How to create great social media content for the HVAC industry

‍TL;DR: 

• Creating great social media content for an HVAC company isn’t about finding more creative ways to photograph furnaces and air conditioners. 
• Put people before products, share helpful expertise, show your team’s personality, and get involved in your local community. 
• A viral post is a bonus, but consistency is what helps you learn what works and ensures people already know and trust your business when they finally need an HVAC technician.

If you manage social media for an HVAC company, you've probably had this thought before: “How many photos of air conditioners and furnaces can I post before everyone unfollows us?”

Katrina Filman, Media & Marketing Manager at Dynamic Heating & Cooling, certainly did.

And after looking at what had already performed well on the company's social channels, she noticed the winning posts were about people.

“There are no boring industries. There are only boring ways of telling stories.” – Katrina Filman, Media & Marketing Manager, Dynamic Heating & Cooling

HVAC companies have plenty to talk about. You have expertise homeowners need, your technicians have stories, your community has questions, and there are probably plenty of things happening behind the scenes that your customers never get to see.

The trick is figuring out how to turn all of that into HVAC social media content people actually want to engage with.

Let's explore how Katrina does it. 

The “before” framework

Katrina uses a 4-step simple framework when thinking about HVAC social media marketing:

1. People before products

This means showing the people behind the business.

Your technicians, installers, customer service team, and other frontline employees are already full of personality. Let your community get to know the humans doing the work.

2. Document before you manufacture

Not every post needs a script, a ring light, and a full production crew.

Some of your best content might already be happening.

A funny moment on the job, a technician's reaction, or something unexpected behind the scenes.

In fact, one of Dynamic Heating & Cooling's Reels received more than 5 million views, and it was an unplanned moment filmed on a phone!

3. Heroes before actors

Your frontline team doesn't need acting experience to be great on social media.

They're real people doing the work every day; they have stories, knowledge, and probably some pretty good opinions about what homeowners get wrong. Let them be the stars.

If sharing names is a concern, Katrina suggests that you refer to people by their role instead.

• “Our technician.”
• “One of our installers.”
• “The person who got called out at 8 p.m. on a Friday.”

That way you can still show the human side of your business without sharing more information than your team is comfortable with.

4. Trust before the sale

Not every post needs to end with, “Book your appointment today!”

Actually, please don't make every post do that!

The goal of social media isn't always to get an immediate sale.

Sometimes, you're building familiarity by showing your expertise, introducing your team, making someone laugh, or helping them understand why their thermostat is doing that weird thing.

Then, when their furnace does decide to stop working in the middle of winter, they already know who to reach out to.

Create a social media content mix that isn't all sales

If every post is promoting your latest offer, your community will probably catch on pretty quickly.

Dynamic Heating & Cooling balances their content using four buckets:

1. 30% educational
2. 30% entertaining
3. 25% community
4. 15% promotional

This works because it creates a variety of content:

• Educational content shows your expertise
• Entertaining content helps people remember you
• Community content shows that you're part of something bigger than your business

Then, when you do have something to promote, it doesn't feel like every other post is asking someone to buy something.

3 HVAC social media content ideas to add to your calendar

Need some ideas for what to actually post?

Katrina shared three content buckets that can help HVAC companies create engaging content without relying on a huge budget or waiting around for another viral moment.

1. Educational HVAC content

You have expertise that homeowners don't; don’t be afraid to use it!

You could create content around:

• Seasonal maintenance reminders
• Common HVAC myths
• Homeowner tips
• Frequently asked questions
• Things homeowners should look out for
• Simple explanations of complicated HVAC topics

2. Entertaining HVAC content

HVAC might not sound like the obvious choice for entertaining social media content. . . But your industry doesn't need to be inherently entertaining; your content does.

Look for the humour already happening around you:

• What are the things your technicians see all the time?
• What misconceptions do homeowners have?
• What situations would everyone in the HVAC industry immediately recognize?
• What would make one of your technicians say, “Yep. Happens every week.”

That's where some of your best ideas might be hiding!

3. Community content

Not every piece of content needs to generate a lead.

Some posts are about building goodwill and showing people what your business cares about.

Share:

• Local events
• Charities and fundraisers
• Community partnerships
• Team milestones
• Local moments that matter to your community

Psst! Need more inspo? Check out our list of 10+ social media content ideas you can steal.

Give every HVAC social media post a purpose

Not every post should be judged the same way.

A funny video designed to introduce your brand to new people shouldn't necessarily be measured against the number of appointment requests it generated.

Before you post, ask: What is this content supposed to do? 

Here's another way to think about it:

Feeling inspired but not sure where to start? Try one (or more!) of these.

1. Put a person in your next post

Instead of photographing the equipment, show the person working with it.

Bonus points if they're willing to share some personality.

2. Answer a question your customers ask all the time

Your frequently asked questions are basically a content idea bank –  don’t be afraid to use them.

3. Look at your biggest surprise

Find a post that performed better than you expected. Then ask yourself why.

Orca tip: Don't just look at the views. Look at the comments, shares, saves, and reactions. There might be an idea hiding in there.

4. Add something that isn't promotional to your calendar

Try a funny video, share a local event, or highlight a team member.

You want to give your community a reason to engage with you that doesn't involve needing a new air conditioner.

5. Keep showing up

In all honesty, most people aren't thinking about their furnace or air conditioner until something goes wrong.

Which means your goal isn't necessarily to convince someone to book an appointment every time they see a post. It's to show up often enough that when they do need you, your name is already familiar.

Summary

If you're staring at your social media calendar wondering what else you can post besides another furnace, start looking around.

• Your technicians have stories.
• Your customers have questions.
• Your team has personalities.
• Your community has things happening.
• And you have expertise that can genuinely help people.

And remember, the goal isn't to convince everyone that HVAC equipment is the most exciting thing on social media. It's to create content that's useful, entertaining, and human enough that people remember you.