As an HVAC business owner, your busy periods are often determined by external factors outside of your control, like the weather and seasonal climate. That’s why it’s critical to proactively market your HVAC company.
If you want your HVAC business to succeed, you must develop systems to generate a steady stream of profitable leads all year long. To help you out, below is a brief explanation of HVAC marketing, followed by 12 ideas to get you started.
When most people think of marketing, visions of Coca-Cola billboards in Times Square or big, flashy McDonald’s commercials at halftime on the big game may come to mind. However, HVAC marketing is much more focused on the bottom line. You want to ensure that your marketing efforts are going to produce a positive ROI (return on investment). These efforts can generally be placed into three categories: grassroots, organic or paid.
While grassroots marketing may seem trivial, it packs a powerful punch. This is any offline marketing effort, typically focused on a small or “niche” audience such as your existing customers or local community.
Organic marketing is digital unpaid marketing. This is anything you do to drive new customers to your company without paying directly for ad space. For instance, if you post on your HVAC Facebook page about a special offer and do not pay for it, that is organic marketing.
Lastly, paid advertising is any marketing where you pay for it to be in front of someone. For HVAC businesses, this often looks like pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, though it could be traditional television and radio commercials as well.
While each of these marketing types can help you produce a well-rounded marketing campaign, many of the ideas to follow will fall into the grassroots marketing category due to their effectiveness and positive ROI.
Once the lifeblood of HVAC marketing, mail to prospective customers in the form of postcards, brochures, flyers or print newsletters have made a comeback in recent years. This is because of the precise targeting to specific homes, neighborhoods and demographics that direct mail offers you. You know exactly where that piece of mail is being delivered.
Better yet, unlike digital advertising, you know the recipient MUST see it and touch it. Even if they end up trashing it right away as they filter through their mail, they at least see, read, touch and feel your message and branding first. That’s much more than you can say for the average online ad.
Plus, there are plenty of reasons to send direct mail or newsletters to your HVAC clients. You could send a seasonal offer, such as one to get a discount when you book your seasonal HVAC tune-up early.
Or, you could go with a holiday theme. Offer an emergency service discount for any service calls made around the holidays so that “no one’s holiday guests are left out in the cold!”
If you make your offers look like coupons or actual gift cards, your prospects are more likely to hold onto them, stick them on the refrigerator and look at them every time they walk past them. It’s just like buying a billboard to show directly to your potential customer!
And newsletters are a wonderful way to show up in front of your customers and prospects like clockwork. Whether seasonal or monthly, a newsletter is a friendly way to show you care – while also getting your branding and special offers placed on the kitchen table!
In the HVAC business, there are few leads better than a referral. That’s because anyone referred to you is not only more likely to buy from you – they are more likely to buy at a higher profit margin and more likely to use your services again. Talk about a home run!
Because of this, a good HVAC marketing plan will include an element to generate a steady pipeline of these profitable, easy-to-close referrals. One way to do this is with a customer referral program.
The interesting thing about referrals is that plenty of people want to give you referrals. In fact, 83% of people are willing to give referrals, but only 29% do. So it’s up to you as an HVAC marketer to give them the reason and opportunity to do so!
When you create a referral program, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind. First, you want to give your customers an incentive for every referral they make – whether the people they refer to you buy from you or not. This will increase the quantity of referrals you receive.
Next, be sure to provide additional incentives to the referrer when the prospect buys. That way, when you make money, they are rewarded, too! Lastly, you want to constantly and consistently ask for referrals. Ad the data shows, people are willing to make a referral. They just don’t think about it in their busy lives. That’s why you must be in front of your customers on a regular basis with emails, direct mail and newsletters reminding them of your referral program and making it easy for them to submit those referrals to you.
When you were little and your mom would make you send your relatives “thank you” cards after receiving a present, she wasn’t just trying to be nice. She was helping you market yourself. That’s because thank you cards are a great way to stand out in the recipient’s mind.
In your HVAC business, a handwritten thank you card is going to show customer appreciation in a way that just isn’t common today. This will help your HVAC business to stand out from the competition and achieve top of mind awareness. You may even land a coveted spot on your customer’s refrigerator!
By nurturing the relationship you have with your customers, you are making them more likely to trust you, to use your services again in the future and to refer you to others.
When building your HVAC marketing plan, keep this in mind – your best prospect is probably your current customer. That’s because they already know, like and trust you. So you don’t have to do much to win them over!
The question now is – how do you get these customers to keep coming back to you and most importantly – ensure they don’t EVER use one of your competitors?
This is where an HVAC Customer Loyalty Program could come into play. Just like a coffee shop that may give you a punch card and reward you for the 10th time you come to get coffee, you could do the same for your HVAC customers. It could be as simple as that punch card, or you could make it into a digital format.
That reward could be anything from $100 off a service, to a year’s worth of free air filters, a complimentary preventative maintenance call, or even getting entered to win a new HVAC system. Keep in mind, due to the high ticket price of HVAC services, you may want to provide a reward on the 3rd, 4th or 5th visit as opposed to the 10th visit.
Creates Raving Fans
Builds credibility and brand reputation
Again, staying top of mind in the HVAC industry is key. You simply never know when a homeowner’s HVAC system is going to break. But when it does, you want your company to come to mind first!
This is why branded swag or merchandise can be an effective marketing strategy. From t-shirts to hats, reusable bags and even umbrellas – the options are endless. Considering that you want to achieve brand awareness with homeowners who may be experiencing an HVAC issue in their home – it would make sense to select branded items that will live in the customer’s home. Some examples include calendars, coffee cups, refrigerator magnets, and even blankets.
These free gifts to your clients will place your logo in their homes and help them think of you when their next HVAC need arises.
Another way to market your HVAC business is to place your branding throughout the community. You can do this through local community sponsorships. From sports teams to band tournaments, and marathon races to charity galas and golf tournaments – you can take your pick!
However, this can also drain your bank account if you don’t choose these sponsorships wisely. Get very familiar with your ideal customer avatar (ICA). Find out where they spend their time in the community and what organizations mean the most to them.
Once you commit to sponsor a local event, make sure you can have your signage there, along with a booth and a representative. This is the perfect opportunity to make HVAC leads on-site in an engaging and friendly way.
You log some major miles driving around town in your HVAC service vehicle. Make the most of it! Ensure your vehicles are wrapped with your branding so you have a mobile and dynamic billboard traveling around town. Most vehicle wraps generate 600 impressions per mile. That means that if you have a 100-mile day, you could easily earn 6,000 ad impressions.
Plus, once you get your vehicle wrapped, it’s a one-time investment that keeps paying back in dividends for years to come. To maximize your return on this marketing format, be sure to use bold colors, large fonts and include your phone number, website and any other easy to remember contact information. If you have a tagline or a standard offer such as, “$50 Off for All First-Time Customers”, include that as long as it’s easy to read.
As the owner of the HVAC business, you are likely its best spokesperson. That means that your presence at local networking events can be used to drum up new business. This may take the shape of Chamber of Commerce events, builder events, or networking groups like BNI.
By getting to know fellow local business owners and homeowners, you get the opportunity to introduce yourself and give your HVAC company’s elevator pitch. To maximize your success, go to these events with a specific offer or call-to-action in mind. For instance, you may want to just tell these influential members of your community about your Referral Program. If you attend an event and 20 people walk away knowing that your HVAC business gives out $77 for every referral that turns into your customer, you now have 20 living, breathing billboards working for you out in your community. That’s a job well done!
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a cornerstone of any effective HVAC marketing strategy for HVAC businesses. By optimizing your website’s content, structure, and keywords, local SEO helps your business rank higher in search results, driving organic traffic to your site. This approach ensures potential customers find you when they’re searching for HVAC services online. With the right content marketing plan, you can establish your expertise, build trust, and convert visitors into leads without relying solely on paid efforts.
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, including Google Ads and Google Local Service Ads, offers immediate visibility for HVAC businesses. A well-executed PPC ad campaign can target specific audiences, ensuring your business appears at the top of search results when customers are ready to take action. Unlike traditional marketing, PPC campaigns provide measurable results and allow for real-time adjustments. This flexibility is invaluable in crafting a responsive and high-performing HVAC digital marketing strategy tailored to your business needs.
Social media marketing is an essential component of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy for any small businesses. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow you to engage directly with potential customers, showcase your services, and build brand loyalty. By sharing valuable content, such as maintenance tips or energy-saving advice, you can position your business as a trusted industry expert. Social media also offers targeted advertising options, enabling HVAC companies to reach specific demographics and local audiences more effectively than traditional marketing. With consistent posting and strategic ad campaigns, social media can drive brand awareness and generate quality leads for your business.
One of the most important elements of home services today is your online reputation. 85% of consumers trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations from their friends and family. That means your online reviews are essentially working for you 24/7. So make sure they’re at the top of their game!
First, you obviously want to deliver a stellar customer experience so that your customers rave about you in a positive way online. Then, you want to turn as many customers as possible into a 5-star online customer testimonial. This is because quantity is almost as important and quality in the online review space. In fact, the majority of consumers expect a business to have a minimum of 20 online customer reviews in order to consider them trustworthy.
While it may seem antiquated, print advertising for HVAC businesses can still work today if done properly. Newspaper, for instance, is an advertising medium that is more likely to connect your HVAC business with older, high-household income earners. Local community magazines can help to reach a niche audience who cares about supporting local businesses. Lastly, billboard advertising can help you reach high-traffic areas in specific areas of town.
What you want to keep in mind when doing print advertising is having a very clear offer and call-to-action. Just putting your name on a billboard is not enough. A message like, “Call about our $50 maintenance special,” actually gives the audience something to do and to remember you for.
As an HVAC business, you may not want to hear that only 30% of homeowners schedule preventative maintenance on their HVAC systems each year. This presents an enormous opportunity to add consistent, recurring income to your balance sheet while also staying top of mind with your customers.
The options when creating an HVAC maintenance program are endless, but you can start by deciding:
These types of service programs will provide peace of mind to homeowners who want to ensure that HVAC issues won’t cause them any undue stress. It also provides you with strong relationships with your HVAC customers who you can turn into not only profitable HVAC leads, but also raving fans of your business.
Now that you know 12 HVAC marketing ideas that can help you secure more customers and more profits, it’s time to take action. Which will you choose?
Many home service and HVAC companies choose to implement gFour Marketing’s easy, hands-off customer relationship marketing program. That’s because it implements a few of the strategies above all at the same time. As a result, you end up with more repeat business, more referrals and more 5-star reviews – just by nurturing the customer relationships you already have.
To find out exactly how this is done, connect with the expert team at gFour Marketing today.
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