Every boiler company knows the pattern: quiet phones in July, then a week in late October when everybody's heat comes on and half of them find a problem. A tune-up campaign moves part of that demand forward, into weeks when you have the techs to handle it calmly. We plan the dates, write the messages, run the search and ads side, and report what was booked. You do the work in the basement.
What the service is
Short answer: a planned, time-limited campaign with one goal, booked maintenance visits in the weeks you choose.
Each campaign has four parts:
- A capacity target. How many visits can your team handle per week in the campaign window? We start there, not with a message.
- Reminders to consenting customers. Plan members first, then other past customers who agreed to receive messages. See consent-based reminders.
- Search and ads for new households. Local search visibility and ads for boiler maintenance terms in your service area, sized to fill whatever capacity is left.
- A clear offer. Usually "book now and choose your time" or a plan sign-up bonus, rather than a deep discount.
Who it's for
Short answer: boiler companies with a lopsided year, where summer is slow and the first cold weeks are chaos.
It works best once you have a reasonably clean customer list and, ideally, a maintenance plan to offer. Without a plan, a campaign still fills the calendar, but each booking is a one-off rather than the start of a yearly relationship.
What's included
Short answer: the calendar, the messages, the ads and a booking report each week.
- campaign window and weekly capacity targets agreed with you
- a reminder sequence for plan members and consenting past customers
- a campaign landing page on your website for boiler maintenance
- local search updates, including your Google Business Profile posts
- Google and Meta ads for new customers, inside your agreed budget
- weekly booking report during the campaign, final summary after
A sample campaign calendar
| Week | Existing customers | New customers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plan members: first reminder | Landing page live; profile post |
| 2 | Plan members: follow-up; past customers: first reminder | Search ads start |
| 3 | Past customers: follow-up | Ads adjusted by booking data |
| 4–5 | Final reminder to non-responders | Ads continue if capacity remains |
| 6 | Campaign closes; report | Ads paused or scaled back |
Timeline
Short answer: plan the campaign about six weeks before it starts.
That gives time to clean the list, write and approve messages, build the landing page and set up ads. For a mid-August start, the planning conversation should happen in early July. Climate matters here: in places with long, cold winters, such as the Prairies and the North, the heating season starts earlier and so should the campaign. Region pages like Saskatchewan and the territories cover this in more detail.
How results are measured
Short answer: booked visits against the capacity target, split by existing and new customers, plus plan sign-ups during the campaign.
We report each week: visits booked, the share of capacity filled, cost per booked visit for the new-customer side, and plan sign-ups. After the campaign we compare your October and November no-heat call volume with the same months the previous year, where your records allow. That comparison is the real test of whether demand moved.
Mistakes to avoid
Short answer: starting too late, discounting too deeply and ignoring capacity.
- Starting when it is already cold. By the time customers feel a chill, they want service this week. Run the campaign before that.
- Discounting the visit until it loses money. A modest early-booking benefit is usually enough. Our plan economics guide shows how quickly a discount eats margin.
- Booking more than you can deliver. If every slot fills in the first week and you keep sending reminders, customers wait and get annoyed. Pause sends when capacity is met.
- Sending new-customer ads to a generic heating page. A boiler owner wants to see boilers. Use a dedicated page.
- Not tracking which bookings came from where. Without that, next year's budget is a guess.
Frequently asked questions
When should a boiler tune-up campaign run?
In most of southern Canada, from mid-August to early October. In colder regions with an earlier heating season, start sooner. We set dates from your own booking history where you have it.
Do campaigns only target existing customers?
No. The reminder part goes to existing customers who agreed to hear from you. The search and ads part reaches new households looking for boiler maintenance in your area.
Should we offer a discount?
Not necessarily. An early-booking benefit, such as first choice of appointment times, often works as well and protects your margin. If you do discount, show the full price clearly.
Can we run a spring campaign too?
Yes. A spring push after the heating season can catch customers who had trouble over the winter, and it fills a second quiet stretch.