One of the key components to being successful in an HVAC service business is finding ways to be better than your competition. What can you do that your competition is not doing? How can you bring name recognition and brand awareness to the customers in your service area(s)?

One great way to stand out in your location is getting involved in your community through engagement. Join the local chamber(s) of commerce, sponsor kids soccer and softball teams, volunteer at local charity events, and attend local fairs and festivals — even look for sponsorship opportunities. Those are the types of companies people are going to remember seeing, and when the heating or air conditioning goes out, the ones they’re going to call.

Several HVAC companies go one step further, using business mascots to bring brand awareness to the customers. Character mascots are sometimes easier to remember than company names or catchphrases. Dan Antonelli, president and creative director, Graphic D-Signs Inc., Washington, New Jersey, discussed why that is with The NEWS not too long ago.

“It definitely works,” Antonelli said. “Mascots serve as a point of recognition. People associate a symbol or mascot with a company much quicker than they do a simple message. A lot of heating and air conditioning companies use generic icons such as the sun/snowflake graphic or something red and blue that doesn’t necessarily stand out in the sea of graphics competing for peoples’ attention. When you add a mascot, it tends to make the brand warmer. People seem to connect with them a little bit more on an emotional level than something that’s more generic or cold and corporate.”

Read more about how several HVAC companies use mascots in their community engagement efforts at http://bit.ly/1HEuNb2. How do you market your business to your community? Tell us in the comments.