8 Proven Ways to Market Your HVAC Business and Help It Grow
The United States HVAC services market was valued at USD 11.45 billion in 2020, and it is expected to reach USD 16.56 billion by 2026.
It’s no secret that the last few years have witnessed an increase in both residential and non-residential construction in the US. This has directly impacted HVAC businesses as the demand for their products and services has risen too.
Clearly, the modern HVAC industry is a crowded and competitive one. So how you do stand out from your competitors and get not only found, but also hired by potential customers? The other question is, how do you keep your customers?
HVAC contractor marketing experts at ACM can help. Here’s how you can go about it:
1. Build a Great Website
As an experienced HVAC marketing agency, we can tell you that having a “good” website is no longer enough to stay ahead in the competition. If you want to rank on the first page of Google or turn website visitors into leads, you need a “great” website.
You can implement numerous HVAC marketing ideas to improve your rankings and convert more visitors into paying customers.
- Mobile-friendliness: Did you know that Google loves mobile-friendly websites and also considers it as a major ranking factor? After all, most people have started using their smartphones or tablets to look for the products and services they need. So, if you don’t have a “mobile-first” HVAC marketing strategy in place, you can be sure you’re losing out on a major chunk of potential customers as well as search engine rankings.
- Easy to Navigate: Don’t make your customers hunt for the information they need from your website. They shouldn’t have to zoom in to read the content on it. Your website should be designed to make it easy for your customers to get the information they need as well as contact you. Display your contact details and strong calls-to-action prominently on your website. Place contact forms (if any) above the fold. Further, include a website chat feature for customers looking to speak with a customer service agent.
- Trustworthiness: Before your customers hand over their information to you, they should be able to trust you with it. Your website, therefore, needs to build your credibility by including trust builders, such as photos of your team members, emergency services offerings, customer reviews, your locations, upfront pricing, payment and financing options, and so on.
All in all, including an impactful and user-friendly website in your HVAC marketing strategy can go a long way in attracting more business from qualified leads and enhancing your rankings on Google.
2. Focus on Local Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
So, you’ve built a brilliant website with a sleek homepage that allows your customers to know more about your business! But no HVAC marketing specialist will recommend stopping there. It’s crucial to make sure that your website is optimized for SEO.
This will allow you to steadily gain better rankings in search engines, particularly Google. In turn, your website will get more organic traffic, enabling customers to find you easily.
Here are a few quick and effective tips in this regard.
- Each page on your website should revolve around a primary keyword, which is in line with the page’s topic.
- Include secondary keywords to support the primary keyword.
- Break up the page text into different sections using H2 and H3 headers.
- The primary keyword should be included in the H1 header, page title, and meta description.
- Add at least one image in .jpeg or .png format. Also, the image file should be labeled as per the primary keyword.
Our HVAC agency marketing experts at ACM recommend referring Google’s comprehensive SEO Starter Guide for learning more about optimizing your website. It sheds light on various aspects such as securing your website with HTTPS, enabling Google bots to crawl your links, and more.
3. Ask Your Clients to Post Online Reviews
One of the best ways to attract new customers and gain their trust is by getting reviews, testimonials, and references from existing customers. This can be done through word-of-mouth and by adding online reviews in your HVAC marketing strategy. You can do this by creating a profile on Google, specifically for your HVAC business (more on this coming up later in the post).
Apart from that, set up a business page on review platforms such Yelp and Trustpilot, as well as on the various social media platforms. Ask your clients to use these platforms for leaving comments, feedback, and reviews for your HVAC business. You can make it easier for them to review you by providing them with a direct link or QR code to your review page.
Once the reviews start coming in, publish the best ones on your website under a dedicated section called ‘Testimonials’ or ‘Customer Speak’ or something similar. Make sure to link back to the original review source though to establish its legitimacy. This will help you stand out from the herd.
4. Give Paid Advertising a Go
Paid ads can help strengthen your online presence, while generating leads quickly. You can run PPC (pay-per-click) ads on platforms such as Facebook and Google, and gain instant exposure to broader audiences. You’ll be able to direct more traffic to your website. The best thing about PPC HVAC contractor marketing is that ads can be customized to local needs, which means you can geo-target people located near your HVAC business.
When creating PPC ads, you’ll need to prioritize relevant keywords with your customer base in mind. Tools like Google AdWords Keyword Planner can be helpful in understanding what your target customers are searching for. If you consider Hawaii in September, for instance, people will likely be searching for air conditioning-related topics. This is what your HVAC business should be tapping into.
5. Complete Your Google Business Profile (GBP)
Erstwhile Google My Business, your GBP can be a boon in terms of helping you get discovered on Google search and showing you on Google Maps. It’s a free service where you can create an online profile for your HVAC business by filling out some key details and sharing photos.
GBP is a great platform to engage directly with customers through messaging and Google reviews. You can also use it to gain useful insights into how your local customers are finding you. Make sure to include it in your HVAC company marketing strategy.
6. Nurture Leads with Email Marketing
When done properly, email marketing will allow you to not only target a qualified audience, but also provide them with information related to your HVAC business right in their inboxes. Use the following key tips to be successful at email marketing:
- Focus on building a subscriber list. Invite users to sign-up on your website to receive newsletters, updates, and more. Offer discounts, giveaways, exclusive content, and so on to encourage them to opt-in on your site.
- Optimize your emails for mobile so customers can read and navigate their contents on different devices.
- Send newsletters on a routine schedule to keep existing and potential customers engaged.
7. Social Media Marketing Is a Must
In modern times, everyone uses social media to research a company before buying from them. This applies to your HVAC business too. So, you need to keep your social media game strong.
Including social media in your HVAC marketing strategy will help you in the following ways:
- Building awareness of your HVAC business
- Better engagement of existing and potential customers
- Easy way to share company-created content
- Greater exposure for your products and services
- Improved customer services through faster responses
Of course, you’ll need to keep a watchful eye on the comments and messages you receive. Responding to them proactively will show customers that you’re concerned about them, and also help in damage control, if necessary.
Apart from posting promotional material, you’ll need to post helpful, unique, and high-quality content to provide value to your followers. For example, share helpful posts from your blog about topics such as when to schedule HVAC servicing and tune-ups, tips on identifying problems with your HVAC unit, and so on.
8. Hire a Professional HVAC Digital Marketing Agency
As an HVAC marketing company that’s been in the business for years now, we totally get that marketing an HVAC business online can be complex, time-consuming, and even frustrating. After all, you need to juggle other day-to-day duties for running your business too!
If any of the above seems intimidating, reach out to seasoned HVAC contractor marketing professionals, who understand the industry and can help you market your HVAC business most effectively.
Discuss Your HVAC Contractor Marketing Needs with All Contracting Marketing
Make All Contractor Marketing® your trusted partner in achieving your business goals. We’ll help you get your marketing in order, get your customer journey enhanced, and grow your business while crushing the competition.
Call us at (404) 419-6884 or fill out our online form to get started.