5 DIY Marketing Ideas for HVAC Companies

If you own a HVAC company, you know that marketing has changed in the past few years. Previously, you could throw your business in the yellow pages or start cold calling prospects, or if you really had some cash to throw, snag a billboard or a radio ad. But, as we approach the year 2020, more and more of those traditional efforts seem to fall flat in favor of more digital efforts.

Many HVAC owners we speak with feel nervous or anxious about the idea of competing on the digital domain. And, while that's understandable, there's no reason to stress! In some cases, it's simply a matter of going back to the basics of identifying your ideal target customer and revising your efforts. In other cases, it's simply a matter of bringing in industry marketing experts like Levergy to help fill the gap.

In the meantime, here are 5 easy do-it-yourself things you can do to help competing more effectively with your marketing efforts.

Get on the map. By this, of course, we mean Google Maps. Google dominates search traffic, and 3 out of 4 people use Google Maps to inform their buying decision in one way or another. Google offers a great, free service called Google My Business . By setting up your account and verifying your business information, your customers will be able to see things like your hours, your website, and even leave a review that you can interact with. It's a simple step that helps you can practical momentum.

Analyze your competition. At Levergy, we're a huge fan of the SWOT analysis, but it doesn't need to be that formal. At the very least, you want to look at the competition in your market- who are they?, what are they doing well?, what are they doing poorly?, where are they marketing (online and offline)? Typically speaking, you can get some valuable insight into your larger market, and possibly develop a plan to exploit a competitor's weakness.

Make friends in the real world, and share the love online . A wonderful strategy for building an online presence is with creating what's called "backlinks". Essentially, this is where one website creates a link to a website so that they appear more credible. Easy example of these exist at your local Chamber of Commerce. Even better, build relationship with complementary companies (as in, an HVAC company and a plumber ), and return the favor. Not only is this great if you literally share the same customers between you in a non-competitive manner, but it also helps boost your credibility with Google, Bing, and others.

Social media. Granted, every business needs to evaluate if social media makes sense for them. But most of the time, it's an easy way to keep in front of your customers, and provide value from them every week of the year. Setup a Facebook page, and aside from your typical conversion funnel marketing approach, create quick videos to show customers how to fix common issues themselves. (If you're feeling especially accomplished, put those videos on YouTube, too!) Your customers will love that you're helping them, and you'll love that your customers find you beneficial. Win win.

Obsess over customer service. This doesn't get nearly as much credit as it should. Like we spoke about in another post , the most successful companies consistently "WOW" their customers over and over again. And, speaking frankly, for most plumbers, the bar is set pretty low. Don't just settle for wearing booties in the house or cleaning up your mess. Go over-and-above. If your customer is a business owner who spends most of his day outside, bring him a frosty drink from a gas station. If your customer is an office full of women, bring fresh flowers for the restroom. These touches literally cost you only a few bucks, but the impression that they leave on your customers will be worth thousands of dollars in repeat business and referrals. Never cease to WOW your customer, and they'll reward you with loyalty and free marketing.

Conclusion
No amount of clever marketing can outspend poor customer service. We've been at this quite a while, and we've learned the appropriate strategies to help drive the most effective growth for your company. You can fill out the form below, and we'll get back with you to learn more about your specifics. But, in the meantime, go ahead and start implementing the 5 steps above, and you'll be off to a great start.