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Intro
If you’ve run Meta ads for your HVAC business and haven’t been able to get high quality leads, this article is for you!
While there’s always going to be some percentage of low quality, or low-intent leads with Meta ads, these 7 strategies have proven time and time again to reduce that percentage.
As you read through this list, note that the real path to success is:
- Trying something out
- Tracking your leads, schedules, sales, and the qualitative “feel” of those prospects
- Making adjustments based on what you find
These are meant to serve as a guide and give you new ideas to try that maybe you haven’t done yet.
With that being said, let’s dive in.
Here are 7 Tactics to Get High Quality Leads with Facebook
1. Run Hyper-Local Campaigns
After doing some initial testing for clients, at Service Allies we typically start to run what we call “Town by Town” campaigns. This means rather than one campaign targeting a huge area that spans multiple counties, we create 10-15 local campaigns that call out to specific towns or even specific neighborhoods.
In the lead form, we also qualify the leads to see if they live a certain distance from that town, before allowing them to fill out their information.
There are several ways that this helps:
- People in that town will immediately see that the ad is relevant to them, and maybe even feel special
- People who are not in that town, but very close to it, may reach out because it feels more exclusive
- Facebook’s algorithm doesn’t know which leads to get you - it just knows to optimize for leads. Targeting a broad area may result in a high volume of leads from areas that tend to produce low-quality leads. Town by town campaigns help solve that because your ads are more zeroed in.
These smaller town by town campaigns can have a smaller budget, maybe $3 to $10 per day each.
2. Call Out to the Right Person at The Right Time
Who is your ideal customer? What’s going on in their mind when they are ready to buy?
Lots of people write ads that sound like this: “Get a new HVAC unit so you can enjoy a more comfortable home - here’s the deal we’re offering!”
Notice that this ad is trying to convince someone to get a new HVAC unit.
When people see these ads, they usually aren’t stopping to read it and digest it and consider it. They are scrolling through social media and came across your ad. In that fraction of a second, you probably won’t convince someone to buy an HVAC unit if they weren’t already planning to.
And even if you do convince homeowners who aren’t ready yet to fill out the ad, you just got yourself a lead that’s high-funnel to mid-funnel and probably not ready to buy yet.
The ideal lead has an old HVAC unit, and is already planning to replace it soon. Maybe they have even started looking for contractors. These headlines may be much more effective:
- For Mechanicsburg Homeowners: Ready to finally replace that old AC system? Get a new system as low as $6997 with Smart Saver HVAC!
- Hey Mechanicsburg! We’re offering 0% APR for 60 months to homeowners who need to replace their old AC system!
- For Mechanicsburg homeowners seeking an AC pro to replace their system: go with MechTown Air and get a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee!
Notice in these headlines we’re talking to homeowners who are “ready” to replace it, “need” to replace it, and “seeking an AC pro” to replace it.
3. Use 1-2 Qualifying Questions
Having 1-2 qualifying questions is a great way to boost lead quality.
Facebook forms allow you to use “conditional logic” - meaning, a lead can only become a lead if they answer questions a certain way.
You can use this logic to ask questions like “are you a homeowner” or “how soon are you looking to get started” and disqualify leads who put “no” or “don’t know / not sure yet”, respectively.
At a minimum, you should have one qualifying question, or even a “short answer” question where the lead has to type something out. This helps get rid of robots that fill out the forms.
It also helps Facebook - if the algorithm knows which answers result in disqualified leads, it can optimize to get more leads that are qualified.
Note: we typically don’t use more than 2 qualifying questions. At a certain point, you lose leads because you’re asking people - even high quality prospects - to break their scrolling relaxation time and sit down and fill out a survey.
2 qualifying questions seems to be the sweet spot for Facebook lead forms.
4. Pictures of Company Representatives
People don’t connect with companies, they connect with other people. Featuring your team members, and yourself, in your ads is a great way to build that connection.
Now it’s not a random company on the internet people are reaching out to - it’s other people. That small emotional connection will probably make them more likely to schedule with you and buy from you.
Both photos and videos work well for this!
5. Do a Thank-You Page Video
Thank you page videos are a valuable tool to build trust. Here’s how to implement this strategy:
Record a screen share video, or cell phone video, of yourself as the owner talking about your company. Highlight reviews that customers have left, talk about what you try to do differently, and walk the customer through the next steps. Then, set up a landing page with just this video on it.
At the end of your lead form, after the lead has already filled out their information, re-direct them to this Thank You page.
What this accomplishes is that it helps leads get more familiar with your company, and helps build trust. Now you’re not just a random company they reached out to online; you’re people, with a mission, and good work to speak of.
This added familiarity and trust can help you schedule more appointments, and close more deals.
6. Have an Offer that Attracts the Right Person
Different types of offers attract different mindsets and demographics. Sort of like different types of bait attract different types of fish.
In some U.S. towns and cities, 0% APR offers attract much better quality leads than low monthly payment offers. It’s hard to say for sure why, but my guess is that the 0% APR attracts people with higher credit scores, while the low monthly payment offers are attracting people who think it’s a “buy here pay here” type deal.
HVAC leads that responded to a Tune-Up ad also seem to be higher quality leads in some areas. Probably because these types of leads are already in the mindset to spend money and take care of their unit.
Try a few different offers out, compare results, and see what works best for you.
7. Make Sure Your Marketing Fits Your Product
If you’re a small contractor, your “product” might look different than larger, well established HVAC companies.
In other words, you may not be able to get to the customer as quickly, and your communication skills may not be as good either, but your price may be much lower.
On the flip side, customers might pay more with a big company, but they can expect fast service, great communication, and for the company to have the means to make it right if something goes wrong.
It’s important to advertise and position yourself correctly. Some companies make the big mistake of trying to look like a small company to feel more authentic, because it works to generate leads, and forget about the fact that they are setting completely incorrect expectations with customers.
When you pull up in your wrapped vehicle with your higher prices, customers may be put off because it’s not what they were expecting.
Aligning your marketing with where your business is at can make it a much smoother process with customers.
Final Thoughts
Meta ads have become very competitive in recent years for HVAC in most markets. To compete, it takes more than knowing - it takes doing.
Proper execution of the above mentioned tactics, PLUS extended follow-up with your leads with calling and texting, is how you win.
