5 Factors to Consider in Creating a Marketing Plan for an HVAC Company

Marketing is a staple for the growth and success of any business in any industry. There were years when entrepreneurs vied for ad space on billboards and newspapers. Some had to pay a lot as their ads were featured on television and radio. It was expensive, but it was also a necessary investment for the improvement of their business.

Now, marketing has grown significantly and is no longer limited to the traditional method. The pandemic even forced its growth, making digital marketing a necessity for industries. From posting blogs on websites to collaborating with influencers, the possibilities are endless. Digital marketing will keep growing as the internet introduces new trends to the world.

HVAC contractor marketing is just one of the industries that benefits from digital marketing. They can still utilize traditional marketing strategies, but that won’t be enough anymore. Hence, we will discuss HVAC marketing tips and tools that will push your company ahead of its competition.

An HVAC Marketing Company’s Marketing Plan

If you want to market your HVAC services successfully, you’ll need to craft a marketing plan. HVAC contractor marketing involves outlining your business plans to reach your target audience. And it also includes the process by which you convert them into customers, preferably loyal ones. That’s because the plan details how you’ll achieve significant customer retention and other business goals.

An effective marketing strategy helps improve brand awareness, traffic, and leads. This means more prospects will be visiting your website and getting in touch with you. Ultimately, all of these factors will aid you in growing your HVAC business to greater heights.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when creating a marketing plan for your HVAC service.

• The first is to think about what makes you different from your local competitors. Building on that will help you establish and maintain an advantage through your marketing plan.

• The second is to keep your audience's and customers’ perspectives in mind throughout the process. That should guide you in making decisions that will impact them and retain them as loyal customers in the future.

Planning with HVAC Marketing Tools: What to Consider

Putting your HVAC marketing plan into action requires research and a dedicated budget. You’ll need to look up HVAC marketing tips or an HVAC marketing company for professional help. 

Evaluate what kinds of platforms and avenues of marketing would suit your business best. Will traditional or digital methods work best if you’re targeting your local area? What kind of prospects are you targeting, and which platform are they most exposed to? Hence, let’s talk about these in more detail below so you can make informed business decisions.

1. The Seasonality of your Industry

As an HVAC service, seasonality is something you should consider when developing your marketing plan. While HVACs are a staple in homes nowadays because of extreme weather conditions, daily maintenance isn’t necessary. More often, you’d encounter bursts of service requests during certain times of the year.

Examples of these seasons are just before summer and winter, in preparation for the heat or cold. Customers would want to make sure their HVACs are cleaned and maintained before continuous use. 

The summer heat can be harsh, and people will be cooling themselves off as much as possible. But that also means they’ll be calling for maintenance again just before winter. It’s part of the winter preparations to ensure their heating system won’t be compromised. Hence, you can take advantage of these seasons in your marketing plan. Knowing how much HVACs are used during the winter, you can offer a special tune-up discount during.

As an HVAC marketing tip, timing the promotion of services with the season can remind them of what they need. It’s like how you don’t even consider having a seasonal dish until that season arrives. And then it reminds you of how much you like the seasonal dishes that don’t regularly cross your mind.

2. Determine your HVAC Contractor Marketing Budget

Of course, the most basic part of HVAC contractor marketing is allocating a budget for it. It’s naturally part of the marketing plan to allocate a budget where it is necessary. You can start by looking at the percentage of sales in each season. Your past revenue information can help determine how much you earn during the busy and slow seasons.

With a large amount of data to work with, you can determine whether you experienced sales growth each season. If you have, that’s a good sign that your success is growing, so press forward! Keep up the momentum and make the most of this opportunity.

If your company is relatively new, you can dedicate 4–6% of your sales every season to marketing. That should be a good starting budget if your business needs time to mature and build its reputation. 

3. Optimize your HVAC Website

Even if maintaining a website is uncommon in your industry, that way of thinking is about to change. Traditional marketing and the yellow pages aren’t enough to get things done anymore. Simply having a listing in the phone book won’t mean they’ll find your company. When people need services, they often search using Google and choose from the results.

That’s why a website is a valuable medium to display your work, credentials, and contact information. You can showcase your company’s value with images of your work. You can prove your expertise by posting blog articles and testimonies. Your website will serve as a digital brochure that explains what you can do for your future clients.

If you have job openings, feel free to post them on your website and explain the benefits you can provide. That way, you can attract qualified talent and applicants to your team. And imagine having customized email addresses because you have a domain. Sending emails with it will make your team look professional, which builds trust. You can use it for email marketing, which is one of the cheaper marketing alternatives.

But the main reason to maintain a website for your business is to generate organic traffic. It measures the number of people who find your website through Google or other search engines. By investing in SEO, your website can rank highly on Google results, even at number 1. You can opt for local SEO so you’ll rank first in search results related to your area. 

4. Use Social Media to Promote your Services

An important HVAC marketing tip is to use social media to promote your services online. As of 2022, on Facebook alone, India has 239.65 million users, while the U.S. has 179.65 million. Imagine how many quality leads you can get from that population. You don’t need to focus on the number of likes you get, but on the reach the platform provides.

You can set up a business page and regularly update it, letting users tag your business in their posts. That way, if anyone they know needs HVAC contractors, they can send them your page’s link. 

You can also write social media posts for your company’s content marketing purposes. You must strike a balance between posting serious content and posting humorous or eye-catching content. You can also post links to your website’s new blog article for the week. And it’s especially important to respond to people’s comments so they know you’re an attentive company. 

Keep in mind that the social media platforms you use depend on your target audience and niche. If you work on home HVAC systems, then Facebook might be a good platform for you. Meanwhile, you can choose LinkedIn if you work in a large industrial system. That way, you can find other business owners who have HVAC needs.

5. HVAC Software can Streamline your Marketing

When marketing, you can find ways to use assets you already have to support your efforts. If you were using HVAC software to keep customer records, you can use that data. Creating the most optimal marketing plan requires information on your consumers. Your software is just one of the HVAC marketing tools you can take advantage of to the fullest.

For example, you can send coupons to clients who have been with you for a year or more. That way, you can incentivize customer loyalty as long as the data is in your records. If there are numerous customers like this, you can send a batch email instead to save time. 

We recommend storing all of this information in a format that’s easy to reference. That way, you can find the trends among your customers that can improve your marketing efforts. Remember to remind your customers to provide feedback once your assignment is complete. That way, you’ll have more information to work with as you improve your marketing strategy.

Conclusion

Marketing is a constantly changing and evolving scene, and that forces industries to follow suit. It’s not a “set it and forget it” kind of deal when you market your products and services. A method might be working right now, but the trends change, and you need to be a step ahead every time.

That’s why you always need to consider your industry’s seasonality, business website, and budget. You need to factor in how these things can affect your sales and how to improve them. Social media is also a popular place to post content and reach out to your target audience. With all the tools and methods available now, you have a better chance of having an edge over your competitors.

Guest Contributor: Daniel Martin