Guide
How to get plumbing leads with video: film the job you are already standing in
Every job you finish already contains the video that brings the next one. Twenty seconds of the problem, twenty of the fix, and your voice explaining what happened. This guide turns that into a lead routine: what to film, the four scripts, where to post, and a weekly rhythm that survives a full call sheet.
- Filming per job: before and after
- 40 sec
- Longest talking take you ever need
- 3 min
- Lite: 1,250 credits, about 11 finished 30 second ads
- $19.99
Why video turns into plumbing leads
Plumbing leads split in two. Emergencies, where speed and the map decide. And planned work, bathrooms, boilers, re-pipes, where the customer researches for weeks.
Video reaches the second group directly: they are on the sofa watching what-does-a-boiler-cost videos. It reaches the first group sideways: when the flood happens, the plumber they have already watched is the one that feels safe to call.
The bar is low because the trade barely posts. A clear explanation of a common failure, filmed on a phone, competes with almost nothing.
Views three time zones away are worthless. Say your town's name out loud in every video, because the only viewer who matters can be reached by van.
The two clips to film on every job
Before you touch anything, film the problem for twenty seconds. The drip, the rusted tank, the drain running slow. Ask the homeowner at the quote; nearly all say yes once you explain it shows the work, not their house.
After you finish, film the same angle again. The pair is the whole story, and it needs no words yet.
Save both to one folder. That library is what makes every future video fast, because the footage is already shot by the time you sit down to talk.
- Water heater swaps: the scale, the old unit out, the new one plumbed in
- Drains: what came out. Fair warning, the gross ones perform best
- Under-sink re-pipes: the corroded run before, the clean run after
- Leak finds: the stain, the opened wall, the fixed joint
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
Four scripts, said at the van in one take each
Film these as talking takes, one idea per take, under a minute of speaking. Nothing written down. You have said all of it to customers a hundred times.
- The explained job. What you found today, what caused it, what fixing it involved. Point at the before and the after.
- The price question. What a water heater swap or a bathroom rough-in actually runs, and what moves the number. The plumber who says numbers out loud gets the calls.
- The prevention tip. The isolation valve to test, the hose to disconnect before the first frost. Useful beats clever.
- The emergency walkthrough. Where the stop tap is, what to shut off before calling anyone. Viewers save this one, and saved is remembered.
One morning covers the week
Batch the talking. On your quietest morning, stand at the van and film four takes. That is roughly ten minutes of speaking and a month of one-post weeks, or a week of dailies if you are pushing.
Post where your customers already are: the Google Business Profile first, because the next caller reads it, then the local Facebook groups, then Reels and TikTok for the planned-work researchers.
Every video ends the same way: your name, your patch, your number. A lead is a video with a next step attached.
One morning, a week of posts
The routine this guide proposes, in minutes. The edit is the only step software can do for you.
- Film four takes at the van10 min
- Post to profile, groups and Reels15 min
- Reply to comments and messages15 min
- The edits, once software does them~5 min
If the camera is the blocker
Plenty of plumbers would rather re-washer every tap in town than talk to a phone. Three honest outs.
Stay behind the camera. Point the phone at the pipe and narrate while you work. Your face is optional; your voice is the trust.
Keep the takes short. Twenty seconds of speech is a real video. Nobody is grading delivery, and the third attempt always sounds like you.
Or use an avatar. On Cutroom's Basic plan, $39.99 a month, a presenter is rendered from a portrait and an audio track, at 350 credits a minute of render on top of the batch and export. It exists for the days you will not talk, and a real voice at a real van still builds more trust per dollar.
The edit is the step that kills the habit. Delete it.
Filming fits between jobs. Editing does not, and editing is where trade accounts die.
Cutroom takes the talking take, transcribes every word, writes the hook, lays your before and after clips on exactly the words that describe them, and burns in captions. The finished 9:16 MP4 is back in about a minute, and you approve it on the same phone that filmed it.
A 30 second ad is about 110 credits, a 100 credit batch plus an export at 20 credits per finished minute. Lite is $19.99 a month for 1,250 credits, about 11 of those, cancel in one click.
The honest floor still stands: a phone and the platform's own captions cost nothing and are enough for stories and quick updates. This is for the posts that do the selling.
Questions people ask
- What videos generate plumbing leads fastest?
- Nothing in video is fast, and anyone promising dates is selling something. The explained job with a before and after tends to work best because it shows judgment, not just labour. Give the routine eight steady weeks and count callers who mention the videos.
- Do I need permission to film in a customer's home?
- Yes, ask at the quote. Frame only the work: the pipe, the tank, the cabinet. No faces, no addresses, no valuables in shot. Note the yes on the job sheet, and skip filming when anyone hesitates.
- Which platform is best for plumbing leads?
- The Google Business Profile first, because it feeds the search you are already found in. Local Facebook groups second, where recommendations happen. Reels and TikTok reach the planned-work researchers. One 9:16 video posts to all of them unchanged.
- Can I do this without showing my face?
- Yes. Narrate over the job while you film it; your voice carries the trust and captions cover the mute viewers. An avatar is the paid alternative, on Basic at $39.99 a month, rendered at 350 credits a minute.
- What does the editing cost?
- With Cutroom, about 110 credits per finished 30 second ad, batch plus export. The first 3 are free in your first 7 days, no card, with a Cutroom mark across the middle. Lite is $19.99 a month for 1,250 credits, about 11 of those ads, nothing on the picture, cancel in one click. Doing it by hand in a phone editor costs nothing but the evening.
Forty seconds of filming per job, four scripts at the van, one morning a week. The leads follow the plumber people feel they already know.