HVAC marketing in Utah for a year with two rushes and two lulls
HVAC marketing in Utah has a shape most trades don’t. Heating calls in winter. Cooling calls in summer. A lot of quiet in between. One large national marketing agency warns HVAC shops about “empty service schedules.”
Straight up: I haven’t run an HVAC account yet. My clients so far are in plumbing, demolition and handyman work. This page is how I’d run marketing for a heating and cooling shop, and the 30-day pilot is how you’d find out whether I’m right without signing anything long-term.
01
How I’d split your year
Heating and cooling demand swings with the weather, and the slow seasons in between are real. So I wouldn’t run one campaign all year. I’d run four plans.
| When | What your phone is doing | What I’d run |
|---|---|---|
| Heating season | No-heat calls. Nobody shops long with a dead furnace. | LSA plus furnace repair search ads. Budget goes up when the forecast turns cold. |
| Spring | Quiet | A tune-up push to past customers, and maintenance plan sign-ups before the heat. |
| Cooling season | AC repair, and replacement quotes on old units | LSA plus AC repair and AC replacement campaigns, each with its own page. |
| Fall | Quiet again | Furnace tune-ups, plan renewals, and replacement quotes for people who limped through the summer. |
02
Maintenance plans pay for the slow months
That same agency lists weak follow-up after the job as a common HVAC problem. I’d agree. The customer whose furnace you fixed in January is the easiest tune-up you’ll ever book in April. They already trust you. They just forgot your name.
Here’s the setup I’d build with marketing automation:
- A text and email reminder when a plan visit is due, only to customers who agreed to get them.
- A renewal reminder before the plan runs out.
- A review request after each visit, so your profile grows in the months the ads are quiet.
A full plan list is the closest thing this trade has to steady work. That’s worth more to you than one more ad campaign.
03
The review counts you’re up against
Here’s the hard part about HVAC in Utah. One of the biggest multi-trade companies in Utah shows 32,858 reviews across its locations, according to one data vendor. The same data counts 944 active HVAC companies in Utah, and 86% of them have one location. (That’s a data vendor’s count, not a government one.)
You won’t out-review a company like that this year. You don’t have to. Google says local results weigh relevance, distance and prominence. Reviews feed prominence, but distance is on your side in the neighborhoods closest to your shop. So I’d win the few miles around you first, then grow out. That starts with a correct Google Business Profile and a review ask after every single job.
04
Two Google tools, two different jobs
Local Services Ads take the “my furnace is dead” call. “HVAC (heating or air conditioning)” is an eligible LSA category. You pay per lead, not per click.
Google Ads search campaigns take the bigger, planned jobs: furnace replacement, AC install, heat pumps, whatever you want more of. Search lets me write a separate ad and page for each one. A guy pricing a new system wants different answers than a guy with no heat.
05
Money you might be leaving on the table
If you’re a dealer for a brand like Carrier, Trane or Lennox, that status can come with co-op marketing funds and manufacturer leads. Before I spend a dollar of yours, I’d want to know what your program will cover.
Utility rebates matter here, too. Rocky Mountain Power’s Wattsmart program offers Utah customers cash back on high-efficiency heat pumps. If rebates apply to the systems you install, a plain page that explains them gives a homeowner a reason to call you and not the next guy.
Questions
Should I shut my ads off in spring and fall?
Not all the way. I’d cut the repair budget and move the effort to past customers: tune-ups, plan renewals, replacement quotes. That costs a lot less than buying cold clicks in April.
How small a shop can compete with the giant review counts?
A one-location shop can. You won’t beat a multi-trade company’s review total, but you can be the best answer in the neighborhoods near you. Fix your profile, ask every customer for a review, and aim your ads at the miles around your shop first.
Can you market maintenance plans without bugging my customers?
Yes. Reminders go only to people who opted in, only when a visit is due or a plan is ending. Nobody needs a text every week from their furnace guy.
I’m a manufacturer dealer. Does that change the plan?
It can. Co-op funds and manufacturer leads may cover part of what you’d otherwise pay for. I’d read your program rules first and build around them.
Have you done HVAC marketing before?
No, and I won’t pretend otherwise. I was a plumber for five years, and the no-heat call works a lot like the burst-pipe call: speed and a real person on the phone win it. The pilot is set up so you’re not stuck if it doesn’t work.
Next step
Try it for 30 days
The 30-day pilot: a one-time setup fee, paid up front and non-refundable. The 30 days start the day your ads go live. My monthly fee starts at day 30 or your first qualified lead, whichever comes later. A qualified lead is a lead from my marketing that you send a quote to. Ad spend goes from you straight to Google or Meta once the ads are set up, with no markup from me. After billing starts it’s month-to-month, 30 days’ notice to cancel. Pricing depends on what your shop needs. See how pricing works.