This article was updated on December 2, 2022
As one of your neighborhood's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning businesses, you're providing your neighbors with environmental comfort and exceptional in-home air quality that allows them to live comfortably and safely.
By 2030, the HVAC industry is predicted to reach 367.5 billion U.S. dollars. While that's great news for owners of HVAC companies, it also means an increase in competition as the market grows, and so will the number of HVAC companies in your neighborhood. If you are looking to learn how to start an HVAC business, we're here to help.
As a small business owner, you first have to create an HVAC business plan and then you can start focusing on how you are going to reach your target audience. Since you are a local business and will depend on your community to gain more HVAC clients, it is essential that you create an HVAC marketing strategy and well-defined marketing goals. Follow these competitive HVAC tips and tricks to make your heating and cooling services stand out.
What's Below:
- Define your brand with a modern, mobile-friendly website
- Increase traffic with pay-per-click advertising
- Attract local customers with Google My Business and geofencing advertising
- Engage your audience with video marketing
- Nurture your customer base with email advertising
- Engage your community with Nextdoor
1. Define your brand with a modern, mobile-friendly website
As the owner of an HVAC company, it's your primary focus to ensure your products and services stand out from the crowd. However, the first impression prospective clients have of your business matters just as much as your quality of work. Thus, creating a thorough digital marketing plan would be your very first step.
An effective way to demonstrate both is to define your business's brand-then share it for the world to see with a modern, mobile-friendly website. There are many free websites for small business owners that make it easy to create a modern and up-to-date site.
You want to convey a distinct identity to your customers when it comes to your HVAC marketing strategy. This could mean highlighting a value proposition that you'll make repairs within 24 hours, a memorable slogan that informs and entertains readers, or a unique product or service that your customers can't find anywhere else.
No matter your avenue, you want to convey to a potential customer why you're in the HVAC system business and why their loyalty matters to you. Then, you want to shout it from the virtual rooftops with a website.
In addition to conveying your purpose to customers, a website can also help drive traffic to your business and grow revenue. Building an HVAC website can help you reach your target audience, build brand awareness, and also market yourself as a local business in your community. When creating a website, be sure to:
- Optimize for search engines - If you want to drive more traffic to your website, reach more customers, and increase conversions, you'll want to implement Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies on your website. Including local SEO keywords on your HVAC website will help you market your HVAC service organically and support your lead generation efforts. Research HVAC SEO and use targeted keywords for the HVAC industry in your website's copy, such as "air conditioning repair," "ac repair," and "furnace repair" to boost your website's ranking on search engines. Also, optimize your website so that individuals can explore your website with their phone-the preferred scrolling tool.
- Content matters - While you don't have to publish a paper to be a HVAC expert, writing blogs is always a good way to show your expertise to potential customers. As part of content marketing strategies, publishing blogs related to HVAC topics can help ranking your website higher among Google search or other search engines to target new customers.
- Make your website easy to navigate - Since mobile search has become much more dominant, it is important that your website design is compatible with mobile devices. Further, it is likely that a customer searching for HVAC service is having an emergency and would need to make an appointment ASAP. Therefore, making your business information visible on your HVAC website is important to convert a potential customer into your client.
- Be transparent with pricing - The biggest thing customers are comparing when considering HVAC contractor services is pricing. As such, you'll want to be transparent about your pricing models. It's beneficial to display your services and prices on the home page so your customers can get their answers right away. Or, you can dedicate a separate page to your services. Either way, make sure your website is easy to navigate with bold headers and clickable links.
- Include customer reviews - Testimonials show customers that you're a trustworthy business that provides top-notch service. Highlighting 5-star reviews sets you apart from your competition and shows website visitors that you operate with integrity.
- Write an "About Us" Page - Consider sharing your background, value propositions, and sources of inspiration on a dedicated webpage. The main purpose of this page is to inform customers about the company's operations. Whether it's straightforward, creative, or quirky, make sure your page reflects the business model, and your brand voice, and has a link to your “Contact Us” page. For example, Wheeler's Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling, an HVAC company in Colorado, succinctly shares its values on its About Us page: family connection, proper training, and trust.
2. Increase traffic with pay-per-click advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a form of internet marketing that allows an advertiser to buy visits to their website, rather than earning them organically. The advertiser then pays a fee each time one of the online ads is clicked on.
PPC advertising is advertising on a budget. In other words, HVAC companies can set bids based on how much they want to spend on each click. With each PPC ad, advertisers can set a daily ad spend budget so as to not spend more than what's been allocated to their budget.
When it comes to PPC advertising, there are numerous avenues your company can choose:
- Search engine advertising - These are the types of advertisements that you see at the top of the Google search result page. You can set up campaigns with providers like Google Ads and Bing Ads by selecting relevant keywords. When a user makes a search for one of these keywords, your google ad would appear at the top of the Google results page.
- Display advertising - These types of advertisements appear as banners, images, or text ads on other websites that target your desired audience. Viewers can click on the advertisement and will be redirected to your website. While these types of ads have a lower click-through rate than search engine ads, they will still garner brand recognition among your pool of potential customers.
- Social media advertising - Social media platforms have large user bases that typically lend themselves to higher click-through rates such as Instagram or Facebook ads. Business owners can target specific demographics and interests to attract potential customers and create brand awareness within their local communities.
- Retargeting advertising - Using cookies, retargeting advertising shows users specific advertisements based on their online activity. So, if a neighbor in need of A/C replacement conducts Google searches about A/C repairs and the best A/C units, your ad may appear on their browser.
- Affiliate marketing - There are numerous HVAC affiliate marketing programs in which business owners can promote their products, such as heating pump condensers, environmentally conscious gas systems, and exhaust fans. Essentially, online marketers and influencers can earn commissions by promoting your products.
3. Attract local customers with Google My Business and geofencing advertising
Establishing a Google Business Profile, renamed from Google My Business in 2022, is a vital step in getting discovered on google search and showing up on google maps. This free profile lists your business's key information, allows you to share photos, and provides a platform for direct engagement with customers through Google reviews and messaging. Additionally, your Google business profile gives a unique insight into how your local customers are finding you.
With geofencing advertising, business owners can target local audiences to enhance local sales and provide personalized advertisements. More specifically, geofencing local service ads target specific geographical radiuses using GPS and radio frequency identifiers.
So let's say the hot summer season is approaching and you want to advertise your A/C installation services to your neighbors. With geofencing, you can target every homeowner in a 10-mile radius of your business via SMS or push notification to promote your services with sales or limited-time offers, such as 25% off on first-time A/C installation.
In addition to targeting a more local audience, geofencing also helps business owners to measure their sales performance. For example, if a new customer comes in with a mobile promotion from a geofencing advertisement, business owners can then digitally measure numerous metrics, including:
- Sales
- How long the customer is in the store
- How often the customer visits the business
According to a Salesforce study, 30% of the global population is using location-based services, and of those users, 80% want location-based alerts from local businesses.
That means small HVAC businesses have ample opportunity to gain customer loyalty by providing incentives and rewards to returning customers. Businesses can also use geofencing to ask for customer feedback to improve services and show commitment to the customer experience.
4. Engage your audience with video marketing
The skillset of HVAC technicians is not universal, meaning your neighbors need you and other HVAC companies to keep their home systems running smoothly.
As such, creating video content can be an effective online marketing strategy to spread the word about your business and educate your customers. Show your customers you’re trustworthy and attentive to their needs by making quick how-to videos for quick fix-ups throughout their homes. Post your content on social media platforms and use a few relevant hashtags to expand your reach.
For example, Licensed Master Plumber and TikTok user, Eric Aune, shares historical facts, tips and tricks, and music-dubbed installation montages with his viewers to increase awareness and educate viewers about technical products and innovations.
When posting your videos, ensure that you upload each video to each platform directly, rather than posting, say, a YouTube video on Facebook, in order to optimize your content. With this approach, you’ll keep your customers engaged and invested in your business.
5. Nurture your customer base with email advertising
While most homeowners are using social media on their phones daily, whereas, older homeowners probably are not. Instead, reach your senior and social media-averse customers with email marketing by encouraging them to sign up for email updates or newsletters.
One study found 59% of those surveyed took emails into account when it came to purchasing a product or service. What does that mean for your HVAC business? Huge advertising potential.
Additionally, social media marketing algorithms may deter your intended audience from seeing the majority of your posts. With email marketing, it’s almost guaranteed your audience will be notified of your latest email.
By crafting a succinct and informative monthly or bimonthly newsletter, you can keep your current customer base up to date on products, services, and promotions—and increase customer loyalty. Focusing on customer retention has a great return on investment (ROI); acquiring new customers is on average 5 to 10 times more expensive than nurturing relationships with existing clients. Reaching out to your previous customers periodically via email is a great way to keep your business fresh in their minds. Generally, all emails should include:
- An overview of the intended purpose of your newsletter or email
- Valuable tips, tricks, and insights into the world of HVAC
- Name and address of your business
- Call to action that encourages customers to click on a link through to your website, call your office, or invest in your services
Remember, your customers trusted you with their information. Be sure not to flood their inboxes with a large number of emails or promotions, and use a schedule so your customers know when and what to expect of you.
6. Engage your community with Nextdoor
As a small business owner, engaging with your community is a great way to form meaningful relationships that organically bring in business. Sponsoring a youth sports team, volunteering at community events, and donating goods or services are all ways to establish community partnerships. Today, digital partnerships are just as important; implementing a cross-platform HVAC advertising strategy can greatly increase awareness of your company and improve your revenue stream. Digital marketing efforts also offer you an opportunity to define your reputation.
Nextdoor can help with that, too.
Nearly one in three households are on Nextdoor, and 67% of our neighbors share local business recommendations with their neighbors. When you claim a Business Page on Nextdoor, you can communicate and build relationships with future customers and stand out among your local HVAC industry.
Claim your Nextdoor Business Page today and join the hub where the neighborhood happens.
