How to Market Your HVAC Business: Systems That Keep the Phone Ringing Year-Round

July feels great. Phones ringing nonstop. Trucks rolling from 6 AM until dark. More work than you can handle.

Then September hits. The calls slow down. Your techs start asking about hours. You’re staring at a calendar that looks nothing like last month and wondering how you’ll make payroll until the furnaces start failing.

This is the feast-or-famine cycle that traps most HVAC contractors. Breaking this cycle takes marketing systems that generate leads when the weather stops doing the heavy lifting.

Start with a real marketing budget

Most HVAC contractors either spend too much on scattered marketing tactics or too little on anything consistent. Both approaches fail.

Crystal Williams, co-founder of Lemon Seed Marketing, which specializes in home service contractors, recommends a specific framework: “8 to 10% of your revenue goal should be allocated to marketing overall. Then take 60% of that and put it toward your digital footprint, and the other 40% toward branding tactics.”

For a contractor targeting $1.5 million in revenue, that’s $120,000–$150,000 annually, with roughly $72,000–$90,000 on digital and $48,000–$60,000 on branding.

That might sound aggressive. But Williams sees the alternative constantly: “A lot of contractors have been burned by marketing resources in the past, so they have this disdain for marketing in general.” They underinvest, see weak results, and conclude marketing doesn’t work.

What to do:

• Calculate 8-10% of your revenue goal for next year
• Split that 60/40 between digital marketing and branding
• If you can’t afford that yet, start with your Google Business Profile and social media—both cost time, not money

Build your digital foundation first

If you have limited resources, prioritize your digital footprint. Today, 83% of consumers use Google to research local businesses before making a call. If your online presence is weak, you’re invisible to customers actively searching for help.

“If I only had $10,000 for a year,” Williams says, “I would make sure my website was very nice and clean, and I would make sure my Google Business Profile was very nice and clean.”

Here’s what most contractors miss: 86% of Google Business Profile views come from category-based searches—people typing “HVAC repair near me”—who may have no idea your business exists. Your profile is how they find out you’re open for business. And it’s completely free.

Your digital foundation checklist:

• Claim and fully complete your Google Business Profile (every section)
• Upload at least 10 photos of your team, trucks, and completed work
• Post monthly updates—tips, project photos, seasonal reminders
• Make sure your website loads fast on mobile and has click-to-call enabled

Learn how top HVAC contractors use Google’s free tools to generate qualified calls, dominate local search, and outrank competitors.

Turn reviews into your best marketing channel

Reviews go beyond building trust. They create added visibility for your business. Just one extra review can give you 80 website visits, 63 directions requests, and 16 phone calls. Yet most contractors wait too long to ask.

Request reviews immediately after the job, while the customer is still grateful their AC works again. A week later, they’ve already moved on. Text them a direct link to your Google review page before you leave the driveway.

Your review system:

• Create a direct link to your Google review page (generate one in your GBP dashboard)
• Text it to customers within an hour of completing a job
• Respond to every review—positive or negative—within 48 hours
• Train your team to mention reviews before they leave: “If you’re happy with the work, a Google review really helps us out”

Williams emphasizes that reviews are part of branding, not just reputation management: “Word of mouth is brand. We want people talking about your brand digitally too.”

Create a referral system that actually works

Most HVAC contractors say referrals are their best lead source. Most also leave referrals entirely to chance.

“A lot of contractors got to $2.5 million just by being a good person,” Williams says. “But what got you here won’t get you to the next level.”

Referral programs work when they’re systematic, not occasional. Williams recommends tools like Clicki that “gamify the concept for your customers, where they literally do the work for you, and on the backside you’re paying out prizes—$25 gift cards or credits.”

The key insight: Referral programs create what Williams calls “the trickle effect.” They won’t explode your business overnight, but they generate consistent leads month after month.

Your referral system:

• Create a simple program: $50 credit for every referral that books
• Mention it at the end of every job: “Know anyone who needs HVAC help? We’ll credit you $50 if they book with us”
• Send a follow-up email or text a week after the job reminding them about the program
• Track referral sources in your CRM so you know which customers send the most business

Build shoulder season services before you need them

The worst time to think about shoulder season marketing is when you’re already in the shoulder season. By then, it’s too late.

“Every day of your life as an HVAC company, you need to be thinking about how you’re going to survive your shoulder season,” Williams says. “That’s why you should have an aggressive smart thermostat strategy or maintenance club strategy.”

Recurring service agreements command 55% of HVAC industry revenue, and they pull double duty: They create recurring revenue and give you a reason to contact customers during slow months. When October hits, you’re not cold-calling strangers, you’re scheduling tune-ups with customers who already trust you.

Seasonal marketing tactics:

• During peak season: Push maintenance agreements hard. Every service call is a chance to sign someone up.
• During shoulder season: Promote auxiliary services at aggressive pricing—duct cleaning, dryer vent cleaning, indoor air quality assessments.
• Year-round: Build your maintenance club base. These customers are your insurance policy against slow months.

Use social media as sweat equity

Social media costs time, not money. For contractors with limited marketing budgets, that tradeoff matters.

“Right now, if you had zero dollars, you could get on social media and post a video every single day about your services and you would get leads from it,” Williams says.

Don’t overthink it. You don’t need slick production, you need consistency. Posting a rough phone video every day beats waiting for perfect content that never goes up.

What to post:

• Quick tips: “Three signs your AC is working too hard”
• Behind-the-scenes: Technicians at work, new equipment installs
• Before-and-after photos with a short explanation of the problem you solved
• Answers to questions you hear constantly: “Why is my AC freezing up?”

One video a day sounds like a lot. It’s not. Pull out your phone on a job site, explain what you’re fixing and why, and post it. Sixty seconds. Done.

Measure your results

Marketing without measurement is just guessing. Yet many contractors have no idea which channels generate leads versus which ones just cost money.

“To really measure things, I recommend that you have a solid field service management tool or CRM,” Williams says. “True point of acquisition—where we truly earned a new customer—is vital when you’re planning your marketing.”

At minimum, your team should ask every caller: “How’d you hear about us?” Better yet, use tracking numbers tied to specific campaigns so you know exactly what’s working.

What to track:

• Lead source for every new customer (Google, referral, direct mail, social, etc.)
• Cost per lead by channel
• Conversion rate from lead to booked job
• Revenue generated per channel

If a marketing channel isn’t generating a positive return within 90 days, either fix it or cut it. Williams is direct about timelines: “SEO is a slow burn. You’ll start seeing a benefit around 90 days.” But paid campaigns should show results faster. If they don’t, something’s wrong.

Help customers afford the work

Price objections kill deals. A homeowner who needs a $10,000 system replacement might have $2,000 in savings. Without options, they delay—or call someone cheaper.

Offering financing removes this barrier. You get paid in full upfront; the customer gets manageable monthly payments.

Acorn Finance lets you offer financing without taking on credit risk. Customers see multiple loan options in minutes, and you turn a hesitant “let me think about it” into a signed contract.

Where to mention financing:

• On your website (dedicated financing page)
• In your Google Business Profile services section
• During the estimate presentation, before they see the total
• On follow-up emails for unconverted quotes

Your 30-day marketing plan

Week 1: Audit your foundation

• Check your Google Business Profile—is every section complete?
• Look at your last 10 reviews. Did you respond to all of them?
• Calculate what you spent on marketing last year as a percentage of revenue

Week 2: Build your review engine

• Create a direct link to your Google review page
• Write a text template to send customers immediately after jobs
• Set a daily reminder to check and respond to new reviews

Week 3: Launch your referral program

• Define the offer ($50 credit, gift card, or similar)
• Create a simple one-page explanation to hand customers
• Train your team to mention it at the end of every job

Week 4: Plan for the slow season

• Set a 90-day goal for new maintenance agreements
• Identify two auxiliary services to promote during shoulder months
• Schedule your first month of weekly social media posts

The bottom line

HVAC marketing isn’t complicated. It’s just consistent.

Contractors who escape the feast-or-famine cycle do the same things every week: post on social media, ask for reviews, follow up on referrals, build their maintenance base. None of it is glamorous. All of it compounds.

“Better branding makes your digital spend perform better,” Williams says. “Two plus two equals five.”

Your slow season is coming. The question is whether you’ll spend it scrambling for leads or collecting on the marketing work you did when you were busy. Start building now, and the phone keeps ringing—even when the weather stops helping.

Marketing gets customers to call. Acorn Finance gets them to say yes by giving them payment options that make the job feel possible.