. So if you need a marketing model that will serve as your springboard to popularity, paid social media advertising sounds like a good choice.
Choosing paid ads also gives you the option for retargeting. That enables your ads to be shown to users who once interacted with your plumbing marketing posts but didn’t convert. Over time, this repeated exposure will encourage warm leads to become actual customers.
The Downside of Paid Social Media Marketing
Paid ads—like organic posts—are not perfect. A common concern about them is the risk of ad fatigue. This happens when your audience gets overexposed and even annoyed with seeing your ads again and again. When ignored, ad fatigue can lead to your plumbing marketing efforts yielding lower engagement. With your industry functioning on an as-needed basis, repeated exposure can lead to wasted ad spend. All in all, while paid ads do offer quicker results, that doesn’t mean guaranteed success.
Another risk is high spending. Unlike organic efforts, paid social media marketing demands greater financial commitment. While the cost can be manageable, it can also escalate fast, especially in urban areas where plumbing competition is stiff. Without careful PPC management, your ads may become a burden to your business budget.
Organic vs Paid Social Media Marketing: Which is the Better Choice?
Now that we’ve laid down the differences between those two, it’s time to answer an important question. Organic marketing or paid ads: which is a better investment for plumbing marketing?
To recap, organic posting is ideal for nurturing long-term relationships with clients. Since this model encourages you to share informational content, it also helps build credibility. On the other hand, paid social media ads offer unmatched speed and precision. With this model, you can promote limited-time offers and reach your target audience almost in an instant. So, which social media marketing model is best for your business?
The answer is… both of them. With such a drastic difference, choosing one over the other means you’re limiting the potential to advertise your plumbing company. By choosing both, you’ll get to build long-term connections while enjoying a more targeted ad reach. Hence, we recommend that you go for a hybrid plumbing marketing approach.
Tips for Launching a Hybrid Social Media Campaign
The trick to making this plumbing marketing campaign work is to strike the right balance.
Start by assessing your most viral organic posts. Once you’ve identified the posts that resonate the most with your audience, you can then create paid ads surrounding your chosen content. For instance, let’s say your recent post about protecting pipes from frigid temperatures has gained hundreds of reactions, shares, and/or comments. Based on that, you can set up paid ads showing limited-time offers for frozen pipe repairs.
Another lesser-known way to blend these two models is through user-generated content (UGC). After organically growing a following, it will just be a matter of time before one of your clients will share their experience with your services. You may not know this yet, but 90% of consumers value authenticity—and UGC offers this. By incorporating client testimonials in your paid ads, you’re more likely to convince people to choose your services.
Creating a hybrid strategy boils down to making the most of organic and paid social media advertising. Leveraging their strengths can ensure a steady flow of engagement and lead generation for your plumbing business.
Creating a content sequence involves using organic educational posts to introduce your services, and paid ads to seal the deal.
A hybrid marketing strategy can be your business’s pipeline to success. But when you have your hands full with core business duties, it’s time to call in the experts.
With 20+ years of social media advertising experience, Zero Company can help you meet your goals. We’re proud to have supported over 2,500 companies in their digital marketing campaigns.
Book a free call with us to find out how you can blend organic posts and paid social media ads to get better results from your plumbing marketing campaign.
One Final Social Media Tip to Improve Your Plumbing Marketing Practices