What marketing channel works best for you right now???

We leverage some marketing in our business but 80% of our business seems to come from referrals and word of mouth. Treat your customers as nicely as possible and be fair! Thats the script that seems to work for us!

Those are great ideas.  Depending how much you want to grow and what are are you in. We do google ads and works well.  We also do a lot of different advertising including social media, door knockers, digital media.  

One thing I’ve noticed though: community marketing works best when it’s paired with something that keeps you “visible in the moment.” For us, that meant staying consistent with Google Business Profile updates, reviews, and occasional local search ads even while building out sponsorships. Otherwise, there can be a gap between goodwill and actual inbound calls.

We've had the best results from building relationships in our local community rather than chasing leads.

For us, word-of-mouth, Google reviews, referrals, and being visible where we live and work have consistently outperformed paid lead platforms. We sponsor local youth sports, support schools and community organizations, and stay active in neighborhood Facebook groups. It doesn't generate leads overnight, but it builds trust, and that's what drives quality calls.

We've also learned that educating homeowners on social media has been surprisingly effective. Instead of constantly advertising, we post real jobs, explain common HVAC issues, and show how we diagnose problems. That transparency has helped people feel like they know us before they ever call.

Like you, we've moved away from lead aggregators. Competing against five or six contractors for the same lead, while paying for the opportunity, just wasn't a good return on investment for our business. We found many of those leads were shopping strictly on price.

Our focus now is simple: invest in our reputation, be involved in the community, ask every satisfied customer for a Google review, and let referrals compound over time. It has produced fewer tire-kickers and more customers who already trust us before we walk through the door.

One channel I’d add to the mix is targeted mail, but there are really two ways I’d look at it.

One is intelligently targeted EDDM — choosing carrier routes based on the neighborhoods, housing characteristics and even demographic makeup of the households you actually want to reach.

The other is purchasing a more specific mailing list so you can target individual households based on property or homeowner characteristics instead of mailing every address on a route.

Either way, I’d make sure the campaign is trackable. With a dedicated QR/landing page, someone can respond right from the postcard and you can get the lead notification immediately while they’re still interested.

For plumbing, I’d start with a smaller test and compare actual calls, booked jobs and revenue before scaling it.

I always recommend linking up with other service pros in your area. They are in peoples houses all day and they have conversations with homeowners and property managers. If they see or hear of a plumbing issue they send it your way, you hear of a pest control problem you send it my way! It keeps the needle moving for both of us and also builds trust with a client that you recommend someone rather than leaving them with the problem.

I have a cleaner and a junk removal company that I get 2-3 leads a week from. And I send their number to almost everyone I go to because a lot of pest issues are related to clutter and sanitation.

Where do you guys work out of?

Sticker and magnet packs are hot! Not your boring logo, but something well designed and sassy they’d actually use on their water bottle, guitar case, or fridge. It’s a leave behind with your card for the first visit, unique and impressive, and a constant reminder of your with-it, innovative company who really “gets it”. They’re more likely to give their friend a sticker than your business card, and who has ever said, “that’s too cool” about your business card anyway?

Ignore the garage sketch - obviously not a sticker. 😁

I’d actually have a lot to say on this one because our growth has been very community/reputation driven:

For us, it’s been a combination of Google/SEO, reviews, and community presence.

We’ve never relied heavily on paid lead platforms. We put a LOT of energy into building our Google presence and collecting reviews, and that compounds over time. Some of our largest commercial opportunities have literally come from someone Googling us, seeing hundreds of strong reviews, then looking at our website and deciding we looked like a legitimate company they could trust.

But I’m also a huge believer in community-based marketing. Sponsorships, networking groups, local events, nonprofit involvement, awards, etc. don’t always give you a neat “we spent $500 and got $2,000 back” attribution. What they do is make your name familiar.

Eventually people aren’t just searching for “a company.” They’re searching for YOU.

I think the mistake is expecting community marketing to behave like paid ads. It’s a much longer game, but after 10 years in the same market, I can absolutely say that reputation has become one of our strongest marketing channels.