HVAC Seasonal Marketing: What to Do Before Summer and Winter Hit

HVAC seasonal marketing starts weeks before the heat or cold arrives. Text past customers about tune-ups, get your Google profile and phone handling ready for a spike, and ask for reviews from recent jobs. When the first hot or cold week hits, you are already booked and easy to find.

HVAC has two loud seasons and two quiet ones. The mistake is treating them the same. Peak weeks are for answering and showing up. The weeks before them are for building the schedule you will be working from.

The timing varies by region. Some places have a long cooling season and a short heating one, others the reverse. Use your own calendar and treat the calendar dates below as placeholders.

What is the HVAC marketing calendar?

Count back from the week your calls usually jump. Here is a simple frame.

When	Before summer	Before winter
8 weeks out	Review last season’s jobs and repeat customers	Same
6 weeks out	Text past customers about a cooling tune-up	Text about a heating tune-up
4 weeks out	Update Google profile, photos, services	Same
2 weeks out	Test phone, missed-call text, voicemail	Same
Peak	Answer fast, triage honestly, ask for reviews	Same
After peak	Follow up, ask for referrals, plan the shoulder season	Same

The pattern is the same twice a year. That is the advantage: you build it once and reuse it.

How do you fill the tune-up calendar?

Start with the people who already hired you. They know your name, and you know which system they have. A short text a few weeks before the season is usually enough.

“ Hi [Name], it's [Your Name] at [Business]. We serviced your [system] in [year]. Before the weather turns, I am booking tune-ups over the next few weeks. Reply with a day that works and I will send a time. Reply STOP to opt out. “

Keep it specific. Name the system, name the year, and ask for one thing. Hypothetically, say you have 200 past customers and send this to all of them. If a small share book, that is real work on your schedule before the first heat wave, at almost no cost. Do the same for winter, with your own numbers.

Business texting rules change, so confirm what applies to your setup. Operationally: get consent when you collect the number, honor STOP, register your number where carriers require it, and send only messages a customer would want. More wording is in our post on past-customer texts.

What should you fix on your phone before peak?

Peak week is when your phone breaks. Calls stack up, you are on a roof or in an attic, and a voicemail puts the next step on the caller. In a heat wave or cold snap, that caller is calling the next company.

Before the season, check:

• Your business number goes to your cell, or to someone who can answer.
• Your voicemail says what you do next and roughly when.
• Your missed-call text explains how you triage urgent calls.
• You know which calls you will drop everything for.

Here is a text you can set for peak weeks:

“ Hi, this is [Business]. Sorry we missed you, we are in high demand this week. If you have no heat or no cooling, reply URGENT with your address and I will call you first. Otherwise, reply with your address and what is going on, and we will get you a time. “

Our post on after-hours calls covers more of this.

What does your Google profile need?

When the first cold night comes, people search from their phones and pick a name. Google says it looks at relevance, distance and prominence for local results, and does not publish the full recipe. You cannot control it all, but you can be current.

• Correct hours, especially any emergency or after-hours availability you truly offer.
• A service area that matches where you go.
• Categories that reflect your main work, not extra keywords.
• Real photos from recent installs and repairs.
• Replies to your reviews.

Use your real business name on the profile. Google does not allow keywords added to it and can suspend profiles for it.

How do you get reviews during the rush?

Ask every customer the same way, right after a job goes well. Do it at the job, while the house is comfortable again.

“ Glad we could get your [heat/AC] running again, [Name]. If you were happy with the service, a quick Google review really helps a local business: [link]. Thank you. “

Do not offer anything for a review, and do not ask only the happy ones. Google prohibits both. If a customer was unhappy, deal with it directly and reply to any public review calmly.

How do reminders keep the schedule full?

A booked tune-up is only worth something if the customer is home. Send a reminder the day before and a short arrival text the morning of. Our post on appointment reminder texts has wording that fits.

What about the shoulder seasons?

Spring and fall are quieter in many regions. Use them for the things you cannot do in peak: follow up on quotes for larger jobs, book replacements people put off, and update your list. A system replacement quote from July may still be open in October.

What if you would rather not run this by hand?

Everything above works with a spreadsheet and a phone. If you would rather not run it by hand, one-click text campaigns for repeat work and missed-call text back are part of the Builders Presence plan, month to month.

Common questions

When should HVAC companies start seasonal marketing?

Start several weeks before the first real heat or cold in your area, since people book tune-ups before the weather turns and emergencies hit right after. The exact timing depends on your climate. Check your own past calendars to find the week when calls typically start rising, then count back about six to eight weeks.

Should I promote maintenance plans or repairs?

Both, at different times. Promote tune-ups and maintenance before the season, when people are thinking ahead. During the peak, spend effort on being easy to reach for repairs. Maintenance customers are also your best repeat list, so give them a reason to stay on your schedule.

How do I handle emergency calls in peak season?

Decide your rules before the surge: who gets seen first, what counts as an emergency, and how you communicate wait times. Use a missed-call text and a clear voicemail so callers know what happens next. Honest wait estimates keep more customers than silence does.

What is the best way to keep in touch with HVAC customers?

Short, useful texts a few times a year, tied to real reasons: a seasonal tune-up, a filter reminder, or a service due date. Get consent when you collect the number, honor STOP, and keep messages relevant. Business texting rules change, so confirm current requirements for your setup.