Marketing Your Heating Business on a Budget: What Actually Works

Let me guess. You’ve had someone try to sell you a fancy website for three grand. You’ve been told you need to be on TikTok. Someone’s mentioned SEO and you’ve nodded along without really knowing what it means. And through all of it, the thing that actually brings you work is still Dave from three streets over telling his mate about you.

Here’s the truth: most plumbing and heating businesses don’t need a big marketing budget. What they need is to do a handful of things consistently and well. The businesses I’ve worked with that generate the most enquiries aren’t spending thousands on advertising. They’re spending an hour or two a week on the basics — and those basics are doing the heavy lifting.

Let’s go through what actually works, what’s a waste of money, and how to get more customers calling without emptying your bank account.

Start Here: Your Google Business Profile

If you do absolutely nothing else from this article, do this: claim, complete, and optimise your Google Business Profile. It’s free. It’s the first thing customers see when they search for a plumber or heating engineer in your area. And most of your competitors have done a terrible job of it, which means the bar is low.

Getting the Basics Right

• Business name: Use your actual trading name. Don’t stuff keywords in (e.g., “Dave’s Plumbing – Emergency Plumber Nottingham 24/7” will get your profile suspended).
• Categories: Set your primary category correctly (Plumber, Heating Contractor, etc.) and add relevant secondary categories.
• Service area: Define the towns and postcodes you cover. Be realistic — don’t claim you cover the entire county if you stick to a 15-mile radius.
• Hours: Keep these accurate and up to date. Nothing frustrates a potential customer more than calling during “open hours” and getting no answer.
• Description: Write a clear, honest description of what you do, who you serve, and what makes you different. 250-750 words is the sweet spot.

Photos Make a Huge Difference

Profiles with photos get significantly more clicks and calls than those without. You don’t need professional photography — your phone is fine. Add:

• Photos of your van (clean and branded)
• Before and after shots of completed work
• Team photos (people trust faces)
• Photos of your work in progress (shows you’re active)

Aim to add 2-3 new photos per month. It signals to Google that your profile is active, which helps your ranking.

Google Posts: The Feature Everyone Ignores

Google Business Profile lets you publish short posts — updates, offers, tips — that appear directly on your profile. Hardly anyone uses them, which is exactly why you should. A weekly post about seasonal tips, completed jobs, or special offers keeps your profile fresh and engaging.

Local SEO: Being Found When People Search

SEO sounds technical, but for a local trades business, the basics are straightforward.

What Local SEO Actually Means

When someone searches “heating engineer in [your town],” Google decides which businesses to show based on three things: relevance (do you offer what they’re searching for?), distance (how close are you?), and prominence (how well-known and trusted are you online?).

You can’t change your location, but you can absolutely influence relevance and prominence:

• Your website should mention the areas you serve and the services you offer, in plain English. A page for each main service (boiler installation, plumbing repairs, heating maintenance) helps Google understand what you do.
• Consistent information across the web: make sure your business name, address, and phone number are identical everywhere they appear — Google Business Profile, your website, Checkatrade, Yell, Facebook, everywhere.
• Reviews are a massive local SEO factor. More reviews, better ratings, and recent reviews all boost your visibility. We cover this in depth in our guide to getting Google reviews.

Do You Need a Website?

Yes, but it doesn’t need to be expensive. A simple, clean website with five to ten pages covering your services, your area, and how to contact you is plenty. It doesn’t need to be a work of art — it needs to be clear, fast, and mobile-friendly (most people will find you on their phone).

Budget options include building it yourself on a platform like Wix or Squarespace (from around £15/month), or paying a local designer £500-£1,000 for a simple brochure site. Anything more than that, and you’re probably over-investing for what you need.

Word of Mouth: Systemise Your Best Marketing Channel

Every plumber I’ve ever spoken to says the same thing: “Most of my work comes from word of mouth.” Brilliant. But here’s the question: are you actively creating word of mouth, or are you just hoping it happens?

Building a Referral System

A referral system doesn’t need to be complicated. Here’s a simple one that works:

1. After every completed job, say: “If you know anyone who needs a plumber, we’d love the recommendation.” Simple, direct, no pressure.
2. Leave a small stack of business cards or a branded fridge magnet. Something physical that stays in the house.
3. Follow up 3-6 months later with a friendly check-in: “Just wanted to make sure everything’s still working well. And if anyone you know ever needs a hand with plumbing or heating, we’re always happy to help.” This kind of structured follow-up is gold.
4. Thank referrers. When someone sends you a new customer, acknowledge it. A quick thank-you text or even a small gift (a box of biscuits, a bottle of wine) goes a long way. It costs you a fiver and generates hundreds of pounds in future work.

Why Referrals Beat Paid Ads

A customer who finds you through a recommendation is:

• More likely to trust you immediately
• Less likely to shop around on price
• More likely to become a repeat customer themselves
• More likely to refer others in turn

Paid ads bring you cold leads who are comparing you against five other businesses purely on price. Referrals bring you warm leads who already trust you. The conversion rate isn’t even close.

Van Signage: Your Mobile Billboard

Your van is driving around your service area every single day. If it’s a plain white van with no signage, you’re wasting the best free advertising space you’ve got.

What Makes Good Van Signage?

• Your business name — large and legible from across the road
• What you do — “Plumbing & Heating” is enough. Don’t list every service.
• Your phone number — big enough to read at a glance. This is the most important element.
• Your website or area — “Serving Nottingham & surrounding areas” helps local recognition
• A clean, professional design — consistent with your other branding

What Doesn’t Work

• Trying to fit 15 different services in tiny text
• Dark backgrounds with dark text (it needs to be readable)
• Cheap vinyl that peels and fades after six months
• No phone number, or a phone number that’s too small to read

Budget around £300-£600 for a professional partial wrap on a medium van. Full wraps look amazing but cost £1,500-£2,500+. For most businesses, a quality partial wrap is the sweet spot between cost and impact.

And keep the van clean. A dirty van with beautiful signage sends entirely the wrong message. It’s part of your brand, whether you think about it that way or not.

Social Media for Trades: Keep It Simple

You don’t need to be on every platform. For a local plumbing or heating business, Facebook and Instagram are the only two that matter. And you don’t need to post every day — two to three times a week is plenty.

What to Post

• Before and after photos: These perform brilliantly. A manky old boiler next to a clean new installation gets attention.
• Job completed posts: “Another happy customer in [area]. New combi boiler installed and all heating flushed through.” Short, local, real.
• Tips and advice: “Five things to check before your boiler service” or “How to bleed a radiator.” Positions you as helpful and knowledgeable.
• Behind the scenes: Your van loaded up for the day, a tricky problem you solved, a team photo. People buy from people.
• Customer reviews: Screenshot a great Google review and share it. Social proof at its finest.

What Not to Post

• Political opinions (keep it professional)
• Complaints about customers or other tradespeople
• Long, corporate-sounding posts that don’t sound like you
• Nothing at all for months, then a burst of ten posts in one day

The 15-Minute Social Media Routine

Take one photo per day on the job. Once or twice a week, spend 15 minutes writing a short post with the photo and publishing it. That’s it. Consistency matters far more than perfection.

What About Paid Advertising?

Google Ads and Facebook Ads can work for plumbing and heating businesses, but they’re not where I’d start — especially on a tight budget.

When Paid Ads Make Sense

• You’ve already maxed out the free channels above
• You have a specific capacity gap to fill (e.g., boiler installations in the quiet summer months)
• You can afford to test with at least £300-£500 per month
• You have a system for converting enquiries into booked jobs (otherwise you’re just paying for phone calls that go nowhere)

When Paid Ads Are a Waste

• Your Google Business Profile is incomplete or has few reviews
• You don’t have a clear quoting and follow-up process
• You’re already turning work away (why pay for more leads you can’t handle?)
• You don’t know your numbers well enough to measure return on investment

If you’re at the stage where you’re considering paid ads, make sure your pricing and systems are solid first. Our guide on being busy but not profitable covers why generating more leads without fixing your fundamentals just makes the problem bigger.

The Marketing Checklist: What to Prioritise

If I were starting from scratch with a heating business and a tight budget, here’s the order I’d tackle things:

1. Week 1: Claim and fully complete your Google Business Profile
2. Week 2: Set up your review request system (text template, direct link, QR cards printed)
3. Week 3: Get proper van signage designed and ordered
4. Week 4: Set up a simple Facebook page and post your first three pieces of content
5. Ongoing: One photo per day, 2-3 social posts per week, review request after every job, follow up with past customers quarterly

Total cost? Van signage (£300-£600), QR cards (£30-£50), and your time. That’s it. Everything else is free.

For the systems that tie all of this together — from customer follow-up to referral tracking — The Systems Handbook (also in hardcover) has the templates and processes you need to make marketing part of your weekly routine rather than something you think about once a year.