How to devise an HVAC marketing plan

How do I market my HVAC company?

Marketing is all about improving your business’ profile. To win more customers, you need to get your name out there.

Building your brand is an essential part of any marketing plan. Improving brand awareness will help you to increase your customer base and make more sales.

The first thing to do to get your marketing strategy up and running is to decide on an approach. Today, digital marketing is an essential part of growing your business. Recent research found that almost half of all adults carry out online research before making a purchase.

Your online presence is the first interaction most customers have with your brand. Therefore, it needs to be a positive one.

You may also want to do some more traditional marketing alongside your digital marketing plan.

HVAC traditional marketing vs digital marketing

Traditional marketing involves any advertising that is done offline. It can be very effective as a business growth tool and includes:

• Print marketing (brochures, leaflets, flyers etc.)
• Brand signage (vehicle stickers, shopfronts, sponsorships)
• Newspaper and magazine adverts
• Mail drops

Digital marketing, on the other hand, is all done online. When creating a digital marketing strategy, it’s important to ensure that your brand is consistent across all areas of your online presence.

HVAC digital marketing ideas

Build a professional website

A user-friendly website is essential for any HVAC company. Remember, your website will often be the first contact potential customers have with your brand. It must be a good one to encourage people to choose you.

When creating an HVAC website, some important things to include are:

• Your business name, logo, and tagline
• Contact information (telephone, e-mail, online contact form)
• The area you service
• The services or products you provide (eg. Installation, maintenance)
• Pictures of your HVAC work
• A simple method to make an appointment or request work
• Customer reviews

If you’re quite computer savvy, you can build your own website using website design platforms such as Squarespace and WordPress. Alternatively, you can hire a web designer to build your website for you.

Use your customer reviews

As mentioned above, customer reviews are an important part of your digital marketing strategy. Positive customer reviews instill confidence in potential new customers. Most people will avoid a company with bad or no reviews. So building up your online reviews is extremely important.

Your customer reviews should be easily accessible on your company website. They should also be posted on third-party review sites or on industry accreditation websites such as Checkatrade.

Boost your visibility with HVAC search engine marketing

You’ve launched your website. You’ve got plenty of online customer reviews. Now you need to make sure that your customers can find you online.

There are millions of websites on the internet. To make sure that you rank in online searches, you need to have an SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) strategy.

Whether you optimise your website yourself or hire a marketing agency, there are some important points to consider.

• Use keywords relevant to your business (HVAC, heating, installation etc.)
• Ensure your website design is simple, user-friendly and works well on mobile phones
• Write valuable content about your work and the industry in general on a regular basis
• Include your company name and contact details on every web page
• Include links to your social media profiles

With a fully optimised website, your customers will now be able to find you far more easily.

Develop your HVAC social media profile

Alongside your business website, you need to be active on social media. Sites such as Facebook and Twitter are often where customers interact directly with your business.

When using social media, make sure that all your accounts are consistent. Post regularly about your work. And always respond quickly and politely to any questions, requests, and complaints.

Some heating and cooling marketing ideas for social media include sharing videos and ‘before and after’ pictures of installations; posting tips or professional advice on heating and ventilation; and talking about any offers or special deals you are running at the moment.

Running your own HVAC social media profiles is completely possible if you invest some time and attention into it. However, if you’d rather save yourself the hassle, you could also employ a social media company to manage your channels for you. It’s all about working out what’s the best use of your time.

Try an e-mail marketing strategy

Digital marketing isn’t all about winning new customers. One of the best ways to create business success is through customer retention.

An e-mail marketing campaign is a great way to target existing customers, helping you to keep your business in your customers’ minds. It will also strengthen your customer relationships and build trust across your client base.

When setting up an e-mail marketing campaign, here are some things to remember:

• Include information about any new services/products
• Provide details of offers, special deals, and existing customer discounts
• Use a strong subject line to interest your customers

Be careful of sending too many ‘salesy’ messages when you’re putting together your e-mail marketing plan. For every direct sales message you send, you should also send out three or four informational messages to keep your customers engaged by providing as much value as possible.

Invest in digital advertising

When you think about heating and cooling advertising ideas, the first thing that springs to mind is probably print advertisements in newspapers or magazines. However, digital advertising can be very effective.

Digital advertising refers to the act of placing an ad anywhere online. A few HVAC advertising ideas include:

• Display ads: These use text and visual elements (like images). They usually appear on websites or apps.
• Online video ads: These take the form of a video. They can either appear in the same way as display ads, on websites and apps (known as out-stream). Or, they can appear before, during or after video content (known as in-stream).
• Audio ads: These play before, during or after online audio content, like podcasts or music that’s being streamed.
• Search ads: Also known as search engine marketing (SEM), these ads appear on search engine results pages, often above or alongside organic search results.
• Social media ads: These ads appear on social media platforms such as Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook. Often, they’ll appear alongside organic content on a user’s feed.

Join Checkatrade!

Finally, perhaps the most effective HVAC lead generation idea is joining Checkatrade! As a Checkatrade member, you get instant access to a wide range of benefits.

With a profile on our trade directory, you’ll be visible to thousands of homeowners. In fact, in 2024 there were searches via Checkatrade for over 1 million central heating jobs and over 90,000 searches for air conditioning jobs.

You’ll also get access to a range of branded materials you can use, as well as save ££££s on essentials like fuel, tools, training and insurance with our partner brands. And we even offer free advice on how to create the perfect marketing plan.

Sign up today and start maximising your business’ true potential!

FAQs

What is the target market for an HVAC company?

This will depend on the size and scope of your business. For smaller HVAC businesses and start-ups, you may want to target the homeowner market. For large or mid-sized HVAC companies you could also target commercial building owners and property management companies.

How can I get more HVAC commercial leads?

To generate more commercial leads, you’ll want to make sure that your website clearly advertises that you work in the commercial sector. Why not find out how Checkatrade can help you find more leads too?

How can I promote my HVAC business?

You can promote your HVAC business through a combination of traditional and digital marketing techniques. Digital marketing for HVAC can include e-mail, social media, digital advertising, SEO and more.

How much do HVAC engineers get paid?

While it varies from region to region, and often depends on the level of experience, the average UK salary for HVAC engineers is around £49,920 per year.

Is HVAC always in demand?

Yes. Both commercial and domestic HVAC engineers are always needed. HVAC engineers are highly skilled tradespeople and demand for their services continues to grow.