Get More HVAC Leads With These 11 Low-Cost Ideas

Establishing multiple sources for new HVAC customers is a must, whether you’re just getting your business off the ground or trying to grow it.

If you know where to look for homeowners in need of HVAC services and how to communicate with them, you can even compete with big-budget HVAC companies.

We’ll help you choose the most effective ways to get potential customers—and ways to help them find you organically—with examples from experienced HVAC business owners we know.

Here are 11 low-cost strategies for generating HVAC leads through digital marketing, word of mouth, and traditional advertising.

Once you’ve decided what your USP is, include it in all your marketing materials (like your flyers, website, and social media profiles) so potential customers know why they should work with you.

You can also set a maximum drive time between appointments and allow longer buffer times between appointment bookings to give your techs enough time to prepare for the job.

To increase your chances of getting leads from your online booking form, you should:

• Add a booking button with an eye-catching color to the very top of your website and Facebook Business profile.
• Use action-oriented text on your booking button, like ‘Book Now’ or ‘Get a Free Estimate.’
• Keep your booking form short by only asking the questions you need to book a job.
• Make your unique selling point clear on your homepage so people know why they should choose your business.

The more positive reviews you have on these online listings, the better. When you finish an HVAC job, send a text or email with a link from Google, Bing, or Yelp that instructs customers to leave a review.

Jump to: Collecting positive reviews from customers

These are pay-per-click ads (PPC ads), meaning that you pay when a lead clicks on your HVAC ad to learn more about your business or to book your services.

To create a Google ad that stands out from the rest, come up with a few three- to four-word headlines that include the unique services you provide.

Run Google Local Services Ads

The main difference between Google Search Ads and Google Local Services Ads is that Local Services Ads only target people in your service area, and you only pay for leads that contact you.

Local Services Ads appear above Google Search ads and unpaid results. These ads include your contact information, operating hours, and an average rating from your customers.

For example, a potential lead who searches for “furnace repair in Chicago” may see something like this:

You also get a Google Guaranteed badge, which shows every HVAC lead that you’ve been vetted by Google as a trustworthy business.

When a lead clicks on your Local Services ad, they’ll see all your business details, reviews, and a ‘Call’ button that lets them contact you directly from the ad:

Cover your SEO basics

1. Make a list of search terms (aka keywords) that people would search to find your business. Start with region-specific keywords like “AC repair chicago” so you’re competing with a smaller, local pool of companies.
2. Write these keywords into your page titles and meta descriptions. Only use them where they make sense—stuffing your keywords everywhere doesn’t increase your chances of appearing on search engines.
3. Add your contact information to every page of your website, including your company name, address, and phone number. On top of helping customers contact you, this tells search engines you’re a legitimate business. 
4. Keep your website design simple and make it easy to navigate on desktop and mobile.
5. Create location-specific pages to attract website visitors from the areas that you service. Service pages (like one for your ductless split installs or furnace repair) attract more leads looking for help with one specific task.

All these basic SEO practices will show search engines that your website—and by extension, your business—is legitimate, trustworthy, and helpful to customers.

Write useful content for your customers

To attract even more leads to your website through Google, create content that customers would want to see from an HVAC company.

By writing informative articles that help customers solve common HVAC problems, you can attract more leads to your website—this is called content marketing. Here’s what that looks like:

This article from Thomas J. Fannon & Sons, an HVAC business in Virginia, appears on Google when you search “why is my furnace leaking water”:

This page showed up on Google because the article does a great job of answering the question. It’s also because the company’s website is full of other helpful content.

After the article answers that question, it indicates that Thomas J. Fannon & Sons is “a trusted provider of ductless split systems.” In that sentence, they include a link to their ductless split systems page where customers can request a free estimate.

If your website provides enough value to keep visitors on your website, customers will consider your business a trusted source of information—and a trusted place to hire an HVAC contractor from. 

Successful content marketing takes a lot of work. Consider investing in a freelancer or agency for SEO services to help you create helpful content and generate HVAC leads.

Then, your customer can easily share a referral link with people they know and help you get a new HVAC lead.

Jobber automatically prompts your clients to share a booking link with their friends and family, so you never miss an opportunity to get great leads.

Whether you choose to focus on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or Twitter, create posts regularly so that potential customers can see you’re active.

To show you run a reliable and knowledgeable HVAC team, you could post:

• Photos of your HVAC techs at the jobsite
• Before and after images of HVAC installs
• Advice videos that help homeowners solve simple HVAC problems
• Short vlogs of your typical workday
• Relatable HVAC memes to show your sense of humor

Why not just promote your services? Posts that are informative or fun are more likely to keep customers coming back to your profile—and they show, rather than tell, why your business is great.

Just be sure you include a link to your business website or online booking tool somewhere on your profile.

Run social media ads

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn all offer advertising options that let you target your ideal clients, control your budget, monitor your results, and make quick changes.

Here are the types of ads you can launch on each major platform:

• Facebook helps you choose the best kind of campaign to run based on a specific objective (like filling an online booking form on your website). From Meta’s Ads Manager, you set a budget and target audiences based on interests, location, and more.

• Sponsored posts on Facebook and Instagram will expose your existing posts to new audiences. Pick the posts that have the most engagement (likes, comments, and shares), then start with a small budget (like $5–$10 per day) and see how effective they are at attracting leads.
• Twitter offers 20+ ad formats. You can customize your ads for different goals, and also choose your audience and budget just like on other platforms.

Here’s where you should add your QR code to get new leads:

• Your HVAC business cards
• Email signature
• Flyers, door hangers, and brochures
• The back of your truck or van when you create vehicle wraps or decals

Use a QR code generator to create a code that takes leads to the work request form or contact page on your website.

Getting HVAC leads takes a lot of work and experimentation—but it’s easier when you understand your target customers, focus on your existing customer relationships, and advertise on the right channels.

Start out small and see what’s working best for your business. Once you know how to get HVAC jobs consistently, you’re set up for success.

Originally published in May 2021. Last updated on November 15, 2023.