HVAC Marketing Basics: Setting the Foundation for New Business in 2022

Traditional marketing still has value in an increasingly online world, but digital marketing’s growth has shown those tried-and-true methods aren’t necessarily the best way to reach your target audience anymore. Considering that 93% of consumers used online searches to find local businesses in 2020, it’s easy to see why businesses are utilizing digital strategies.

Pairing traditional marketing with the right digital tactics can make ads more successful, targeting more strategic, and spending more efficient. Keep reading for ways to elevate your HVAC business’s marketing strategy and garner new business in the new year.

Room for Growth: Key Moves for Better Results

The HVAC market size in the U.S. is forecasted to reach $23.78 billion by 2028—and your business could be a big part of this growth with the right plan. Prioritizing digital marketing efforts now can help in key ways:

Create year-round relevance. Even if most people aren’t replacing their furnaces in the summer, some people are already researching how to get their home ready for winter. With the right keyword research and a digital ad strategy, HVAC companies can overcome the perceived seasonality of their offerings.

Obtain measurable results. Full disclosure: between planning, creating, and posting, there are a lot of marketing tools and platforms out there. This can be overwhelming to anyone, but especially to a business trying to find its way in the digital realm. Once you find the right tools, though, you’ll have incredibly valuable metric data. Use it to evaluate which marketing strategies truly work best so you can streamline the process and invest money in proven methods.

Maximize your budget by finding better leads. With traditional marketing, small businesses pay for newspaper ads, direct mailers, and other marketing collateral with the hope of generating interest and getting a few new customers. Digital marketing, however, lets you directly target potential customers who are already looking for your services. So although fewer people overall see your ad, more of the right people see it.

Targeting Your Ideal Customer Online

More people than ever now turn to the internet for guidance on their next purchase. In fact, according to BrightLocal’s annual Local Consumer Review, “87% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses in 2020.” Essentially, there are many people online looking for businesses like yours. But that doesn’t mean that just anyone searching for “air conditioning installation” is your ideal customer.

Targeting helps marketers direct their focus and ad dollars to customers who:

• Show either intent to purchase or readiness to purchase.

• Fit within the predetermined parameters of a business’s target audience.

With targeted ads, HVAC businesses can use the buyer personas that guide their traditional marketing efforts and apply the same characteristics to their digital ad strategy. Now, your ads can be directed specifically to people searching for “air conditioning installation” who:

• Live within a 50-mile radius of your business.

• Have visited your website in the past week.

• Fit the demographics of your buyer persona.

Targeted ad campaigns gather more and better customer data, too. Any new data can help refine your digital marketing strategy going forward and make your messaging even more specific to the right audience.

Customer Retention Tactics Worth Trying

Digital marketing is great for finding new leads, but it can be equally helpful in retaining current customers.

Establish your presence on social media. Think of social media as the new word-of-mouth advertising. People start their search for the right HVAC repair service on Google, but they pay attention to how people talk about a business on social media too. Timely responses to customer inquiries and helpful, informative, or entertaining posts can help potential customers feel more confident in trusting your business.

If your business is completely new to social media, start with one platform. Facebook is the second most popular place consumers search for local businesses (Google is the first), so start there. Plus, you can create and run ads on Facebook as well.

Use email marketing the right way. Nobody likes an overcrowded inbox, and sending too many emails can land your messages in the deleted folder. Make sure your emails are relevant, helpful, and offer something valuable to your customers. Some possible options include:

• Timely maintenance reminders based on their last date of service

• Anniversary discounts for being a customer for over a year

• Seasonal offers and DIY repair tips for off-season maintenance

Offer incentives for online reviews. Research shows that 79% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. Take advantage of this by asking satisfied customers for online reviews of your services. Then, consider offering a free filter change or air conditioner tune-up as a thank you for their positive review.

Digital marketing offers a wealth of measurable results. Combine these tactics with traditional marketing methods to better understand which strategies work, which can be cut, and where to invest your marketing dollars to grow your HVAC
business.