Advertising for Solar Companies: 5 Tips to Drive Connections and Conversions With Local Customers
With some states offering rebate programs incentivizing solar power, and recent reports that the federal government wants to dramatically increase the country’s solar power infrastructure, demand for services from solar companies is only set to increase in the coming years.
But for solar companies and consumers alike, there’s growing pressure to convert new clients and install residential solar panels sooner rather than later. In some states, for example, rebate programs that reimburse a portion of the cost of solar panel installs are slated to end in the coming years. In Arizona, the percentage of reimbursement for the state’s solar rebate program has already dropped from 30 percent to 26 percent, and the state plans to phase out the program entirely by 2024.
Targeted digital advertising can build your customer base and help lower solar costs for customers eligible for these rebates. Read on for five tips to help you plan and launch a successful solar power advertising strategy.
1. Craft Messaging With a Sense of Urgency
If potential customers need to move fast to take advantage of limited-time opportunities—whether those opportunities are in the form of a government rebate, or a promotion being offered by your business—your small business advertising needs to reflect this sense of urgency, and push customers to take quick action.
In this case, that urgency may include offering specific deadlines and potential savings customers should be mindful of, while also positioning your business as a partner in helping claim those savings and long-term value in any solar installation project. Offer concrete reasons why customers need to move quickly, and you might drive higher engagement rates as a result.
2. Invest in Paid Search Marketing Campaigns
As an emerging alternative energy source, many of your potential customers have a lot of questions about solar power, and are likely using online search engines to conduct high-level research regarding the effectiveness of solar power, the associated costs, and the solar power companies serving their area.
Your business can turn this local search traffic into direct referrals to your website by building a search advertising campaign that targets keywords likely to be used by your customers. Paid search marketing helps your business the line ahead of organic search results, placing your ad and website link at the top of the page. You can also filter these ads by location to only deliver paid search ads to search users in your targeted service area.
3. Support Door-to-Door Sales With Addressable Geo-Fencing
Many solar companies target households and communities through direct mailings to those homes, and with door-to-door sales engagements by business representatives on the ground. While this can be an effective strategy for building brand awareness, answering questions and keeping your business top-of-mind, you can also support these efforts through digital ad campaigns filtered by addressable geo-fencing.
With addressable geo-fencing, your business can target search, social media, display, digital video, and other TV advertisements to specific addresses and communities where you’re seeking new customers. Addressable geo-fencing enhances your targeting and improves the efficiency of your ad spending, and it can work with other engagement strategies to build relationships with potential new customers.
4. Target Qualified Leads Through Social and Display Advertising
As your ad campaigns work to nurture and convert qualified leads, retargeting is a high-performing digital marketing strategy that can increase audience engagement, increase the number of interactions your brand has with individual prospects, and keep your brand top-of-mind as they consider upgrading to solar power.
Retargeting can also support new leads generated through your ongoing ad campaigns, extending your sales and marketing window and making it easy to engage prospects with several types of messaging.
5. Connect With Customers Across Multiple Pain Points
In most cases, local homeowners interested in switching to solar power will be primarily motivated by the opportunity to cut costs on utilities, as well as the rebate programs that offer an additional, limited-time economic incentive.
But given the size of the decision to convert to solar power—and the long consideration phase such a decision often entails—you can keep your company’s solutions top-of-mind by pressing on a wide range of pain points potential customers may be prioritizing in their decision.
In addition to the rebate and long-term utilities savings, for example, you can also diversify your ad engagements with messaging that highlights the positive environmental impact of solar power, the positive impact of solar power on a home’s potential sale price, and the potential to sell back surplus solar energy to local utilities companies, if applicable to your area.
With deadlines set and rebate values in decline, solar companies and their potential companies are under pressure to complete these utilities conversions while their value is at its peak. Don’t lose precious time to inefficient or ineffective advertising—contact Cox Media today to build a winning ad strategy with a trusted digital partner.
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