HVAC, Marketing, Business Tips

HVAC Social Media Marketing: Guide with Actionable Tips

ServiceTitan
March 27th, 2024
14 Min Read

Social media marketing strategies and connecting with your target audience might be out of your comfort zone, but to thrive in the increasingly competitive HVAC landscape, you need first-rate HVAC skills and a solid social media presence.

The good news is that you don’t necessarily have to hire a marketing agency to help you create and manage your social media strategy.

In this guide to HVAC social media marketing, we remove the guesswork for you with actionable tips proven to drive engagement and grow your HVAC business.

Note: Want to grow your HVAC business? ServiceTitan is the #1 home and commercial service software & mobile app for home service companies. Get a free and personalized demo.

What is The Purpose of HVAC Social Media Marketing?

HVAC social media marketing aims to connect with potential customers, build relationships with them, and promote brands and services.

By leveraging platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube, HVAC businesses can create content that resonates with their target audience and drives engagement. Through this type of marketing, HVAC companies can increase their visibility in the market, build trust and credibility, and ultimately drive more sales.

Let's look more closely at four key goals of social media marketing for HVAC businesses.

Increase brand awareness

Social media usage has almost doubled in the last seven years, and it's expected to reach 5.85 billion users by 2027. 

In this highly online-oriented climate, HVAC businesses that understand social media's power to increase brand awareness thrive. 

As an HVAC contractor, you can use social media to increase brand awareness by:

  • Sharing pictures and videos of your products and services.

  • Posting visuals of your HVAC systems, such as air conditioners, furnaces, ducts, and other components.

  • Sharing videos of technicians performing maintenance tasks or installing new equipment.

  • Creating engaging content that informs and keeps your audience connected.

Help build a brand identity

Another essential goal of social media marketing is helping brands build an identity.

Besides creating brand awareness, building a consistent brand identity across social media is essential for any HVAC business that wants to thrive online. 

Through social media, HVAC businesses can establish a strong and recognizable brand identity by:

  • Creating a consistent color scheme, logo, and typography across all platforms.

  • Using storytelling to engage with customers and create an emotional connection.

  • Focusing on customer experience to build loyalty.

  • Developing creative campaigns and contests that offer incentives for engagement.

Create connections with your audience

One of the main reasons HVAC businesses invest in social media is to build connections.

Establishing strong relationships can generate trust between the business and users, resulting in increased sales as customers are more likely to purchase from brands they trust.

To create connections with their audience, HVAC businesses can:

  • Engage in conversations with customers and respond to queries or feedback.

  • Share customer and success stories related to their HVAC systems.

  • Host webinars, Q&A sessions, and other events that allow customers to interact with the company.

  • Use polls and surveys to get feedback from customers.

Drive traffic

Social media is the go-to platform for driving website traffic for many HVAC businesses.

By creating interesting and engaging content, businesses can leverage social media platforms to promote their services and generate HVAC leads.

This can be done by:

  • Sharing blog posts or articles related to HVAC topics.

  • Creating video content that provides helpful advice or tips on maintaining HVAC systems.

  • Promoting new products or services through visuals and text.

  • Leveraging paid social media ads.

The role of HVAC social media marketing in helping businesses reach wider audiences and strengthen their online presence is undeniable.

But to fully reap the multiple benefits of social media marketing, HVAC companies must choose the most suitable channel for their specific needs.

Which Social Media Platforms Do HVAC Businesses Use?

The rule of thumb for choosing the right social media platform for your HVAC business is to select the most popular among your target audience.

For example, an HVAC business can be commercial or residential. Commercial businesses may get more value from channels like LinkedIn or YouTube instead of TikTok.

Here are the most popular social media platforms that can be a good fit for your HVAC business:

Facebook

Facebook is among the most popular social media platforms, with 2 billion daily active users

This GOAT of social media platforms provides tremendous opportunities for HVAC businesses to reach out to more potential customers and connect with their target audience.

Facebook allows businesses to create custom ads, promote campaigns, and share content such as images, videos, and stories. Facebook also offers insights on user engagement which can help businesses understand how their content resonates with their target audience.

YouTube

YouTube is a popular platform that provides a great opportunity for HVAC businesses to connect with their target audience and promote their services.

With over 2 billion monthly active users, YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world after Google – making it an ideal platform for HVAC businesses to showcase their products and services.

The option to create informative videos about HVAC systems, tutorials, and customer stories provides HVAC businesses with interactive opportunities to attract more viewers and potentially generate new leads.

Instagram

This visual-centric platform has over 1 billion monthly active users and represents a suitable online space for HVAC businesses to showcase their installations using visuals such as photos, videos, and stories.

By leveraging Instagram’s features, such as Reels and influencer marketing, HVAC businesses can create content that resonates with their target audience and promotes their services.

Twitter

Twitter is another great platform for businesses to reach their target audience and increase their online visibility. With over 330 million monthly active users, Twitter allows HVAC businesses to engage with potential customers and build meaningful relationships.

HVAC businesses can use Twitter to create content about their products and services and share customer stories related to HVAC systems. They can also join conversations about HVAC topics or create polls and surveys to better understand their target audience’s needs.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a powerful social media platform, especially for B2B marketing.

Commercial HVAC businesses can use LinkedIn to create content about their services, join relevant conversations, share customer stories, and build relationships with potential customers. LinkedIn also offers the possibility to leverage sponsored posts, video ads, and influencer marketing to reach new customers.

TikTok

TikTok is a rapidly growing social media platform with over 800 million monthly active users. It allows HVAC businesses to create and share 15-60 second videos showing tool demonstrations or HVAC technicians on the job.

By leveraging TikTok’s features, such as Duets, Reels, Music, and Hashtags, HVAC businesses can experiment with their content and diversify their reach.

HVAC contractors who choose their social media platform wisely get more value from their marketing strategy. 

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How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy for Your HVAC Business

The HVAC business landscape is becoming increasingly competitive, and to stay relevant to their target audience, HVAC contractors need a solid social media marketing strategy.

Knowing which social media platform your target market uses is not enough. You must create a social media marketing strategy that reaches your customers at the right time with relevant content.

Here are some actionable tips that HVAC contractors should keep in mind when creating their social media marketing strategy:

Know your audience

Who is your target audience? What do they need from your social media account? What captures their interest and attention? 

Knowing the answers to these questions means you can create relevant content for your target audience. Otherwise, you risk marketing to the wrong people, which leads to wasted time and money.

Some of the most important demographics and behavior areas to look out for are:

  • Age

  • Gender

  • Location

  • Income

  • Employment

By knowing your target audience, you can build a highly personalized social media marketing strategy that meets their needs.

Select the right platforms

As we've mentioned before, there are many social media platforms available. However, not all of them are suitable for HVAC businesses.

Some of the most popular social media platforms for HVAC marketing include Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Facebook is another popular platform, but usually works best for residential HVAC companies.

Get some inspiration from your competitors and discover the best platforms in your HVAC niche.

Set your goals

Social media goals define your marketing strategy and should align with broader business objectives. They help you measure the success of your social media efforts and keep you focused on what matters most.

Your goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). Some examples of HVAC business goals could be:

  • Increase social media users by 10% in 6 months.

  • Grow email list by 5% in 3 months.

  • Increase website traffic by 20% in 2 months.

Setting social media goals is a compass for your overall marketing strategy and helps you measure results more accurately.

Set a content calendar and create content

Content is the heart of your social media management strategy. Your content should be tailored to the needs of your target audience and interesting enough to keep them engaged.

Also, posting regularly on social media helps you sustain your audience's attention and provide a steady flow of information. 

A content calendar helps you plan ahead and ensures that you are publishing content consistently.

Some examples of HVAC content for social media are:

  • Tutorials about HVAC maintenance and repairs.

  • Showcasing HVAC technicians on the job.

  • Tips for selecting the right HVAC system.

  • Benefits of going green with HVAC.

  • Answering common customer questions about HVAC.

Leverage paid advertising

Apart from generating organic traffic, HVAC contractors can use social media to leverage paid advertising to promote certain posts or even drive users to specific landing pages.

Social media advertising is a type of digital marketing that delivers paid ads to your target audience on social media platforms.

A paid social media strategy focuses on targeting the right audience, creating high-quality visuals and compelling copy ads, optimizing campaigns using data analysis, and tracking results. Facebook ads are among the most popular social media marketing tools for leveraging paid advertising.

To enhance their HVAC advertising efforts, contractors also use ServiceTitan's Home Services Marketing Software.

Since Cody & Sons HVAC and Plumbing jumped aboard the ServiceTitan Marketing Pro train, they have saved hours on email marketing campaigns.

Robin Cody, director of marketing and business development for the home service company, reveals: “[Marketing Pro] is very easy, very quick. It probably takes me about 30 minutes to set up an email campaign, maybe less, whereas it would probably take me an hour or more with [other programs]. It has definitely saved me hours.”

ServiceTitan's Marketing software helps HVAC contractors manage their online presence (such as Google Reviews), reduce cost-per-lead with highly targeted marketing campaigns, and easily measure the marketing ROI of each campaign. 

With these how-tos on building the best HVAC social media strategy for your business, you can leverage this powerful tool to grow your audience. 

HVAC Social Media Post Ideas

We've agreed that social media marketing holds great potential for HVAC businesses. But what does it take to create a relevant social media presence? How should you focus your marketing efforts on delivering content that engages your target audience?

To help get you started on the right path, here are some actionable tips and post ideas for crafting an effective HVAC social media marketing plan.

Giveaways

Giveaways are a great way to increase brand visibility, create hype, and engage with your followers. They also incentivize people to follow you on social media and interact with your posts.

When hosting a giveaway, ensure it’s relevant to your HVAC business and target audience. For example, you can offer a free furnace service or discounts on heating and cooling services.

Tutorials

Tutorials about HVAC maintenance and repairs, selecting the right HVAC system for your home, or saving energy with your current HVAC system are social media content that can get your business closer to your target audience. 

When creating tutorials, keep them simple and easy to follow. As a bonus, you can also include a link to your website or a sign-up form in the post's description to facilitate lead generation.

Customer reviews

Online reviews are an essential part of the shopping experience. A report shows 93% of users have made buying decisions based on an online review.

In the increasingly competitive HVAC landscape, customers regularly turn to reviews to make up their minds before hiring a contractor.

Post positive testimonials about your services on social media to make it easier for potential customers to find your business. You can also encourage customers to write reviews about their experience after visiting your website or purchasing from you.

ServiceTitan's Reputation Management feature allows HVAC businesses to take control of their online reputation. 

Brian Choate, Assistant General Manager at Choate’s Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing, agrees that reviews are essential for home services and reveals how Service Titan's Reputation Management has supported the company's review management. 

“Our name’s on the business, so our reputation matters. It’s my name,” Choate says. “So I have to carry that reputation, and I want it to be a positive one. Being able to manage our online reputation in an easy fashion with automation has been terrific.”

Besides helping with review acquisition, Reputation Management also provides benefits such as:

  • Review notifications

  • Listings management

  • Reviews data

Behind the scenes

What better way to connect to your audience than by sharing a behind-the-scenes look at what it's like working in the HVAC industry? 

Take your followers on a journey into the life of an HVAC contractor by sharing snapshots of a typical day at work. Showcase the team and the tools they use when repairing, give a glimpse into what it takes to install a new HVAC system, or share stories about how you helped customers solve their heating and cooling problems.

Case studies

Case studies are an effective way to showcase the success stories of your HVAC business. They allow people to better understand how you can help them solve their heating or cooling problems. For instance, if you recently helped a customer reduce energy costs by installing a new HVAC system, create a case study highlighting the process and the results they achieved.

By focusing your efforts on creating and delivering content that matters to your target audience, you set yourself on the right track to building a solid social media marketing strategy.

Social Media Tips for Better Results

You already know the importance of having a strong social media presence for HVAC business management and what it takes to build that presence.

But how to build social media channels that truly matter to and impact your target audience?

The answer lies in going the extra mile with how you create and manage content on your social media business profile.

Leverage hashtags

Using hashtags helps your brand connect with what's happening on social media platforms. Your HVAC business page becomes more discoverable if you consistently use relevant hashtags. 

Also, hashtags help potential leads and existing followers find you more easily and explore your related posts and marketing campaigns. 

For an HVAC business, relevant hashtags may look like #texashvacservices, #hvacrepair, or #texashvac[yourbusinessname]. 

It's also worth considering the most popular HVAC-related hashtags in your area and which hashtags are working for your competitors.

Engage with your audience

To get the most out of your social media strategy, it's essential to interact with your audience and build trustful relationships. Reply to comments, ask questions, and use polls to encourage conversation and engagement.

You can also boost engagement by creating content that's fun and informative. For example, you can create a quiz or game related to HVAC-related topics to help educate potential customers while providing entertainment value. 

Don’t try to sell all the time

Salesy social media content can be off-putting. Posting about your services and offerings all the time is not the best social media strategy as it can look desperate and turn people off.

Instead, focus on providing posts that offer value to your target audience. Share tips, advice, behind-the-scenes insights, how-to guides, stories about the team members, case studies, etc. 

This content will help you connect emotionally with your customers while building trust and credibility.

These handy tips help you pave the way toward success in HVAC social media marketing.

Now Over to You

HVAC social media marketing might not be for everyone, but it surely is for business owners who want to create a strong social media presence that turns followers into loyal, long-term business partners. 

With the actionable tips described above, you're prepared to strengthen your HVAC business on social media. 

ServiceTitan is the world’s leading all-in-one HVAC business software, helping commercial and residential HVAC businesses efficiently manage customer interactions, technician schedules, and more. Learn more about ServiceTitan today to see how it can help your business.

ServiceTitan HVAC Software

ServiceTitan is a comprehensive HVAC business software solution built specifically to help service companies streamline their operations, boost revenue, and achieve growth. Our award-winning, cloud-based platform is trusted by more than 100,000+ contractors across the country.

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