“Fish where the fish are.” – someone who’s eating well.
Read time – 3 minutes
Where are the fish? Where do people look for contractors?
Fill you funnel. Focus on getting in front of people who already have a problem or desire and are searching online to solve it.
- Example:
If my friend doesn’t have a referral I will search online for a plumber. Honestly I would look up my friend’s plumber recommendation online regardless because sometimes my friend recommends shitty movies. Anyways…
So I go to Google and type in “plumber near me”. It uses my location to give me results:
You will notice ALL 3 of the businesses listed in the image above are paid ads!
You can pay to be in one of these spots.
Let’s say I don’t like the look of those 3, so I scroll down:
Now I am in the maps section of the Google search page. Each of the businesses has a Google business profile with reviews. Notice the top one says “sponsored” on it. So you can pay to be in the top spot in the maps.
Let’s say I think these plumbers sound shady I scroll down more to the “organic” “free” section of links:
Next I see Yelp (a business directory like Yellowpages), questions “people also ask” Google.
Finally below that we have a plumber’s website Petri, Angie’s List (another business directory) and then one more plumber website Einstien’s plumbing and heating.
When I click on the Yelp link I see more paid ads:
So why are there so many ads for “plumber near me” ?
Because the plumbing companies know the intent (purpose) of the search.
Usually when someone searches for “plumber near me” they have a problem and need to hire a plumber.
That is a vaulable search to be in front of. However to get in those spots is going to cost money.
Can I get inbound leads without paid ads?
Yes. Continue to fish where the fish are but focus on different search terms.
For example I want to replace my facuet and sink. I noticed the pipes in the wall need to change. I think its called sink body so I Google search for “replace my sink body plumber”
Totally diferent results!
It shows an AI overview answer telling me to hire a plumber. Right below is Yelp again. Notice no paid ads at the top of this google search.
I scroll down more:
Next section is all videos from YouTube showing me how to replace a sink or certain sink elements.
It’s not what I want. Below the videos is a Home Depot link and a Reddit link.
No local plumber websites! No Local plumber has a website page on this topic! Big opportunity.
ALSO—It turns out I used the wrong term. I need the “faucet body” replaced in the wall, not the sink body.
That is common! People are not experts, so they use all sorts of terms when looking for help.
Wait so what’s the strategy? Either or both:
- Spend money on paid ads to target people actively looking for your service.
- Spend time or money creating website pages and content covering specific situations your customers may run into.
- Now when people search for their specific problem you have better odds of showing up on that search.
Example of having multiple website pages cover more searches and bring in more leads:
Bottom Line
Fish where the fish are, means focusing on marketing to people that have a problem or desire and are looking to solve it.
Yes you can get leads from Social Media BUT most of the time people are there to be entertained not look for a contractor. So you can make funny videos for your company and maybe the people will remember you when they have a problem or you can put effort into being visible when someone has a problem and is looking for contractor to solve it.
