Year-Round Advertising Ideas for Your HVAC Company

08.07.2017 Cox Media

Marketing for HVAC Companies

Using a Multi-Screen Approach to Attract More Leads

When you own an HVAC company, you’ve got to reach two types of customers: those with big, profitable home improvement projects, and those with the emergency repairs that are your bread-and-butter. Attracting both types of customers can boost your sales all year round, not just during heat waves and cold snaps. But where do homeowners, apartment managers and business customers look for HVAC services these days?

If I have an issue with my air conditioner or heater, I no longer just crack open the Yellow Pages like my parents did. I might try to self-diagnose the problem via a few blogs or YouTube videos, or ask friends on Facebook for a recommendation. Once I realize it’s a bad idea for me to disassemble my heater, then I can call the companies I saw advertising on the YouTube videos, on those blogs and on Google. Your potential customers are probably looking in just as many places.

So how can you stay in front of prospects and customers like me all year round, attracting attention with all these different choices? Here are some easy, affordable ideas for getting in front of local prospects:

TELEVISION

Television ads build awareness of your HVAC business so that when customers have a home improvement project or an emergency, they think of you first. (I still remember the tagline of one local plumbing and heating company’s commercials that aired when I was a kid 30 years ago — just search YouTube for “Adee Do”!) Plus, commercials are more affordable than you think — in many cases, a 30-second ad costs about as much as filling one of your service vans with gas.

Television advertising lets you narrowly target viewers based on things like household income, age and home ownership — you may be able to choose to only advertise within the ZIP codes your company services. A cable advertising partner like Cox Media can help you find the ideal channels, programs and times of day to reach the customers you are trying to attract.

And be sure to use commercials to drive customers to your website to learn more: 66% of people use their smartphones to learn more about something they saw in a TV commercial.1 For example, your HVAC business could advertise during home remodeling shows, asking viewers to call or visit your website to schedule a free estimate to upgrade their own systems to the new smart home technologies.

ONLINE ADVERTISING

Homeowners of all ages say the internet is their No. 1 source of information for home-related projects. Online ads let you target prospects by location down to the ZIP + 4 level if you are trying to attract homeowners in a particular neighborhood, or you can choose to advertise across a larger territory you serve.

If you sell or service heating and cooling systems, you could advertise on home improvement websites to reach customers researching big projects like home additions or energy-efficient upgrades. Or, you can find a second use for your TV ad by running ads before online how-to videos.

Then, reach customers who need emergency services with ads on do-it-yourself websites and forums, or ads that display when customers in your service area search for “emergency a/c repair” or “heating repair near me.” Cox Media can help you place these ads, too.

MOBILE

When customers are researching new smart home technology or frantically searching “heating repair,” they’re most likely doing it on a tablet or smartphone. That’s why you need to make mobile ads, including app ads, part of your advertising plan.

Mobile ads can “fence” your advertising geographically so it only displays to people in certain locations. For example, if your business services several areas, you could offer specific areas a coupon towards pre-summer or pre-winter unit tune-ups. You can then track the success of these coupons, and gain more customers to follow up with for the next season’s tune-up. And you can always run more than one ad at a time to also target those with broken systems who are desperate for a repair. Offer a discount, plus the ability to tap to save the coupon, and then use tap-to-call or tap-to-send options so they can dial or text you directly from the ad.

By advertising in all the places customers spend time — on TV, online and on their devices — you’ll soon find your own catchphrase is ringing through viewers’ heads and business is blasting all year round. A Cox Media advertising professional can help create an advertising plan that will help you get there.

 

Contact Cox Media at 1-855-755-2691 to speak with one of our media consultants or click here for additional ideas on how to promote your HVAC services.

 


1 Google, Micro-Moments: Your Guide to Winning the Shift to Mobile.

 

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