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Have you created a Facebook Business Page for your HVAC business yet? How about an Instagram or LinkedIn profile? A few years ago, most home services professionals were indifferent to social media-at least for business purposes. These days, not so much.
The truth is, just about every HVAC marketing plan should include a social media strategy. Why? Because social media is one of the most reliable ways to reach customers.
In this article, we'll give you a few social media statistics that prove social media should be a part of your business strategy. Then, we'll share six social media best practices you can use to boost your HVAC marketing.
Social Media Continues to Dominate Our Lives
How popular are social sites like Facebook and Instagram? Unbelievably popular! Here are nine statistics that will help you understand the magnitude of these platforms:
- 57.6% of the world's population uses social media, which translates to 4.55B people.
- The average person spends 2 hours and 27 minutes on social platforms per day.
- Facebook is the most popular social network with 2.895B users, followed by YouTube at 2.291B users and WhatsApp at 2B users.
- 64% of Instagram's 1.395B users are under 34. Also, 83% of Instagrammers use the platform to discover new products and services.
- TikTok reached the 1B monthly active users mark for the first time in September 2021. 45% of the platform's user base is between 18 and 24 years old.
- LinkedIn claims nearly 800M active users in 200 different countries and regions worldwide. 60% of said users are between 25 and 34 years old.
- 63% of consumers expect brands to offer customer service via social media.
- 71% of small-to-mid-sized businesses market themselves on social media. 52% of these brands post at least once per day, if not more.
- 71% of customers who have a positive experience with a brand will recommend their products and/or services to their social media followers.
As you can see, social media is an important part of most people's lives and having a social media presence is important for a small business. Fortunately, you can use this to your advantage as an HVAC professional! Here's how...
Social Media Best Practices to Boost Your HVAC Marketing
There's no doubt about it; social media can help you market your HVAC business to new customers. The question is, how do you use these platforms effectively?
Here are six social media best practices to help you get started:
1. Choose the Right Social Media Platform
There are A TON of different social media platforms out there. You need to choose the ones that will work best for your company. How do you do that? Answer these two questions:
- Which Social Platforms Do My Customers Use? Don't waste your time with Twitter if all of your customers are on Facebook. Find out which social media networks your customers use, then focus your efforts on those platforms. How do you do that? It's simple: just ask your customers which sites they enjoy using.
- Which Social Platforms Do My Competitors Use? Another way to learn about your customers' social media preferences is to analyze your competitors' approach to these platforms. Chances are, if other HVAC companies in your area use Facebook and LinkedIn, it's because they've found success with these sites.
We suggest starting with one or two platforms-even if your customers enjoy using three or four of them. The last thing you want to do is spread yourself too thin. It's better to crush it on a couple of sites than it is to achieve mediocre results on a dozen.
Plus, you can always expand your brand's social footprint in the future.
HVAC Social Media Post Example
Based in Sacramento, CA, Big Mountain Heating and Air Conditioning Inc. regularly uses Facebook and Instagram to connect with their customers.
2. Create a Social Media Calendar
Have you chosen a couple of social media platforms to assist your HVAC marketing?
Now, it's time to create a social media calendar to help you maintain a consistent posting schedule. Don't worry; it's straightforward. All you have to do is:
- Get your hands on a calendar. It could be the one on your phone, the one that comes with your free Gmail account, or the one hanging in your kitchen-doesn't matter.
- Decide what kind of content you'll post to each platform and when you'll post it. (We'll talk more about the right kinds of content for HVAC businesses in the next section.)
- Publish content on sites like Facebook and Instagram (or whichever other networks you've decided to use) when the calendar you've created tells you to.
To make things even easier, invest in a social media management app like Hootsuite or Buffer. These tools will allow you to schedule content weeks in advance. Then they'll publish the content for you at the predetermined time, so you don't have to worry about it.
There's one last thing we need to talk about regarding your social media calendar: the best times of day to post to your platforms of choice. This quick guide will help:
- Facebook: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday between 9 am and 1 pm
- Instagram: Monday through Friday between 11 am and 12 pm
- Twitter: Wednesday from 9 am to 3 pm, Tuesday and Thursday from 9 am to 11 am
- LinkedIn: Tuesday and Thursday from 9 am to 12 pm, Wednesday from 9 am to 2 pm
These are just guidelines, of course. You'll need to experiment to find the best posting times for your HVAC business. When you do, you'll generate more engagement with your followers.
HVAC Social Media Post Example
Pyramid Heating and Cooling, a Portland, OR-based company, posts engaging content on Instagram. This post aims to educate followers on an important topic.
3. Publish Compelling Content
It doesn't matter which platforms you use or how tight your social media calendar is. If you don't post content your followers want to see, you'll never engage them.
Before publishing anything on Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc., make sure it's relevant and chock-full of value. How do you do this? Here are a few content ideas and social media tips to help:
- HVAC Maintenance Tips: Teach your target audience how to care for their HVAC systems. Doing so will demonstrate your expertise and increase your authority. Then, when these folks encounter a problem they can't handle on their own, you'll be the first company they call because you've already earned their trust.
- Giveaways & Special Deals: We don't know exactly who your customers are. But we know they like to save money, which is why giveaways and special deals are great content ideas for social media. Offer your followers a gift card if they're one of the first five people to share your post on Facebook. Or a free tune-up for the first 10 people who sign up for your company's annual HVAC maintenance agreement.
- Customer Testimonials: Has your company received any glowing testimonials in recent weeks? Use them! Ask for permission from the customer who gave you the testimonial. Then publish a picture of it on your social media channels. This will help you build trust with the rest of your followers and book more service appointments.
- Company Updates: What's new with your company? Maybe you started offering a new service. Perhaps you hired a new employee. Or maybe it's been 10 years since you started your small business. All of these things warrant a post on social media. As a bonus, they will also help you diversify your content so that your followers don't get bored.
- Visuals of Your Work: Finally, show the world what your company can do. Post before and after pictures of your work. Or one of those cool timelapse videos. Or a photo of your employees completing a particularly tricky job. Again, these posts will help you build trust with your followers and make more sales.
One more thing: post photos and videos whenever possible. They're much more engaging. In fact, a tweet with a video gets 10x more engagement than those without, while Facebook posts that include images get 2.3x more engagement than their photoless counterparts.
HVAC Social Media Post Example
Total Air Inc. posts tons of engaging content for its followers in St. Petersburg, FL. Here is an example of how they incorporate customer testimonials into their social media strategy.
4. Use Hashtags
According to Hootsuite, a hashtag is: "A word or phrase preceded by the pound symbol. On social media, it serves as an indication (for users and algorithms) that a piece of content relates to a specific topic or belongs to a category. Hashtags help make content discoverable..."
By including hashtags in your posts, you'll give social media users a chance to discover your content when they search these platforms. As such, they can really increase the reach of your posts and help introduce your HVAC brand to potential customers.
Take time to research popular hashtags in your area and industry. You can do this by studying your competition and with a tool like Hashtagify.me. Once you have a list of potential hashtags, start using them in your posts to drive traffic.
HVAC Social Media Post Example
Do we spy a future technician? 👀 Looks like someone really understands how important it is to certify a heating unit #FamilySafe! pic.twitter.com/zrRAmW8a9B
— Morris-Jenkins (@MorrisJenkins) December 30, 2021
Morris-Jenkins has been serving customers in the Charlotte, NC, area since 1958. Their social media team does a great job posting fun content to boost brand awareness and promoting it with hashtags.
5. Engage With Your Social Following
Do you talk with your followers or at them? You should definitely be doing the former.
Your social media posts should be a conversation, not a one-way message board. Why? Because message boards are boring. On the other hand, conversations engage social media users and will make them want to interact with your HVAC brand.
The question is, how do you engage people on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms? It's simple: you ask questions in your posts. You respond to comments and direct messages. You participate in the online community around your brand as much as possible.
If possible, tag your customers in your content from time to time, too. And like and comment on their posts. These things will help endear customers to your company.
It's called social media for a reason. When creating your HVAC marketing plan for social media websites and apps, don't forget about customer engagement.
HVAC Social Media Post Example
Aire Texas, a Dallas-based HVAC company, engages its customers by asking them questions and using custom imagery on their social channel.
6. Learn About the Latest Social Media Trends
Last but certainly not least, make sure you stay on top of social media trends. That way, you can implement winning strategies before they become old news.
The easiest way to do that is to keep reading the Scorpion blog (pssst...sign up for our newsletter in the box to the right) and sign up for social media newsletters. Here are a few that we recommend subscribing to:
- Buffer
- Sprout Social
- Social Media Examiner
Once you hear about a new trend, don't be afraid to experiment with it. You never know, you might stumble across something that really elevates your social media activity.
HVAC Social Media Post Example
@familyhvac Mass Save has TONS of rebate options AND they offer a 0% interest HEAT Loan!!! Many customers have no idea the incentives they have to upgrade! #fyp ♬ yall better subscribe to berleezy - zee or chanel idc
Ask anybody, TikTok is going to be HUGE in 2022. Jump on this trend and start using the platform, just like Family Heating and Cooling from Westport, MA.
Improve Your HVAC Social Media Content
There you have it, six social media best practices to boost your HVAC social media marketing. Implement them, and you'll start to see success on popular social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Strapped for time? Partner with Scorpion, and we'll help you design and implement a winning social media marketing strategy. We've helped over 14,000 other home services professionals promote their companies. We'd love to help yours learn more, too. Interested? Let's talk!
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