HVAC Lead Generation: 8 Proven Strategies to Get Leads

As with any service business, you can only grow your HVAC business by acquiring more customers and increasing each customer’s lifetime value.

But finding these high-value leads is easier said than done. Traditional forms of marketing, like newspaper ads and local directories, have limited effectiveness in today’s digital world. And yet, at the same time, the online marketing landscape can seem too crowded or confusing to non-experts.

The good news is there are several ways for an HVAC business like yours to raise awareness around your services, book more appointments, and secure more lucrative contracts. This post will cover some of the most effective strategies out there.

But first, let’s briefly consider why lead generation is so essential for HVAC businesses.

The importance of lead generation for HVAC contractors

Around 90% of American households have installed an air conditioning system, while almost 4.5 million commercial buildings use some form of cooling equipment.

In other words, the HVAC industry is booming. In fact, by 2030, the HVAC services market is expected to reach $35.8 billion, compared with $25.6 billion in 2019.

Given the vast pool of HVAC customers out there, it’s no surprise that tens of thousands of HVAC businesses are operating across the country. And for your business to thrive amid this competition, you’ll need a solid lead generation strategy.

Here are some of the most important reasons for you to invest in HVAC lead generation:

Staying competitive

As you’re trying your hardest to grow your business and attract new customers, so too are other HVAC businesses. If you neglect your lead generation strategy, you’re leaving potential customers on the table and handing your marketing-savvy competitors a bigger share of the market.

But once you have an effective marketing strategy in place, it will generate new customers for you even when you’re focused on other aspects of your business.

Attracting better-qualified leads

Sitting back and hoping for new leads to find you the old-fashioned way isn’t the best approach for securing high-value customers.

On the other hand, a carefully-planned lead generation strategy can help you attract more high-paying, purchase-ready prospects.

For example, with search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns, you can tailor your site to appear on Google whenever someone searches keywords like “commercial air conditioning installation” in your area. Similarly, you could target keywords like “emergency air conditioning repair Nashville” to attract local prospects ready for service now.

This level of precision targeting is much harder with traditional advertising, which tends to be a more scattergun, hit-or-miss approach to lead generation.

Maximizing HVAC sales

Sustainable businesses are profitable businesses. A well-designed lead generation strategy will boost your bottom line by drawing new customers to your business at a relatively low cost.

For example, the ROI for using Google Ads is roughly $8 for every $1 spent. And even more impressively, email marketing has an ROI of $36 for every $1 spent.

Sure, setting up a lead generation system for your HVAC business may require some upfront investment, but soon enough, the benefits significantly outweigh the costs.

HVAC lead generation strategies

Now let’s dive into the various lead generation strategies you can use to propel your HVAC business to the next level.

1. Referrals and word of mouth

Personal recommendations are arguably the most important source of new customers for any small home service business.

When it comes to spending money on big-ticket items like air conditioning systems, homeowners and businesses want to know that the contractor they hire is trustworthy, thorough, and will be respectful of their personal needs and preferences.

Of course, the time-honored solution to this problem is to ask a trusted friend or family member for a recommendation.

However, you can further leverage the power of word of mouth by creating a referral program. This essentially involves incentivizing your existing customers to spread the word by offering them a service discount for any successful referrals.

Naturally, this strategy will only work reliably if your customers are indeed happy with the work you’ve done for them!

2. Reviews and testimonials

Another way to inspire trust and confidence in your brand is to secure positive reviews and testimonials from your existing customers.

The importance of positive reviews is hard to overstate. Around 98% of consumers read online reviews to evaluate local businesses—particularly on Google, Yelp, and Facebook—and most consumers won’t engage with any business with a star rating below 3.3.

To encourage customers to leave reviews on third-party review platforms, social media, or even as a testimonial on your website, simply send them a personalized message once you’ve completed work for them. 

3. Web design

The layout and usability of your website can have a major impact on your chances of converting would-be customers.

You’ll make a poor first impression if your site is ugly, slow, and frustrating to navigate. But if your site runs smoothly on all devices, is intuitively structured, and contains all the information your leads need, you’ll multiply your chances of acquiring new customers.

Some key elements of high-quality HVAC web design include mobile responsiveness, fast load times, clear “call-to-action” buttons, and easy navigation. You should also showcase your testimonials and case studies in the best light possible and show interested visitors how to contact you directly.

4. SEO

HVAC SEO is all about maximizing your website’s ability to appear prominently in Google’s search results whenever users search for HVAC-related keywords.

The higher you appear on Google for relevant terms, the more likely you are to attract qualified leads to your site. In fact, around 65% of all organic clicks go to the top three ranking websites in the search results.

Optimizing your site for maximum organic visibility involves:

• Making it as easy as possible for search engines to crawl and index your site.
• Securing relevant backlinks from high-authority websites.
• Publishing valuable content around your target keywords (more on that in the next section).

Moreover, local SEO can boost your presence in Google for location-specific keywords, like “HVAC contractor near me.” This isn’t something you should overlook since 21% of online consumers use Google to find local businesses each day.

One of the best ways to improve your brand’s visibility for local searches is to create and optimize your Google My Business (GMB) profile. This gives search users a quick overview of your business directly within the search results, including your contact information, opening hours, and FAQs.

5. Content marketing

As we’ve just mentioned, one of the core pillars of SEO is creating relevant content that provides your ideal customers with value.

As you start to create more and more high-quality content addressing HVAC-related search queries, you’ll establish trust and credibility in the minds of your visitors and steadily earn backlinks (i.e., endorsements) from other websites in your industry. Over time, this will result in better and better search rankings, greater levels of traffic, and more qualified leads.

To determine which topics to prioritize in your content marketing program, you’ll first need to conduct some keyword research. This will shed light on the main challenges your audience is facing and what questions they most want answering. When you’ve identified suitable topics, the next step will be to create genuinely valuable pieces of content in the most appropriate format, such as blog posts, how-to articles, or case studies.

Check out our SEO writing guide for a more in-depth explanation of how to create high-value content.

6. Paid search advertising

​​Paid search advertising is another top lead gen strategy that you shouldn’t overlook.

Pay-per-click advertising is similar to SEO in that it lets you target keywords specific to your industry and area. However, PPC drives traffic to your site from the get-go, whereas SEO usually takes some time to gain traction.

Aside from delivering near-immediate results, PPC has the added benefit of only costing you money whenever someone clicks on your search ad. Unlike other forms of digital advertising, you won’t have to pay based on impressions or how many times your ad was displayed.

Moreover, PPC gives you fine control over who sees your ads. You can target specific segments of your audience based on attributes such as location, search behavior, interests, and more.

PPC uses an auction system that lets you bid on the keywords most important to you. For example, if you want to target people searching for “HVAC installation,” you simply need to specify how much you’re willing to bid. If you win, your ad will appear as a sponsored listing at the top of the results page for that keyword.

To learn more about running paid search campaigns, check out our HVAC PPC guide.

7. Email marketing

Email marketing is an excellent way to nurture qualified leads and convert them into customers.

As we mentioned earlier, for every dollar you invest in email marketing, you can expect a $36 return.

This fact alone is why so many companies opt for this strategy.

But before you can implement a successful email marketing campaign, you’ll first need a way to build a list of subscribers. The best solution to this problem is to create a lead magnet on your site. The idea here is to give visitors something valuable in exchange for their contact details, like a free quote or a helpful resource.

Once a new subscriber is on your list, you’ll know they are already somewhat interested in your services, which means they’re more likely to become fully-fledged customers down the road.

All you need to do is gradually nurture them through your sales funnel by sending periodic messages tailored to their specific stage of awareness. You can even A/B test things like subject line copy, images, and email CTAs to determine the most effective messaging.

8. Social media

Last but not least, creating a strong social media presence is another great way to promote your services to new customers.

First, you need to think about which social platforms your target audience uses most and then commit to regularly publishing engaging and informative content on those channels.

For example, if you figure Instagram is your best bet, you could post high-quality, before-and-after photos of your most recent installations with detailed captions explaining each project. You could also post video testimonials from happy customers or short videos explaining the core practices of your work.

As with all content marketing, the more valuable and entertaining the content you present to your followers, and the more you engage with them in the comments, the more likely they are to think of your business the next time they need HVAC services.

Final thoughts

If your goal is to grow your HVAC business by attracting more leads, you’ll need to devote some time, energy, and capital toward your lead generation strategy.

The methods outlined above should give you a better sense of where you could ramp up your customer-acquisition efforts.

Remember, these strategies aren’t mutually exclusive. Ideally, you’d combine several marketing techniques at once to truly maximize your ability to get new leads. But if you’d prefer to start small, pick whatever strategy you think would give you the most bang for your buck and build from there.

Alternatively, if you’d rather outsource your HVAC marketing efforts to the pros, feel free to get in touch with us today.