As an HVAC professional, the only way to grow your business is to increase the number of leads you receive each month. But increasing the number of leads is not enough. In fact, it is arguably more important to increase the quality of your HVAC leads rather than just the number of inquiries you receive in a month.
Improving the quality of the leads you receive will help you schedule more high-paying jobs in less time. This, in turn, allows you to increase profits without increasing the amount of time and money you spend on marketing and scheduling.
When it comes to online marketing, there are a few key strategies you can use to help ensure that the leads you pay for are high-quality, easily convertible leads. Check out the following 13 ways to improve the quality of your HVAC leads today:
1. Know Your Audience
Every single day, we’re all bombarded with a constant stream of online ads and emails. Because of the large number of ads we see each day, it is easy for a marketing campaign to become white noise. Not only that, but when you see an ad that feels irrelevant, it can become more annoying than helpful.
One of the best ways to ensure that your marketing spend is providing you with quality leads is to know your target audience and learn how to speak to them.
Key audience information should include:
- The age range of your target audience — Depending on the age of your target audience, you will adjust the language you use, the tone of voice for your brand, and even the channels you use to reach them.
- Your audience’s interests — Are your target customers interested in DIY solutions, calling in the pros only for bigger jobs? Or are they retirees who don’t want to worry about changing out air filters or taking care of anything related to HVAC? Understanding what your audience is interested in will help you tailor your messaging and content to reach them.
- The communication preferences of your audience — Does your target audience prefer to receive offers via text? Or are they more interested in chatting with a service rep on the phone? Make sure you know which channels are the most effective for reaching the right leads for your business.
2. Rank for Relevant Keywords
In your area, customers are using a variety of keywords to search for HVAC services. Understanding what keywords your audience is using can help you better target the right customers.
Additionally, you want to ensure that when you optimize your website for search, you’re optimizing it to rank for keywords that are relevant to the services you actually offer.
Between your searcher’s intent and the services you offer, you should be able to find a set of relevant keywords to rank for. Ideally, your business should be showing up on page one of Google when a customer searches for your services in the local area.
Examples of relevant keywords might include:
- HVAC professional near me
- HVAC services near me
- HVAC maintenance
- AC services
- Furnace repair
Ranking for keywords takes time and involves a variety of tasks, including website optimization and content creation. To learn more about ranking for keywords, check out our related article: Back to the Basics: Understanding SEO.
3. Work with Clean Data when Paying for Ads
In many cases, you’ll use paid ad campaigns to reach your audience. From Google Display Ads to Facebook Ads, paying for placement can be an effective tool for reaching potential leads quickly.
However, your paid ad campaigns will only be as effective as the data driving them. Too often, businesses waste a large amount of money marketing their HVAC services to a wide audience segment that contains low-performing leads.
You can create highly targeted lists by feeding your own customer data back into your campaigns. Additionally, you should be adjusting your ad campaigns along the way, removing underperforming segments.
4. Use A/B Testing to Your Advantage
One of the top benefits of digital marketing is that it allows you to constantly change your strategy in real-time. If you aren’t already doing so, start using A/B testing to your advantage.
With A/B testing, you can serve two different promotions or messages to the same audience segment. Over time, you can see which campaign is performing better, allowing you to focus your spend on the highest performing ads.
Not only can you use A/B testing when running ads, but you can also set up your website to implement A/B testing. This allows you to create a dynamic website experience that lets you learn what your customers prefer.
5. Offer Consistent Messaging
Ideally, the moment a customer reaches out to you, they will be ready to schedule a service with your team. One of the best ways to create a lead that understands your services and is ready to convert is by offering consistent messaging across all digital platforms.
For example, if you offer a maintenance package deal on your website, make sure your social media platforms highlight the same package. Consistent messaging will lead to fewer questions and will help establish your business in the minds of your customers.
6. Build a Presence Across Channels
Today, customers hop from digital channel to digital channel in a matter of seconds. One moment they might be viewing a video on YouTube, and the next, they have followed a link back to a Facebook post.
In order to reach a specific audience segment, you need to be present across channels. Not only that, but you need to ensure that all digital channels are feeding back into the same customer database. This allows you to learn more about your customers and target them with specific messaging that will help convert them to sales.
7. Adjust Your Spend Weekly
When paying for an online ad campaign, one of the worst things you can do is set it and forget it. This can cause you to spend a large amount of money on reaching a customer base that isn’t ready to convert or isn’t a good fit for your business.
Instead, every single week, you should be adjusting your spend and tweaking your ad campaigns. This allows you to weed out segments of an audience that are not performing well, focusing your spend on the customers that are responsive and engaged.
8. Keep Your Information Up to Date
Your HVAC business might look different today than it did two years ago. You might offer different services now than you did then. You may have changed your business phone number, pricing, or hours.
To ensure that the customers reaching out to you have a clear understanding of your business, make sure you keep your online information up to date. This should include a careful review of information found on your:
- Website
- Google Business Listing
- Alternative listings, such as Thumbtack, Angie’s List, or Houzz
- Social media pages, such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube
9. Make Scheduling Simple
It is easy to lose your most qualified leads in a matter of seconds if you do not have a simple means for scheduling services. With the advancement of technology, people are accustomed to scheduling appointments with a quick tap of their finger.
Options for improving the scheduling process include:
- Setting up a scheduling widget on your website that allows customers to choose a date and time for services
- Allowing customers to text back to your business requesting an appointment time
- Creating landing pages with auto-fill forms, which cuts down on how much time a customer has to spend entering their information
- Offering scheduling through social media chat
- Using chatbots on your website to allow customers to set up an appointment
10. Follow Up with Previous Customers
Some of your best customers are your return customers. Make sure that you have a marketing strategy in place that follows up with previous customers. This campaign can offer special promotions for customer loyalty or simply open up the lines of communication, allowing customers to reach your team via text.
The best way to ensure that you reach out to an accurate customer list is to keep all your customer contact information in a centralized location. Additionally, be sure to periodically review your customer data, keeping contact information up to date.
11. Nurture Leads with Ongoing Content
In some cases, when a customer first lands on your website or connects with you via social media, they might not be ready to convert. They might simply be in the stages of gathering information or learning more about their HVAC system.
This is where providing a steady stream of relevant content can help you nurture a lead right up until the moment they are ready to convert. A quality content calendar should include a wide array of content styles, including blog posts, social media posts, and video content.
To learn more about creating a year-long content calendar, check out How to Build a Killer Content Calendar to Reach More Customers.
12. Tie Marketing Campaigns Together
You can waste a lot of marketing spend nurturing the same leads with multiple campaigns if you don’t tie all your marketing campaigns together.
For example, you might be targeting a lead via social media channels, spending money surfacing an ad to them about air conditioning tune-ups. From this ad, they might convert, scheduling an appointment with your team. If, however, this ad campaign isn’t connected to other campaigns, you might continue to spend money marketing the same promotion via Google Display Ads.
Make sure that your campaign data is connected, allowing you to make the most of your money and focus on quality leads.
13. Analyze Your Efforts
For most HVAC businesses, the first attempt at marketing online won’t be without error. In fact, it usually takes time to improve your customer segments, understand the best use of your marketing spend, and create a cohesive online experience.
Rather than becoming frustrated, it is important to analyze your efforts and adapt your strategy consistently. If you only brought in ten qualified leads last month, shoot for increasing this number by five over the next month. Rather than expecting your business to quadruple overnight, be patient as you hone your marketing strategy.
Bonus Tip: Work with a Professional Team
Increasing the quality of leads you receive each month — rather than just the quantity — can be a difficult task. The world of online marketing is complex and ever-changing. For this reason, it can be beneficial to work with a professional team that specializes in curating quality leads for HVAC teams.
Think of it like this — you wouldn’t want your clients to attempt to swap out a blower motor on their furnace. Instead, you’d want them to reach out to a professional with experience handling the job.
Similarly, attempting to handle all of your own digital marketing can be a recipe for disaster. The result is that you waste precious business dollars without increasing the amount of business you’re bringing in.
At J&L Marketing, we’re here to help. We can work with you to improve the quality of your leads. From helping you design a responsive website to setting up smart ad campaigns, we’ll work with you to define your audience and reach them with targeted messaging. Contact our team today to learn more about how we can help.
