AI Marketing: Hype vs. Reality
Let’s be honest: as business owners, we all love a good shortcut. When AI first burst onto the scene around 2022, it felt like someone finally handed us an "easy button." Need a blog post? Click. Need a social media caption? Click. But here’s the thing people forget: when you hit that easy button, you’re still responsible for the thoughts the AI gives you.
I call it the Plumber’s Paradox. Everyone is rushing to change their behavior because of a new buzzword, but are the customers actually there yet? At Mammoth Marketing for Plumbers, we live and breathe the data, and right now, there’s a lot of "fluff and air" out there.
How has marketing actually changed in the last few years? How has it affected you, the plumbing business owner? And more importantly, is it going to change how you get leads tomorrow? Let’s dive into the reality of how AI is—and isn't—changing the game.
The Evolution of the Digital "Knee-Jerk Reaction"
When I was 23 and bought my first house, if a pipe started leaking, I didn't go to Google first. I went to the best known source of information in my life: my dad and my brother. (Sorry, Mom, you’re great, but you don't know a P-trap from a ponytail.)
That "knee-jerk reaction" is what every plumber wants to command. You want to be the first thought in a customer's head. AI is changing the modality of how people seek answers, but it hasn't replaced the fundamental human behavior of seeking trust.
Currently, AI is amazing for solving complex, deep problems. If I want to know why my feet are cold in the winter and need a specific sock recommendation based on wool density, AI is my best friend. But if my toilet is overflowing at 2 AM? I’m not having a deep philosophical conversation with ChatGPT. I’m looking for a "button to call."
Don't Chase the "Shiny Object" Bubble
I see it every day: agencies shouting, "Rank on AI! Here’s how you get featured in the LLMs!"
Realistically? It’s mostly nonsense. We use a tool called Searchlight to track conversions and attributions for our plumbing clients. Do you know what percentage of conversions were tracking back to AI search recently? About 0.02%.
If you take your budget away from Meta ads or Google Local Services Ads (LSAs) to chase that 0.02%, you aren't being an "early adopter"—you’re being a guinea pig. I don’t want my clients to be someone else's experiment. There will be a "gold rush" at some point, but for now, the money hasn't moved there yet. When the behavior reaches a critical mass, that’s when we pivot. Until then, don't let a buzzword break your bank account.
Google’s Not Dead (And It Has Better Data Than You Do)
Everyone acts like Google is the old dinosaur waiting for the meteor. But Google has more data than anyone, and they aren't going down without a fight.
Think about the user experience. You type "plumber near me" into Google. What do you get? A tuned, conversion-optimized machine. You get reviews, star ratings, and a big "Call" button. It’s exactly what a homeowner wants in a crisis.
AI search results are getting better, but they often lack that immediate "trust signal" that a Google Business Profile provides. Google protects its users by surfacing the best businesses. If you provide a quality experience, Google rewards you. AI will eventually do the same because both platforms need one thing to survive: retention. They have to give the user a good result, or the user leaves.
The Secret Sauce: SEO is still the North Star
So, does SEO still matter in an AI world? Absolutely. SEO is just aligning your interests with the search engine’s interests.
Whether it's Google or OpenAI, they are looking for the same signals:
Website Content: Is it helpful?
Reviews: Do people actually like you?
Speed to Lead: How fast do you solve the problem?
Community Chatter: Are people talking about you?
A lot of people are looking for "hacks" to trick the system. "I'll do this one weird trick to rank #1!" Look, Google patches those hacks faster than a leaky faucet. If you focus on the long game—treating the user well and building a solid digital footprint—you’ll win on Google and you’ll be the first thing AI picks up when it scrapes the web.
How We Use AI at Mammoth (Without Going "Rogue")
I tell my crew all the time: "Use the tools, but stay responsible for the results." At Mammoth Marketing, AI hasn't replaced our brains, but it has made our "creative muscles" a lot bigger.
We’ve tuned custom GPTs to act as creative leads. It helps us workshop ideas and ensure our content hits the mark for the plumbing industry. One of the coolest things we’ve done recently is using AI for video production. We can take a photo of a technician from five years ago and use AI to update the uniform colors, change the background to match a specific market (no palm trees in Alaska, please!), and turn it into a high-quality video clip.
It makes us more efficient, but we never hit the "easy button" and walk away. If the AI suggests something stupid, it's still our name on the door.
The Future: Chatbots That Actually Work
If you want to know where AI will help your plumbing business right now, look at your front office.
The "scheduling chatbots" of the past were mostly trash—just glorified menu systems. But we’re moving into a world where AI can understand intent. Imagine an AI that answers the phone, understands the customer's problem, and schedules it directly onto your dispatch board.
It doesn't mean you fire your CSRs. It means your CSRs become the "fail-safe" to ensure the AI doesn't go rogue and schedule a water heater install for 3 AM on a Sunday. It’s about efficiency and reducing the cost per lead, not just chasing a trend.
Stop Ghosting Your Customers: The Power of Ads
Here is the hard truth: you can spend all year obsessing over AI ranking, but if you aren't running advertisements, you’re invisible.
There are too many plumbers in every market to rely on "free" traffic alone. Advertising is consistent. You get what you pay for. With SEO and AI, you get what the algorithm decides is important that day.
If your phone isn't ringing, it’s probably because nobody knows you exist unless they are actively looking for a plumber right this second. Ads let you hit tens of thousands of people a day, building that brand awareness so that when the pipe bursts, you are the knee-jerk reaction.
Ready to Grow? Let’s Chat.
Marketing is moving fast, and it’s easy to feel like you’re missing out on the "next big thing." But you don't have to guess.
If you want the Tyler Williams crew to take a look at your current strategy and tell you exactly what you need to focus on to grow your business—without the fluff—I’m here to help. Whether we talk about our specific services or just give you a solid roadmap to follow, you’ll walk away with a better plan than you had yesterday.
Schedule a consultation at my website: tylerwilliams.net Let’s get your marketing out of the gutter and back into the growth zone. Would you like me to take a look at your current website to see if it's "AI-ready" before we talk?
