Brand trust, reputation and the word-of-mouth economy

There are some sectors where brand is built through campaigns, and others where it’s built organically through conversations. The heating and plumbing industry sits firmly in the latter.

Recommendation carries real power here. Installers rely on each other in a way that feels both practical and personal and when a system is installed smoothly, that story travels but what travels further is when a system doesn’t.

It’s no surprise that 88% of people trust recommendations from people they know in trade environments (Nielsen Global Trust in Advertising Report), that reliance on peer experience tends to run even deeper, because decisions carry real operational and reputational risk.

Where trust really sits

In this kind of environment, rather than influence sitting with brands it sits within the wider network. Installers are constantly comparing notes, sharing experiences and forming opinions based on what happens on the job. Those views are rarely shaped by brand messaging, but rather by the outcomes and interactions of their daily lives. Over time, a collective understanding builds around which products are reliable, which are difficult to work with and which brands are worth backing.

That’s why installers tend to trust other installers over manufacturers. Grounded in a lived experience rather than marketing and positioning. No amount of polished brand messaging can compete with someone saying, “I’ve fitted this, it works and I’d use it again.” And brands that understand this can get a foot up on the competition by leveraging channels and tactics that actually work.

The cost of getting it wrong

When an installation fails the impact goes beyond a single job and it introduces doubt that spreads quickly in close-knit communities.

One negative experience shared a handful of times, can undo months of marketing effort – brand perception shifts, recommendations reduce and alternatives start to look far more appealing.

And this has a real commercial impact. Nearly 60% of customers will stop buying from a brand after several bad experiences (PwC Customer Experience Report). In a recommendation-led industry, that drop-off can happen even faster and right under the noses of brands who don’t suspect it.

This is where reputation shifts from being a communications challenge to an operational one. The question of how a product performs on site, how straightforward it is to install and what support exists when something goes wrong shapes brand standing in this sector more directly than any marketing campaign is likely to.

Building influence where it matters

The implication for marketing is fairly clear. Case studies need to feel real – not overly produced but rooted in the practical experience of installers who are respected by their peers.

Community building gives installers space to share experiences, learn from each other and feel part of something that has value beyond the product itself.

Ambassador programmes can work well in this environment, provided they’re handled with enough restraint to allow genuine voices and credibility to really shine through. The influence belongs to the individual, not the brand, which means the right people are those already respected within the trade, speaking in their own voice about their own experience rather than delivering a brand message in someone else’s words.

The principle running underneath all of this is simple: trust in this sector isn’t built through what a brand says about itself, but rather through what others are willing to say on its behalf. Creating the conditions that make people willing to say it is, ultimately, the most important work a brand in this space can do.