As we approach the end of 2024, it’s clear that the advertising landscape for HVAC and home service businesses has experienced another dynamic shift. Trends like AI-driven insights, local-first marketing, and immersive content experiences shaped the competitive field, creating distinct winners and losers among industry players.
Rather than simply dissecting the top advertising strategies that reigned supreme in 2024, I want to evaluate why some tactics missed the mark and offer a forward-looking perspective on a surprisingly underestimated strategy to leverage in 2025.
2024’s Winners: Advertising Trends That Paid Off
Hyper-Personalization and AI-Enhanced Targeting
Successful HVAC and home service companies increasingly use AI to collect, analyze, and apply customer data, enabling hyper-personalized ad experiences that speak directly to the customer’s needs. AI-powered platforms like Google's Performance Max became essential tools, allowing companies to maximize reach while minimizing spend by dynamically optimizing ads across Google’s suite of platforms.
Why It Worked: HVAC and home service decisions are highly personal and often urgent, so ads that responded to immediate needs (like sudden HVAC issues) or seasonal trends struck a chord with consumers. The ability to refine targeting based on specific geographic regions, preferences, or recent online activity also boosted ad relevancy and performance.
Video-First Content and Short-Form Ads
With the dominance of video-first platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reels, brands that mastered short-form video storytelling saw a big payoff. For home services, these platforms offered a compelling way to showcase “before and after” transformations, service walkthroughs, and quick customer testimonials, building trust while also tapping into the high engagement rates that video content delivers.
Why It Worked: Short-form video content aligns with how modern consumers prefer to absorb information—quickly, visually, and with impact. The authenticity that video allows makes home service brands more relatable, which, in turn, leads to higher engagement rates and, ultimately, conversions.
Local-First and Community-Centric Campaigns
Community-focused campaigns proved powerful for HVAC and home service brands. Local-first advertising allowed these businesses to resonate with regional audiences by using familiar imagery, dialects, and location-based events. Geo-targeted Google ads and localized SEO became more sophisticated, helping companies rise to the top in their specific service areas.
Why It Worked: Home service needs are local by nature, and customers often look for brands that are actively engaged in the community. This strategy not only enhanced brand awareness but also reinforced trust, especially in smaller towns where local reputation carries significant weight.
Influencer Partnerships with Micro-Influencers
A novel twist in 2024 was the rise of micro-influencers in the HVAC and home services sectors. From lifestyle bloggers to eco-friendly advocates, smaller influencers helped make a big impact on local companies. These influencers, who may only have a few thousand followers, were relatable and accessible, and their partnerships were often more affordable for SMBs compared to celebrity endorsements.
Why It Worked: Micro-influencers have strong connections with their followers, often producing engagement rates far beyond traditional advertising. Their “local expert” appeal helped smaller HVAC businesses reach audiences that they might not have reached otherwise.
Note: Don’t underestimate the micro-influencer. Anyone who influences is an influencer. We are all influencers to someone, including ourselves. In fact, with this in mind, it makes running mass media campaigns far more palpable to small business owners, who are not trying to reach the “right person, but rather to persuade all listeners to influence those around them that you should be “their guy” in your space.
2024’s Losers: Strategies That Fell Short
Over Reliance on Text-Heavy Display Ads
Despite the focus on personalization, some brands missed the mark by relying too heavily on static, text-heavy ads. While Google’s Display Network remained popular, too many businesses neglected the importance of a visually engaging, interactive element, making these ads easy to overlook.
Why It Missed: Consumers today have short attention spans. Static, text-heavy ads fail to capture attention quickly and effectively, especially on cluttered screens. These ads didn’t stand a chance against the flashy, immersive content dominating feeds.
Ignoring Mobile-Optimized User Experiences
Some HVAC brands lagged in optimizing ads and websites for mobile users. Given that a large portion of leads originates from mobile searches, particularly in urgent service areas like HVAC repair, failing to ensure a smooth, mobile-first experience was a significant misstep.
Why It Missed: Consumers are increasingly mobile, and a clunky or slow mobile experience can kill conversions. Those who failed to invest in seamless mobile usability lost ground to competitors who ensured every click, swipe, and tap flowed smoothly.
Transactional Social Media Ads
Social media advertising effectiveness has dropped significantly in 2024. While generating just enough lead volume enough to keep a few hopefuls hanging on, results are cratering on longer purchase cycle, higher ticket items, and non-urgent services.
Why It Missed: People go on social media to relax, and be entertained. If you are selling a externally triggered grudge purchase, you are an interruption to this with your tone deaf offer. Investments in brand impression campaigns is surging in place of forgettable offers and gimmicks.
The Underestimated Strategy for 2025: Interactive and User-Generated Content (UGC)
So, what’s the game-changing strategy SMBs should consider in 2025?
The answer lies in leveraging interactive content and user-generated content (UGC), or simply HUMAN-optimized content; to foster trust, authenticity, and engagement at a local level.
Here’s why interactive and UGC-driven campaigns are poised to become a critical strategy:
Why Interactive Content and UGC Will Win in 2025
Empowers Customer Engagement and Builds Trust
Interactive elements like polls, quizzes, and interactive videos allow customers to engage with brands on their own terms.
Imagine a quiz that helps customers choose the right HVAC system or an interactive map showcasing serviced areas in real-time—these elements not only educate but also build confidence in the brand’s competence.
Showcases Authentic Customer Experiences
User-Generated Content—like customer photos, videos, and reviews—adds a layer of credibility that traditional ads can’t replicate. By sharing authentic, real-life testimonials, brands can foster a sense of community while showing that they value their customers’ voices. UGC is particularly effective in HVAC and home services, where trust is always a deciding factor.
Boosts SEO and Social Engagement
Interactive content is often shared more frequently than standard content. Quizzes, for example, drive people to share results, which can increase social reach organically. Furthermore, Google favors engaging content that keeps users on pages longer, helping improve search ranking.
Cost-Effective Yet Impactful
Unlike influencer marketing or high-production video content, UGC can be relatively inexpensive to create and maintain. In many cases, customers contribute content freely, and repurposing this content for various platforms can stretch marketing dollars further, making it particularly valuable for SMBs with limited budgets.
How to Implement Interactive and UGC Strategies in 2025
Encourage Customer Testimonials and Stories
Encourage satisfied customers to share their stories with you. Whether through post-service emails, review platforms, or social media, ask for user-generated content and then prominently feature it on your own channels.
Develop Interactive Tools on Your Website
Consider adding tools like cost-estimate calculators, visualizers, service checklists, or quick diagnostic quizzes to engage users directly on your site. These tools can help potential customers better understand their needs, bringing them one step closer to choosing your services.
Host Contests or Campaigns Around UGC
Create campaigns where customers submit photos or videos showcasing a “cool home improvement” they’ve completed. By tagging your brand and using specific hashtags, they’ll spread the word to their network, and you’ll have new UGC to share.
Use Interactive Content in Ads
Experiment with ads that incorporate interactive elements, such as swipe-up polls on Instagram or tappable story elements on Facebook. These ads don’t just generate passive views—they actively invite participation, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
The advertising trends in 2024 have shown the power of targeted, localized, and video-driven approaches for HVAC and home service brands. While certain tactics fell flat, these lessons have illuminated fresh avenues for SMBs to explore in the coming year.
As we look to 2025, interactive and user-generated content stands out as the most promising, underestimated strategy. They offer an authentic, cost-effective way to engage audiences, build trust, and foster community—a winning combination for small to medium businesses aiming to become household names. Investing in these strategies will position SMBs to compete and thrive, turning their loyal customer base into vocal brand advocates. As the marketing landscape continues to evolve, those who prioritize interactivity and authenticity in their advertising will rise above the noise, paving the way for a successful, brand-forward 2025.
If you want to stay up to date with trends from marketing masters and wizards, don’t forget every other Thursday, we launch inside marketing agency advice on Advertising in America!
Are you a business owner who is going to rise to the opportunity and master your marketing in 2025? Call me if you want help.
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