The HVAC Rollup Marketing Problem
Private equity firms are acquiring HVAC companies at an aggressive pace. The thesis is straightforward: buy fragmented local operators, professionalize operations, and create value through scale. The operational playbook is well-established — consolidated procurement, standardized scheduling, fleet management, improved technician training.
Marketing is where most PE firms struggle.
The typical HVAC acquisition is a $3M-$15M company with little to no organized marketing. The owner's name is on the trucks. Leads come from word of mouth and maybe a Yellow Pages listing that somehow still exists. There is no CRM, no website worth mentioning, and no tracking on anything.
Now multiply that by 8 or 12 portfolio companies across different markets. Each one needs marketing infrastructure built from scratch, but none of them individually justifies a $250K marketing executive. This is the exact problem a fractional CMO solves.
What Marketing Looks Like at Most Acquired HVAC Companies
Before a PE firm acquires an HVAC company, marketing typically looks like this:
- Lead generation: Almost entirely referral and repeat business. Maybe a few hundred dollars a month on Google Ads, managed by whoever answers the phone.
- Website: Built in 2016. Not mobile-friendly. No tracking. Service pages that list everything the company does in one paragraph.
- Brand: The owner's last name, a logo someone's nephew made, and trucks in colors that seemed like a good idea at the time.
- Tracking: None. The owner "just knows" business is good or bad based on whether the phone is ringing.
The Fractional CMO Model for HVAC Portfolios
A fractional CMO for an HVAC portfolio does not just advise. They build and run the marketing function across the entire portfolio. Here is what that looks like in practice.
Phase 1: Foundation (Months 1-3)
Audit every portfolio company's marketing. We spend the first two weeks inside the business. What are the lead sources? What is the website producing? What is the competitive landscape in each market? What are customers actually saying about the brand?
Build the measurement infrastructure. Call tracking on every number. Google Analytics on every website. CRM setup (or cleanup) so every lead gets tracked from first touch to closed job. This is not glamorous work, but it is essential. You cannot improve what you cannot measure.
Establish baselines. How many leads per month? What is the close rate? What is the average job value? What is the cost per lead by source? For most HVAC companies, this is the first time anyone has calculated these numbers. We worked with a PE-backed HVAC rollup where the baseline audit revealed they were spending $2,400 per month on a marketing vendor who had not made a single change to their campaigns in 14 months. That is not unusual.
Phase 2: Quick Wins (Months 2-4)
Google Ads optimization. For HVAC companies, Google Ads is almost always the fastest path to more leads. But most HVAC ad accounts are poorly managed — broad match keywords burning budget on irrelevant searches, no negative keywords, ads pointing to the homepage instead of service-specific landing pages. We typically see a 40-60% improvement in cost per lead within 60 days just by fixing account structure.
Google Business Profile optimization. For local home services, the Google Maps pack (the three local results at the top of search) is the highest-value real estate on the internet. Proper category selection, complete profiles, regular posts, photo uploads, and review management can move a company from position 8 to position 3 within a few months.
Website improvements. Not a full rebuild yet — that comes later. Quick fixes: add call tracking numbers, improve mobile experience, add service-area pages, make the phone number prominent on every page, add request-a-quote forms that work.
Phase 3: Scalable Systems (Months 4-8)
Website rebuilds. Each portfolio company gets a modern, mobile-first website built around lead generation. Service pages for every service in every market. Location pages for every city served. Blog content targeting local search queries. These sites typically generate 3-5x more leads than the sites they replace.
Content production. HVAC-specific content that ranks: "How much does AC replacement cost in [city]?" "Signs you need a new furnace." "AC not cooling? Here is what to check before calling a technician." This content targets the exact queries homeowners type into Google when they need HVAC service.
SEO program. Technical SEO, local citations, content targeting local keywords, link building. SEO takes time in HVAC — 6-12 months for meaningful results — but the economics are excellent. Organic leads in HVAC typically cost $15-$30 each, compared to $80-$150 for paid leads.
Review generation. Systematize the process of asking happy customers for reviews. We implement automated review request sequences triggered after job completion. Most HVAC companies go from 2-3 new reviews per month to 15-20 within 60 days.
Phase 4: Portfolio-Wide Optimization (Ongoing)
Centralized reporting. One dashboard showing lead volume, cost per lead, close rate, and revenue generated — across every portfolio company, every channel. Leadership can see at a glance which markets are performing and which need attention.
Budget optimization. Shift spend to the channels and markets producing the best returns. This is where the portfolio model really pays off — you are not guessing about what works, you are applying proven playbooks across multiple markets.
Brand consolidation. If the portfolio strategy involves rebranding under a single name, the marketing function manages that transition — new websites, new collateral, new ad accounts, customer communication. If the strategy is to keep local brands, we still standardize the marketing infrastructure underneath.
The Numbers: What This Produces
Here is what we have seen across HVAC portfolio engagements:
- Lead volume increase: 150-300% within the first 12 months, averaging across all portfolio companies.
- Cost per lead reduction: 35-50% by fixing paid campaigns, adding organic channels, and improving website conversion.
- Revenue attribution: Clear line from marketing spend to booked jobs, typically showing a 5-8x return on marketing investment.
- Review growth: Average portfolio company goes from 50-100 Google reviews to 200+ within 12 months, improving local search visibility and close rates.
Why Fractional Beats Full-Time for This Model
A full-time CMO for a PE portfolio costs $250K-$350K in salary plus benefits. Most HVAC portfolios in the early rollup stage cannot justify that expense for one person focused solely on marketing.
A fractional CMO gives you:
- The same experience level — someone who has done this before, across multiple portfolios and HVAC businesses.
- At 30-40% of the cost — because you are getting 2-3 days per week, not 5.
- With no long-term commitment — scale up when growth requires it, scale down if priorities shift.
- Plus portfolio-level thinking — a fractional CMO working across your portfolio sees patterns and opportunities that a single-company marketing hire would miss.
Build Marketing Infrastructure That Creates Enterprise Value
Marketing infrastructure is a value driver at exit. Buyers pay more for companies with systematic, measurable, scalable marketing programs. The PE firms that invest in marketing early in the hold period see it reflected in their multiples.
Fusion Marketing provides fractional CMO services for PE-backed HVAC portfolios. We have built marketing programs across multi-location home services businesses and know exactly what it takes to go from zero marketing infrastructure to a scalable lead generation engine. Call (704) 749-0642 or email contact@fusionmarketing.biz to discuss what this looks like for your portfolio.
