TikTok isn’t just for teens that perform eye-catching dance moves or lip-sync to the latest jams. Contractors like Plomero en Phoenix (Plumber in Phoenix) find the social media platform to be a great marketing tool, too.

“TikTok helps you connect with an audience on a more personal level,” says owner Armando Ramos. “You can do things on TikTok you wouldn’t do on Facebook. Like if I talk like a plumber, it would be inappropriate on Facebook. But on TikTok, viewers just think I’m being real — they find it authentic.”

Ramos started using TikTok in 2020. He shoots his own videos and has almost 150 posted on his account. Most of them are educational and all are spoken in Spanish.

For example, one video — which starts with Ramos using a large circular saw to cut open an old water heater — explains what an anode rod is. The video, which is one minute and 27 seconds long, has more than 96,000 views.

What are some keys to successful videos? Keep them short and simple and focus on things people can identify with or might find interesting, Ramos says.

“You need to give them information no one has given them before,” he says. “It engages them because no one has ever explained these things to them.”

Ramos’ most popular post uses time-lapse video to show him replacing an old exterior hose bib on a house in a dizzying 58 seconds, with country music artist Aaron Tippin’s “Working Man’s Ph.D.” playing as he works. The video so far has garnered 11,700 likes, 186 comments, and a whopping 499,000 views. A similar video that features a catchy Plomero en Phoenix jingle garnered more than 59 million views, more than 1.8 million likes and more than 7,800 comments.

In all, Ramos’ TikTok account has collected nearly 247,000 followers and more than 2.3 million likes. And it’s entirely free exposure, Ramos points out.

“All it costs me is the time to do the videos, which is time well spent compared to the amount of work we get from it and how effectively it brands our company,” he says. “It really drives revenue.”

Ramos knows this because employees who take phone calls are trained to always ask people how they heard about the company, so it’s apparent which marketing efforts are working the best.

“I’m well known locally. People have stopped me at gas stations to take photos with me,” he says. “They congratulate me and say they love what I’m doing. It totally surprised me. I never expected it would take off like this. I was kind of shocked at the beginning and I’m still kind of shocked now.”

Read more about Plomero en Phoenix in the March 2024 issue of Plumber magazine.