How To Market A Water Filtration Business

The water filtration industry is hard to market in, especially if you are just getting started.

There's a huge mix of problem awareness in this market, and it can make it feel impossible to get customers.

Rift Marketing specializes in working with water filtration companies across the USA and Canada. After running campaigns in different markets, one thing has become obvious to us. The companies that win are the ones that understand how homeowners think and structure their marketing around that.

In this post, I'll break down how a water filtration company should market itself and where most companies go wrong.

Installing a Reverse Osmosis System

Understand Your Audience

The water filtration market has three main stages of customers.

You have

• Homeowners who are unaware that there's anything wrong with their water

• Homeowners who are comparing different types of filters

• Homeowners who are ready to buy a system
  

Each stage can be sold to, but you need to understand how each group thinks and how they make decisions.

The unaware stage has no idea their water is an issue and this is the stage most companies target. To market here, you need heavy education. This is why so many companies offer free water testing. It gets them into the home so they can show the problem and try to sell a system.

This stage is the most saturated and the hardest to sell to. You're trying to convince people who don't know or care that their water matters.

The comparison stage is a strong part of the market to target. These homeowners are looking at Brita pitchers, gravity filters, reverse osmosis systems, and anything else they can get their hands on. They know they want filtered water, but they're trying to figure out which option makes the most sense.

To market to this group, you need to clearly show why your system is better than the other solutions they're considering.

Then you have the stage where homeowners are actively looking to buy a system. This side of the market has tire kickers who chase the lowest price, but they're still the most likely to convert.

To sell here, you need to get them to look beyond the upfront cost and show them that you're the best company with the best systems.

Establishing Online Presence

Trust is a huge issue in the water filtration industry. Greedy companies have taken advantage of homeowners for years, and because of that, people are skeptical of everyone in this space. They assume every company is trying to scam them or pressure them into a sale.

This is why your online presence matters so much. People need to see that you are real, reliable, and safe to buy from.

Your online presence should include:

• A website

• An Instagram page

• A Facebook page
  

You can also use TikTok and X, but these three are the foundation.

The goal of your online presence is to build trust. That means you need to stop hiding behind stock footage, generic graphics, or faceless corporate branding. Show yourself, show your team, show real installs, and show real customer testimonials on your website and across your socials.

When people see actual humans behind the company, they'll trust you more.

How To Market A Water Filtration Business

Now that you understand your audience and the importance of online presence, here's the best way to market a water filtration company.

Most companies stick to one or two methods, and both usually target the unaware stage with free water tests. That's why their marketing feels inconsistent. They're putting all their effort into the hardest stage to sell to.

What I see works best for my water filtration clients is to have multiple channels bringing in leads from different stages of the market. When you do this, you don't rely on one type of customer, and you're not stuck waiting for people to wake up and care about their water.

To start, I recommend having at least one or two channels focused on the unaware stage. This can be door knocking, bottle drops, mailers, or setting up booths in Costco or Home Depot, if you're able to. These methods get you face to face with people to educate them.

Once you have a bit of money for ad spend, then you should target the homeowners comparing options. I recommend Facebook ads for this, as this side of the market is already looking at options. They're thinking about Brita, gravity filters, RO systems, or whatever is trending online. This is the easiest stage to educate and push toward a system because they already believe water quality matters. They just need to see why your systems are their best option for cleaner water. Once Facebook ads are up and running, you should target the homeowners actively looking to buy a system.

SEO or Google Ads is your best option for this. SEO takes time, but ranking in the map pack and search results is extremely valuable, as you don't need to pay a single dime to get customers. Google ads, on the other hand, work faster but it has a learning curve. However. leads from Google ads are more likely to convert if you're able to get around the price shopping and book a demo.

The reason I recommend having multiple channels bringing in leads is simple. If one channel has a slow month, you still have two others feeding your business. Never gamble your company on a single lead channel.

Facebook ads/Google Ads Messaging

Using Facebook and Google ads is great, but it can be very tricky. It's not a “post a picture of a water filtration system and get leads” type of marketing. The messaging is what makes either platform succeed or fail.

When you speak to your audience on these platforms, your ad copy and landing page need to sound human. Not like a corporate brand using buzzwords or marketing clichés. Homeowners don't talk like that, and they'll scroll past it.

You need to make things clear, relatable, and easy to understand. Show real problems they can feel. Dry skin, chlorine smell, and worries about contaminants. Speak to the situation they live with instead of trying to impress them with buzzwords. Be simple and direct. If your copy sounds like a human talking to another human, you'll see results.

If you want more information on Facebook and Google ads, check out my post comparing Google vs Facebook Ads For Water Filtration Companies or my guide on How I Run Facebook Ads for Home Service Businesses, which includes water filtration companies.