Utility and energy marketers are constantly struggling to drive engagement in what has been historically a low-involvement category. Utility and energy companies are striving to evolve their marketing activities including the launch of new programs that require active customer participation. Marketing techniques that increase relevancy and drive conversions are getting utility and energy marketer’s attention.
Personalized URLs are very successful with utility and energy customers. PURLs serve a unique purpose that landing pages and websites simply do not. That’s because PURLs provide impressive tracking abilities and some very strong insights. You know exactly who engaged with the PURL, what captured their interest and whether or not they moved on with the engagement or transactional process.
In addition, PURLs provide a curiosity factor that have produced a healthy bump in response among utility and energy customers. When people receive an email or a direct mail package with their name embedded in the URL, it definitely captures their attention.
Here are five reasons utility and energy marketers should consider using PURLs.
1. Customers expect utilities to know something about them.
PURLs provide relevancy to the user. One of the main goals of using a PURL is to provide the customer or prospect with meaningful, relevant and tailored content. If you’re planning on using general, non-personalized communications, a personalized URL doesn’t make sense.
Customers expect their utility and energy companies to know about their usage patterns and provide relevant recommendations. Utilities can utilize PURLs to deliver a personalized experience and have the entire communications stream feel more relevant to the user. Personalized URLs are a good channel for utility and energy companies because customers expect companies within this industry to have information about them, and many companies have not delivered on this expectation to date.
2. Customers and prospects will appreciate making a process easier.
PURLs provide ease for the user. PURLs can eliminate hassle and simplify a process for the user. Utility and energy marketers can take advantage of this aspect of PURLs by providing account or other relevant information. Many customers don’t keep their utility account information handy. A growing number of customers have opted for online billing statements, and many paper ones are often thrown out.
The benefit in the area of ease can help utility and energy companies in two ways. First, many utilities are focused on increasing customer satisfaction scores, and making processes “easier for customers” can help increase customer perceptions.
Second, many utility and energy marketers are offering new programs that require customer participation. Personalized URLs can simplify an enrollment or sign-up process for new programs. PURLs are extremely useful for customers that require account information to complete a transaction. They make the process simple and seamless.
3. Utilities need to drive engagement in what is generally a low-involvement category.
By nature, PURLs create user engagement. PURLs are response-oriented and foster engagement. They inspire users to take action, engage, transact or interact. Users are curious about a web page that has their name in the URL.
Utility and energy marketers are constantly plagued with trying to generate engagement in a low- involvement category. As new products and programs are introduced, it can be an uphill battle to get residential and C&I customers to actively engage. Personalized URLs can be an effective channel to build intrigue and engagement, and ultimately drive program participation as well as increase conversions.
4. Utility and energy companies have large, diverse prospect and customer bases.
PURLs are effective at providing a cost-efficient means to deliver more tailored messages. They help bridge targeted outbound communications by providing a more relevant and versioned landing page.
PURLs can be an effective tool to follow-up with segmented and tailored messages. Personalized URLs provide the means to deliver a high degree of versioning, and ensure a cohesive messaging experience. Utility and energy companies that have such diverse customer bases can benefit from the ability to deliver more segmented, personalized communications in a cost-effective manner.
5. PURLs work for utilities.
We have been able to generate strong results from using PURLs in utility and energy marketing. Personalized URLs are a good technique for increasing conversions and program participation as well as supporting initiatives such as rate renewals or demand-side notifications. One of our most recent PURL campaigns generated a 90% click-through rate once the user landed on the PURL. This program demonstrates the power of using PURLs for utility and energy companies.
To check out the full case study behind the PURL campaign that generated this impressive response, visit the J&C portfolio.
Personalized URLs can be an effective channel for utility and energy marketers. We’ve found that PURLs are particularly helpful for increasing conversions and facilitating processes such as rate renewals. PURLs make it easier to take action because they provide specific account information that visitors need. Leveraging PURLs can help support a short-term program goal, as well as provide overall benefits to customer satisfaction scores.
Topics: Utility Industry
