15 Plumbing Video Ideas

Few small businesses are taking advantage of the power of video. While three out of four Americans use YouTube, less than one out of ten small businesses are on it. Videos are a powerful way for plumbing contractors to recruit customers, recruit employees, and build top-of-mind-awareness. Here are 15 possibilities for video.

1. Recruiting Video

If you do not already have one, a recruiting video should be at the top of your list. Get your youngest plumbers to help you determine the content. You want it to appeal to prospective recruits like them. Show guys in the field, smiling, and having fun. Show people in the office kidding with each other. Remember, you are selling the benefits of working at your company.

2. Culture

As part of a recruiting video, a new employee orientation video, or separately altogether, put together a culture video. Talk about the company’s shared values, why each is important, and the type of behaviors each value dictates. Of course, this assumes you have defined your shared values. If not, get after it.

3. Founding

Even if your company is brand new, make a video about the founding of the business, including the need for quality plumbing, the vision of the founder, and so on. If your business is multi-generational, a founding video is especially powerful.

4. Testimonials

Customer testimonials are easy. When you or one of your plumbers receives a complement in the field, ask the customer if she will repeat it so you can video it. Get out your phone and record an instant testimonial. Pay your plumbers a nice spiff for each testimonial video they record. After all, watching a real person say something great about your company is far more powerful than reading an online testimonial.

5. Employee Profiles/Interviews

Video, done right, makes your company more human, more personable, and more real. Your company is made up of real people and stands out vis-à-vis the faceless national companies and big boxes. Profile your team in a series of videos.

For a lot of people, it is easier to be interviewed so ask them a few questions. Ask a team member to explain what he or she does for the company and why it is important for your customers. Ask a plumber to describe his background and tell you about training he’s received, the length of his apprenticeship, and so on. Ask about hobbies and the home life. When you get everyone done, send links for the video of the plumber being dispatched to a customer’s home. If nothing else, it’s a great way to collect email addresses.

6. Product Reviews

Give reviews on different plumbing products, especially new ones. Talk about a manufacturer’s new water heaters, disposals, and so on. You are the professional. Consumers really care about your opinion about a plumbing product’s strengths and weaknesses.

7. Trade Grade Versus Big Box

A different type of review is to explain the difference between the products purchased through the trade and similar looking products available at the big boxes. Take them apart. Weigh them. Help consumers to see the difference.

8. Documentary

Any college with a film major has students who need projects to build their experience and portfolio. While they will often work for free, pay them to produce mini-documentaries on your business along the lines of the TV docudramas about trucking or fishing in Alaska, hunting alligators in Louisiana, and so on.

9. TV Show Parody

Create a plumbing parody of a TV show. Have fun with it. It could be a news show. It could be a sitcom. Just avoid politics. Whatever you do, you will turn off half the population.

10. Announcements

Have news?  Make an announcement video. Don’t just make the announcement. Build up excitement. Then, tell the big news. Finally, explain what it means for the company, team, and customer base.

11. Music Videos

A number of contractors in the Service Nation Alliance have been making music videos that they share with each other and their teams. Most lip sync, though care should be taken when using music that is professionally licensed. Buy the right to use the music or face potential legal action by the license holder.

12. How-To

This is controversial with plumbers, but consider how-to videos, especially for difficult jobs. They will draw eyeballs to your website. If you can, make it sound harder and nastier than it is. Many people will watch a video and conclude doing this job isn’t worth it. Thus, you should end the video with a statement like, “Very few homeowners will really want to tackle this job. If you’re one of them, it might be easier and less costly in the long run to hire a professional. If you’re in my area, give me a call.”

Most people who take on DIY projects do them because they do not have the money to call a professional. If they are determined to do the work, they will find someone else’s video. By making  your own, you are positioning yourself as one of the good guys and while you may not get this call (assuming they do not screw it up and need you to come in and fix it), you are likely to get calls for work they cannot perform.

13. How It Works

Closely related to the how-to video is a how-it-works video. Here, you explain how an expensive piece of equipment operates. This might be a cable machine, jetter, camera, or even a pipe lining system. No consumer will invest in this equipment for one job, but they can see the advantages of getting the work performed with the specialized tools and equipment, making it more likely a homeowner in need will call you.

14. Truck Tours

Take people on a video tour of one of your trucks. Show the type of inventory that is kept on a plumbing truck, the myriad of tools maintained, how it is all organized, and how much it is worth. It helps people understand why a professional plumber might cost a little more than a handyman.

15. Varmints

Videos with varmints are disgusting and compelling at the same time. The next time you encounter a rodent, racoon, or snake wrapped around a water heater, pull out your phone and make a video of it, including the removal.

For more information that can help your plumbing business grow and prosper, visit ServiceRoundtable.com. Be sure to check out the FREE STUFF you can download for free!