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Engagement for Less Engaged Industries

Posted by Sheera Eby on September 10, 2014

Utilities are a need, not a want. Most people don’t think about their utility and the utility’s services except when something doesn’t work (e.g., the lights don’t go on) or when they receive a bill. This means that it can be hard to get customers to engage in energy management and energy-efficiency initiatives, or other programs that require active participation. This is one of the key reasons that utility marketing can be such a challenge.

However, there is a movement of customers becoming more knowledgeable about how they use energy. New codes that require businesses to install equipment that complies with energy reduction standards, consumer interest in greening and general environmental awareness are all contributing to increased engagement around energy management. This movement is opening the door to a new way of engaging customers using content marketing for utilities.

What is content marketing?
Content marketing is a form of marketing that involves creating useful, relevant and highly sharable content. The objective of this is to be in the right place at the right time to influence purchase. When done methodically, content marketing can help nudge people through the multiple steps of the sales funnel. Content marketing can include any number of techniques, but is fundamentally built on principles of blogging, downloadable content supported on landing pages and behaviorally driven trigger emails that drive conversions. In the utility industry, I predict that content marketing is going to quickly become one of the most commonly utilized strategies.

Why is my utility advertising?
For years, I sat in focus groups with utility customers and heard a common complaint: “Why is my utility advertising?” Content marketing can be a solution to this common concern, as content marketing is information that a customer is seeking. When done right, content marketing is customer-centric, not company-centric. While our focus is on content marketing that is lead generation and conversion-oriented, it can also serve a secondary purpose of being oriented toward brand-building and thought leadership. Content marketing is a natural for hand-raising programs that can lead to data collection, and ultimately conversions. But it can also serve a strong purpose for improving the visibility and brand impressions, and done in this manner, can be very acceptable to utility customers.

How content marketing for utilities works.
Essentially, content marketing for utilities provides a way for utilities to share important information that can support critical marketing objectives. The reality is that more people typically are searching for an HVAC contractor or technician versus how to reduce their bill. Content can be developed that can intercept this user and provide useful information, considerations and potentially support energy-efficiency initiatives. Content works as a magnetic force, supporting critical search engine optimization (SEO) objectives as well as marketing and business objectives.

Types of content that are the best fit for utilities.
The hub of content marketing for utilities is blog posts. Blogging is useful for utility marketing, but it is only the tip of the iceberg. Energy management, topics impacting bills and energy usage, new code or compliance considerations as well as any other educational topics are all strong candidates for content marketing.

Downloadable content such as ebooks and white papers are good for how-to information and certain technical subjects that require more depth. The key to downloadable content is ensuring whatever is put into the download is worth someone’s time. For many utilities, using a mix of the different forms of content can help obtain the best results.

A few final tips.
These basic utility content marketing tips are important to keep in mind for every program:

  • Focus on quality. Low-quality content can have a negative impact on your engagement, and ultimately not reflect well on the brand. Spending the time or money to create high-end content is well worth the effort.
  • Test. Don’t get fixated on one type of content marketing. Try different types of content, different formats and publishing in different areas to get the results you desire.
  • Social media. Content marketing and social media go hand in hand. In today’s internet-driven society, it is important to make sure that social media is utilized to share content. Content marketing can actually provide reasons for customers to follow your utility.

Sign up now to get your free content marketing assessment According to statistics by Demand Metric, content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates approximately 3 times as many leads.1 Plus, content marketing has a higher chance of being acceptable to your customer base, as it can be positioned as helpful information for them. With statistics like this, it only makes sense for utilities to build content marketing into their plans and see how it can improve customer engagement while helping to meet program-specific objectives.

Every utility marketing program is different, and working with an agency that has both content marketing and utility industry experience is likely the best way to get the most desirable results. That is why you should talk to J&C. To get your utility’s personalized assessment, sign up today and receive recommendations on how to adopt a content marketing strategy that works for you.

Sources:

Topics: Content Marketing

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