As Chris Hunter, principal industry advisor at ServiceTitan and co-founder of Go Time Success Group, notes, most contractors look at surface-level marketing metrics — leads, calls, or cost per lead — but those don’t tell the full story. 

There’s an argument to be made that the real signs of success show up later in the process, when marketing intersects with books, sales, and long-term customers. The challenge is figuring out how much patience is enough before deciding whether a campaign is working or if it’s time to walk away. 

A Fresh Look at Marketing Metrics: Lead Volume Isn’t The End-All, Be-All 

“The biggest marketing myth in HVAC is that more leads mean more revenue. Quality and booking rate matter far more than volume,” Chris Lollini, owner of Reputation Igniter, said.  

If a metric doesn’t connect directly to booked jobs or revenue, it isn’t an ROI metric. 

“Cost per lead is often misleading in HVAC. Cost per booked job tells the real story,” Lollini said. “Clicks, impressions, and rankings are inputs. Revenue is the outcome contractors should evaluate.” 

Hunter also listed what he believes are the most misleading metrics: cost per lead, clicks, impressions, and raw call volume. 

“Those metrics measure activity, not outcomes. A $30 lead that never books is expensive. A $150 lead that turns into a replacement, a membership, and five-star reviews is profitable,” Hunter said. “When contractors connect marketing, call center, sales, and revenue data inside platforms like ServiceTitan, they move from 'How many leads did we get?' to 'How much revenue did this channel actually produce?’ That’s where real ROI lives.” 

The Money’s-Worth Metrics 

The most meaningful marketing metrics aren’t the ones that show up right away, they’re the ones that live a little further down the tunnel — cost per booked job, booking rate, revenue per lead, gross margin by channel, and perhaps the most important, customer lifetime value.  

Will Merritt, managing partner for Effective Media Solutions, stressed that the “lifetime value” is the most overlooked metric in the HVAC marketing world. 

“Your HVAC company pays $95 for a Google Local Service Ad call or a click on a Google Search Ad. The homeowner calls and says they want a winter tune-up to make sure their heat will make it through the winter. What happens next makes all the difference in the world,” Merritt said.  

For instance, maybe that tech signs them up for a $199-per-year maintenance contract.  

“Well, half of that was paid for an unburdened marketing lead. Not a great investment, right? Wrong, now the homeowner is a customer of that heating and air company,” Merritt said. “Let’s say the system makes it through winter, but it is old and beyond its life expectancy. The highly trained service technician communicates this to the homeowner, so they understand they are on borrowed time and will have to replace their system soon.” 

Year two rolls around, and the same technician is out for their winter maintenance, and they condemn the system.  

“Now the homeowner invests $17,000 in a new system,” Merritt said. “Is that a good return on investment? It’s really all about measuring the lifetime value of the customer. That is the best metric in the HVAC marketing.” 

ROI Benchmarks 

While marketing may be more nuanced than other aspects of running a business, ROI still applies to marketing campaigns.

According to Hunter, short-term demand generation should show measurable performance within 60–90 days, including: booking rate trends, revenue per lead, call handling metrics, and sales conversion.  

“If those numbers aren’t improving, it’s time to ask hard questions — not just about marketing, but about call center behavior, CSR performance, and sales execution,” Hunter said.  

Lollini agreed that advertising should show meaningful signals within 60 days, while SEO requires a 6- to 12-month commitment. 

“Marketing shouldn’t be instant, but it also shouldn’t be vague,” Lollini said. “Progress should be visible within the first 90 days.” 

Brand-driven growth operates on a much longer timeline — 12 to 24 months. Metrics here include review volume and sentiment, organic search visibility, branded search demand, and local reputation density.  

These compound over time and lower acquisition costs across every channel. 

“The biggest mistake contractors make is going too wide too fast,” Hunter said. “The smartest operators go small to get big — dominate a few zip codes, neighborhoods, or service areas, then expand once brand density is established. That’s how you create momentum without overspending.” 

But Merritt said ROI can be a more difficult question to answer, and pointed to the following variables: 

1. Time of year, are we the money season or the shoulder season?  

2. How well are your CSRs trained? How well do they book calls?  

3. How well are your service technicians trained? How good are their communication skills? 

“All of these have an impact. If you are in season, you should see results almost immediately. In the shoulder season, it can take much longer,” Merritt said. “It is very tough to drive demand for service when the temperatures are mild, consumers are still very reactive versus proactive. The biggest thing is communication between the contractor and the marketing company. There should be regular communication between the two, so each knows what is going on from the contractor side and the marketing side.” 

Merritt said they like to meet clients once a month, but also communicate more frequently through texts, emails, etc. 

As for when it’s time to call it quits with a marketing partner, that comes down to trust.  

“Are they providing reporting and metrics? We wish it were a perfect science, but the contracting world is not,” Merritt said. “If they are not communicating and providing reporting, then it is time to part ways. 

Choosing a Partner 

Merritt said, in HVAC especially, a marketing firm’s understanding of the industry is a huge factor.  

“HVAC is different than any other business out there, in my opinion. How long have you been doing it? Are you exclusive to this industry? Do you understand how to drive leads? Can you provide insight on offers that work? What does your client retention look like?” Merritt asked. 

If they are not specific to HVAC, Merritt said he would look elsewhere.  

“Ask this question: What offer(s) would you be marketing right now? If they struggle with this, move on,” Merritt said.  

Hunter suggested that contractors should ask questions that reveal whether an agency understands systems, not just ads. 

Here are some questions Hunter suggested: 

• “How do you track marketing performance all the way to booked jobs and revenue?” 

If they can’t connect marketing analytics to call center, sales, and revenue data, that’s a major red flag. 

• “Who owns the data?” 

The contractor should own their website, call tracking, ad accounts, reviews, and CRM data. If an agency controls those assets, the contractor doesn’t own their growth. 

• “How do you help us improve conversion, not just lead volume?” 

Great marketing improves booking rates, response times, review velocity, and close rates — not just traffic. 

• “How do you help build brand equity alongside lead generation?” 

If the strategy is only PPC, the contractor is renting attention instead of building a brand. 

“A major warning sign is guaranteed leads or rankings without understanding the contractor’s pricing, capacity, CSR performance, or technician conversion rates,” Hunter said. “Marketing doesn’t fail in isolation — it fails when it’s disconnected from operations.” 

Contractor Involvement 

A contractor is paying a company to work for them, but how active a role should they expect to play? Hunter said you can’t set and forget growth — but you can systematize it. 

“Modern HVAC marketing is an interconnected engine: branding, demand generation, reputation, call handling, automation, and follow-up all influence each other,” Hunter said. “The goal isn’t to remove the human touch — it’s to scale it.” 

Merritt also noted that all of their marketing campaigns are written in pencil, not pen.  

“Our company produces a marketing plan for the entire calendar year, broken down by all platforms month by month, so the contractor sees what offers and what their investment is each month,” Merritt said. “Can they set it and forget it? Here is where the communication comes in between the contractor and marketer. Both parties need to know what is going on at different times of the year.” 

For example, if the best service technician leaves and a contractor has to turn down jobs in the meantime, a marketing company needs to know that right away to adjust lead generation sources.  

Lollini added that set-it-and-forget-it marketing is how campaigns quietly underperform. 

“Contractors don’t need to micromanage marketing, but ongoing feedback is essential for strong results,” Lollini said. 

Budgeting Rules of Thumb 

Merritt said they typically see an investment of 3-6% of gross revenue towards marketing in the HVAC industry. 

“We recommend you remove any residential new construction or commercial work from your revenue total,” Merritt said. “It really depends on the contractor. Some are looking to grow rapidly, so they may invest upwards of 10%, and conversely, some have high brand recognition in the market and only invest 2-3%.”