Do you hear that sound? It's the quiet click of falling arrows as they miss their targets.
Marketing strategists have a track record of overlooking marketing errors for solar companies. Desperate for performance at all costs, solar companies point their arrows at the target with almost no care to their approach. Through countless failures, some hit the bullseye but may also result in catastrophe.
More than half a million homes across the United States have solar panels installed. Solar panels are more affordable than ever. They help cut down on the homeowner's monthly electric bills.
Still, marketing solar systems correctly can be difficult.
If you're a solar company, you might already have some marketing strategies in place. It helps to understand some common marketing errors and how to avoid them.
In our article, we will outline some of the most common mistakes companies make and how to avoid them. Read on to find out more!
To avoid costly marketing errors in any industry, you first need to understand the most common challenges. In marketing solar services, there are three areas of concern.
People are hesitant to invest in solar panels. Although financial incentives are available, many people don't know about them. What’s seen as high upfront costs and long payback periods scare some consumers away.
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They also worry about reliability. Most people don't think solar power can meet all of their energy needs. Those who have never used it or seen it in action have serious doubts about its reliability.
The process of getting and installing solar panels can be complicated and take a lot of time. Some people convince themselves they don't have the time or energy to go through the process.
Your job is to present a sales pitch that addresses each of these concerns. Include this as part of your solar marketing strategy.
Businesses often make mistakes when it comes to social media, like using the wrong platforms, giving out too much info, or ignoring customer reviews.
Before choosing social media marketing, you first need to understand your target audience. In the case of marketing solar services, your audience is people who own homes. You almost want to consider income.
Create an ideal client profile and then choose social media platforms where that person most likely will see your content.
Like social media, it's crucial to understand your target audience. Are their neighborhoods with homeowners? A local market consisting mostly of renters is a waste of time and resources.
Instead, subdivisions and planned communities are the local markets to direct your digital marketing budget.
Customer retention isn't always about reselling to a customer. It's also about maintaining the relationship for future use.
Yes, you could resell solar panels to the same customer. Your client could move to a new home. Or they could experience a loss due to a weather-related event.
Another reason to maintain the client relationship is that satisfied customers are great references or give referrals. You can offer incentives for online reviews, including video reviews.
Marketing is all about branding, website design, communications, and sales. It's a lot of work, and you need to make sure every part of your marketing system is running smoothly. When it comes to budgeting for marketing, there are a few things to think about.
Any activity that gets your business out to potential customers is considered advertising. Forms of advertisements could include investing in the following advertisement:
Your advertising budget should include the cost of creating content that's used in your ads and the cost of running advertising campaigns. If you have salespeople out in the community soliciting business, this will also fall under advertising.
There’s a lot of talk about why we need to measure performance, but are the consequences of not having KPIs, metrics, and measures really such a bad thing? The answer is yes.
When a company doesn't measure and track results, they don't understand what isn't working. Here are a few examples.
When you don't measure results, you opt not to control your solar marketing strategy. You have no idea what's not working if you're wasting time, or if the campaign can be saved with a few tweaks.
Most important, you could be wasting your digital marketing budget.
Marketing solar services depend on capturing leads. Another crucial marketing error for solar companies is creating a solar company website but not creating a landing page. Landing pages are needed when investing in social media marketing.
The prospective client sees your ad, and then what. They need to be taken somewhere to learn more and to express their interest.
With a landing page, they enter and submit their contact information. Now you need a salesperson dedicated to following up with the consumer and scheduling an appointment.
Last, marketing solar services can get tricky. Don't make promises to customers that you can't fulfill. You don't want to oversell the benefits of going solar.
It's bad for your business reputation. Plus, if your team engages in misleading tactics, it can cost you financially if a client accuses you of a false advertisement.
Rethink Your Solar Marketing Strategy
Marketing errors for solar companies are easily avoidable. If you don't have a marketing team on staff, consider outsourcing to a firm with knowledge of marketing solar services.
Remember to always monitor your anticipated return on investment. When you don’t get the results you anticipated, it's time to rethink your solar marketing strategy
Do you want to learn more about sales and marketing? Check out more great content in our Sales CRM section.
