Educate to Elevate

Advertising an installation business seems straightforward on the surface. You pitch your excavating expertise, your knowledge of local soils and water tables, and the fact that you are efficient and respectful of their property. But promoting your expertise, and more importantly, your willingness to share it, is a massive piece of the marketing puzzle that most contractors completely overlook.

I look at a lot of septic company websites. It’s step number one when checking out a company I’m interested in featuring for the magazine. A green flag I come across fairly regularly is a blog or educational section where companies take it upon themselves to publish information septic systems. This strategy is such a great tool to not only bring in business, but help the industry as a whole by providing information that can understand how onsite systems protect public health and the environment.

The average property owner has no clue what is buried in their backyard. They know they flush the toilet because their septic system passed the inspection when they bought the house, the waste is out of sight and out of mind. Consequently, homeowners usually only call an installer when something has failed and in need of repair.

Lower the barrier to entry

Many advertising campaigns focus on calls to action that are reactionary like focusing on soggy yards and failing systems. While that approach is definitely eye-catching and can capture emergency work, it can be intimidating to someone who does not yet have issues in need of fixing and does not build relationships. It feels transactional, and to a homeowner, it feels expensive.

Try shifting the narrative to lower the stakes by including a call to action that invites a conversation before a crisis occurs.

“Planning a property addition or curious about how your soil type impacts your septic design? Give our free helpline a call, or check out our online library. We’re happy to help you figure it out!”

Initially, taking phone calls to answer questions cost-free might sound like a waste of valuable field time. However, this strategy secures the right of first refusal. When that homeowner eventually does need a system replacement, an advanced treatment upgrade, or a major repair, they will bypass the online search and call the local expert who already gave them 10 minutes of free advice or pointed them to the perfect explanatory blog post on their own website.

Websites work

Instead of using your website as just a static business card with a basic contact form, turn it into a local knowledge hub by hosting educational blog posts.

When you answer the same questions on a job site week after week, write those answers down and post them online. Topics like whether a homeowner can build a deck over a drainfield or what a high-water alarm actually means are exactly what local people are typing into search engines.

By directing social media followers or local community groups to these free resources, you provide easy access to high-quality content and answer basic questions automatically, which filters out tire-kickers and saves you from doing it manually over the phone. It also captures the serious leads. A homeowner reading a detailed post about how tree roots can impact system performance is highly likely to click your consultation button next if they are at all concerned about their own root situation.

Conversations into contracts

Now, how does a casual, educational conversation actually turn into work?

Imagine a homeowner calls because they are planning to install a swimming pool and want to know about setback distances. Instead of immediately trying to sell them a costly site layout plan, you explain why heavy machinery cannot cross the drainfield and how soil compaction destroys a system’s long-term viability. You give them the tools to look at their original plot map themselves.

At the end of that helpful exchange, you transition naturally by asking if they know how old their current drainfield is or what type of system they have. If they don’t know, explain that older gravity systems have a lifespan and that an evaluation now can prevent a nightmare scenario midconstruction. Because you just saved them an initial consultation fee and treated them like a partner rather than a paycheck, they will trust you to come out and look at the site.