There has been a noticeable rise in both residential and non-residential construction in the US in recent years, which has resulted in a corresponding increase in demand for HVAC products and services.
The modern HVAC industry is undoubtedly filled with many competitors, making it a highly competitive space. Therefore, how can you differentiate yourself from other industry players to not only be discovered but also chosen by potential clients? Additionally, retaining customers is another challenge to tackle.
If you need assistance, the marketing professionals for HVAC contractors at ACM are available to provide support. Here’s what you should do:
1. Build a Great Website
As a seasoned HVAC marketing agency, we can attest that a website considered “good” is no longer adequate to maintain a competitive edge. To achieve a first-page ranking on Google or convert website traffic into leads, a website must be “great.”
To boost your rankings and increase conversion rates, there are various HVAC marketing strategies that you can put into action.
- 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)
After creating an impressive website with an attractive homepage for your business, it is not advisable to stop there as any HVAC marketing expert would suggest. It is essential to optimize your website for SEO to achieve a better outcome.
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.
In this regard, there are some rapid and potent pointers.
- 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.
For those interested in improving their website’s optimization, ACM suggests utilizing Google’s SEO Starter Guide. This comprehensive guide provides helpful insights into securing your site with HTTPS, enabling Google bots to crawl your links, and other important aspects.
3. Ask Your Clients to Post Online Reviews
Attracting new customers and establishing trust can be effectively achieved by obtaining feedback, endorsements, and recommendations from current clients. To execute this, word-of-mouth and incorporating online reviews into your HVAC marketing approach can be applied. A Google profile could be created exclusively for your HVAC enterprise to accomplish this (details on this will be discussed later in the article).
In addition, create a company profile on review sites such as Yelp and Trustpilot, as well as on a range of social media platforms. Encourage your HVAC clients to utilize these platforms to share their feedback, comments, and reviews of your services. To simplify the review process, provide them with a direct link or QR code directing them to your review page.
After receiving reviews, create a section on your website specifically for showcasing the most favorable ones and title it ‘Testimonials’ or ‘Customer Speak’ or something synonymous. However, it is crucial to include a link to the original source of the review to prove its authenticity. Doing so will set you apart from other businesses.
4. Give Paid Advertising a Go
Running paid advertisements is an effective way to boost your digital footprint and generate leads rapidly. Facebook and Google are some of the platforms where you can execute pay-per-click (PPC) ads and instantly engage a larger audience. With PPC marketing for HVAC contractors, you can tailor ads to cater to the specific requirements of your local region, resulting in enhanced traffic targeted towards your website.
In order to develop PPC ads, it is essential to give priority to applicable keywords keeping your customers in mind. Google AdWords Keyword Planner is an effective tool to comprehend the searches of your intended customers. If we take the example of Hawaii in September, people are expected to search for topics related to air conditioning. It is important for your HVAC business to take advantage of this opportunity.
5. Complete Your Google Business Profile (GBP)
Formerly known as Google My Business, GBP can significantly benefit your HVAC business by increasing your visibility on Google search and displaying your profile on Google Maps. You can develop an online presence for free by providing essential information and uploading images.
Incorporating GBP into your HVAC company’s marketing plan is essential as it offers an excellent means of communicating with your customers through messaging and Google reviews. Additionally, it provides valuable information on how your local clientele discovers your services.
6. Nurture Leads with Email Marketing
If executed correctly, email marketing can help you reach a relevant audience and deliver information regarding your HVAC enterprise directly to their email. Utilize the subsequent crucial pointers for email marketing triumph:
- 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
Nowadays, it’s common for people to investigate a company on social media prior to making a purchase, including your HVAC business. Therefore, it’s important to maintain a strong presence on social media.
By incorporating social media into your HVAC marketing plan, you can reap the following benefits:
- 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
It is essential to monitor the comments and messages you receive and promptly address them to demonstrate your care for customers and prevent any potential harm.
In addition to sharing adverts, it is important to publish useful, original, and top-notch content that offers benefits to your audience. One way to accomplish this is by sharing informative blog posts that cover topics like the best time to schedule HVAC maintenance, strategies for identifying issues with your HVAC system, and other related subjects.
8. Invest In Pay-Per-Click Advertising
By utilizing paid ads, you can enhance your online visibility, as pay-per-click advertising permits swift lead generation. Multiple platforms, such as Google and Facebook, offer the opportunity to run PPC ads. This will instantly increase your exposure, thus enabling you to steer traffic towards your website. Moreover, personalized PPC HVAC advertising can be designed based on local necessities, enabling you to target consumers in close proximity to your establishment.
Paid advertisements through Google Ads are displayed prominently at the top of the search results page and can easily be identified with the label “ads.” This provides a quick path to the top of the SERPs, as users are more likely to click on ads than to scroll down the page to view lower-ranked results.
When making PPC ads, give importance to pertinent keywords. Utilize tools such as Google AdWords Keyword Planner to gauge which keywords can potentially generate clicks. While picking keywords, consistently consider the intent of the users. Determine what your intended audience might be searching for. In case you’re in Honolulu during August, heating-related themes are likely not being searched for. Instead, air conditioning topics may be more relevant.
9. Cross-Pollinate Your Content Marketing
Various content marketing types, ranging from social media posts to email newsletters and website content, are covered in the aforementioned strategies. Producing premium content for all these platforms is crucial for achieving success in internet marketing. If managing content creation for all these diverse online marketing avenues seems overwhelming, there is no need to worry as you can reuse content by modifying it to suit different formats, a process known as “cross-pollination.”
If a satisfied customer provides a positive review of your HVAC company, such as labeling it as one of their top local businesses, you can integrate this feedback into your online platforms – including your website, email promotions, and social media accounts. Additionally, any advertisements promoting local services during the holidays can be repurposed for other locations online. By producing content in a single setting, you can easily expand your reach to multiple platforms.
10. Analyze Your HVAC Marketing Success
Digital marketing initiatives such as email marketing and social media offer the advantage of being able to measure the effectiveness of marketing efforts with ease. By using tools such as email analytics, it is possible to identify who opened a message and which links they clicked on. Additionally, web analytics tools provide insights into the pages that are being visited by users and the duration of their visit.
Here are some popular analytics tools to get you started:
- Heap Analytics: This tool tracks all actions taken by your website visitors.
- Google search console: This tool lets you analyze organic search traffic to see how your SEO efforts are doing.
- Cyfe: An all-in-one dashboard, you can track social media platforms, pay-per-click marketing efforts, and more in one place.
By examining factors such as shares and likes, social media analytics can be expedited. It is crucial to monitor your analytics to distinguish the effective and ineffective components of your HVAC marketing plan. This data is highly beneficial as it empowers you to refine your marketing approach, which can increase the likelihood of attaining customer confidence, attention, and devotion.
Assuming you uploaded video tutorials that educate on how to address different noises produced by a malfunctioning air conditioner such as clanging, banging or rattling, and they were warmly received with high views on YouTube and social media shares, you should create additional content to retain the interest of your audience.
The Final Word on HVAC Business Marketing Strategies
If you are beginning your search for HVAC marketing approaches, utilizing all of the aforementioned tips may appear overwhelming. However, there’s no need to worry. You don’t have to address everything at once.
Giving priority to your website is crucial because that’s where people discover your presence on the internet and gather essential details about your enterprise. If necessary, enlist the help of a web designer. Afterwards, you may consider inexpensive alternatives such as utilizing social media. It’s advisable to reserve expensive investments such as analytics technology for a later time.
It is important to remain patient and approach marketing systematically. Eventually, you will develop a thorough marketing plan that will contribute to the success of your business. Given the competitive landscape of the HVAC industry, neglecting marketing efforts is not an option. However, investing in marketing will yield returns as your business grows and profits increase.
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