Marketing to installers: What P&H brands need to know

Understanding your audience

Installers are a unique audience, they’re essentially a B2B group with a B2C mindset. Marketing to them requires a hybrid approach that we call B2i marketing, blending strategies from both worlds.

However, treating installers as a single group is perhaps the biggest mistake brands make. To be effective, marketing strategies must be tailored to specific installer segments based on key differentiating factors.

• Career stage: Apprentices, mid-career professionals, or industry veterans
• Project focus: Commercial, residential, or specialized installations
• Business structure: Solo operators, small teams, or larger firms
• Technical specialisation: Heating specialists, general plumbers, or renewable technology experts.

Understanding these distinctions allows you to address their specific pain points, workflows, and decision-making processes.

While messaging and channels may differ, most installers share common goals, and once the different groups are identified, patterns begin to emerge – reliability, efficiency, and profitability.

Capturing Attention: Keeping Your Brand Front of Mind

Installers’ time literally equals money; they’re often swamped. This is why you need to find the most effective approach to integrating your brand into that busy schedule – and most importantly, without creating additional demands on their schedule!

Think about someone working on-site—would they listen to a podcast while installing a boiler? Would they watch a video tutorial during a quick lunch break? Understanding when and how installers consume content determines whether your marketing investment will generate returns.

To earn an installer’s attention, you must offer clear value:

• Problem-solving content: Information that helps them work more efficiently or solve common challenges
• Time-saving innovations: Products that reduce installation or maintenance time
• Business-building resources: Tools that help them grow their customer base or improve profitability
• Professional development: Training opportunities that expand their capabilities

Incentives such as rewards schemes, discounts, free training, and hassle-free aftersales support carry a lot of weight, not arguably as much as a fantastic ‘fit and forget’ product – but from a marketing POV, it’s an expectation.

Establishing Meaningful Connections: Multi-Channel Strategies

To build lasting relationships with installers, your marketing strategy should leverage multiple complementary channels, each reinforcing your core value proposition while respecting how installers prefer to receive information.

1. Content Marketing & PR

We’re consuming more and more online, and some of the sector’s largest titles are thriving, but traditional print content still holds a lot of weight with certain installer demographics.

Readily available on merchant counters, and with those in the workforce who hold purchasing power still inclined to read print magazines, it is important not to overlook print media.

However, effective content strategy now requires a balanced approach:

• Technical articles: Detailed installation guidance and product specifications
• Case studies: Real-world applications showcasing problem-solving capabilities
• Industry insights: Analysis of regulatory changes and market trends
• Installer profiles: Stories highlighting successful professionals using your products

This content can be strategically repurposed across channels—from print features to website blogs, email newsletters, and social media highlights—creating multiple opportunities for installer engagement at different points in their working day.

2. Visual & Audio Content: Videos, Podcasts & Webinars

Presenting information in a video is much more accessible than reading a 400-word article. You want to be able to get your message across to installers as quickly and as easily as possible.

Understanding installer content consumption patterns is crucial:

• Morning commute: Audio content like podcasts discussing industry trends
• Lunch breaks: Quick tutorial videos or product highlights (under 5 minutes)
• Evening wind-down: Longer-form webinars offering continuing education or certification points

To illicit a response, your content should be down-to-earth, demonstrate a clear understanding of their needs, and speak to their challenges directly, before providing practical solutions.

To maximise engagement, content should be:

• Practical and solution-focused
• Presented by credible industry voices
• Free of unnecessary marketing language
• Easily consumable in limited time windows

One sure way of maintaining a down-to-earth and understanding approach is with a recognisable face. Having one or two individuals from your brand become the face of your content can help build a rapport and credibility with your audience.

There are also benefits to using influencers; this allows the audience to connect authentically, building trust with your brand in the long term.

3. Strategic Social media Engagement

Social media is a key part of the marketing mix but is one of the most challenging. You need your brand to cut through the tremendous noise of an already loud marketplace.

Content needs to be eye-catching but also informative to capture and then maintain attention.

Effective installer-focused social content is:

• Visually striking to stop the scroll
• Immediately relevant to daily challenges
• Interactive to encourage community building
• Educational while being entertaining

Combining organic relationship-building with targeted paid promotion ensures your content reaches the right installer segments at optimal times—whether that’s during evening browsing sessions or weekend planning periods.

How we can help you connect with Installers

As the leading B2B agency outside of London and a specialist in the plumbing and heating sector, we have helped UK and global manufacturers connect with their installer audiences for decades.

Our strategic approach has delivered measurable results:

• Dramatically increased brand recognition for major industry players
• Successful positioning of manufacturers as technical innovators and thought leaders
• Award-winning campaigns that drive both engagement and sales growth
• Authentic community building that translates to installer loyalty

Most importantly, we’ve helped brands establish the trust that leads to consistent specification and recommendation—the ultimate goal of any installer marketing program.
Ready to transform your installer relationships?

Discover how our specialised B2i expertise can help your brand connect authentically with the UK’s installation professionals.