Google My Business Listing
These simple HVAC marketing tips will make you a “HVAC Superhero” in your local community. Your company’s Google My Business listing is becoming more important these days. Google is putting more and more emphasis on your profile. So, when is the last time you’ve really looked at your Google My Business listing?
What Should I Do?
Google wants to see activity on your GMB page. So, it will help your profile by doing the following:
- Make sure your basic business information is correct: Company name, website, address, and phone number. Tip: (Google in 2018 began allowing two phone numbers on your GMB listing, which now allows you to use a “trackable #” and your main number. It’s a great way to see how many calls and leads are coming from your profile.
- Add pictures to your page on a regular basis. Remember to properly name your picture, the internet search engines cannot see pictures only their alt tag description. Example: You have a picture of all your employees, tag it ABC-Air-Conditioning-your city-your state.
- Provide a brief description about your business under the “about”section. Tell your potential customers what your company stands for, a brief history, and what services you provide. Tip: Here is a great place to use some “keywords” about your business and the geographic areas your serve. (Air conditioning, heating, ac repair, furnace repair, towns and cities you serve, and even local community names)
- Google Posts: Google allows you to create a post on your GMB profile. You can create an offer, a contest or giveaway, or even a “feel good” post about your business.
- Service Areas: This is extremely important for heating and air conditioning businesses. HVAC companies provide their services at the home or business of their customer. Tip: Hide your business address on GMB and list the towns or cities you service. It will show as a map on your listing, so your potential customers will know if you service their area.
Social Media Profiles
Social media has become a part of the fabric of our society. Your customer is addicted to their smart phone and is immersed in the world of social media. As a local heating and air conditioning company in your community, you need to be active on social media. Go where your customers go!
You may or may not be active personally on social media, but your customers or potential customers definitely are using it. So, if you are not a big social media junky……no worries! You can start with by creating one company social profile and go from there. You may ask, what social network or networks should our company be concerned with? There are more and more choices today, but Facebook still dominates the social media world. Facebook’s fastest growing demographic is the older baby boomer generation. Tip: They own homes and typically have money for home improvements.
So Which Social Media Profiles?
Facebook is still the market leader, but many other social sites are catching up fast! You can’t go wrong by making it the focus of your social media efforts.
Instagram; which is owned by Facebook, is out pacing it’s parent company in new monthly sign ups. It has been tagged as the “young” person’s social media platform of choice…..it’s great for quick pictures or stories. Remember the “millennials” are getting older……they are the 2nd largest demographic segment in the US after the baby boomers and are projected to overtake the “baby boomers” in 2019…..they are becoming your new target market!
Twitter has a proven track record, and is a viable platform for HVAC companies. It’s a great way to send out quick messages or specials to your customers or potential new ones. You can even answer questions potential or existing customers may have about your services.
YouTube has become extremely popular by all ages, and YES it is considered a social media platform. Did you know? It is the 2nd most used search engine after Google, and P.S. it’s owned by Google…..so it’s important! Tip: YouTube is great place to post short videos, especially “how to” videos. Consumers are constantly searching for problems associated with the air conditioning system and how to fix it. You can quickly become a trusted source of information. They will look at your business as an authority for heating and air problems.
LinkedIn has grown rapidly in the last couple of years. It caters primarily to businesses doing business with other businesses or B2B……So, if your heating and air conditioning company does commercial work, building a LinkedIn profile could be well worth your time.
Our recommendation is to “start small” and you can grow your social presence one post at a time. Have fun with it, social media for hvac companies is supposed to be fun!
HVAC Social Media Sites:
Here is a quick list of recommended social platforms for HVAC Contractors:
- YouTube
Reputation Management
So what is reputation management for a HVAC company and what does it involve? Today your company has a ton of information on the internet. Some of it is correct and some of it is far from the truth. As a business owner, you want to make sure you are “painting the correct picture” for your customer. There are a gazillion sites on the web that have your information. It’s important to make sure your information is correct!
What Information you say?
- Name, Address, and Phone Number (Often referred to as “NAP”)
- Website
- Business Hours
- Geographic Areas Served
- Years in Business
What Sites are Important?
Like we said above, there are a gazillion websites or directories with your information on the internet. There are various forms of software that will help populate and correct the information online. We have found there are a few main ones that your business should be concerned with, which can effect your online rankings.
- Google My Business – It’s #1 by far!!!
- Facebook and any other social sites you post to regularly.
- Bing/Yahoo
- Better Business Bureau
- Yellow Pages
- Yelp
Reviews, Reviews, Reviews….
Reviews are a hug part of your online reputation today. Consumers who are unfamiliar with a particular service company are searching on the internet and reading reviews about your HVAC company and your competitors business. In the years past, would-be customers would consult a friend or neighbor to find out who to call for air conditioning or heating service……or we would look up companies in the yellow pages.
Fast forward to 2019
So, what do we do when our A/C breaks, and we don’t have an existing relationship with a local HVAC company? We still may phone a friend, but our habits have changed dramatically in recent years. Consumers today will post something on social media, “the modern day word of mouth”:
Can anyone recommend a good air conditioning company?
Once they receive recommendations, the consumer will do a little online research. Now is when online reviews have so much importance.
Here are the important things a potential buyer is looking for:
- How many reviews does your HVAC business have? Tip: The more you can have the better, studies have shown consumers will downgrade your business if you have less than 30.
- What is your company’s star rating? (5.0 is the best on Google)
- Do you have recent reviews?
- Have you responded to reviews? Tip: You should respond to all reviews, but most importantly respond to the bad reviews! Consumers understand no business is perfect, but it is best to respond, be tactful, tell your side the story as to what happened, and apologize.
The Simple Things Can Have a Huge Impact!
As a trusted local heating and air provider to your community, take the time to review and update your Google My Business listing on a regular basis. Take a look around the internet…..Google your company and see what you find. Keep an eye on your online reviews. Make sure you are responding to them and take action when you have a negative review. Be proactive and take charge of your online presence and you will gain more customers!
Thank you and good selling!