Consumer awareness around electrification is growing, which means there is new business to be had by HVAC contractors. At Energy Circle, we’ve been using Google Trends search data to figure out what consumers know about electrification and how contractors can use that information to target electrification customers and win jobs.
We see electrification as a real opportunity for HVAC and better building contractors to grow their businesses and win comprehensive, big-ticket jobs. Keep reading to learn more, and watch our latest webinar, Electrification: The State of Consumer Demand & Awareness Entering 2023, for a complete breakdown.
Policy Terms Are Gaining Traction
Electrification has been getting a lot of mainstream media attention as of late. This makes sense in the wake of the Inflation Reduction Act since it is so heavily slanted toward electrification.
We used Google Trends to compare three of the most popular electrification policy terms:
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Electrification
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Gas to electric
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Decarbonization
Google Trends data shows that interest in all three policy terms is growing, but not by much. Of the three, gas-to-electric is the dominant term. This tells us that even though awareness is growing around electrification, most consumers aren’t thinking about electrification or decarbonization as an overarching idea just yet.
There also seems to be a disconnect between electrification in general and electrification as it relates to homes and buildings. When we compare search data for “electrification” vs “home electrification”, we can see that home electrification is lagging behind.
Further analysis of the data shows us that search terms with the highest volume and growth are related to policy and electric cars, not homes and buildings.
Product Awareness Is Much Higher than Policy Awareness
After examining the search data around electrification as a whole, we turned our attention to specific products. This is where things get interesting for contractors—consumers know a lot more about electric appliances than they do about electrification as an overarching concept.
This is especially true when it comes to heat pumps. According to Google Trends data, interest in heat pumps is rising rapidly compared to electrification and home electrification.
It’s not just heat pumps, either. We’re seeing a recent uptick across several key product-related search terms, including heat pump water heaters, mini split AC, and induction cooking.
Where to Put Your Marketing Focus
If you want to take advantage of electrification customers, we recommend aligning yourself with heat pumps and optimizing your website for Inflation Reduction Act-era incentives.
Start with Heat Pumps & Inflation Reduction Act Incentives
Heat pumps and the IRA are two areas in which search and awareness are growing the most, and customers who may be interested in whole-home electrification jobs will likely start their research here. Make sure you have a heat pumps landing page and a rebates and incentives landing page prominently displayed on your website. From there, build content around these topics. This can take the form of blogs, infographics, or videos.
Focus on Electrification Second
As a secondary measure, focus on electrification and related terms like decarbonization and home electrification. Even though consumer awareness is in the early stages right now, it’s growing. There is still room to be a first mover in this arena, and you can get ahead of your competitors by focusing your marketing efforts on electrification now.
Check out our free webinar, Lessons Learned From First Movers About the Whole Home Electrification Movement, to hear from successful first movers directly.