7 Online Marketing Mistakes HVAC Companies Should Avoid

Has your HVAC company fallen into the trap of making costly, all-too-common digital marketing mistakes?, Failed to answer a negative review on social media? or upgrade to a mobile-friendly website design? All this may not have been any issue for your business years ago, but times have changed.

If you’re really serious about making this year, a record growth year for your HVAC company, your digital marketing plan will have to change. You need to specifically avoid the following digital marketing mistakes at all cost:

1. Investing your marketing dollars in the wrong place
2. Having a slow, unsecured, or non-mobile-friendly website
3. Targeting the wrong audience
4. Not handling Social Media well
5. Not knowing and conveying what makes your business different
6. Playing havoc with your digital marking budget
7. Unable to measure results online.

Get a free digital marketing and social media marketing analysis of your current campaign or contact us today to improve your HVAC company’s visibility online, on Google & on social media networks. You could also schedule a Free Strategy call with us today.

The Worst Online Marketing Mistakes You Can Make in 2019 and beyond.

1. Investing Your marketing dollars in the wrong places

Poor digital marketing is not only embarrassing to a company but it’s deadly. Your competitors are constantly looking for ways to eat your customers, and everything from your reputation to your rank online is constantly at risk.

In the midst of so much behavioral change of consumers, investing in the same marketing methods of the past is akin to hoping your 2004 Subaru will one day run like a BMW. It’s just not going to happen.

Why? Just think about this:

• 46% of Americans use mobile as their primary research tool
• 92% of consumers want to read online reviews before purchasing a product
• Consumers are much more likely to type into a Google search than check a business directory

Even today it’s quite common for an HVAC company to spend over half its marketing budget on ads in the Yellow Pages. However, Forbes reports that, it’s become rather difficult to see a return on this type of investment, and many business that invest in it, never break even.

Is what you’re investing in today keeping up with what’s happening tomorrow? If not, this could be a sign you’re making a bad digital marketing mistake.

Solution:

HVAC businesses no longer have a one-size fits all digital marketing solution. Not only are traditional marketing forms outdated, but new online marketing methods continue to appear at a rapid pace. We suggest that you:

• Keep tabs on how & where you invest your marketing dollars
• Analyse and diversify your current digital marketing portfolio
• Aggressively track which methods are working best for your business.

The top channels HVAC companies invested in this year, were pay per click (PPC) ads, social media, and review generation. All these channels are necessary for growth.

2. Having a slow, unsecured & non-mobile optimized website

The most successful HVAC contractors started the year by taking an aggressive look at their existing website. They used data to track and dissect their analytics, observing consumer behavior to reinvent their sites to be mobile-optimized, fast, secure, and offered an amazing visitor experience.

83% of mobile users say that having a seamless experience across all devices (mobile, tablets, laptops & desktops) is very important. By testing your mobile experience online, you can measure how responsive your mobile site is and how well it will work on a small screen.

What you could further do is, slide out your phone and pull up your website. And look for the following:

• Is your contact information clearly displayed at the top of the page?
• Are the graphics, links, and images formatted correctly?
• Can a user easily navigate the site from their phone?
• And most importantly—is it FAST? (are the pages loading fast?)

Mobile site speed is crucial for HVAC companies to understand their success online. Knowing how users navigate your website, no matter what device they’re on, can help you overcome even the worst digital marketing mistakes, such as wasting a user’s time on a poorly designed website.

Even if you have the most fascinating animations, videos, and high-quality images on your site, if your page speed is slow, it can have a negative impact on your bottom line.

As a budding HVAC company, you shouldn’t forget that page speed really DOES affect your ranking online! If your page can’t load in time, users are put off and your site will rank lower because of it. The way to the future is by taking Google’s mobile-first approach.

Is your website secure? If it isn’t already, watch out! Google penalizes websites by labeling them unsecure. As a result, consumers are much less likely to make a purchase on your site, and would avoid visiting it altogether. This is a very common HVAC digital marketing mistake, and it can turn out to be costly for your business.

Solution:

Here’s what you need to check, and know what to do, to avoid more mistakes!

• Check your website speed at PageSpeed Insights
• Check your mobile-friendliness with Google Tools
• Check your domain authority using Moz Open Site Explorer
• Check your local listings using Moz Local
• Check your site security with Why No Padlock

When you create or manage a website for your business, try to make the route from website visit to purchase as fast, easy, and as smooth as possible, because this has the potential to shorten your sales funnel and increase your ROI. Consumers want websites that meet their list of demands:

• Easy navigation – we saw a 5% increase in on-site goal conversions after improving our client’s site navigation
• Fast load times – 75% of users abandon a website where a page takes more than 3 seconds to load
• Mobile optimized– 90% of mobile users want easy & swift access to websites
• Site security – Over 42% of the sites found on the first page of Google are HTTPS
• Review & social media schema – 76% percent of consumers claim that positive reviews encourage them to trust a local business much more

3. Targeting the Wrong Audience

It’s baffling to see how many HVAC contractors spend valuable marketing dollars on PPC ads, mailers, or even email marketing campaigns to target just about anyone in their local service area—including renters, teenagers, and everyone else in-between! The end result is, being able to reach only a handful of viable leads who may cost too much per lead to be worth what you spent in upfront marketing.

Have you put all of your trust in an outdated marketing funnel and are expecting better outcomes? Relying on awareness alone means risking your marketing spend on poorly defined targets – including people who never ever intend to make a purchase.

If your service is for a specific type of person (such as millennial homeowners), you will need to understand that customer journey. That is, exactly how that consumer goes from the passive reader of an ad or a web page, to that of a loyal customer.

Evaluating the customer journey can help you understand what your potential customers are really thinking before they choose to buy, or not to buy, your product.

The traditional style marketing funnel is straightforward and calculated. It says: Person sees, expresses interest, desires, and takes action. If only we could all be so decisive!

Today’s marketing funnel shows that the way consumers behave before making a purchase is less defined. In the new model, the path consumers take from view to purchase is filled with twists, turns, and winding roads.

One of the worst digital marketing mistakes you can make, is really not knowing, how to target your audience correctly. Consumers are putting in a lot of effort into research & consideration before making any purchase. And you may end up sitting in that loop forever if you don’t have the right marketing approach to reel them in and make them loyal, repeat customers.

Solution:

To avoid the mistake of stacking up wasted marketing spend, successful HVAC contractors study client behavior and demographics to define their target audience accurately. Before you spend a single dime more on marketing, ask yourself:

• How am I tracking consumer behavior?
• Where does my target audience spend their time?
• How does my target audience use the web to find my business?
• Do I know my target audience’s demographics (age, avg. household income, location?)
• What social media platforms does my target audience live on?

HVAC companies are focusing heavily on analytics to understand organic search traffic and how to improve it. This way, their digital marketing strategy can be on point to hone in on their target audience and generate higher quality leads.

Get a free digital marketing and social media marketing analysis of your current campaign or contact us today to improve your HVAC company’s visibility online, on Google & on social media networks. You could also schedule a Free Strategy call with us today.

4. Not handling Social Media well

It is estimated that customers spend 30-40% more when companies actively engage with customers over social media channels. For businesses who understand the value in forming 1-on-1 connections with customers, responding to positive and negative reviews swiftly, offering exclusive promotions, and providing support over social are bound to succeed.

When upwards of 7/10 consumers expect your business to have a flourishing social media presence, one of the most damaging things you can do to your business online is fail to show up in front of them. To potential customers, an outdated or missing social media account sends a signal that your company:

• Lacks resources
• Is not responsive in communications
• Is difficult to find
• Is closed or outdated
• Has poor customer service
• Is unreliable

Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and even LinkedIn can be used to advertise your company, observe consumer behavior, and build your following online. All this, in the hopes of generating more sales and building recurring customers.

Businesses expect a heavy push from consumers to communicate on social media. New Platforms such as Nextdoor are taking reviews and word-of-mouth seriously, and it will be up to you to learn what social media platforms are right for your HVAC company.

5. Not knowing and not being able to convey, what makes your business different

Which company would you go with: “Local HVAC Company in Oregon” or “Oregon’s Leading HVAC Company Since 1997”?

How you market your business online tells a lot about your business. It shows potential customers your unique values, authority and even the personality of your employees. It conveys what the experience will be like, to hire your company’s services, even before your customer has ever met you in person.

Most importantly, digital marketing is an opportunity to show customers what sets your company apart from your competition.

Businesses often advertise based on: cost, convenience & quality. The following differentiating factors can help you discover what sets your business apart from others:

• How long have I been in business for?
• What locations does my company service?
• Do our employees hold special certifications?
• Does our company have special awards or recognitions?
• Do we offer specialized services, coupons, or special offers?
• How do my customers get a better experience with our company?

When it comes to your business, avoid the mistake of generic advertising. The more effort you put into presenting your business well online, the better your chances are of winning a phone call!

Solution:

HVAC digital marketing mistakes often stem from the fact of not knowing how to manage your business’s presence online. Your business is unique, and you should advertise it as such. If done correctly, you can build trust, gain authority & form relationships with potential customers online.

To advertise authority and gain trust, you should consider taking the following steps:

• Place positive reviews on your site with review generation
• Advertise recent awards, certifications, and achievements
• Insert popular industry affiliations on the homepage of your website

Relationships are built, when consumers see that you stand by a network of trust, authority and endorsements. Some digital marketing mistakes are easy to make, but failing to build credibility shouldn’t be one of them.

6. Playing havoc with your digital marketing budget

Spending on digital marketing can be intimidating, especially when you don’t have a physical advertising elements like flyers or brochures, or when things like SEO strategy can take months to prove their value. For small businesses entering the digital marketing world, crunching the numbers for the first time can be quite intimidating.

In an effort to save money, many businesses fail to invest enough in digital marketing to see valuable results long-term. Many businesses stop short of developing a marketing budget that will bring them truly valuable results.

Solution:

A good rule of thumb for planning your digital marketing budget is to set goals in advance for what you hope to achieve. You should monitor your results each month to test what is working and what needs to be improved. Gradual results gain momentum over time. Most digital marketing efforts won’t produce overnight results, but with the right strategy & consistency, you can find yourself amidst serious growth.

To learn more about the cost of digital marketing, you should know:

• How much does inbound marketing cost for my small company?
• How much do Facebook ads cost?
• How much do YouTube ads cost?
• Is PPC worth it for small HVAC companies?
• How are small businesses using digital marketing to thrive?

7. Unable to measure results online

Do you know how much revenue was actually generated from your last advertising or marketing campaign?

What about the number of people who visited your site in the last month, or the no. of people, who clicked through your ad to see your website?

Have you installed call tracking?

Analytics are critical for understanding how well your HVAC business is performing, but many small businesses simply avoid it. Studies have shown that less than 35% of small businesses use Web site analytics & call tracking and some don’t track anything at all!

When 95% of consumers now turn to the internet to find their local business, you can’t afford not to analyze data-driven insights about their behavior online.

As an HVAC company, you may be interested in using Google Analytics, Google tag manager, or other analytics reporting tools to track and measure your success online. Measuring your results online subsequently helps you to refine your digital marketing budget and spend only in areas that best serve your business interests.

The Number One Digital Marketing Mistake: Hiring the Wrong Digital Marketing Agency

Digital marketing mistakes are easy to make, but with the right help they can be avoided. If you would rather focus on the day-to-day of your business but still want to keep ahead of competition and stay relevant in today’s market, hire a digital marketing agency that has specific industry knowledge and a portfolio of success stories that can be openly shared and discussed.

Get a free digital marketing and social media marketing analysis of your current campaign or contact us today to improve your HVAC company’s visibility online, on Google & on social media networks.

You could also schedule a Free Strategy call with us today.

We at Reactive Media Plus, understand the customers needs and formulate an effective digital & social media strategy for them and plan out the actions that they need to take in order to achieve their goals and help them generate more leads.