When it comes to HVAC marketing, LinkedIn often appears to be the left-handed, red-headed stepchild of social media marketing campaigns. HVAC contractors tend to focus their time and money on Facebook, but that's a mistake.

Let’s start by talking about who’s on LinkedIn. People. People who work for companies, people who run companies, people who are vice presidents, sales managers, operation managers, people who are entrepreneurs ... basically, people who can do business with you and refer lots more business to you.

Why it's a mistake to ignore LinkedIn in favor of Facebook

HVAC contractors tend to focus their energy on Facebook because it’s considered the place for B2C marketing. However, LinkedIn offers HVAC contractors a way to connect with potential customers who may not be located or reached via Facebook. Customers with an average income of $100,000+ and who are often owners, operators, and managers — in other words, decision makers are easy to find on LinkedIn. LinkedIn marketing could deliver your best ROI.

HVAC contractors need to be where their best potential customers are and LinkedIn is a great place to start. The types of connections that can be found and made there can lead to new business opportunities, referrals, and joint ventures. When it comes to HVAC marketing, LinkedIn provides opportunities that Facebook simply cannot match.

The types of connections that can be found and made on LinkedIn

Broadly speaking, there are two types of marketing an HVAC business can do online: search-based marketing and interruption-based marketing. By and large, interruption-based marketing is what platforms like Facebook are all about. LinkedIn, on the other hand, is primarily a search-based platform. To put it another way, on Facebook the contractor is interrupting the consumer's endless consumption of funny cat videos with his marketing message ... hopefully in a way that's not going to annoy them. On LinkedIn, potential customers are much more likely to be actively searching for resources that enhance their business.

Additionally, Facebook tends to be a one-on-one lead source: You get one opportunity to sell one system, whereas on LinkedIn you could find one key person who has a large network or multiple opportunities to refer business to you.

How to build a LinkedIn marketing strategy in just 20 minutes a day

Strategy is everything. Communication is key. In fact, much progress can be made in just 20 minutes a day by making strategic connections with a meaningful message.

First impressions are important, so make sure to work on your profile before reaching out to anyone. Build a profile that accurately reflects you and your business and be sure to use professional photos. Just like a website needs to be optimized for search, so does your LinkedIn profile page. Make sure to have a well-written 'About' section as well as make sure the key areas of your profile page are optimized. You can do this yourself or get help setting up a professional page that attracts your target customer. Before connecting, do some basic research and build a strategy. On LinkedIn, you’ll find People, Companies, Events, Groups, and other categories to search for.

When you're ready to start marketing on LinkedIn, start by building rapport with your target audience. You can begin by supporting your prospect with likes and comments on their post. Next, start posting content that add value to your audience: tips, information on energy costs.

Be sure to include images and/or videos to break up the text and make the posts more visually appealing.

As you build up a following, you can begin to promote your HVAC services more directly. By taking the time to create and implement a LinkedIn marketing strategy, HVAC contractors can connect with potential clients who are actively searching for their services.

Why HVAC contractors should adjust their marketing budget to include LinkedIn

Many contractors spend money on Facebook with very little to show for it, so it’s well worth it to consider allocating some of that time and money toward LinkedIn.

LinkedIn provides several features that make it an ideal platform for marketing HVAC services. For example, LinkedIn allows HVAC contractors to target their outreach and/or ads more narrowly than other platforms, making it easier to reach potential customers who are likely to be in the market for HVAC services. When used effectively, LinkedIn can be a powerful marketing tool for HVAC contractors. If you're an HVAC contractor who's been using Facebook to market your business with little success, it may be time to give LinkedIn a try.

Use tools to supercharge your LinkedIn marketing message

If you're an HVAC or home services contractor who's looking for an edge in your LinkedIn marketing, consider using technology that will help you craft the right message and attract the right customer for you.

Nobody like a canned message, so avoid creating a one-size-fit- all message. It doesn’t work in-person, and it especially doesn’t work on LinkedIn. Knowing that people do business with people they know, like, and trust, it makes sense to take a minute to craft the right message for your prospect.

It’s a proven fact that people make decisions differently and react to content differently depending on their buying preferences. Preferences are based on a person’s individual set of values and what causes them to resonate with you.

With today’s technology and a little practice, you can learn how to create targeted content that is most likely to resonate with your target audience and open the door to a first meeting, which can lead to a gold mine of business for you.