In the highly competitive Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) industry, in order to maximize the campaign’s ROI and conversions, well-structured and varied Google Ads campaigns are a necessity. Without a focused strategy and precise targeting, a significant portion of your advertising budget can easily be wasted. At Gazz Digital, we’ve specialized in the HVAC sector, developing a trio of powerful tactics that consistently deliver better, higher-quality lead generation results for our clients.
Here are some successful Google Ads campaign tactics we employ to help HVAC businesses:
Google Ads Tactic #1: Prioritize High-Intent Generic Keywords in Search Campaign
The foundation of any successful HVAC campaign is capturing demand at the moment of need. We recommend creating a dedicated campaign focused exclusively on generic, high-intent keywords. These terms that clearly indicate a user is actively looking for a service or offering, rather than just information or price shopping.
What to Target with Generic Intent-Focused Keywords:
- Service & Problem Terms: HVAC repair, furnace replacement, AC installation cost.
- Location-Based Terms: HVAC company [City Name], AC repair near me.
- Research & Review Terms: best HVAC companies, HVAC services reviews.
Why This Works:
These searchers have self-identified themselves as an audience looking for an HVAC service company, and typically convert at higher levels. Because of this intent, this type of campaign is worthy of your highest percentage of the overall ad budget. This Google Ads strategy can ensure bids and ad copy are optimized to convert these potential leads before they click on a competitor’s ad.
Google Ads Tactic #2: Create a Dedicated Competitor Brand Search Campaign
While targeting generic keywords are worthy of the bulk of your budget, focusing with a slightly different strategy on HVAC competitors’ brands can still deliver solid results. The HVAC industry has some of the highest levels of competition, and it’s crucial to have a separate strategy for those who are searching for other companies by name.
Strategic Approach:
- Separate Campaign: Do not lump competitor terms into your generic campaign. Their search intent is different. These individuals may already be customers of the HVAC company they’re searching, or they may know the brand and could be searching for them the first time, and potentially open to other HVAC companies.
- Target Clicks with a Bid Limit, Not Just Conversions: The per click charges for HVAC terms can sometimes be very (very) high. We don’t want to pay those high click fees for non-intent keywords, as they convert at much lower rates. So in the case of competitor brand names, we want to add them with phrase or exact match targeting, along with a limit on the amount we’re willing to bid for that term.
- Limited Bidding: Often we allocate perhaps 15% of the overall Google Ads budget toward competitor terms. Again if you focus on maximizing conversions instead of clicks, without a limit on what Google ads can charge you, you’ll likely be charged similar (very very) high click fees, similar to the generic keyword campaign.
- Negative Keywords: If you do build this competitor campaign, it’s important to add your competitor brand names and closely related search terms to your negative keywords or negative keyword list in the first ‘generic’ campaign we discussed.
The Benefit:
This tactic provides your brand visibility for individuals who might be looking for more than one quote or who are dissatisfied with their current provider. It’s an effective defensive and opportunistic strategy, that can deliver.
Google Ads Tactic #3: Leverage More Targeting Tools With A Performance Max (PMax) Campaign
We’ve found that a well-configured Performance Max campaign is an excellent complement to focused Search campaigns. PMax campaigns use automation to find converting customers across Google’s entire inventory, which includes Search, Display, Gmail, Maps (Google My Business), YouTube, and more. In a nutshell, you get more targeting tools in the toolbox.
Key Benefits of PMax:
- Retargeting Power: PMax provides significant benefits in retargeting, allowing you to re-engage people who have previously visited your website or interacted with your ads. These “reminder” ads keep your HVAC brand top-of-mind.
- Extended Reach: It ensures your message shows up in different areas, including Google Maps, Google My Business listings, Gmail, and YouTube, casting a wider net than traditional Search alone. Ads that show in the maps or Google my business listings we found are especially effective as people are looking for local HVAC companies and this reinforces their ‘near me’ location.
- Audience Intent Focus: PMax campaigns give you the ability to test different creative mediums (videos, images, text) and focus on specific audience intent signals to further refine who sees your ads. If individuals have been searching for HVAC brands, troubleshooting tips, pricing, etc., these campaigns can proactively get in front of them.
If You’re an HVAC Company Looking for a Better Return on Your Google Ads Campaigns, Talk with Our Gazz Digital Team Today
By employing these three distinct campaign structures, high-intent generic search, competitor brand visibility, and comprehensive PMax reach, Gazz Digital ensures your Google Ads budget is working efficiently to generate a consistent flow of high-quality leads for your HVAC business.
