Clean Energy Marketing: What to Do in Urgent Times
Its clear that the future of energy lies in utilizing sustainable sources, like solar, wind and energy storage. The recent IPCC report highlighted the seriousness of the clean energy shift. For those of us associated with marketing clean energy and other climate options, our tasks simply went from challenging … to vital.
How can you make your marketing efforts more reliable when the planets clock is so relentlessly ticking?
What To Do
Setting the Right Goals
The primary step in any marketing effort is setting goals. Perhaps it goes without saying, but well say it anyhow: Marketing goals must be specific, achievable and quantifiable– and carefully aligned with business goals. Engage the management team in setting the goals. Talk with your sales group to understand what type of aid they require to support their efforts. At this stage you are listening more than talking.
The Customer Journey
Before setting down to doing the marketing work, take a beat to comprehend your customers journey. It can be tempting to avoid this action in the interest of time, but do not do it. If you do, youll just need to revisit the journey when your marketing efforts fail.
Like other purchasing decisions, the client journey for sustainable energy starts with awareness– the awareness that a consumer or company needs or desires the product and services you provide. While climate reports assist increase awareness of the need to act, its not always simple to connect the dots on how a particular product and services can help. This is where a well-timed, consistent content strategy is important.
According to the Content Marketing Institute, 50% of content produced was intended to generate awareness and trigger interest within this initial step. Not remarkably, this is where we discover our first “do” on the list: material marketing.
Yes, Content is Still King
Material is still the cornerstone of digital marketing. In marketing tidy energy, engaging material– with credible evidence points, testimonials and highly expressive visuals– is the linchpin of an effective marketing strategy.
Blogs will be one of your greatest sources of inbound traffic, and initial news release or newsletters produce 2 times more traffic compared to sharing articles. Additionally, blogs approve chances for much better search engine optimization– an essential metric for evaluating user data and the efficiency of your website. Blogs that pop up on the very first page of your SERP (search engine results page) normally have clear headers with crucial search terms, meta descriptions and are longer than you might believe– averaging just under 1500 words..
Material of interest to your readers could be as easy as photos of the finished system or interviews that describe the clients journey to tidy energy. All of these are grist for the content mill, to be shared through email marketing, social channels and more. Sharing these examples shows dedication to customer fulfillment and a desire to constantly enhance.
Email Marketing.
As soon as youve composed a blog do not forget to share it– all over. Email marketing is still among the very best ways to do this– in fact, email marketing has the highest return on investment for B2B companies, attaining a tremendous 4400% return. This is to say that for every dollar invested, the return can balance around $44..
For B2B companies, marketing e-mails are most efficient when they feature original material that is academic and useful– and most of all, interesting. Excellent content resembles an excellent story: It has an arc. For example, if youre a solar company who offers to commercial organizations, customer case studies will be a crucial part of your content arsenal. Businesses need to see that other companies, particularly those in their own industry, have successfully made the shift to renewables– and how.
Buying quality images of your set up projects is well worth it. Image Credit: Woody Welch.
Social Media: Is it Really Worth it?
One of the most frequent concerns we get as a B2B marketing agency is, what role do social channels play in the decision-making process? That does not mean you have to be equally active on all social media platforms. For B2B tidy energy, Linked In and Twitter are maybe the most influential social channels, though even Youtube videos can play their part (yes, individuals view Youtube videos at work).
When posted material from the business page is shared by employees, the click-through rates from that reposted content is two times as high as the original post. Not all posts have to be blog sites; listicles, or “list posts,” are short-form material that outline the important information in fast bullet points.
For those of us involved in marketing clean energy and other climate options, our tasks simply went from challenging … to vital.
All of these are grist for the material mill, to be shared through email marketing, social channels and more. Email marketing is still one of the finest methods to do this– in truth, email marketing has the greatest return on investment for B2B companies, achieving a massive 4400% return. For B2B business, marketing e-mails are most reliable when they include initial material that is informative and educational– and many of all, fascinating. Whether you are brand-new to the world of renewable energy marketing or a veteran of the market, its important to reassess marketing efforts on a routine basis.
As soon as your potential customers are mindful of your service, they start the consideration part of the buying process, in which your item or service goes through a relative procedure with competitors. Content that distinguishes your company is effective in this stage, but social media still plays a part, specifically if youre publishing helpful articles on those platforms, specifically LinkedIn..
Social media can even work throughout the decision-making stage, the final destination of the acquiring journey. Compared to LinkedIn, Twitter is more reliable at revealing the human side of the business– viewpoints, discussions with other industry leaders and customer interaction. Twitter will most likely not be the last point of sale, however it can sway consumer viewpoint.
What Not To Do.
Understanding what to do to make your clean energy marketing most reliable is handy, but understanding what not to do might be even more important. A few of the “do nts” in this list might seem instinctive, but they bear duplicating.
Not reacting = Not engaging.
Engagement keeps your company top-of-mind, and assures consumers and potential customers that your company is responsive. If youre not able to react to customer questions, either through e-mail or social networks, then youre not engaging. The customer made the effort to connect to your company, and they expect that effort to be reciprocated..
Stopping Working to Track Engagement Data.
Comprehending clickthrough rates, bounces, incoming traffic, length of time invested and SEO are all terms that are vital to evaluating the present state of your marketing efficiency. These data points, though not exhaustive, are fairly easy to access and permit both specific and general insights into your marketing efficiency.
A lot of social media platforms house this information natively within the apps and can be accessed through user settings. You can utilize a social networks platform like Hootsuite to measure social efforts, with Google Analytics offering relatively abundant analysis of socials function in your website efficiency. A robust email platform like Mailchimp can drill down into email marketing performance such as A/B testing..
Using Social Media not Conducive for B2B.
By now, we hope you understand that platforms like TikTok, Pinterest, Snapchat and, in some cases, Instagram and Facebook, are not as reliable for B2B marketing.These platforms target different audiences, which makes it hard to cater posts to the ideal consumer population. For business in the renewables sector, LinkedIn appeals to a slightly older market, although millennials are fast capturing up on the platform.
Bringing It All Together.
Whether you are new to the world of eco-friendly energy marketing or a veteran of the industry, its essential to reassess marketing efforts regularly. If youre brand-new to digital marketing, the very best way to get going is simply to dive in– there is a little bit of a learning curve, so dont get overwhelmed. For skilled online marketers, its helpful to monitor your current marketing status and opportunities for development.
We understand tidy energy marketing can be a tough task, but its never been more urgent.
Contact us for assistance along the way!
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