As a plumbing professional, home shows are your chance to show off the latest tankless water heaters or talk about the benefits of PEX pipe. Do you know what’s even more valuable? They put you face-to-face with the homeowners who will need your services down the road As competition grows fiercer and attention spans shrink, simply setting up a booth and handing out flyers won’t cut it. You must stand out from your competitors in the market and be memorable, or you will fade into the background.
A strong home service marketing and PR strategy is the key to creating lasting brand visibility and long-term success.
Building the buzz
While the home show may be the main event, the preparation starts well before the occasion — and companies that prepare early gain the edge.
Your plumbing company can generate excitement by sharing sneak peeks of booth setups, promoting giveaways or teasing live demonstrations on social media to build anticipation.
One company I worked with, The Surfin’ Plumbers, gave away surfboard-shaped bumper stickers and had a toilet cornhole game in its booth. This game drew in crowds and created a buzz. And the stickers kept the brand visible in the minds of attendees long after the show ended. Imagine seeing cars driving around in your market advertising your brand — for free!
If you build interest and excitement around your booth, you attract more visitors, which helps you establish name recognition on the front end. However, with a long-term PR plan, you’ll also be able to transform that momentum into future campaigns to help your brand stand out. A seasoned PR agency can take what you learn from your visitors to help you uncover fresh angles that you can use all year.
From crafting expert commentary to identifying community trends, a creative partner knows how to turn your participation at a local home show into compelling narratives that resonate with local audiences.
A PR team can also help you plan pre- and post-event opportunities, such as media interviews, social content or thought leadership pieces to extend the impact of your home show presence long after the event ends. With the right approach, the discussions at your booth become more than one-off conversations. They become a platform for visibility, credibility and brand growth.
Responding to visitors
Once the doors open, you can make the most of your appearance by offering interactive experiences. Presenting live demos, offering Q&A sessions or providing hands-on activities give attendees — potential customers — a reason to stop and engage.
An outside PR team can help you amplify those efforts by helping you tailor your talking points to resonate with homeowners. An effective marketing strategy ensures that every touchpoint, both at your booth and with your team, reflects your brand’s story and values.
You’ll no doubt want to capture the energy of the event with real-time updates, photos and videos on your social media channels. A PR expert can help you get more mileage out of your social media posts by helping you plan the kinds of content you should post. They can also coach your team on what moments to capture. From engaging booth interactions to behind-the-scenes setup, you can plan your social media so that every post tells a story, reinforces your credibility and attracts attention.
After the show, your PR partner can help you repurpose and extend the life of your content. They’ll transform standout photos, videos or quotes into follow-up posts, blog features or even media pitches that continue generating visibility long after the event ends.
Extending the impact
In order to grow your business, you can’t stop your marketing efforts once the booth is packed up and the lights are turned off. A successful home show appearance is only the beginning, and it’s what you do after the event that determines whether the exposure turns into real business opportunities.
Companies can keep the momentum going by following up promptly with leads, sharing event highlights on social media and continuing conversations with prospects who visited the booth.
Make sure your PR partner also reviews the data and insights gathered at the event to help shape future campaigns and content calendars. They can use audience feedback, common homeowner questions and trending topics to develop thought leadership pieces, media pitches and social content that position your company as an expert in your field.
When done right, a good strategy doesn’t only help you stand out at your local home shows, but it should be used to transform your presence into something home show attendees remember. This can fuel a powerfully positive reputation that keeps you ahead of the competition all year long.
Heather Ripley is the founder and CEO of Ripley PR, a global public relations agency specializing in the skilled trades industry
