Marketing for plumbers in the UK: what works for firms that fit boilers

Why does a plumber need two kinds of marketing?

A plumbing firm’s phone rings for two very different reasons. Leaks, blockages and breakdowns come from people who need someone now, ring the first firm that looks able to come, and rarely compare. A boiler replacement comes from a homeowner who has been planning for a while, gathers two or three quotes and reads the reviews carefully before picking anyone. I call them the panicked caller and the planner, and there is more on both in my glossary.

Most marketing advice for plumbers treats them as one customer, which is why so many busy firms still have a quiet install diary. When I surveyed more than 100 plumbing and heating firm owners, needing bigger, better paying jobs instead of small callouts was one of the strongest themes, and you can read the full findings on my research page. One boiler swap is worth roughly 25 callouts, so the planner is the customer I build everything around.

Which marketing channels work for a plumbing business?

Here is how I weigh up every channel a UK plumbing and heating firm is likely to be offered, judged on one question: does it put you in front of a homeowner who wants a boiler installed, and can you see what it brings in?

Google Local Services Ads

Local Services Ads sit at the very top of Google with the Google Verified badge and a button to call you straight away. You pay per lead rather than per click, and you can limit the job types to installation and replacement. Google checks the business, licence and insurance details it asks for before you appear, and every lead shows in your own dashboard. Google is moving these ads into Google Ads, with accounts outside the US moving during 2027. My complete guide to Local Services Ads in the UK covers the detail, and the free Local Services Ads checker tells you whether your firm can use them.

Your Google Business Profile and the map pack

Your Business Profile is your shop window on Google and the foundation for everything else. Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and it states that there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. For boiler work that means a heating led primary category, boiler installation named in your services, an honest service area, real photographs of your installs and a steady flow of genuine reviews. Work through the free Google Business Profile checklist, or read the complete guide for boiler installers.

Ordinary Google Ads

Pay per click search ads can work, but you pay for every click whether or not the person rings, and they need a landing page and careful management to stop the budget leaking on repair and DIY searches. They suit firms with the time or help to run them properly. I explain how they fit alongside Local Services Ads in the complete guide to boiler enquiries from Google.

Your website and local SEO

A clear, quick website that shows your installs, your reviews and your Gas Safe registration number helps the planner who checks you out before calling. Ranking it in Google’s ordinary results through SEO takes months of steady work, which is why I don’t rely on SEO alone for boiler enquiries. Many homeowners ring straight from Google without opening a website at all, so you rarely need a new site before you start.

Reviews

Reviews decide a large share of boiler jobs, because the planner compares firms side by side. Ask every customer in the same way using the link Google gives you, and reply to every review, naming the job. Google’s policy says you must not offer anything in return, ask only the customers you expect to be happy, or ask for particular wording.

Directories and lead sites

Checkatrade and other directories and lead sites can bring work, but the enquiry is often shared with other firms and your reviews live on someone else’s platform. I would record where every installation enquiry comes from for a few months, then decide. My guide to winning boiler jobs without leaning on Checkatrade covers the alternatives.

Past customers, referrals and local partners

The people who already trust you are the easiest work you will ever win. Keep every enquiry in your job management software or a simple CRM, note what each customer wanted, and get back in touch when their boiler is due for a service or getting old. Landlords need a gas safety check every year, which keeps you in touch with properties that will need new boilers. Builders, kitchen fitters and estate agents often see a tired boiler before you do, so a good word from them is worth earning.

Social media and video

Social media works best as proof: photos of finished installs, short videos explaining a job, and your latest reviews. A homeowner comparing quotes will often look you up there, so keep it current. As a source of new boiler installation enquiries, I would put it behind Google, because the person scrolling isn’t looking for an installer at that moment.

Leaflets, vans and local sponsorship

A signwritten van, leaflets and local sponsorship build familiarity in your patch, which helps when someone does start looking. They are hard to measure, so put a distinct phone number or offer on each one and ask every caller how they found you.

How should a plumbing firm judge its marketing?

Count booked jobs per source, as well as enquiries. Ask every caller how they found you, write it down, and look at the figures every month. Before you spend anything, work backwards from your install target: the free boiler enquiry calculator shows how many enquiries you need for the number of installs you want. I won’t give a budget figure here, because it depends on your area, your competition and your target, and my marketing questions page explains how I think about it.

Two habits matter more than any channel. Answer enquiries within minutes during working hours, because a homeowner with a shortlist rings down the list until somebody picks up. And follow up every boiler quote, because the planner is often weighing two or three. My guide to being found on Google but losing the quote covers that second habit, and the five reasons firms get no enquiries from Google helps you find the gap.

What rules apply when you market a plumbing firm?

Show your Gas Safe registration number clearly, because homeowners can check it on the Gas Safe Register, and keep your business name, address and phone number the same everywhere online. Any claim in an advert has to be one you can back up, because UK advertising follows the CAP Code that the Advertising Standards Authority enforces. If customers don’t come to your premises, Google says you should hide your address on your Business Profile and set a service area instead.

Does the time of year change your marketing?

Yes. Boiler breakdowns and replacements tend to rise as the weather turns cold, so the work you put into your profile, reviews and ads in the quieter months is what pays off when the phones get busy. If your enquiries have fallen away, my guide to why boiler installation enquiries drop and how to fix it helps you find the cause in your own Google data.

More homeowners now ask ChatGPT and other AI tools for a recommendation too. No one can promise those tools will name you, but they draw on the same things as Google, namely your Business Profile, your reviews and your website, so getting those right gives you the best chance.

Should you do your own marketing or hire an agency?

You can do a great deal yourself: claim and complete your Business Profile, ask every customer for a review, answer fast and track your sources. My practical lead generation plan sets it out step by step. An agency earns its fee when you would rather spend your time fitting boilers than learning ad platforms, or when you want a steadier flow of installs than your own efforts give you.

If you do hire help, a specialist is usually a better bet than a general agency, because the planner looks for different proof from someone with a burst pipe. I keep my service narrow on purpose. I call it the Boiler Engine System: Local Services Ads limited to installation and replacement, and a Business Profile optimised to win the map pack for boiler searches. My guide to marketing for boiler installers shows how the two work together, and how to attract the right boiler installation customers covers the planner in more depth.

Seven questions to ask before you hire any agency

Hiring a marketing agency is a decision worth making carefully, because the wrong fit costs money and months. Whoever you speak to, these are the questions I would ask.

1. Can you show me every lead and booking your work produces?
2. Who will have access to my Google Business Profile and my ad account, and what happens to that access if we part ways?
3. Which job types do you aim at, and why?
4. Can you show me a real client result, with the context behind it?
5. How do you handle leads that turn out to be invalid or outside my area?
6. Who will I speak to from week to week?
7. What does leaving look like, and how much notice do you need?

How do I answer some of them?

On the first, every lead shows in your own Local Services Ads dashboard, and your Business Profile shows its own call figures, so you can check every enquiry yourself. On job types, I aim at boiler installation and replacement only, for the reasons above. For a real result with its context, my case studies page sets out Flow Plus Plumbing’s results and says plainly that they came from a new website plus Google Ads, while today I work through Local Services Ads and Google Business Profile optimisation. On invalid leads, Google says it filters out spam before you are charged, but lead credits aren’t available in the UK, so I keep your job types and area tight and give Google feedback on every lead. And on leaving, the service is monthly and you can cancel any time.

Which warning signs are worth taking seriously?

Guaranteed rankings. Google states that there is no way to pay for a better local ranking, so a promise of a guaranteed top spot deserves suspicion. My own guarantee is about enquiries you can count yourself in your own dashboard, which is a very different thing.

Vague reporting. If you can’t see your leads and bookings, you can’t judge the work.

Long contracts with no way out. A good agency expects to earn your next month.

One size fits all packages. Emergency plumbing customers and boiler installation customers behave differently, and the marketing should reflect that.

Who I work with, and who I don’t

I work with plumbing firms and plumbing and heating firms across the UK that fit boilers, or want installations to become a bigger part of the business. I’m based in London and work with one firm in the same area you serve. If you don’t fit boilers and have no plans to, a different agency will serve you better, and I would rather say so now than take your money.

How do the guarantee and the money work?

My promise is “15 to 25 consistent boiler installation enquiries every month within 90 days, or we keep working for free until we do.” An enquiry means a call from an active homeowner looking to get a boiler installed. If you’re not at 15 to 25 a month within 90 days, my monthly fee stops until you are, and I keep working.

Your Google ad spend is separate. You keep paying Google for your ads throughout, because that money goes to Google rather than to me. The one condition of the guarantee is that you keep the recommended monthly Google ad budget we agree together at the start.

Why only one firm in the same area you serve?

I can’t honestly help two firms win the same homeowners, so I work with one firm in the same area you serve. Once that area is taken, I say no to anyone else there.

Every guide and free tool on marketing your firm

Complete guides: getting boiler installation enquiries from Google, Google Local Services Ads in the UK and Google Business Profile for boiler installers.

Shorter guides: marketing for boiler installers, a practical lead generation plan, attracting the right customers, boiler jobs without Checkatrade, five reasons for no enquiries from Google, when enquiries drop and found on Google, lost on the quote. Every guide is listed on the guides page.

Free tools: the boiler enquiry calculator, the Google Business Profile checklist and the Local Services Ads checker.

Answers and facts: marketing questions plumbers ask, the glossary, my survey of firm owners and the UK boiler market facts.

Learn from me: my book and booklet on the downloads page, my free weekly webinars and my podcast appearances.

Services: boiler installation leads, Local Services Ads management, Google Business Profile optimisation and marketing for heating engineers.

See how I’d approach your area first

Before you speak to any agency, including me, get the free 5 minute video plan. I look at your business, your patch and the firms taking boiler work in your towns, then record a short video showing where your next installations could come from. There’s no call and no meeting.