Being an energy company in the current market is tough. Marketing can be even harder, with an ever-changing environment and more competition entering the market. Consumers are becoming more informed about companies and energy firms can be easily scrutinised.
Content marketing for sustainable energy companies is a new market entirely, with renewable energy becoming more popular with customers. So, how do energy companies’ market sustainable products and carbon offsetting?
An increasing way that energy companies promote themselves is through content marketing. According to Visme, over 95% of the most successful content marketers stated that content marketing increased trust and credibility with customers.
“Content Marketing is all the Marketing that’s left.” – Seth Godin
Content Marketing
There are plenty of ways for energy companies to market their sustainable products and carbon offsetting through content marketing. Many firms have not yet realised the potential of these areas. Some of the less common ways for marketing include:
- Podcasts.
- FAQ Sections.
- Videos.
- Webinars.
- Press Releases.
- Media kits.
Building a library of niche resources is key. You want to keep creating more content that will educate your audience, creating trust while also showing why your company is better than others. You should set a goal to build a solid foundation of informative information that varies in different platforms and formats, all in an easy place for customers to find.
Some statistics into content marketing:
95% of product buyers say that they view content as a trustworthy marker for deciding if a business is good.
The average spending percentage on content marketing for businesses is 26%. However, successful marketers will roughly spend 40% of their marketing budget on content marketing. Soon we will see content marketing exceed $300 billion.
Create An Easy To Use Website
Your website should be the solid foundation of your brand awareness strategy. All the content you produce should make customers come back to your website for more information. Here are some tips for creating a website that is better for customers. But how can you enhance your website traffic?
Make Your Site Easy to Use
Customers should be able to navigate your website easily, making it a breeze to find what they’re looking for. An easy tip is to get feedback from customers to see if they find your website accessible.
Add a search box.
This can be easily overlooked, but if a customer wants specific information, a search box can be the difference between them looking elsewhere and using your website. Not only this, but it may also direct the customer to other pages and related links on your website.
Having A Blog.
When it comes to blogging, content marketers who have a priority to blogging are 13 times more likely to gain a positive ROI on their efforts. There is massive potential for companies to improve their sales by a simple tool such as a blog. To stand out from the crowd of sustainable energy suppliers, creating a blog can separate your business from the rest.
What Should I Write About?
- Recent energy industry news.
- Common questions and feedback from your customers.
- Research keyword and analytics based on your website to see what interests your customers.
- Interesting innovations and trends in the market.
You should check out OptinMonster’s post on how to market and grow your blog, giving helpful tips on how you can improve your blogging skills. There are plenty of ways to boost traffic to your blog, here are a couple of ideas.
Create a mobile-friendly blog.
More than 50% of people use mobile search engines. Google even use mobile-friendliness as a factor in SEO ranking. Making your blog mobile-friendly can boost traffic, even placing you higher on search engine lists than your competitors.
Research your target audience.
Build a picture of the type of customer you are writing for. Once you have done your research, you can tailor your content to suit their needs. This can be tough for energy companies that are marketing sustainable products and carbon offsetting, however, you will see the benefits once you have a committed following.
How Often Should You Post Blogs?
The more frequent the better. Having a scheduled plan for posting is an ideal way to boost traffic. But quality matters, especially if you grow a connected audience. Consistent standards are important, remember, quality is better than quantity.
Did you know that business that has an active blog will receive on average 97% more links to their websites? Also, a whopping 77% of people who are active online read blogs.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most reliable ways to keep a solid relationship with customers. This is a long-standing marketing strategy that you should start to utilise. According to Content Marketing Institute, more than 85 per cent of marketers will use email marketing to promote their content. For beginners, here are some marketing tips for email marketing.
Put A Real Name In The Sender Field
Creating a friendly, trustworthy feel makes your brand more relatable and can build a relationship with customers. A simple way to do this is by using an employee’s name in the sender field, making your company feel closer to the customers.
Use Statistics
YesWare has recently shown in a study that adding a number, such as statistics or a percentage can have an increase in engagement with a post. Numbers can create trust and can improve sales. Just think what sounds better; ‘save money on sustainable energy’ or ‘save up to £300 on sustainable energy’.
Based on a report from DMA, for every $1 that a business spends on email marketing, they’ll on average see a return of $42.
Social Media
We all know that social media is powerful and the best businesses are active on the majority of platforms. To build brand awareness and trust, energy companies need to be posting on social media. Of course, social media can be overwhelming as the average company uses on average 6 different platforms.
Statistic | Amount |
Number of active social media users. | 4.2bn |
Percentage of social media users accessing via mobile phone. | 98% |
Increase in active social media users (2020vs2021) | 13.2% |
Increase in time spent on social media (2020vs2021) | 43% |
Average daily social media usage | 2 hours and 25 minutes |
With so many different sites and apps, it can be tricky to navigate the latest trends. Sproutsocial gives some great insights into social media marketing and here are some handy tips.
Research
Take some time to see what your competitors are using and which ones are successful. This will give you an idea of what platforms you should use, ways you can do it better than them, along with areas they are missing and you can capitalise on. Also, see what’s trending in your sector. Research what is popular and capture the moment by engaging with your audience to drive sales.
Consistency Is Key
The bigger platforms such as Instagram and Twitter will have you posting a few times a day to make the most of customer engagement. Other platforms require less frequent posting, but a having strategy is a good place to maximise the algorithm for each one.
Once a customer starts following a brand on a social media platform, a whopping 91% will visit the brand’s website, with a further 89% eventually buying from them. Just under half of customers will follow a business to stay up to date with the brand’s news.
Things Sustainable Energy Companies Need To Avoid When Marketing
For legal reasons, there are numerous obstacles that energy companies need to avoid when marketing. They can be easily overlooked and may land them in trouble.
- When wiring a blog, make sure not to use predictions about specific energy rates, as well as hinting at your insider knowledge of the market.
- When talking about sustainability practices, try not to use the word ‘sustainable’. If the process you’re talking about meets the specific LEED energy efficiency qualifications, then you should be okay.
- If something isn’t backed up by solid statistics, try to not use references to ‘carbon footprint’ or ‘green’.