Climate change is a real threat facing humanity. The role of fossil fuels today has been widely discussed. A lot of voices have been calling for the use of clean energy and cutting down on emissions globally to slow down global warming and slow down climate change. 2020 saw the largest addition in the capacity of renewable energy production at 280 GW. This trend is set to continue with renewable energy accounting for 90% of capacity additions in the coming years.
In this changing scenario, renewable energy or green energy plays a critical part. The focus of most governments and organizations is to reduce the dependence on fossil fuel-based energy generation and focus on renewable energy sources such as wind energy, solar energy, and hydropower.
The shift in consumer preferences and the push for cleaner energy has given rise to a lot of organizations in the renewable energy industry. These organizations are leveraging advanced technology to make green power more accessible and affordable for consumers.
FVG’s work with well-known names in the space has helped us gain some real insights into renewable energy marketing. Here is how you can craft a winning marketing strategy for renewable energy companies.
How to Market Renewable Energy
Marketing a renewable energy organization is all about understanding the business well and getting the basics right. You of course need to tailor the marketing and the content to fit with the narrative crafted for the brand and communicate how the consumers benefit from the products. Here is a step-by-step breakdown.
Understand the Business and the Benefits
Like all good marketing efforts, the first step is listing the most important benefits and advantages the product offers the consumers. This comes from understanding the ins and outs of the business and the renewable energy market as a whole.
Understand what the goals of the business are, what are the consumer profiles that are being targeted, how the product or service is being delivered, and other salient details. Benefits for the end consumer should be highlighted too.
It also helps to tabulate the various features that make your offering stand out from the competitors. Competitor mapping also is an important step to knowing what the competition is doing and how they are performing. This could give insights into what you can and cannot do in your marketing.
Set Goals and Targets
Setting clear and measurable goals is one of the most important steps in creating a marketing plan. Look at what are the different goals that the organization wants to achieve and focus on these goals. These goals need to be broken down further into smaller actionable steps.
While setting the goals, it is important to look at benchmarks and identify what is a realistic goal that you can achieve. Whatever goals and targets you set, it is important to make them measurable. Having a metric that can indicate whether or not you achieved the goal will help massively in optimizing the plan further and keeping your campaigns on target.
Create Customer Personas
In-depth customer personas help you a lot. You need to identify what are the characteristics of the consumers you are targeting and what are some of the factors that influence their decision-making. Customer personas will give you insights into what needs to be communicated and how best to communicate.
These personas have a big impact on deciding what channels to focus on, what would be the preferred modes of communication, what are the needs and pain points that the consumers are facing, and other aspects.
Identify the Channels
Deciding what channels to focus on would come next in the process. There are a lot of popular channels out there that you can pick from, and deciding which ones to focus on and when is an important conversation. Here are some of the must-have channels
- SEO & Content marketing
- Social Media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn
- PPC and other paid advertising
- Video and short video formats
These are channels and mediums that are the most popular and for good measure too. Covering these well will give you a good base to work with which you can further expand.
There are of course other channels that you can focus on which will help you augment the work that you are doing.
- Partnerships and affiliates
- Influencers and blogs
- Press releases and media
- Tradeshows and events
There are several channels out there. Deciding on what channels to narrow down on depends on what the product is, who the audience is and what they are searching for.
Create Actionable and Insightful Content
Whatever you do, good content is central to it. No matter which channel you choose and what kind of products you sell, having good actionable and insightful content that solves the client’s problems will give you the most impact.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is of course important to consider here. Looking at keywords that you want to rank for is the first step in the process. It is possible to also combine SEO with good content, and this is the essence of great content marketing.
Look at what the audience is searching for and what they want to learn. Creating good content around these areas will give you good visibility and also engagement across the various forums. Your content should also focus on conversions. The end goal for any content is to move people from prospects to interested leads to buyers, ultimately.
User-generated content is also a great way to go. Testimonials from clients, user stories and case studies, and other such content usually generate good engagement.
Track and Optimize
Tracking and optimizing the various parts of the campaign is of course critical. No matter how much market research you have done or how well you know the audience, it’s almost impossible to get the campaign right in the first instance. Looking at metrics and constantly optimizing your campaigns is the best bet for success.
This process of tracking and optimizing is going to give you a lot of new insights regarding the content you create and the audience you are interacting with. incorporating these insights into your marketing strategy will help you in optimizing your spending and ultimately making your campaign sharper.
Best Marketing Practices from FVG
Now that we discussed the steps to create a marketing plan for your renewable energy company, here are some bonus pointers to note from our experience of working with clients.
Tell Stories to Engage
One of the best ways to get your content noticed is to tell great stories through your content. Renewable energy as an industry has a lot of potential for this too. The harmful effects of fossil fuels on climate change are a great way to convince people to focus more on renewable energy projects. There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to hydroelectric power, solar energy, biomass, or geothermal energy and the potential it offers. Covering these in your content will help you position yourself as a thought leader in the industry.
Build Long-term Relationships
You must try to build long-term relationships with your clients through your marketing. If you are selling solar panels, it’s often not just about selling a set of solar panels. It’s also about educating them about how best to use it and clean it, how to optimize energy storage, and even about what other sources of renewable energy they can rely on.
The content you create and the way you communicate should all revolve around building a long-term relationship. These relationships will help your business grow and also turn customers into evangelists and more.
Parting Thoughts
Renewable energy is here to stay. There is a global push towards cleaner energy sources and for businesses who are working in this space, the time is ideal to get your business noticed and to take it to the next level. Marketing your renewable energy business in a market that is recovering from the pandemic may be more challenging than you imagine.
However, focusing on the basics, understanding the customer’s needs and challenges, and of course, focusing on building a great product is the key to success.
Working with a digital marketing agency with vast experience in helping renewable energy brands market is a great way to ensure you get the best value for your budget. Our expertise in building brands and sustainable marketing practices makes us a great bet when it comes to your business. Talk to us today to know more!
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