“How to increase HVAC sales?“
This question may have plagued your thoughts many times before as an HVAC contractor. You’ve also tried searching for HVAC marketing ideas in an attempt to question.
Coming up with a brilliant HVAC marketing strategy takes work. Unlike other business models, HVAC customers are keen to scrutinize contractors to ensure they’re getting the best deal. That’s normal. After all, installing a new air-conditioning system or heating unit is not cheap, so their sentiment is natural.
So, how do you go about marketing your HVAC company? More importantly, how do you stand out from the competition in winning the hearts of undecided HVAC customers? The answer lies in branded marketing.
The best HVAC marketing strategy you could implement is branded marketing. Keep reading and we’ll explain how it works in this article.
What is HVAC Marketing?
What is HVAC Marketing?Let’s say you have an HVAC company and want to attract more customers. A conventional approach would be to advertise on local radio stations, send out flyers and put ads in the local paper. In other words, you hope potential customers will come across these advertisements and call for your services.
With a branded HVAC marketing strategy, you tell the story and showcase the qualities that set you above your competition. This can be done by:
- Building a solid social media presence
- Developing a well-established website with strong local SEO
- Designing eye-catching HVAC branding materials (logo, brand kit, car wraps, etc.)
- Creating a set of company core values and guiding principles
- Running a mass media campaign that tells your brand story
- Possibly, even networking with other businesses to spread your brand awareness
A branded HVAC marketing strategy helps in presenting yourself as a trusted and knowledgeable HVAC provider. This attracts potential customers, wins their business and improves your bottom line.
There’s just one caveat: you can do all of the above and still inevitably fail. Why?
While they introduce a more sophisticated level of HVAC branding, they fail to capture the real essence of branded marketing. We’ll share how it works below. Still, what remains the best solution to ramp up your HVAC marketing strategy is through the help of marketing strategists.
Look no further if you’re looking for a master strategist to help build your perfect HVAC marketing strategy. Wizard of Sales® has helped countless HVAC and residential home service entrepreneurs win their industries through strategizing and cultivating culture. Book a call.
What Is Branded Marketing?
Don’t get me wrong. Branded HVAC marketing means consistently promoting your HVAC company’s unique qualities and values through online and offline channels. This covers everything from your company’s logo and web design to the tone of voice used in all customer communications.
Supposedly, branded marketing helps you carve out a distinct image in the minds of potential customers. Branding should let you highlight what sets your HVAC company 600 ft. above the Sea of Sameness. Ultimately, it must give your customers a reason to choose you.
However, that’s not usually the case now, is it? Because if solid branding is everything, then well-established HVAC companies should have a steady stream of customers coming their way. That rarely happens.
The problem is that many businesses focus mainly on the following kinds of branded marketing:
Company Name Branding
Sometimes, businesses fixate on the power of their company name too much. They leverage the popularity of their business name to improve their brand awareness and recognition. That means creating easily recognizable slogans, logos, colors and packaging materials to associate the business with.
The best you can do is create a catchy name, logo and taglines— how it catches on is beyond you. Look at companies like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola; they do a great job leveraging their business name and taglines. While this is good for household HVAC brands like Morris-Jenkins, smaller contractors lack this privilege.
Individual Branding
Individual BrandingAnother HVAC marketing strategy that companies use to distinguish themselves is individual branding. This entails giving each of your solutions an independent brand name. Tech brands like Apple are the most notorious users of this strategy. They devised a catchy phrase to denote each product, like the iPhone, iPad and iMac.
If you offer bundled pricing for your sets of solutions, individual branding is a good strategy as long as you come up with catchy names.
Attitude Branding
Some HVAC companies rely heavily on their business’s disposition in the market. The entire spiel of their strategy is the feeling, attitude or manner they market the products to reflect the company. Brands like Nike use this to describe their products as not only sports shoes but the epitome of healthy lifestyles.
Attitude branding enables your business to connect emotionally with your business. For the HVAC business, you could opt for a sense of assurance and reliability for the customers’ comfort. Another is establishing family-oriented imagery reflected through your marketing.
Brand Extension Branding
Look at most clothing companies. They usually begin with clothes and then venture out to shoes, accessories, and other articles of clothing. This strategy is called brand extension branding. You can observe the same practice in the HVAC industry.
Morris-Jenkins has both HVAC function and plumbing in its arsenal. While the product varies from one another, the identity created is unique. They’re set apart from solely HVAC contractors and plumbers. This strategy, however, is dedicated to those who:
- Have the budget for expansion
- Have the expertise to broaden service offer
You need both aspects to pursue brand extension branding, otherwise, the prospect of expansion will be too heavy a burden.
Private-label Branding
Private labeling gives small brands the ability to compete with larger retailers. This strategy has found a lot of success in the retail industry. One example is Kroger which produces cost-effective and efficient options for specific food products.
In the HVAC industry, you may offer a specific brand or classification of HVAC units to customers instead of the usual options. For instance, you create a persona or branding around efficiency where you only sell high SEER or efficient units.
All five branded strategies are practical and I suggest you find a way to integrate them into your business. However, they are NOT enough if you’re dealing with a large group of undecided buyers. Check below how to get around these types of buyers:
The Branded Strategy in Marketing – Selling to a Large Group of Undecided Buyers
In your HVAC business, it’s helpful to implement all kinds of branding to give yourself a sense of identity. However, undecided buyers or referred to as “marketed leads,” need a different form of nudging to buy. Marketed leads have yet to gain experience with your business, and they’re after the provider with the best deal possible.
The best branding you could do is instill confidence that you’re trustworthy and make sure your solutions stand out.
Instilling Confidence in the Customers
The first time you meet with a marketed lead, the basis of their selection will always be founded on price. In other words, the company that offers the lowest price will be the best brand in their opinion. You ought to change that. Shift the basis of their decision away from price and into value.
The best branding HVAC marketing strategy is introducing your unique value proposition— I call it your perfectly fair competitive advantage. You need to offer them an irresistible and offensively huge value that’s easy to say “yes” to.
In finding your unique value proposition, the secret is knowing your customer’s deepest underlying felt needs. Tailor your solutions to their specific needs, offer competitive pricing that justifies your value and you get the sale.
Standing Out From the Crowd (Tsunami of Competitors)
Always keep in mind that you’ll have a tsunami of competitors in the HVAC industry. Large undecided buyers don’t care which they would choose as long as the price is right. That’s why you get their eyes off price and towards value. Your branding (or attention to weight, never price) will be your differentiator from the Sea of Sameness.
In HVAC, branded marketing is important because it influences the knowledge and trust of your undecided customers to your business. Your branding will keep their eyes on your business and avoid the tsunami of other options in the marketplace.
A branded HVAC marketing strategy is the key to distinguishing you from the competition and building trust in your business. Showcasing your unique value proposition through branding helps close undecided buyers who are on the fence about their HVAC contractor.
Look at your branding: Do your solutions effectively convey the expertise and value for your customer’s HVAC needs? If not, Wizard of Sales® can help you create the perfect HVAC marketing strategy. Ryan Chute is a master strategist that’s helped countless businesses build a strong branding and effective selling culture. Book a call.