Hearth, patio and outdoor living

Strategic Marketing for Hearth and Patio Dealers

Crutchfield Marketing is a digital marketing agency for fireplace, stove, grill and outdoor living retailers. We build the site, run the advertising and the SEO behind it, and report every lead the work produces.

  • Calls, forms and texts, every one tracked to what produced it
  • Paid search and paid social run together against one budget
  • A website and the SEO that keeps it earning, as one program
  • Manufacturer co-op planned, documented and claimed

Every client gets a reporting dashboard branded to their store. Figures shown are a sample.

Backed by a Google Premier Partner. Run by an HPBA member.

Google Premier PartnerTop tier of the Google Partners program, through the LocaliQ partnership
Microsoft Advertising Elite PartnerElite tier, through the LocaliQ partnership
Meta Business PartnerRecognized for advertising results for local business clients
Yelp Advertising Platinum PartnerPlatinum tier, through the LocaliQ partnership
HPBA memberHearth, Patio & Barbecue Association, and at the shows
The agency

Hearth and patio retail is the only category we specialize in.

Fireplaces, stoves, grills, outdoor kitchens and patio. Not home services in general and not local retail in general. That focus shows up in the places a generalist agency gets wrong: which searches actually turn into showroom visits, when the season turns in your particular market, and what a manufacturer will and will not approve for co-op.

Crutchfield Marketing is a LocaliQ Digital Partnership, so every account is backed by the technology, data and reach of a Google Premier Partner. Founder Alex Crutchfield has worked with hearth and patio store owners every year since 2016 and is an active HPBA member. He works on every account himself, so nothing gets handed to a junior team after you sign.

  • Regular reporting and a strategy call, not just a monthly invoice
  • Manufacturer co-op handled end to end, from planning through the claim
  • Month to month, with no contract and no minimum term

More about the agency and who runs it

Get a free consultation

Tell us where to reach you. We will look at your market before the call.

Prefer to pick a time yourself? Book straight on the calendar.

Why dealers hire us

Everything we run is built to produce a lead you can answer

Traffic is not the product. A dealer needs somebody on the phone, or a form with a name, a number and a project on it. Every channel we run is measured on whether it produced one.

  1. 1

    Reach the buyer

    Paid search catches the homeowner already looking for a dealer. Paid social reaches the one still picturing the room. SEO and your Business Profile pick up everyone who searches your name or your town.

  2. 2

    Land them somewhere built to convert

    A quote form on every page instead of only the contact page, the phone number one tap away in the header, and a page that loads on a phone in a driveway.

  3. 3

    Take the lead the way they want to give it

    A call, a form or a text. In this category most of them are calls, which is why the number is never buried and why calls are counted as leads.

  4. 4

    Track every one to what produced it

    Call tracking, form tracking and source tagging in a single dashboard, so you can see which campaign earned its budget and which one did not.

Across three dealer accounts we run, six or seven of every eight leads arrived as a phone call rather than a form fill. The numbers behind that.

Who we work with

One store or twenty, the work is the same shape

What changes is how the budget is split, how the reporting rolls up, and how much of it has to satisfy somebody else's brand standards.

Single-location dealers

One showroom, one market, and a budget that has to work.

  • A plan sized to what your market can actually support
  • You are never the smallest account in the room
  • Month to month, so you can stop any time

Multi-location groups

Two to twenty showrooms under one brand, or several brands under one owner.

  • A landing page and a Business Profile per location, not one for the group
  • Budget split by market performance instead of evenly
  • One rolled-up report, plus a breakdown by store

Franchises and buying groups

Brand standards to hold, co-op programs to satisfy, and a board to report to.

  • Creative built to brand and manufacturer specification
  • Co-op documented and claimed for every participating location
  • Reporting a C-level reader can take into a meeting

Tell us which one you are and we will scope it

What we do

Everything that puts a buyer in your showroom

13 services, grouped by the job they do. Most dealers start with two or three of them. We will tell you which ones your market can actually support before you spend anything.

Get found locally

Show up when a nearby shopper searches, and look credible when they land.

Promote

Stay in front of past inquiries and drive a spike when you need one.

The one most dealers start with

XMO: Lead Generator runs search and social against one budget.

Search ads catch the homeowner who is already looking for a dealer. Social ads reach the one who is still picturing the room. Both run inside a single campaign, and the AI moves money to whichever one is producing leads this week rather than leaving you to guess at the split.

  • Search ads capture buyers actively looking for a dealer near them
  • Social ads reach homeowners before they have started searching
  • Budget shifts automatically toward whichever channel is converting
Recent work

Three dealer sites you can open right now

All three are live. Click through them.

The VanderWall Brothers homepage on a phone. A lit linear fireplace fills the photograph behind the headline Building Spaces Where Life Happens, with a four-field project form across the bottom of the screen.

Rebuild · Spring Lake, Michigan

VanderWall Brothers

vanderwallbros.com

In business since 1922 and already ranking first in Grand Rapids. We rebuilt all 122 pages without moving a single web address, so there was nothing for the ranking to fall off. A quote form went on 96 pages instead of one.

See what went into it
The Hearth Enterprises homepage on a phone. Firelight fills the left of the screen behind the headline Step in, the fires are lit, with a request-a-quote form panel on the right that asks which of the two showrooms is closer.

New site · Rome and Canton, Georgia

Hearth Enterprises

hearth-enterprises.com

Selling fireplaces since 1974 with no website of their own to send anyone to. We built 14 pages from scratch, 17,315 words of original copy, and gave each of the two showrooms its own landing page.

See what went into it
The Weather Shack homepage on a phone. A close photograph of burning logs behind the headline Fire, properly done, with an Ask us what fits form on the right that takes photos of the room.

New site · Mesa, Arizona

The Weather Shack

theweathershack.com

A family store on East Main Street since 1982 whose entire homepage was a 270-byte frame around a page builder. We built 27 pages, 22,777 words, and used their own photography throughout with no stock anywhere on it.

See what went into it

Every site and campaign, with the numbers behind each one

Client results

What 90 days on the program looked like

Three hearth retailers, each running the same cross-media technology behind every Crutchfield Marketing campaign. Every figure below comes from the client's own reporting.

Hearth retail · Washington, D.C.

Bromwell's The Fireplace People

A 150-year-old family fireplace retailer needed sales outside the fall and winter rush, and better return on what they were already spending.

Read the full 2025 case study
617New leads in 90 days
94%Higher search click-through than the category average
4,104%Return on ad spend

Hearth retail · North Carolina

HomeFlame

A family-owned luxury hearth and patio retailer offering design, installation and maintenance wanted more highly qualified leads from their ideal customer.

Read the first-season case study
270New leads in 90 days
83%Higher search click-through than the category average
3,200%Return on ad spend

Hearth retail · St. Louis

Fireplace and Grill Center

Busy in winter and quiet in summer. They wanted a plan built around that curve instead of flat spending all year.

Read the launch-to-season case study
388New leads in 90 days
$23.19Cost per lead
4,043%Return on ad spend
In their words

What our clients say

“I have worked with agencies in the past and they were fine, but switching to Alex and his team has made all the difference! We have never been busier more consistently! The leads they generate for us just don't stop coming, and they are actual leads that we are able to convert into happy customers right in our backyard.”

Peggy WardFireplace and Grill Center, St. Louis

“Alex understands my business and always seems to have good advice. He actually cares about me and my business and it shows!”

Vickie Kelley, OwnerShenandoah Kitchen & Home

“Consistently have as many qualified leads as we can handle.”

Rich CartlidgeBromwell's The Fireplace People

“Helped our business stay ahead of the curve in a competitive market.”

Kevin WoodK&T Associates
A modern linear gas fireplace set into a grey stacked stone wall, with a black mantel above it.
Fireplaces and inserts
A black freestanding wood stove burning in a modern entryway, with a tall black flue pipe running to the wall.
Wood and gas stoves
A built-in outdoor kitchen by a pool, with salmon and chicken on the grill and guests standing at the counter.
Grills and outdoor kitchens
A row of white patio umbrellas over lounge chairs and side tables at the edge of a still pool.
Patio and outdoor living
Insights

What we are seeing in the category

What the accounts actually show.

Read everything we have published

No obligation

See what your Google Ads account is actually doing

Run a free performance grade and get a plain report on wasted spend, click-through rate against your category, and the searches you are paying for that will never buy a fireplace.

Grade my account
Common questions

Questions dealers ask first

How long until I see results?

Search ads can start producing inquiries in the first few weeks. SEO and GEO build over 3 to 6 months as your rankings and reputation grow. XMO: Lead Generator produces leads faster than search ads alone because it runs both channels against one budget instead of waiting on one. We will tell you which channels fit your timeline before you spend a dollar.

How much does it cost?

Most programs start around $2,000 a month. Every plan is built around the search volume and the competition in your area. A dealer in a large market with several competitors needs to invest more than a dealer in a small market with fewer searches and fewer competitors. Every number we quote is a recommendation based on real data, not a package price.

Am I locked into a long-term contract?

No. We work month to month. If a channel is not earning its place in your budget we change it or drop it. You are never stuck paying for something that is not working.

What is the relationship between Crutchfield Marketing and LocaliQ?

Crutchfield Marketing is a LocaliQ Digital Partnership. You get the full tools, technology and reach of LocaliQ, a Google Premier Partner and one of the largest marketing platforms in the country, run by an agency that works in the hearth and patio industry full time. That is also why you will see a localiq.com email address. Same person, same partnership.

Can I use manufacturer co-op funds to pay for this?

Often, yes. We know the hearth and patio co-op programs well enough to structure campaigns so they qualify for reimbursement, and we file the claim. We will go through what each of your manufacturers allows during the consultation. There is more detail on the co-op management page.

What happens if it does not generate leads?

You will know early. Every dealer gets regular reporting and a strategy call, not just an invoice. If a channel underperforms we adjust it before it burns more budget instead of waiting for a quarterly review.

Do you only work with big dealers?

No. The strategy is built around your store's actual budget and market. A single-location dealer and a multi-store group get the same direct access to the owner and the same reporting.

Next step

Somebody in your market is running these ads today.

Whoever it is, they are getting the calls. Campaigns take a few weeks to ramp, so a month spent deciding costs the same in June as it does in October.

Free consultation

Book a call or send us a message

Pick a time straight on the calendar with no back and forth, or fill in the form and we will follow up.

Send a message instead

Tell us about your store, your market and what you are trying to grow.

Text us

Send a message and we will text you back.