The top lead generation methods for HVAC business are:

If you’re running an HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) business, you want an ongoing stream of leads to keep your brand alive. Knowing which lead generation strategies to use is a must if you want to succeed in your industry - and make the most of your efforts and budget.

Among all the 5 methods, local lead generation through search engine optimization is the most effective. We’ve seen this firsthand through our experience ranking and renting websites for local businesses. Sounds interesting? Go read on and we’ll tell you more about different lead generation options - and why local SEO is your best bet. 

5 top lead generation methods for HVAC business 

1. Paid lead generation platforms

With their help, you will be able to focus on serving your customers while experts gather prospective leads for your company. Using paid lead generation platforms can help you get a steady stream of leads for your HVAC business. With their help, you can boost brand awareness, reach your target market, stay ahead of your competition, reduce the sales process, and grow your profits.   

Some of the popular lead generation services in the HVAC industry include: 

Bark

Bark is a platform that attracts millions of users across the world daily. Known as “the Amazon of services,” their wide network includes DJs, magicians, massage therapists, personal trainers, photographers, and HVAC professionals, among others.

Registering and receiving leads on Bark are free but you’ll have to pay using “Bark credits” to contact leads you may be interested in. Credits are worth around $1.80 each. 

Meanwhile, the optional Elite Pro service is subscription based and can boost your presence further since they’re “featured 3x more in search results” compared with regular accounts. 

CraftJack

CraftJack is a lead generation company that promises “better leads, less stress, and more jobs” for HVAC businesses and other service professionals. 

Signing up with CraftJack is free but contractors need to pay for all leads received. In addition, they also offer “various discounted pricing opportunities” so businesses can buy more leads and “hopefully win more jobs.”

Goodzer

Goodzer is another great option for HVAC companies. According to their website, they promote businesses on search engines and local directors. Plus they deliver exclusive live calls “directly to your phone — you never have to chase down leads.” 

No monthly or setup fees are required to start using Goodzer. However,,HVAC professionals need to pay for each valid call, which can cost $45 to $65 in low competition areas to $140 to $165 in high competition areas. 

Home Advisor Pro

Now known as Angi Leads, Home Advisor Pro has continued to be among the biggest lead gen sites in the service industry. Their site caters to 4 million unique monthly visitors, plus their massive directory has over 60,000 pre-screened professionals.   

Membership for Home Advisor Pro costs around $300 per year, while leads are at $15 to $100, depending on your location, industry, and expertise. 

Home You

Home You assures industry professionals:

“With some companies you're paying for dead phone numbers, homeowners seeking a different service and other junk leads… As a Home You Pro, you are treated as a partner. We get paid when we deliver you a lead!”

Phyxter

Founded in 2019, home improvement service Phyxter caters to homeowners and tradespeople in Canada and the United States. Their company is run by HVAC contractors for HVAC contractors. They know how to find your target customers and their goal is to put your HVAC business “right in front of them at precisely the right time.”

Service Direct

Service Direct recognizes “the importance of hyper-local, hyper-targeted marketing” so they promise exclusive HVAC leads for every HVAC contractor. 

As for their pricing, the company shares:  

“We give you the ability to determine your price per lead, and we allow you to change it at any time based on the value you are seeing.” 

Thumbtack

Thumbtack has over 1000 different specialties and 250,000 professionals in their online directory ranging from HVAC service providers, legal experts, pet groomers, web designers, and more.    

Creating a Thumbtack profile is free and they don’t charge subscription fees. Instead, they charge for each lead and HVAC businesses may also ask for a refund if they don’t hear back from customers within 48 hours.

Yelp

Yelp is mostly known for its restaurant reviews. However, the site could also be an effective lead source for HVAC businesses. Listing or claiming your business on Yelp Page is free, which allows you to promote your brand to more customers. In addition, the company also offers Yelp Ads for those interested in maximizing the platform’s lead generation capabilities.

2. PPC advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can also help you generate leads for your HVAC business. With this ad model, you get to create ads to promote your brand through search engines and social networking sites. With PPC ads, you can target specific online users that show an interest in the services you offer. 

PPC can benefit your business in so many ways, such as driving traffic and inquiries from interested individuals. This is because they place your ads in front of your target audience. They also provide you with detailed analytic reports so you can understand your campaign efforts better.

The top 3 PPC platforms today are: 

Google Ads

Google Ads, formerly known as Google AdWords, is undoubtedly the most popular PPC platform out there.   

With Google Ads, you get the opportunity to promote your brand in front of Google users when they search for specific keywords. The best thing is you “only pay for results, like clicks to your website or calls to your business.”

When you run a Google ad campaign, you get to display your ads on Google Search, Google Maps, YouTube videos, and Google’s network of partner apps and websites.

Facebook Ads

With over 2.9 billion active users per month, Facebook remains as the undisputed king of social media. Now known as Meta Ads, this PPC model allows you to run ad campaigns on “Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network or across them all.”

So yes, it’s also wise to use the Facebook Ads platform for your HVAC marketing.

Case in point, the interest “HVAC” has an audience of 87,579,900 on Facebook. Overall, men account for 61% while women account for 39% of interest in the niche. There’s definitely a great deal of HVAC interest among Facebook users, so it’s definitely worth using for marketing your HVAC company. 

Twitter Ads

Another popular social networking service, advertising with Twitter can also be a good way to boost your HVAC lead base. Besides, the site has around 450 million active users per month.

With Twitter Ads, you can grow your presence on the platform. You can achieve this by spreading the word about your business as you target Twitter users based on their “specific interests, demographics, or activity.”

Plus since it’s a PPC model, it’s also cost effective. You only have to spend when users perform an action, like clicking your HVAC website link. 

For top tips on running a successful ad campaign, go head over to Twitter Ads best practices.

3. Email marketing

When done right, email marketing can be a great tool for attracting quality leads. As an HVAC contractor, you can offer your services to any potential customer - straight to their inboxes. 

According to Statista, there are over 4 billion email users daily. Moreover, email marketing revenue ‌is expected to reach around 11 billion US dollars by the end of 2023 and up to 17.9 billion by 2027.    

Meanwhile, in Service Direct’s Small Business Email Marketing Survey, the company discovered that only 24% of small businesses (1 out of 4) implement email marketing. This means many companies are “missing out on the benefits it provides.”

 As an HVAC professional, you want to tap effective lead generation tools. Every new customer counts, especially since both previous and existing clients will probably hire you again if you often pop up on their inboxes. If they’re satisfied with your services, they’ll remember your brand during warm and cold months when they need repairs and maintenance for their air conditioning and heating systems.  

4. Social media marketing 

In a definition by Investopedia, we read that social media marketing refers to the use of social networking channels “to build a company's brand, increase sales, and drive website traffic.” Additionally, business owners and marketers get to access data analytics, which allows them to monitor their campaign’s progress.    

With 4.74 billion people using social media today - that’s more than half the world’s population - it has now become a must for companies to maintain an active presence on these platforms. If your business is still not using social media, you are missing out on its potential advantages.

To generate quality leads for your HVAC business, you should:

Keep in mind that you don’t even have to create accounts on every social networking site. Ideally, you should only use social channels that allow you to achieve your business goals and reach more of your target market. If needed, you may also consider hiring a social media manager to help you run your pages.

5. Search engine optimization (SEO)

Finally, organic ranking through search engine optimization can be your best step towards increasing your leads.

In a survey, HubSpot Director of Acquisition Matthew Howells-Barby shared that 64% of modern marketers “actively invest” in search engine optimization, adding that SEO is “becoming more of a priority across all industries.”  

Meanwhile, a LeadGenera feature reports that search engines can potentially drive up to 300% “more traffic to content sites than social media.”

These days, most people looking for HVAC services will turn to their favorite search engines to find local services in their area. So when a Portland resident needs to hire heating and cooling experts in the city, they’ll likely type “heating and cooling Portland Oregon” or other similar, specific key phrases.  

By targeting appropriate keywords and implementing local SEO strategies, you can boost your HVAC website straight to the top pages. This will allow you to outrank your competitors and naturally attract organic traffic. This could bring increased leads and sales for your business since most search engine users trust and prefer the top results. They’ll easily click websites on page 1 and probably never even make it to, say, page 10 as they browse through search engine results. 

That said, it is worth noting that Google has a global search market share of 84.69%, while Bing only has 8.85% and Yahoo has 2.59%. Of course, it’s a no-brainer that a good SEO goal would be to rank high on Google search results.  

Why is lead generation important for HVAC contractors? 

Lead generation is important for HVAC contractors because it often dictates their potential earnings. As an HVAC professional, you should always strive to increase your brand’s visibility. That way, individuals and organizations in need of installation, maintenance, repair, and replacement services can find you whenever they need you. 

This can be a constant challenge, especially for small business owners who are often busy serving their clients. For this reason, some HVAC entrepreneurs invest in paid lead generation methods to get quick results. Local lead generation through organic ranking means playing the long game since results usually take months. However, its long-term benefits include bigger savings while enhancing your business credibility at the same time.    

In the end, trying different lead generation methods will make it easier for you to determine which strategies will bring the most leads for your company.

What is a reasonable cost per lead?

Leads differ in costs from industry to industry. Generally, a good cost per lead (CPL) is lower than your gross profit per sale. If a lead costs higher than your average gross profit per sale (or the amount of money you will earn), then it’s considered a bad lead. 

 A 2023 Average Cost Per Lead by Industry report by First Page Sage defines cost per lead as “the gross marketing cost expended to acquire a lead for your business.” The website also shares that for the HVAC industry, the average CPL is at $115 for paid and $69 for organic.

Is paying for leads worth it?

Paying for leads can be worth it if you’re aiming to kick-start a new HVAC business. Since most of your target customers are still unfamiliar with your company, pay-per-lead and paid advertising services can work to your advantage since more people will see your brand.

Keep in mind, however, that paid leads come with its advantages and disadvantages. You’ll have to find a good lead generation company that really fits your needs and delivers your desired results.

How do I get more leads for my HVAC business?

You can get more leads for your HVAC business through traditional methods. Besides the 5 lead generation strategies mentioned earlier, you can also consider cold calling, asking for client referrals, or offering discounts and promos.

Cold calling

Unsolicited sales calls can be a way to introduce your business to more people. While it takes at least 8 cold calls to reach 1 lead, 69% of buyers have actually “accepted cold calls from new providers,” according to Crunchbase. It sure takes persistence, but many HVAC businesses still use cold calling to reach more potential customers. 

Asking for client referrals

Asking for customer referrals can effectively increase your lead base. Besides, a new customer is 4 times more likely to purchase when referred by someone they trust. As you deliver quality service to your clients, take time to leave your contact details and ask them if they have any friends or family who may be interested in your service.

Offering discounts and promos

People love the idea of saving on their expenses. Offering discounts and promos can be a tool for attracting new and repeat customers to your HVAC brand. In fact, almost 2/3 of undecided customers eventually decide to make a purchase after they are offered a promotion or coupon.

Which lead generation strategy is best for your HVAC company?

Local lead generation through SEO is the best strategy for your HVAC company. Experts agree that SEO leads are at least 8x more likely to close the deal compared with other lead sources. Also, 46% of Google searches are from users with local search intent and 28% of local searches lead to a purchase.

By adopting a strong SEO campaign, you can step up your business’ game and gain more potential customers along the way. As more and more local search engine users see your brand on top results, you will enjoy free organic traffic for your website and get high-quality leads. A greater number of people specifically interested in your HVAC services will find your site and contact you.

Conclusion

Leads are the lifeblood of your HVAC business. In many ways, local lead generation is definitely the best lead generation and marketing strategy for your brand. While it can take time and will require high level SEO expertise on your end, it’s definitely more beneficial and rewarding compared with other methods.

For those interested to master local SEO, we have a coaching program that’s guaranteed to take your skill to the next level. We’ve had 7,000 students - and counting - over the years, including service professionals and business owners who wanted to boost their presence on Google.

You can grow your business, open new opportunities, and attract more HVAC customers than ever before. Contact us and we’ll show you how you can run your own SEO campaign now.