HVAC Direct Mail Postcards: Optimize Your Marketing Strategy

HVAC postcards: A key marketing tool

• Strategically engage leads and customers.

• Effective for coupons, promotions, service reminders.

In this age of perpetual digital clutter, postcards bypass email spam filters and get directly into the hands of homeowners.

"Direct mail cuts through the digital noise that's out there," says ServiceTitan Direct Mail Manager Colleen Connery. "Direct mail gives us the opportunity to engage in a way that's tactile."

Unlike email advertisements, which usually are deleted (if they arrive in the inbox at all), direct mail has an average lifespan of 17 days. Even if it’s placed on the counter or in a drawer, the recipient may be reminded of your company at a later date.

HVAC contractors typically use postcards for coupons, promotions, or HVAC maintenance reminders, giving homeowners even more reason to keep it, or share it with a friend or family member as a referral. But your HVAC postcard campaign must be strategic.

"It just has to be done in a smart way," Connery stresses. "Direct mail costs more than sending an email, so you have to be a little bit more strategic because you're spending money upfront."

While postcards remain a highly effective marketing tool, other direct mail formats could include HVAC flyers, self-mailer brochures, or letters in envelopes, all of which serve different purposes in HVAC marketing plans. With postcards, the recipient can see an eye-catching offer without opening anything, while letters provide more intrinsic value and increased personalization.

Choose the right direct mail format based on what your HVAC company aims to accomplish, and measure results to gauge the effectiveness of your marketing dollars.

Maximize HVAC direct mail campaigns

• Plan your message for a specific audience.

• Create value for customer engagement.

An effective direct mail campaign must be strategic, identifying a specific audience, message, and call to action.

“Instead of the old batch-and-blast, send 5,000 postcards to a ZIP code, and hope you get some results out of it, use that database you have to market specifically to the right people," says Sam Yarborough, Director of Partnerships at PFL, a marketing technology company based in Montana.

Decide the demographics you want to target for your HVAC marketing postcards, what you want to tell them (or offer), and make it easy for them to respond.

1. Target your audience.

To develop a targeted mailing list, first segment your audience. 

Segmentation refers to "bucketing" your prospects or customers into specific areas, and understanding them, Connery explains. This could include:

• Thanking new customers for their business and giving them a discount on their next tune-up.

• Sending a re-engagement offer to past customers who no longer call for heating or air conditioner unit service.

• Asking customers to follow up on open estimates.

• Reminding current customers to renew their expiring memberships.

Engaging customers in a helpful way, without annoying them, is key to generating repeat customers.

"The buying journey begins by making potential customers aware of your company, gets solidified by providing a service and thanking them for the business, and continues by following up and turning them into repeat customers," Yarborough explains in a ServiceTitan direct mail automation webinar.

2. Define your message.

To get your message across, it needs to be clear and concise.

"What do you want them to do? What do you want them to know?" Connery asks. "On a postcard, we don't want to sit there and read a thesis. We need bullet points."

HVAC service lends itself to consistent appointment, maintenance, and membership reminders. Customers don't want to be without air conditioning in summer, or heat in winter. Companies can encourage customers with aging HVAC equipment to consider HVAC system conversion or replacement to increase efficiency, along with possible HVAC financing options.

Make your message clear and to the point. Even if homeowners give your postcard a cursory glance, they can grasp your message within seconds.

3. Make it catchy.

Good postcard designs feature high-quality images, easy-to-read fonts, and engaging graphics that enhance your message.

Save time with ServiceTitan Marketing Pro Direct Mail, where you can find and customize full-color HVAC postcard templates. After uploading a template, just add your business name, logo or slogan, and pricing offers. Once you’ve chosen a customer contact method, send your professional-looking postcards quickly and easily.

4. Give a clear call to action.

When a customer looks at your postcard, they need to know what you want them to do, and how they’ll benefit by doing it now. 

A call to action refers to short, active phrases like, "Call today" or "Renew now." It communicates exactly what action you want the customer to take. Companies must choose the right timing and a relevant message before communicating with customers.

"You have to clearly define your call-to-action," Connery says. "If you tell them what you want them to do, give them multiple ways to do it, and give them an incentive, they will most likely act on it."

How ServiceTitan streamlines HVAC direct mail marketing

• Easily build audience lists.

• Automate direct mail campaigns. 

ServiceTitan's all-in-one functionality makes it easy to build audience lists from your existing customer data, whether that’s maintenance reminders, unsold estimates, expiring memberships, or aging equipment.

Because ServiceTitan allows you to hyper-target your audience and automate your direct mail campaigns, you can send one postcard or thousands, right away. Automated postcard design, printing, and mailing eliminates the hassle of manually pulling information from multiple systems, locating a print vendor, and transporting multiple pieces of data back and forth.

Direct mail templates, regularly updated with new designs and messaging, can be a source of inspiration for new campaigns, too.

“It’s definitely been one of my main areas of inspiration,” says Chloe Davis, Chief Marketing Officer at Express Plumbing, Heating & Air in Idaho. “Templates give me some great ideas that I can leverage—seasonality, playing off the holidays, spring specials—and images to go along with each trade.”

ServiceTitan gives marketers the ability to easily create and send out the right message to the right customer at the right time, making your company’s message relevant and effective.

Optimize HVAC marketing strategies

• Measure direct mail campaign success.

• Combine direct mail and digital for greater results.

After you've launched your direct mail campaign, measure the impact. ServiceTitan Marketing Pro allows your HVAC company to connect revenue and booked jobs with each piece of direct mail, so you can see what works and what doesn't.

HVAC businesses can track the effectiveness of direct mail campaigns by assigning unique phone numbers, coupon codes, or website landing pages.

Statistics show direct mail offers a 29% return on investment; for greater results, consider direct mail as part of your larger HVAC marketing plan. When digital and direct mail combine, marketers see 40% conversion rates and 60% increased ROI, according to the Association of National Advertisers.

"You have to build out a plan, do the numbers, and have a target audience," Connery says. "And if it doesn't hit that target, then you need to change something and retest."

A multi-channel approach establishes brand recognition and develops trust. The goal? Potential customers will remember you, and they’ll call your HVAC company first when they need help with their heating and cooling needs.