Over the past few years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a handful of leading OEM’s and technology providers in the HVACR space, launching dozens of digital marketing campaigns aimed to increase brand awareness, generate qualified leads and drive foot traffic to distributors to buy their products.
With this industry, like so many, changing rapidly thanks to impending legislation or product innovation, there was almost always an element of education required in the messages we shared and content we developed.
Through this work, I’ve learned a lot about this industry and the main players, including the causes they care about, how they learn, the platforms they typically use and so much more. Many of which I’ve rounded up below.
So, add these digital marketing strategies and tactics to your toolbelt to make your next campaign in this space the most efficient and effective one yet!
1. Thoroughly Define Your Target Audience
First thing’s first: Who are you targeting?
Are you trying to speak to the boots-on-the-ground maintenance and repair technicians at local HVAC companies? Are you interested in speaking with the engineers at large OEMs or maybe other higher-level job titles at the organizations who have major systems and are using products in this space at scale, perhaps the ones who focus on sustainability? Audience definition always starts with this type of geographic and demographic info.
Once you have this defined, go a step further. Do some research and talk with your sales team to understand more about this audience like:
- What motivates them? What do they care about?
- What are some of their pain points?
- Where do they go for information? What are some trusted sources or publications that they listen to?
- Where do they go to buy your product?
- Are they familiar with any new laws or legislation changes?
Understanding as much about your target audience as possible will help you build the most impactful campaign plan. This will help set the foundation for your messaging and design direction, too.
2. Create a Strong Lead Magnet
Generating leads—or even just building relevant email lists—is often one of the main goals of the campaigns we've launched. One of the most effective ways we've found to do that is to gate a really valuable piece of content. How-to guides or 101-level resources that cover either new, trending topics or topics where a lot of misinformation exists have been our most successful. Consider something fewer than 4-5 pages and that's infographic-like in how it lays out data or steps in a process.
If that can't be done, we have also seen a lot of success in just advertising a newsletter sign up. Clearly, with so much changing in this industry, many audience segments—HVAC technicians especially—just want to be kept up to speed and signing up for a newsletter that does just that is helpful for them.
3. Don't Overlook Social Media
When thinking about organic and paid channels to use as part of your campaign, be sure to consider where your audience might spend their time on social media.
In our experience, Facebook and Instagram are great for technicians, whereas LinkedIn can be helpful in reaching engineers or upper-level management. YouTube is a popular channel for both audiences, so consider how both short-form content could play well on Reels while more lengthy, educational content could work in other placements. Lastly, your audience might frequent TikTok but we would only really recommend this channel if you have the right video content to be successful here, which is typically a series of more informal videos from a single person’s POV talking to the camera.
4. Consider All Angles When Building Your Search Ad Strategy
Search ads are an essential component of many digital marketing campaigns, delivering high-intent traffic from users actively searching for your products or services. While branded campaigns, or non-branded campaigns around product names, are a no-brainer, there's often some other angles worth exploring with search ads in this industry. For one, there's often a lot of misinformation around legislation, deadlines to take action, and more. Make sure your research is thorough and considers lengthier queries with questions around topics like this!
Also, always be sure to comb through the latest audience segments available. We are always able to find a few relevant ones, built off of users' activity using Google products and third-party websites, to layer into our search campaigns to help us further ensure we're hitting the right audience.
5. Consider the Newer, More Visual Google Performance Max Campaign Type
Performance or P-Max campaigns are one of Google’s most recently launched campaign types that still seems to be overlooked by many brands. This campaign type is a great complement to search campaigns, allowing you to access all of Google Ads’ inventory from a single campaign (think YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and even Maps). While machine learning can be found throughout every ad channel, P-Max campaigns are Google’s most AI driven campaign type, using Google AI across bidding, budget optimization, audiences, creative, and so much more, which often translates to more conversions and overall success as the campaigns continuously gather more data and optimize.
This channel has been a home run across so many different brands and industries, so it’s a “must-consider” on our list!
6. Keep Ad Content Fresh
Regardless of industry, introducing fresh ads on a consistent basis is critical for a successful digital marketing campaign. We recommend refreshing your ads quarterly and introducing new video content as often as feasible, such as 2x a year or ideally more often. Include ads about your downloadable to generate leads, product shots to increase brand recognition, ads about legislation to educate the industry, and more. Leverage insights from your top-performing headlines, descriptions, and ad comments to guide the creation of your next round of content (see tip #9 for more on this!)
7. Don't Underestimate Video's Role in Your Campaign
Can’t think of any topics worth generating video content around? From education to middle-of-the-funnel focuses, we promise there’s no shortage.
Some topic ideas for video in the HVAC industry include:
- History of your products and innovations (i.e. how did we get here?)
- Overview of new laws and industry regulations
- How-to videos for using your product (i.e. installation procedures or quick tips)
- Myth vs. fact
- Testimonials or concepts that generally feature members of your target audience
Not only are these videos great for an ad campaign across YouTube, social media, and even streaming platforms, but they can also be posted organically, used across your website, promoted via email, and more.
Check out this blog for a list of all video ad placements you can take advantage of.
8. Don’t Sleep on Retargeting Ads
Whether you're retargeting website visitors, video viewers, or a contact list, retargeting ads tend to bring users back to your website at a much lower cost than targeting a cold audience. These ads normally don’t need much budget to show an impact; maybe start by allocating 20% or so of your overall budget to them and see what you get out of it.
One of my go-to strategies for retargeting ads in the HVAC space is leveraging long-form videos on social media. When users watch at least 50% of the video, they’re added to a retargeting pool. From there, I serve them a more mid-to-lower-funnel ad, such as an ad featuring the lead magnet and talking a little about its value. This approach consistently drives form submissions at a remarkably low cost!
9. Let Your Audience’s Feedback Fuel Your Messaging and Copy
Need some ad inspiration? Check out the comments left on your social ads or discussion in Reddit threads, as some audiences in this industry have a lot to say and there’s something that can be learned from each comment!
Some questions to consider:
- Are there trends with specific questions? (i.e. “Can this product be retrofitted?” “Where can I buy?”)
- Are there frustrations being voiced on your ad? (i.e. “It’s so expensive!” “I liked the old product better!”)
- Are you seeing some positive comments? (i.e. “This stuff works great!” “My customers have been asking for this!”)
Take advantage of the feedback being left on your ads or discussion in threads and use it to fuel your messaging and copy. If you’re seeing the same questions pop up or hear the same frustrations, try to address them in an ad to get ahead of others having the same questions or concerns. If you’re seeing positive comments, consider using quotes in upcoming ads to harness the power of social proof.
10. Nurture Leads With an Automated Email Drip Series
Don’t overlook the power of lead nurturing, especially for an industry where education plays such an important role. Once a user fills out the form to download your resource, you want to make sure you set up an automated series of emails that will be delivered to them over the next few weeks or months. These emails can dive deeper into some of the topics you touched on in your ads, giving you another touchpoint to further educate them and position yourself as a thought leader in the industry.
If you’re unsure where to start, check out this blog I wrote with some email marketing ideas to help you get moving!
It’s Time to Turn Up The Heat on your HVACR Marketing!
Digital marketing in the HVACR industry for OEM’s requires a thoughtful approach that balances education, engagement, and conversion-focused tactics and content. By implementing these ten strategies, you’ll be well-equipped to build campaigns that not only drive leads and sales but also foster trust and long-term brand loyalty.
Remember, the HVAC industry is evolving rapidly, and staying ahead means continuously learning and adapting. So, take these insights, tailor them to your unique goals, and set your next digital marketing campaign up for success!
Need help strategizing and executing a successful campaign? Reach out! We’d love to help you reach your goals.