How to Energize Your Digital Solar Marketing Strategy
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NANCY EDWARDSFounder/PrincipalClean Power Marketing
Today’s Panelists
MACIEJ GODLEWSKIPresident Fired Up Digital, Inc.
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Our joint mission: We help clean energy innovators grow.
WHO WE ARECLEAN POWER MARKETING• Solar branding
• Marketing strategy
• PR/social media strategy
• Content development/marketing
• Web/print design
• Video Production
FIRED UP DIGITAL, INC.• Digital advertising
• Digital growth strategy
• Lead optimization
• Organic and paid search
• Content development
Full stack or a la carte marketing – partnering for your success.
4Agenda1.0 SOLAR MARKET TRENDS
2.0 DIFFERENTIATING YOUR SOLAR BRAND
3.0 THE SOLAR CUSTOMER JOURNEY
4.0 BENCHMARKING CUSTOMER ACQUISITION COSTS
5.0 DEVELOPING AN EFFECTIVE DIGITAL STRATEGY
6.0 WHERE TO ALLOCATE TIME AND MONEY
7.0 WHEN AND HOW TO USE DIGITAL ADVERTISING
8.0 MEASURING YOUR DIGITAL MARKETING EFFORTS
5Access to the recordingWe will be putting the video of the presentation, and an in-depth analysis
of the information in this presentation at the website below.
We are also making available for free the “5 Most Dangerous Online Advertising Trends in Solar” at the same location below.
If you wish to find out more, please go to:
http://firedupdigital.com/solar-marketing-strategies/
6RISING REVENUES
7A 50-state market
8RISING COMPETITION
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Benchmarking customer acquisition
costs
10National installation Companies
Source: Solar Leaderboard, 2016
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BUILDING A STRONG SOLAR
BRAND
12What Are People Saying
About Solar?“Too many companies to choose from”
“I do not understand why nothing is being done to STOP this company from
doing business.”
“BUYER BEWARE!”
“I am saving money, and helping the environment!”
“Quite satisfied with the response time…”
“Very professional and pleasant to work with!”
“The installation crew was prompt, efficient, and worked in a timely manner. The inspectors from the county and power company had nothing but good things to say
about {BLANK} and the workmanship. Everything worked as it should. Now we are enjoying everything solar has to offer.”
“Confusing”
14Branding is a Relationship
And the best relationships are built on trust.
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“A brand is what other people say about you when you leave the
room.”JEFF BEZOSFOUNDER/CEO, AMAZON
16THE SOLAR Problem:
What does my company stand for?
What does my customer
care about?
Your True
Brand
How can we BUILD A STRONG BRANDAND
DIFFERENTIATE from the competition?
17FINDING YOUR TRUE BRAND
• What is the “Why” behind your business? Why do you exist?
• What are your most brilliant attributes? Where do you shine?
• Who are your ideal customers, and what do they care about?
• How are you uniquely different from your toughest competitors?
• How would your customers describe you in three words?
18Three CompaniesHow companies with very similar offerings
can distinguish their brands
19The solar customer journey
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Four ways to differentiate
your solar brandYour Story
Your Solutions
Your Expertise
Your Distinct and Relatable Personality
PEOPLE DO BUSINESS WITH PEOPLE, NOT CORPORATIONS.
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Creating a smart and effective digital
strategy
22Building a strategic DIGITAL plan
• Define Your Goals AND Your Measurement Strategy
• Benchmark Where You Are Today
• Take Care of the Basics: SEO, Site Performance, User Experience
• Develop a 3-Month Plan: Test, Refine, Retest
• Consider Digital Advertising to Jump-Start Your Efforts, but ONLY When Your Site is Conversion-Ready
• Create a Long-term Content Strategy to Build Organic SEO
23Where to Allocate Time and Money
Source: Forrester Research, US Digital Marketing Forecast, 2014-2019
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DIGITAL MARKETING ROI
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Social network trends
IMPLEMENTING YOUR DIGITAL STRATEGY
27Benchmark Your Site
Your website is not just an online business card. It represents AND works for you. Think of it as the Hub.
• Lead with content to differentiate yourself and pull in prospects
• Use a benchmark to see how you’re doing against competitors.
Upcoming example shows how a website compares to 176 competitors in the “Solar Power” vertical in a state
28Benchmark Your Site
29Your Google PresenceEach search result is like going to a concert
Breaking up the anatomy of Google search results • AdWords AKA Pay Per Click AKA PPC• Local map results• Organic search results• AdWords again
Local SEO depends on the right NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number)
Organic SEO breaks up into • On Site• Off SiteSEO periodic table is a good example of how to break it up
Start with what you can control and do it correctly
30Your Google PresenceEach search result is like going to a concert
Breaking up the anatomy of Google search results • AdWords AKA Pay Per Click AKA PPC• Local map results• Organic search results• AdWords again
Local SEO depends on the right NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number)
Organic SEO breaks up into • On Site• Off SiteSEO periodic table is a good example of how to break it up
Start with what you can control and do it correctly
31Your Google PresenceEach search result is like going to a concert
Breaking up the anatomy of Google search results • AdWords AKA Pay Per Click AKA PPC• Local map results• Organic search results• AdWords again
Local SEO depends on the right NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number)
Organic SEO breaks up into • On Site• Off SiteSEO periodic table is a good example of how to break it up
Start with what you can control and do it correctly
32Your Google PresenceEach search result is like going to a concert
Breaking up the anatomy of Google search results • AdWords AKA Pay Per Click AKA PPC• Local map results• Organic search results• AdWords again
Local SEO depends on the right NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number)
Organic SEO breaks up into • On Site• Off SiteSEO periodic table is a good example of how to break it up
Start with what you can control and do it correctly
33Your Google PresenceEach search result is like going to a concert
Breaking up the anatomy of Google search results • AdWords AKA Pay Per Click AKA PPC• Local map results• Organic search results• AdWords again
Local SEO depends on the right NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number)
Organic SEO breaks up into • On Site• Off SiteSEO periodic table is a good example of how to break it up
Start with what you can control and do it correctly
34When and How to UseDigital Advertising
Use digital advertising when your target market is mostly discovering or researching you online
Time vs. money equation• Digital advertising is quick to test: 1-2 months• When you simply don’t have the time to snail mail and wait
for results that are hard to track
Keep experimenting• Costs should go down over time with testing
Works hand-in-hand with other initiatives• Promote content• Test what people are searching
35Tracking Your Marketing
There are a myriad of tools
Have a plan to track the metrics. Know and interpret your conversion numbers. Then:
ACT ON THAT DATA.
364 Metrics You Should Know
• Channels driving visitors to Your Website
• Total Conversions
• Lead-to-Close Ratio
• Digital Customer Acquisition Costs
37Channels Driving Visitors to Your
Website
You can find the Source/Medium numbers by going toAcquisition -> All Traffic -> Source/Medium And then apply the “Bounced Sessions” segment or just apply the “Non-bounce Sessions”
Source/Medium Numbers - Bounced Sessions = Visitors Per Channel Who Stayed
38Channels Driving Visitors to Your
Website
39Total Conversions
You can setup Goal Completions by going to the Admin area and then under the View for your website click on “Goals.”
Goal Completions in Google Analytics = Total Conversions
40Total Conversions
41Lead-to-Close Ratio
Pick a timeframe that you’re measuring for when you got the leads and then track them to see how many of them either converted to the next stage or bought.
You can do it for raw leads or “qualified” leads.
Number of Closed Sales x 100 = Closing Ratio Percentage
Number of Leads
42Digital Customer Acquisition Costs
Pick a timeframe that you’re measuring both for costs and number of customers acquired
(Costs of Campaign + Costs of Executing Campaign)
= Digital Acquisition Costs Number of Customers Acquired
43NEXT STEPSDEFINE WHERE YOU ARE
BRAND FOUNDATIONS DIGITAL STRATEGY LEAD GEN/NURTURE CONTENT MARKETING
• Brand Check-up• Messaging and
Creative Platform• Logo design or
evolution• Web site Audit• Web design or
Refresh
• Goal-Setting• Tracking Strategy• Site Benchmarking• SEO Strategy• Advertising Strategy• Content Strategy• PR Link-Building• Advanced
techniques depending on client
• Campaign development and management
• PPC Ad Strategy and Tracking
• Email Marketing/ Lead Nurturing
• Content development
• Blogging• Social Media
Outreach• Customer Success
Marketing• Public Relations
Thank You!
Bright Ideas. Powerfully Executed.
Maciej Godlewski(617) [email protected]
Nancy Edwards(512) [email protected]
Sign up for a complimentary consulting call with Nancy and Maciej: https://calendly.com/solarwebinar/strategycall/