“I was conflicted on this subject [YouTube] for a long time,” said Zack Psioda, president, Town and Country Air Inc., Willard, North Carolina. “I even created a paid YouTube channel to discourage homeowners from watching the videos. In the end, I realized the guys and girls who were fixing their own equipment were doing so with or without my help. I no longer believe it’s an issue.”

Realizations, such as Psioda’s, have encouraged more and more contractors to make their debut in the YouTube spotlight. There are perks that come along with creating these videos, and contractors are benefitting from them. The NEWS interviewed a few contractors who shared their success stories and reasons why other contractors should get onboard with the internet platform.

SOCIAL MEDIA SOLUTIONS

Every minute, there are 400 hours of video uploaded to YouTube. It’s clear that people are active on the website, and if you’re looking to market your business, YouTube is a great place to start.

Stephen Rardon, owner, Rardon Home Performance LLC, Holly Springs, North Carolina, accomplished just that as a result of posting HVAC-related YouTube videos.

“As customers are trying to find answers to the questions they have about their air conditioning or heating system, when they do find a [YouTube] channel that produces quality content, they will reach out to that company in their service area and may likely hire that company to do the work for them when they find they cannot take the project on themselves,” said Rardon.

YouTube has the power to become your No. 1 marketing tool if used correctly. Want to show your local, prospective clientele your company is the best in the area? Illustrate it with a video that showcases your technicians’ talent.

When asked how having a social media presence on YouTube has helped his business gain a larger following, Ralph Wolf, owner, T&N Services LLC, Canton, Georgia, said the bigger your internet presence, the higher you rank in Google Analytics. And, who doesn’t look to Google for nearly everything these days?

“Google looks at different things — it’s all analytics,” said Wolf. So, the bigger your following, the higher Google places you in the ranking. I have received most service calls because of my postings on YouTube. The days of the yellow pages are over. If you go online, and you see me actually doing the work in my video but then go to another company’s video where they spent $7,000 to create it but aren’t really showing you how they work, who are you going to trust? The person showing you how to actually do something or the fancy video that shows you nothing?”

Furthermore, having a social media presence, like a YouTube channel, creates a relationship between viewer and contractor that begins before a technician shows up to a customer’s house.

“Targeting your customers with keywords, such as the town name, and having good content will build a sense of trust with a potential customer even before meeting,” said Psioda.

Wolf discussed how building this relationship with viewers has allowed him to expand his clientele.

“Once you start doing videos, people start trusting you because they are seeing you all the time,” said Wolf. “You get a following, and your opinion starts to matter to people.”

EDUCATION OPPORTUNITIES

While some may say that YouTube tutorials limit proper training and education for technicians, Psioda has seen quite the opposite, especially for new technicians or those still in HVAC school.

“These videos offer insight into aspects of the HVAC trade that new guys are unfamiliar with and seasoned veterans may be ignorant to,” he said. “Many of my videos have been used in trade schools to demonstrate HVAC formulas in action, load calculation training, and even proper service call procedures.”

When asked, all three contractors agreed the ability to properly educate more up-and-coming technicians is one of the biggest benefits to posting YouTube videos.

While HVAC schools are a great resource, they aren’t the end-all when it comes to training new techs.

“I have received several direct messages from trade school students, as well as instructors, thanking me for sharing the day-to-day, real-world problems that I encounter and the process I go through to identify a solution,” said Rardon.

Wolf said it’s a whole new world out there, and teachers can use these real-world scenario videos to expose technicians to true day-to-day troubleshooting and installation practices. In fact, it’s these types of videos that receive the most views.

“My two most popular videos are ‘How to Troubleshoot a Furnace’ and ‘How to Perform an HVAC Service Call From Start to Finish,’” he said. “Because younger guys want to know how to perform a service call when they’re coming into the field, they can watch that video and get a real-life understanding.”

Not only are young technicians receiving training and education from YouTube videos posted by HVAC professionals, the technicians who are posting the videos are also strengthening their skill set as a result.

“The most significant benefit that I have personally seen has been the education I have gained simply by trying to show others a better way to do things,” said Rardon.

Rardon has also learned a great deal from watching videos created by other technicians who, he said, are more experienced than he is.

Similarly, Psioda has learned valuable knowledge from his fellow YouTube posters and has benefited from becoming part of a YouTube community for HVAC professionals.

“I typically watch service call and HVAC install videos from my YouTube colleagues, and those videos have a wide range of views,” said Psioda. “Posting videos also puts the creator in the midst of a large community of video posters who feel strongly about positively affecting their trade.”

PUT YOUR WORK ON DISPLAY

While continued education and training is a key part of posting HVAC YouTube videos, it’s also a great way to build your resume, according to Wolf.

“If you work in the field, posting videos is a great thing for your resume — you’re showing, rather than telling, what you’re capable of,” he said.

Psioda likes the fact that by posting videos, you are being held accountable for the content, which keeps technicians on top of their game.

“One of the biggest benefits of posting videos on YouTube is that you are held to a higher standard because your work is on display,” he said. “However, the largest detriment is that you open yourself up to being picked apart and criticized by a vast number of people.”

Internet trolls aside, YouTube videos are an easy way to beef up your marketing game.

With an average of 3.25 billion hours of online videos watched each month, you and your company have the potential to become the next YouTube sensation.

Publication date: 12/18/2017

Want more HVAC industry news and information? Join The NEWS on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn today!