HVAC Marketing: 12 Ideas for Small Business Owners

HVAC technicians are used to changing temperatures. While that’s great when you’re fixing a vent, your marketing plan should be anything but hot and cold.

Good marketing campaigns should consistently attract customers and bring in revenue for your business.

In this post, I’ll explain how to market your HVAC business with a comprehensive marketing plan. We’ll review best practices for creating effective promotions and explore 12 ideas for marketing your business this year. Let’s get started.

How to Market Your HVAC Business

If you want to promote your HVAC business, you’ll need a marketing plan. Marketing plans outline your promotional campaigns, making it clear who your audience is and what your goals are.

Let’s look at a simple marketing plan and what it entails.

HVAC Marketing Plan

An HVAC marketing plan will have multiple sections, including:

• Target Audience: Your target audience is a group of people that will see your marketing campaign. They’re your ideal customers who are most likely to make a purchase. Defining their traits and characteristics is called customer segmentation.
• Positioning: Positioning is how you’ll differentiate your company from competitors. Answer questions like, “Why is my HVAC company different?” and “Why would a customer choose my company over others?”
• Marketing Ideas: List all the ways you plan to market your company. You should organize these ideas based on your goals. For example, your goals could include brand awareness, increased sales, and increased website traffic. Your marketing ideas should then fall under one of these three categories.
• Budget: Your budget is how much you will spend on each marketing idea.

Again, this is a basic marketing plan for HVAC companies. If you want something more detailed, add more sections like sharing campaigns, measuring performance, etc. Marketing campaigns aren’t one size fits all. You should customize yours to your business needs and add any information that you feel is relevant to your goals.

HVAC Digital Marketing

Some of your marketing ideas should be digital marketing. Digital marketing is any marketing that takes place online. Let’s review the top HVAC marketing ideas to help you get started.

1. Update your website.

Most consumers search for an HVAC company online; usually, the first thing they find is your website. Websites are like digital storefronts for your business, and most consumers avoid sites that aren’t modern or easy to navigate.

That’s why your website needs to be visually appealing. It has to be neat and look easy to use. It also needs to answer customer questions quickly. It should be easy to request a service, and your phone number should be prominently displayed on each page.

Let’s look at an example of an HVAC company near me. The “Request Service” button is big and red. It’s the first thing you see, and it’s shown twice on the homepage.

We can also see that the phone number is larger than most text on the screen. You don’t have to search through different pages or go on a website scavenger hunt to contact this business. Instead, they put all of their information front and center, making it easy to get in touch with them.

2. Rank higher on Google.

Ranking on Google (or any search engine) is essential. People use Google to find businesses near them, and the more clicks you get, the more traffic you’ll have on your website and online listings.

In marketing, ranking high on Google is called search engine optimization (SEO). It means that you’ve built your website with search engines in mind. How do search engines choose which websites to list first? There are many factors, but the top ones for Google are:

• Relevance: How well a business matches what the user is looking for
• Distance: How far your business is from the searcher
• Prominence: How well-known a business is

You can improve SEO by listing services you offer on different web pages. For instance, in the example below, 1st Choice Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. has web pages for each service it offers. This page tells Google what the company does and makes it a relevant choice for someone who searches for something like “furnace repair near me.”

Additionally, this website includes links to customer reviews on its homepage. That helps Google determine the company’s distance and reputation, and it’s why this business appears first when I search for “best HVAC companies near me.”

3. Ask for reviews.

Your online reputation greatly affects whether people want to do business with you. How can you show that you’re trustworthy? The answer: reviews.

This strategy is called reputation management. You need reviews on sites like Google and Yelp or industry-specific sites like Angi to manage your reputation.

The best way to get reviews is to ask for them. You shouldn’t solicit positive comments (or bribe people), but you can ask for honest feedback. When customers leave reviews, be sure to respond and thank them.

The example below shows how this HVAC company responds to every Google review.

Source

Online reputation management software makes managing reviews much easier. These tools connect review sites so you can read and respond to feedback from one place. You won’t have to switch between apps, making it easier to stay organized and communicate with customers.

4. Create local service pages on your website.

Local searches are increasing every year – which is good for small businesses. Local searches are phrases like “best HVAC near me” that people search for on Google. This is called local SEO, and it ensures Google knows where your business is so you can appear in “near me” search results.

One way to rank for these is to show Google where you provide your services. Yes, you need to list your address on your website. However, you should also list your service areas. Your service areas are the towns, states, or mile radius where you do business.

I would recommend putting your service areas on your home page. Then, create a web page for each location that explains what services you provide there.

Let’s look at an example. 1st Choice Heating & Air Conditioning has an “Irvine” tab on its home page. This page describes its services and how customers can contact them.

5. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly.

Many people visiting your website will be on their phones. In fact, 43% of online sales are generated by mobile devices. That means your site needs to look good on phones and tablets, creating a positive mobile experience for your customers. Web designers call this “responsive design,” meaning your website adjusts to the size and shape of the screen.

In the example below, you’ll see how the 1st Choice Heating & Air Conditioning website adjusts its layout based on the size of my phone.

Most drag-and-drop website builders provide mobile-responsive templates. These web pages automatically conform to mobile devices without you having to write code or hire a developer. And while many templates claim to be “mobile responsive,” always double-check by loading the preview on your phone or tablet.

6. Use marketing software.

Marketing software gives you tools to help you achieve your marketing goals. Each software has a different purpose, such as email, social media, review monitoring, SEO, etc.

For example, let’s say you want to get more reviews. You could use reputation management software to email your customers and request a review. With marketing software, this process is automated, so you write the email once and never have to think about it again.

Additionally, this program helps you manage and respond to reviews from different sites, and we’ve included an example below. You’ll notice that this software breaks down how many reviews you have on platforms like Google and Facebook. Then, when you scroll, you can respond to reviews from both sites in one place.

7. Focus on customer service.

Customer service is an underrated marketing tool. Great service can keep you in business and increase loyalty to your brand. It drives people to tell their friends and family about you, so they choose your business for all their HVAC needs.

Great customer service also leads to good customer reviews. Aside from Google and Yelp, you can use positive feedback to create customer testimonials. Testimonials are promotions from real customers recommending your brand because of their great experience with you. These comments are sometimes more effective than a brand awareness campaign because people trust other customers more than they trust advertising.

8. Update your Google Business Profile (GBP) page regularly.

Google Business Profile (GBP) is a directory that lists business information, such as websites and phone numbers. It’s built directly into Google’s search engine and shows this information alongside other search results. High-ranking profiles are typically displayed at the top of the page in what’s called a “map pack.” Here’s an example:

Online directories, like your Google Business Profile, are excellent channels for attracting new customers. They provide a direct link to your website, and people using these platforms are already searching for an HVAC solution.

You should claim your business profile on different online directories, which involves verifying that you are the business owner. Then, you can update your profile so it has all your business information, including:

• Business Name
• Website
• Phone Number
• Hours of Operation
• Services
• Service Area
• Photos of Your Work

Besides listing your information, you can post updates on your business listings like you would on social media. Posting shows Google that your business is active, making you a relevant choice for searchers in your area.

The example below is the Google Business Profile of 1st Choice Heating & Air Conditioning. Notice it includes contact information, services, reviews, and updates from the business.

9. Produce ads for traditional and online mediums.

Advertising can help you increase sales, and there are plenty of ways to advertise your business. The first step is deciding what kind of ad you want to create. You can choose between online and offline ads. Online ads include:

• Social media ads
• Search engine ads (also known as pay-per-click or PPC)
• Third-party ads (known as display ads)

Offline ads promote your brand on:

• Billboards
• Benches
• Print Ads (newspapers, magazines, etc.)

Ads can be images, videos, or text. Below is an example of a search engine ad I saw when searching for “HVAC company.” These listings have a “sponsored” label next to them, so you know they’re paid advertisements. Remember, these ads differ based on your location.

10. Participate in your local small business community.

As a local business owner, being active in your community is important. It helps build brand awareness and differentiates yourself from larger competitors. In other words, people will know you as well as your company. They’ll be more likely to choose your services because they have a personal relationship with your brand.

Here’s how you can get more involved in your community:

• Partner with local charities
• Sponsor a sports team
• Participate in events for small businesses

Even if your business provides services to other businesses than it does to consumers (known as B2B), this marketing strategy is still effective. It helps you network with other local brands, creating opportunities to sell your services. Even if you don’t make a sale immediately, people will think of you when they need an HVAC technician.

11. Create content for your website and social media.

Businesses that post content online bring in more customers and revenue than those that don’t. Content is material or messages that promote your brand. Ads are one form of content, but you can also use blogs, videos, podcasts, and other mediums for content marketing.

So, what counts as content?

• Social Media: Pictures before and after a service, pictures of your family and/or employees, helpful tips
• Blogs: Guides, product releases, business announcements
• Videos: Testimonials, How-to’s
• Other: Podcasts, print ads, email marketing

Here’s an example of an Instagram page for an HVAC company near me. The company posted pictures of its team and photos of a work site.

12. Send out direct mailers.

Another way to promote your company is to send direct mailers to people in your area. These mailers should advertise seasonal services, such as furnace repair in the winter or A/C installation in the summer. These seasonal offers will be more effective because they’re at the top of your customers’ minds.

Be sure to include limited-time discounts and coupons that motivate people to buy ASAP. Here’s an example of what this might look like:

Source

Quick Facts:

• Direct mail has an average engagement rate of 95%.
• 72% of consumers engage with mail each week.
• Direct mail is the second-most enjoyable form of advertising to consumers, second only to TV/video streaming.

Marketing for HVAC Companies

Marketing your HVAC company doesn’t need to be a headache. By implementing some of the ideas in this article, you can get more customers and increase sales. The best approach is to focus on just one or two at a time. Then, once that process is ingrained in your business, you can start adding more and turn up the heat on your revenue streams.