Pool Service Marketing for Beginners
Competition can be fierce in the pool cleaning industry, and a saturated market makes it hard to stand out.
Marketing is a way to grab the attention of potential clients and tell them not only what you offer, but also why you’re a better option than any other service provider.
But you’re a pool cleaning expert, not a marketing guru—so where do you begin?
You can start right here with these pool company marketing tips. They’ll help you promote your services, find new clients, and grow your pool business.
Try these pool service marketing tips:
1. Offer top-notch customer service
The first and most important way to market your business starts with your existing clients.
Repeat clients are an essential ingredient to your success as a pool cleaning business because they’re a steady stream of income and they tell others about you.
Give awesome customer service so your customers are happy and will refer you to their friends and other people looking for your business. Go above and beyond what is required.
Offering above-and-beyond service is what keeps them coming back. Here’s how to do it:
Get to know your clients
When you first meet a new client, spend time connecting with them on a personal level.
Did they bring up a weekend getaway or a favorite sports team? Take notes in your pool service CRM so you can mention it next time you see them. This shows you care about them as a person, not just as a client.
Be consistent
Start by writing a standard operating procedure so you’re giving the same service every time. Then share a customer-friendly version of that process with your clients in the form of a quality guarantee.
You can include this guarantee in their quote, in any emails you send, or even in a physical welcome package when they first become a client.
That way they know exactly what to expect from you. Just make sure you can deliver on the service you’re promising!
FREE TOOL: Try our free pool estimate template
Communicate
Send your clients appointment reminders, followed by on-my-way texts when you’re heading over—and make sure you’re on time!
When you’re done, say goodbye or type up a quick text message as you’re leaving. Then send a customer service follow-up email to wrap up.
Ask for feedback
Your growth depends on what clients are saying about you, so find out what they’re happy with and where you can improve. Surveys and reviews can help you gather this feedback.
Follow up on positive reviews by asking for a testimonial, and use any negative feedback as a roadmap to make your business better.
PRO TIP: Use client testimonials on your website, promotional materials, and social media profiles so you can show off some social proof.
Share your expertise
Educate your clients about the chemicals and products you use in their swimming pools, as well as why you use them.
If they need extra services you don’t offer, like pool maintenance, connect them to other professionals in your network.
Don’t worry, they won’t replace you—if anything, the client will appreciate you even more for helping out.
By making sure that you’re doing your job, you’re being a person of your word. Say what you’re going to do and do it.
2. Encourage word of mouth
When your clients are happy with your work, they tell others about you and send them your way as a referral.
This is one of the most effective forms of pool marketing because all it involves is doing your work well and reminding your clients that you appreciate their referrals.
In fact, many experts who own pool service businesses recommend focusing on word-of-mouth marketing over anything else they’ve tried.
We’ve been doing this for 30 years. The best thing to do is just word of mouth.
So how can you get people talking about you? It often happens organically, but you might need to help it along with a referral program. Here’s how to build a pool service referral program:
Offer an incentive
Your clients are your biggest advocates. Say “thank you” by giving them an incentive to refer their friends and family, like a free chemical treatment or a free service visit.
Just make sure your business can afford it, especially if a client makes more than one referral!
Ask for referrals
When a client is happy with your service, always ask for a referral, whether you’re still on site or sending the pool service invoice.
The client might not remember to refer their friends otherwise, but when you remind them, they’re usually happy to do it.
Focus on neighbors of current customers.
We have a referral program for our clients where they refer friends and neighbors that are close in vicinity, we give them a month free. That builds our client list while keeping our route tight.
Track referrals
Keep track of who referred which new client, as well as when each referral incentive starts and ends.
The best way to track this information is with pool business software that notes referral discounts and automatically adds these discounts to your clients’ invoices.
Promote the program
Keep your momentum going by putting up flyers around town that promote your business and the referral program.
When you’re at a job site, you can also try putting up a sandwich board on your truck that offers hot deals to anyone passing by.
PRO TIP: Clients aren’t the only ones who spread the word. Join local business associations, attend networking events, and connect with local pool supply stores to build a reputation for yourself and your pool cleaning business.
3. Brand your business
Branding your business shows your clients that you’re a professional, and it provides a way for them to recognize your name, your work, and your reputation.
The most recognizable part of your brand is your logo. If you don’t have one, you can create your own or hire a designer or branding agency to do it for you
When that’s done, you can work with a local print shop or online partners like Canva or Vistaprint to apply your logo to all kinds of pool marketing materials:
Business cards
Create a clean, simple business card with your pool company name and your business’s logo, name, address, phone number, website, and social media handles.
This allows clients to contact you in whatever way is most convenient for them.
Vehicle decals
You can order vehicle decals with your business’s logo, name, and website from many online partners.
If you want to get something bigger and flashier, you can work with a local shop to design and apply a full vehicle wrap with your logo and brand colors.
READ MORE: Find out how this pool service company grew 9x in just five years
Uniforms
A professional-looking company uniform makes it easy for clients to recognize you when you arrive at their home. It also promotes your business to anyone else who might see it.
This uniform can be as simple as a branded shirt and hat, but there are other options, too.
READ MORE: Hire employees faster with a pool technician job description
Marketing materials
Design traditional pool service ads like flyers, door hangers, and direct mail postcards. Then go door-knocking or send them out to a small service area with enough pools to make it worth your time.
You can also use digital materials like emails to share service updates and useful pool cleaning information with clients.
To send effective marketing emails faster, use a tool that prepares email templates and audiences for you.
When you use Jobber to create email campaigns, you can choose from premade templates that are built for specific goals and customers—and that include your company branding.
After editing the email with details on your pool cleaning services, you can edit your client segments. This means you can choose what group of clients you want to email—like all clients or past clients.
You can even select clients using tags, job history, or by a particular service you provided.
Then, track your success over time from a simple dashboard. For every campaign you send in Jobber, you’ll see the number of customers who opened the email, clicked on a link, or converted into a job.
4. Set up an online presence
A widespread online presence makes it easier for your business to show up in a list of search engine results, whether someone is looking for your business or simply one like it.
Here are a few ways to create that online presence:
Social media marketing
Connect with clients on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, respond to questions and comments, ask what services they want to see, and share snippets of your day so they can see what you do.
You can also use social media platforms to turn followers into clients, and even run ads for your pool cleaning services that appear in users’ feeds.
Social media is not like Google or Yelp. It’s more about brand awareness. People want to be a part of your community.
Business profiles
Set up a Yelp profile, a Facebook Business Page, and a Google My Business profile.
Business listings help potential clients find information about you (like your name, service area, hours, and contact info) and existing clients can leave online reviews about your services.
You can also post about your pool cleaning business on Nextdoor, Angi (formerly Angie’s List), or Thumbtack.
We’ve had a lot of success with Yelp and Google.
Everything is linked back to our website. That leads to a lot of inbound queries and people asking us to stop by their pool to talk and provide a quote.
Website design
Use a tool like WordPress, Squarespace, or Wix to build a website with a clean design, clear service descriptions with photos, client testimonials, and contact details.
Focus on creating a good user experience that makes it easy for clients to find what they’re looking for and contact you for more information.
Content marketing
Content marketing shows your clients and your industry that you’re an expert in your field, which helps build a reputation for your business.
Start a blog that answers clients’ questions, run a YouTube channel showing your services in action, or get on podcast like Pool Chasers to talk about your experiences.
“[With Pool Chasers podcast] we want to target other people in the pool business to talk about how we worked through our own early struggles in the business and interview people from the big pool builders and manufacturers”, says Greg.
Online advertising
Online ads use all kinds of channels to direct potential clients to the properties listed above. For now, start with the basics and promote your business through Google’s Local Services Ads.
Jobber’s swimming pool service software even helps you connect your service ads to your website so clients can quickly and easily book your services online—no effort needed!
Pool advertising and marketing can be tricky. But these tips will give you a starting point to see what works for your business, attracts new clients, and helps you grow.
Originally published May 2019. Last updated March 2024.