Sending a postcard to 10,000 random homes and hoping the phone rings isn’t a strategy.

In this episode of the Plumber Marketing Success Podcast, I sit down with Gary Pizzati, Founder and CEO of We Mail America, to break down how plumbing companies can use direct mail as a measurable part of their marketing mix.

Gary brings decades of advertising experience to the conversation, including senior leadership roles with Modern Luxury and Cumulus Media, where he oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising revenue. He later founded We Mail America, which has earned back-to-back recognition on the Inc. 5000, including a #953 ranking in 2026.

Gary calls direct mail the “grandfather of targeted media.” But today's direct mail is far more sophisticated than simply choosing a ZIP code and dropping postcards.

We get practical about what actually makes a campaign work.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Where direct mail belongs alongside Google, LSA, Yelp, Meta and other marketing channels• The four critical variables: mailing list, offer, creative and frequency• How to target homeowners based on home age, owner occupancy, income and specific neighborhoods• Why Gary recommends thinking in terms of Data, Design and Delivery• What makes a compelling plumbing offer—and why free inspections can work• Why your mail piece should be simple, eye-catching, credible and easy to understand• How much a plumbing company should realistically budget for direct mail• Why Gary's larger service-business clients may spend $5,000–$7,000 per month, while smaller campaigns can start around $1,800 per month• How AI is making direct mail targeting and attribution more sophisticated• How matchback reporting can connect mailed households with CRM data and reveal leads that might otherwise be attributed entirely to Google or another digital channel• What the first 90 days of a serious direct mail campaign should look like

One of the biggest takeaways: direct mail shouldn't be viewed as a replacement for digital marketing.

A homeowner might see your postcard, remember your company, throw the card away—and later search for your business on Google. Without proper attribution, Google gets all the credit. That's why Gary argues that plumbers need to look at direct mail as part of an integrated marketing system rather than judging each channel in isolation.

If you're a plumbing company owner trying to determine whether direct mail deserves a place in your marketing budget—or you're already mailing and aren't sure whether it's producing a real return—this episode gives you a practical framework for evaluating it.

Learn with PipeWrench.

Subscribe to the Plumber Marketing Success Podcast for conversations with experts helping plumbing companies make smarter decisions about marketing, technology, operations and growth.

#PlumbingMarketing #DirectMail #PlumbingBusiness #HomeServicesMarketing #PlumberMarketing #DirectMailMarketing #MarketingStrategy #LearnWithPipeWrench

Is your plumbing company actually Googleable? Find out: https://areyougoogleable.com/

And as homeowners increasingly turn to ChatGPT and AI search, an even bigger question is emerging: When someone asks AI who to call for a plumber, does your company show up?

In this episode of the Plumber Marketing Success Podcast, Paul Benton sits down with Roger Wakefield, master plumber, entrepreneur and one of the most recognized voices in the trades, with more than 1.7 million followers across social media.

Roger explains why he created Are You Googleable?, a new platform designed to help plumbers, contractors and marketing agencies evaluate whether a website is structured properly for SEO, AEO, GEO and AI search visibility.

Roger compares the concept to a CARFAX report for your website. Instead of simply trusting that your marketing company built a great site, you can analyze individual pages, identify problems and compare your website against competitors.

• What does it mean to be Googleable in the age of AI?

• Can ChatGPT and AI search engines understand and find your plumbing company?

• What are SEO, AEO and GEO, and why do they matter?

• How does Are You Googleable? evaluate a plumbing website?

• What should plumbers expect from their marketing agencies?

• What website score does Roger consider good?

• Why should you compare your most important service pages against competitors?

• How much should a growing plumbing company invest in marketing?

• What did Roger learn from selling his plumbing company and its eventual sale to private equity?

• What should contractors do years before considering a private equity exit?

• Why does Roger believe plumbers should start creating video content?

• How can a small plumbing company use Facebook and social media to generate business without a huge advertising budget?

• How much content should a plumber actually create?

• Why does Roger believe YouTube should be the endgame for contractors creating content?

• What was Roger's best marketing decision—and what mistake should other plumbing company owners avoid?

Roger also shares a remarkably simple social media strategy: document the work you're already doing. A water heater installation, sewer repair or even a garbage disposal problem can become useful educational content that reminds people in your community exactly what you do.

His advice for getting comfortable on camera is equally practical: look into the lens, talk to one person and speak to them like they're your best friend.

Roger explains that social media helped transform his own plumbing career. What began as a way to market his plumbing company ultimately developed into a massive online audience, plumbing education business and new ventures including Are You Googleable?

And when it comes to selling a plumbing company to private equity, Roger offers an important warning: build the company correctly years before you plan to sell. Clean books, strong systems, good documentation and disciplined operations can't simply be manufactured at the last minute.

Whether you're trying to get more plumbing leads, improve your website, understand AI search, build a plumbing brand on social media, or eventually position your company for acquisition, this conversation is packed with lessons from someone who has actually done it.

If you're a plumber running Google Local Services Ads (LSA), you've probably experienced this frustration:

You're willing to spend more money — but Google won't spend your budget. Why?

In this episode of the Plumber Marketing Success Podcast, Paul Benton sits down with Crystal Horton, a Google Business Profile Platinum Product Expert, and Google Local Services Ads Agency Partner, to explain what actually determines whether a plumbing company gets more visibility and leads from LSA.

Paul and Crystal discuss:

• Why increasing your LSA budget doesn't necessarily increase spend
• The migration of LSA into the Google Ads dashboard- Why LSA "budget" operates more like an auction than many plumbers realize
• The relationship between your Google Business Profile and LSA performance
• Why review consistency can matter more than total review count
• Why getting 1–2 new reviews every week can make a difference
• Why "set it and forget it" is one of the biggest LSA mistakes
• How Google determines which plumbing company gets the lead
• Why answering LSA calls quickly matters
• Why responding to message leads within five minutes can help
• How AI voice technology may improve LSA responsiveness
• How service areas and job types affect lead volume
• Why plumbers should consider turning on LSA message leads
• How much a successful plumbing company can potentially spend through LSA

Crystal shares an eye-opening benchmark: she has seen LSA accounts spend more than $156,000 in a single month, while strong accounts in major metropolitan markets may reach approximately $40,000–$75,000 per month.

The problem isn't always finding more money to give Google. Sometimes it's figuring out how to get Google to give you more opportunities to spend it.

Google LSA is not a "set it and forget it" advertising channel.

Google evaluates multiple signals when determining which businesses receive visibility and leads, including review consistency, response speed, message response time, service areas, job types and operating hours.

When Paul asks Crystal to choose between review volume, review frequency, review quality and proximity to the customer, her answer is especially interesting:

More frequent positive reviews.

Crystal Horton is a Platinum Google Business Profile Product Expert and Google Local Services Ads Agency Partner. She is recognized by Google for her deep knowledge of Google Business Profiles and contributes her expertise through the Google Business Profile community.

Her work across hundreds of accounts gives her insight into the patterns that influence LSA and Google Business Profile performance.

Reach Crystal at https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystalhorton/

Paul Benton is the founder of PipeWrench Marketing, a digital marketing agency focused on helping plumbing companies generate more leads, improve marketing performance and strengthen their digital visibility.

Paul hosts the Plumber Marketing Success Podcast, where he interviews experts in marketing, technology, operations and home services to uncover practical ideas plumbing company owners can use to grow.

Reach Paul at https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-benton/

The Plumber Marketing Success Podcast is for plumbing company owners who want practical insights into marketing, lead generation, Google LSA, Google Business Profiles, PPC, AI, automation, ServiceTitan and the technologies changing home services.

Subscribe and Learn with PipeWrench.

#PlumbingMarketing #GoogleLSA #LocalServicesAds