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Powering Engagement Podcast: Episode One Recap

Foundations for Success: Building Effective Utility Communications

The first episode of Questline Digital’s Powering Engagement Podcast Series sets the foundation for stronger utility communications.

Framed around three core pillars — strategy, content and technology — Episode One brings together insights from Questline Digital’s team of experts, including Rebecca Czarobski, Joe Pifher, Adriana Scavio and Nikki Seeley. They explore what’s actually working in utility communications today.

“At Questline, we build everything around three components: Strategy, content and technology,” says Rebecca Czarobski, Senior Director of Customer Success at Questline Digital. “When those three work together, you get operational messages that prevent confusion, reduce avoidable calls and help customers feel confident about their next step.”

Example of Utility Communication Performance Pillars

Click here to watch the first episode of the Powering Engagement Podcast Series.

Lead with Strategy

Utility customers aren’t looking for clever marketing — they’re looking for clarity. When messages are intentional, customers are more likely to understand what’s being asked of them — reducing confusion and unnecessary customer service calls.

For utility communicators, sending more messages isn’t the solution. Instead, it’s creating a system that helps customers understand and take meaningful action.

Why strategy matters:

Prevents customer confusion
Reduces call spikes
Ensures clear, purposeful messaging

The episode dives into the key fundamentals that influence inbox performance, including deliverability, subject lines and sending practices.

From proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to clear, action-oriented subject lines, these foundational elements ensure messages reach the inbox and resonate with customers.

Deliverability Checklist:

SPF / DKIM/ DMARC alignment
Clean and simple HTML
Consistent “from” name
Fewer than five links
Avoid heavy banners

These are the cues that inbox providers look for when deciding whether to trust your message or simply drop it into promotions.

“If your setup is clean and your sending practices are consistent, your emails will land where customers actually see them,” Czarobski says. “That’s really the difference between hoping people saw your message and knowing that it reached them.”

Image from podcast production discussing utility communication strategy

Once an email successfully reaches the inbox, the next moment of truth is the subject line and preview text. Together, they act as the “front door” of your communications — shaping whether a customer opens, ignores or deletes the message.

Subject line best practices include:

Lead with a verb
Keep it concise (four to seven words, under 50 characters)
Focus on being human and factual

Keep in mind, overly promotional language, excessive punctuation or all caps can signal the wrong intent to both customers and inbox filters.

Subject line examples:

Update your billing preferences
Review your outage preparedness checklist
Confirm your energy-savings appointment
See how we’re strengthening the grid in your area

Preview text plays an equally important role, but it’s often overlooked. Rather than repeating the subject line, it should expand on it — adding helpful context in under 90 characters. This pairing helps customers to instantly understand what the message is about.

Even the best subject lines and preview text can’t compensate for poor list health or inconsistent sending practices. The episode emphasizes the importance of maintaining an engaged audience, including sending to your most active subscribers. From there, thoughtful A/B testing helps utility communicators refine what resonates most with customers, building a repeatable playbook to use in the future.

When subject lines, preview text and sending practices work together, utilities move from simply reaching customers to truly connecting with them.

Engage Through Content

Once the foundation is set, the focus shifts to content – this is where utilities either connect or miss the mark.

Joe Pifher, Creative Director at Questline Digital, emphasizes that effective utility content doesn’t need to be flashy — it needs to be easy to understand and act on.

Image from podcast production discussing content engagement

Whether billing updates, rate changes or program promotions, utility programs can often feel complex and confusing to customers. The role of content is to make these messages easier to navigate, not more challenging.

“These are topics that can sometimes be stressful and create some confusion,” Pifher says. “We build content to be clear, relevant and easy to scan. The goal is to help the customer get what they need without working for it.”

Pifher focuses on the importance of simple language, clean structure and a tone that feels helpful rather than promotional. Communication should feel like “a respectful colleague, not a megaphone,” he adds.

Every message should quickly answer three questions:

What is this?
Why should I care?
What do you want me to do?

There’s also a technical side to message structure that often goes overlooked. Utility communicators should focus on clean layouts, minimal graphics, clear hierarchy and a primary call-to-action to guide customers.

Just as important, the message should match the design, Pifher explains. For example, an outage alert shouldn’t look or read like a rebate promotion.

As utility audiences become more diverse, accessibility and translation are also essential for emails.

With tools like Questline Digital’s Engage Global Translate, utilities can deliver the same communication across many languages — without adding extra workload for internal teams.

Accessible communications involve these principles:

Plain, easy-to-understand language
Consistent terminology
Strong, logical structure
Real text (not embedded in images) for headlines and key information

When these elements are in place, messages become easier to translate — and more accessible for screen readers and other assistive technologies.

Drive Results with Technology

In the last segment, Questline Digital’s Product Manager Adriana Scavio and Support Specialist Nikki Seeley turn the conversation toward technology — and how the right tools can help utilities scale their communications without overwhelming time-strapped teams.

As they note, it’s not that utilities don’t want to communicate more — it’s that many aren’t sure where to start or how to keep it going. That’s where technology plays a critical role.

Newsletters are considered one of the most high-value, proactive communications to build long-term customer engagement.

“Every utility needs a way to communicate with their customers, about programs, rates, new technology, Time-of-Use changes and more,” Scavio says. “And newsletters accomplish this in a way that feels friendly and helpful instead of overwhelming for customers.”

Over time, newsletters create a steady connection that makes customers more likely to engage, enroll and respond when it matters most. Even if customers don’t read every message, regular communication builds familiarity and trust over time.

“The value really adds up month after month, because when customers hear from you regularly, they’re more likely to take action when it matters, enroll in your programs, understand their bills and really trust your recommendations,” Seeley explains.

Questline Digital’s self-service Newsletter Outbox gives utility communicators the ability to build, edit and schedule newsletters in one place.

The Newsletter Outbox provides:

Clarity: Organized workflows that show exactly where campaigns stand
Flexibility: Easy editing, scheduling and customization without starting from scratch
Efficiency: The ability to reuse, adapt and scale content quickly

The goal isn’t to reinvent the wheel with every campaign,” Scavio says. “It’s to build systems that make communication easier, faster and more repeatable.”

When the right tools are in place, the result is a more proactive approach to utility communications

Build a System, Not Just Messages

By aligning strategy, content and technology, utilities can move beyond simply sending messages to creating real customer understanding. It’s a shift from reactive communication to a more intentional approach — one where every message has a purpose.

In upcoming episodes, the Powering Engagement Podcast Series will explore how utilities can use segmentation, personalization and other strategies to create smarter, more data-driven communications.

Watch the first episode, Foundations for Success, available now on demand.

To attend our upcoming podcast episodes, sign up here.

How to Communicate the Value of Public Power

Public power utilities play a vital role in the communities they serve. However, many customers don’t realize what makes public power utilities unique — or how these differences benefit their daily lives.

Discover public power communication strategies to help your utility strengthen its narrative and showcase the value of public power.

Why Public Power Matters

One of the defining qualities of public power is its connection to the community. Serving more than 55 million people across the United States, public power utilities help to strengthen the communities they serve.

According to the American Public Power Association, there are more than 2,000 public power utilities across the country. Owned and operated by local government, their mission is aligned with what matters most to customers — reliable service, fair rates and long-term community wellbeing.

When customers realize they have a voice in their utility’s direction — and that revenue stays within the community — they see the true value of local ownership. Public power communications help customers understand that decisions are made with their best interests in mind.

To tell a more compelling story, utilities must consistently communicate about the key distinctions of public power – and how these differences benefit customers. The benefits of public power communication include increased awareness, stronger trust and a clearer understanding of how community-focused utilities deliver value.

Promote Greater Transparency

Since public power utilities aren’t accountable to shareholders or investors, residential and business customers have a strong voice in daily operations. Meetings, budgets and major decisions are typically made public, allowing customers to stay informed, ask questions and participate in the planning process. From rate plans to sustainability goals, every decision stays close to home and reflects the community’s values.

Utilities can reinforce this message in public power communications by regularly sharing updates from board meetings, explaining decision-making processes and inviting customers to participate in planning efforts. Proactively communicating about upcoming projects, rate changes and clean energy initiatives helps keep customers informed and engaged.

Colorado Springs Utilities’ Building the Future page provides customers with a direct look at the utility’s infrastructure plans and investments, helping the community understand why major projects are happening and how they support long-term reliability.

This public power communications example explains how the utility is maintaining and improving critical systems to meet regulatory requirements and future demand. Through clear, easy-to-understand language, Colorado Springs Utilities gives customers context around complex initiatives, like budget planning, infrastructure upgrades and long-range projects like a natural gas expansion project. The utility connects these investments to customer outcomes — reliability, regulatory compliance and serving a growing population.

Example of a natural gas public power communication page

Show the Local Impact

Because public power utilities reinvest their revenue locally, they have a profound impact on economic development. They support local jobs, attract new businesses and contribute significantly to city and state budgets.

Public power communication strategies around this economic benefit help customers understand that paying their bill does more than keep the lights on — it supports the long-term health of their community.

Stories about partnerships with local businesses, investments in infrastructure or contributions to community services can bring these benefits to life. These communications make the utility’s impact more relatable to customers, increasing public power customer engagement.

Last year, Missouri River Energy Services (MRES) created a social media campaign, “25 Careers in Public Power in 2025” to educate the local community, highlight different career paths in public power and encourage job seekers to apply. Each social post includes a call-to-action to “Find your career in public power.”

Through these impactful public power communications, customers gain a better understanding of the wide spectrum of jobs that help the utility operate effectively, including economists, cybersecurity/system administrators, marketing professionals and much more. This educational campaign is a great way to communicate how public power utilities support local jobs and economic development.

Example of a social media campaign for career in public power

Focus on Reliability

Reliability is a key differentiator for many public power utilities. With lineworkers who live in the same community and a proactive approach to system maintenance, outages are often shorter and less frequent compared to other utility types.

Public power utilities should communicate this benefit through behind-the-scenes content, such as videos of crews preparing for storms or grid upgrade explanations. These public power communications are a simple, customer-friendly way also gives the community confidence in the utility’s commitment to keeping power safe and dependable.

ElectriCities of North Carolina uses its Public Power’s Reliability Pays Off page to clearly communicate the tangible benefits of public power reliability. Key reliability statistics — such as public power communities experiencing 40% fewer outages and restoring power three times faster — provide context to customers.

One of the most effective elements of its public power communication strategy is the use of video content. The educational video communicates the value of public power and how it delivers dependable energy and community benefits.

Thumbnail of a video of a public power campaign

Highlight Affordability

Affordability is one of the most important public power benefits that utilities can emphasize in public power communications, especially during times of rising costs and economic uncertainty.

Because public power utilities are not driven by shareholder profits, they are able to reinvest revenues back into the community — helping keep rates competitive and stable over time. The most effective public power communication strategies clearly explain why public power costs less and how those savings benefit households and local businesses.

Alameda Municipal Power (AMP) in California communicates the core value of affordability, highlighting how rates are significantly below those of neighboring utilities. AMP’s website explains how being community-owned allows the utility to offer electricity at a lower cost, in some cases up to 20 percent below surrounding service areas.

The utility also gives customers a transparent view of where their electric dollars go. An eye-catching visual breaks down how rates support power supply, system operations, infrastructure investments and contributions to the city. This public power communication strengthens trust by demonstrating how customer dollars remain in the community and support the electric system.

The Heart of Public Power

At its core, public power is about people. It’s about reliability customers can count on, decisions that put community needs first and a utility that reinvests every dollar into improving local services.

Through these effective public power communication strategies, utilities can strengthen trust, build awareness and help customers recognize the unique benefits of public power.

Communication Strategies to Better Connect With Key Accounts

Large commercial and industrial (C&I) customers — also known as key accounts — expect more from their utility than just reliable power. These organizations face complex challenges, from meeting sustainability targets to navigating evolving regulations.

As a result, they’re looking to their utility not just as a service provider, but as a strategic partner. One who understands the unique demands of their business, offering personalized guidance and meaningful support for their energy goals.

For energy providers, this expectation means moving beyond transactional communications and focusing on building long-term customer relationships. Here are a few best practices to help your utility effectively engage key account customers.

Understand their business — and priorities

Every key account is different. From manufacturers to hospitals to university campuses, each business has its own goals, challenges and energy needs. That’s why utility key account managers must take the time to understand what matters most to these businesses.

Questions to consider:

Are they focused on energy efficiency or decarbonization goals?
Do they need support for electrification, electric vehicle (EV) charging or peak demand management?
Are they expanding operations or building new facilities?
Is cost predictability or power quality a concern?
Are they aware of helpful rebates, incentives or efficiency programs?

Familiarity with a customer’s industry, facility operations, pain points and key performance indicators allows account managers to move beyond generic recommendations and offer truly tailored energy solutions.

“Every business we serve has different priorities — some are focused on lowering their energy costs while others are working toward aggressive sustainability goals,” says Faviola Donato-Galindo, Manager of Large Accounts at Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE). “Our job is to ask the right questions, listen closely and tailor solutions that align with their unique operations. That’s the first step to building long-term, trusted partnerships.”

For example, a manufacturing plant with high peak demand may benefit from demand response programs and real-time usage insights, while a hospital may prioritize energy reliability and backup power systems. By understanding these unique needs, account managers can proactively suggest helpful programs, tools and technologies.

Support sustainability and energy goals

More large businesses are setting ambitious sustainability targets — and they are looking to their utility for guidance. Whether it’s reaching net-zero goals, improving operational efficiency or complying with state and federal sustainability mandates, businesses want a utility partner that understands their vision and can help them achieve it.

This growing demand presents a prime opportunity for key account managers to deepen relationships by becoming trusted energy advisors. When you proactively offer tailored solutions and resources, you demonstrate that your utility is invested in their long-term success.

Here are a few ways key account managers can help:

Recommend energy efficiency upgrades and rebates: Guide customers to relevant programs that reduce consumption and improve ROI, from lighting retrofits to HVAC optimization and building automation systems.
Promote renewable energy solutions: Whether it’s green power programs, onsite solar or community solar, helping businesses incorporate renewable energy supports both their goals and yours.
Share educational content: Provide insights and resources on key topics like ESG reporting, carbon footprint reduction and beneficial electrification to help customers stay ahead of evolving sustainability requirements.

For Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE), the company’s mission is to serve as trusted energy advisors to business customers in order to “meet and exceed their needs through strategic partnership, proactive assistance, meaningful innovation and relevant communications.”

According to Donato-Galindo, the BGE Key Account Services team focuses on proactive outreach to key accounts, helping the team stay one step ahead, whether it’s promoting relevant energy efficiency programs or connecting business customers to vetted sustainability vendors.

“The role of key account manager is rapidly evolving. Before, it was more of a reactive role in terms of meeting the customer’s needs,” Donato-Galindo says. “But now, we are being proactive and helping customers with their carbon reduction goals. They need our help in making sure they are meeting Maryland’s ambitious Climate Pollution Reduction Plan.”

Establish ongoing, proactive touchpoints

Key account managers shouldn’t wait until a problem arises to reach out to their customers. Proactive, ongoing communication helps demonstrate your utility’s commitment to the relationship. A personalized approach — not one-size-fits-all messaging — helps large customers feel understood and supported.

A monthly key account newsletter delivers a particularly effective touchpoint. Unlike one-off emails or sporadic check-ins, a regular newsletter keeps your utility top of mind and reinforces your role as a trusted energy partner for business customers.

Newsletters are a key driver of higher customer satisfaction and building stronger relationships over time. In fact, according to Questline Digital’s 2025 Utility Benchmarks Report data, key account newsletter readers click on promotional emails at an 87% higher rate.

With each monthly edition, utilities have the opportunity to:

Provide valuable insights on market trends, energy efficiency strategies and emerging technologies relevant to large businesses.
Promote relevant utility programs and incentives tailored to commercial and industrial customers.
Share customer success stories to highlight peer examples and foster a sense of community.
Offer timely updates on rate changes, infrastructure improvements or policy changes that could affect business operations.

“To stay ahead of our customers’ needs, we take a proactive approach to engagement,” Donato-Galindo says. “One important way we do this is through consistent outreach, including our monthly newsletter. This communication serves as an important platform for sharing timely updates and valuable information with our key accounts.”

Connect through events and webinars

Face-to-face interactions and educational opportunities offer one of the most impactful ways to deepen relationships with key account customers. By creating dedicated spaces for discussion, education and collaboration, your utility can strengthen its role as a strategic energy partner for large businesses.

BGE hosts Customer Connections events throughout the year, providing key account customers with valuable opportunities to engage directly with utility leadership. These events offer large business customers the chance to meet utility leaders, ask questions and share feedback in a more personalized setting.

“We regularly connect BGE executives with our large business customers so they can learn about their pain points, challenges and opportunities,” says Calvin Little, Manager of Large Accounts at BGE. “This helps us to come up with unique solutions for each customer since hospitals, colleges and local governments all have very different energy needs.”

At a recent event, BGE brought together leaders from two local hospital systems for a conversation focused on resiliency, sustainability and storm preparedness. Discussions centered around the unique challenges these critical facilities face and how BGE can better support them. “As a critical customer, we want to understand how we can be a more effective and reliable partner,” Little noted.

To gather meaningful insights, the utility also hosts a Smart Energy Council made up of key account customers. This group meets quarterly to exchange ideas, provide feedback on initiatives and discuss emerging needs. The council serves as a valuable forum for the utility to engage directly with its largest customers and gain real-time input to guide strategy and decision-making.

Educational webinars are another valuable tool for connecting and informing key accounts. Whether you’re introducing a new rate plan, explaining evolving state sustainability requirements or showcasing innovative technologies, webinars allow utilities to engage customers at scale. They also demonstrate your utility’s commitment to helping businesses stay ahead of industry trends and meet operational goals.

For example, BGE hosted a webinar to educate large commercial customers about new state regulations, known as the Building Energy Performance Standards, which apply to buildings 30,000 square feet or larger. The event drew more than 300 attendees from across the utility’s managed accounts, showcasing strong interest and engagement.

“The feedback we received after the webinar was very positive, with customers thanking us for keeping them informed about these new state requirements,” Little says. “As their energy provider, we play a vital role in helping business customers navigate these new regulations.”

Building better business relationships

Strong relationships with key accounts don’t happen by chance — they’re built through consistent and valuable communications. Taking the time to personalize, educate and proactively engage with your key accounts will pay dividends in customer satisfaction, program participation and mutually beneficial partnerships.

Need help reaching your business customers more effectively?

Questline Digital offers business newsletter services, email templates and educational content to help your utility strengthen key account relationships year-round.

Learn More

Smart Summer Campaign Strategies for Utilities

Summer brings a unique set of challenges and opportunities for utility marketers to connect with their customers. From heat-related bill spikes to powerful storms causing outages, proactive, relevant and educational communications are vital this time of year.

Here are a few utility summer marketing campaign recommendations that support customers, boost program participation and strengthen engagement.

Help Customers Facing Financial Hardship

With increased air conditioner use, longer daylight hours and the potential for heat waves, customers often face increased energy bills in the summer months. Financial assistance campaigns can make a significant difference for those struggling to keep up with their bill payments.

High summer bills can lead to financial strain for many customers, especially:

Low-income households
Seniors on fixed incomes
Renters in older or inefficient buildings
Families with young children
Customers experiencing recent hardship/unexpected expenses

This utility summer marketing campaign should highlight available state, federal or utility-specific programs, along with eligibility requirements and key benefits. To ensure relevance, consider segmenting messages by customer need or past payment history. An empathetic tone, combined with clear next steps, can ease anxiety and guide customers toward available resources.

Use messaging that is:

Empathetic: Acknowledge that higher bills can be challenging in the summer months.
Empowering: Frame financial assistance as a proactive step customers can take to stay in control.
Inclusive: Offer communications in multiple languages and channels to ensure accessibility.

For example, FirstEnergy partnered with Questline Digital to develop a financial assistance email campaign tailored to each customer. To deliver highly targeted messages, the emails included Questline Digital’s SmartVX personalized video solution.

Each video was customized with information for one or more financial assistance programs that could be a great fit for the customer’s needs. Spanish versions were also created to engage with FirstEnergy’s diverse customer base. The SmartVX videos proved highly successful, with a 70.5% watch rate in the first four months of deployment.

As this utility marketing summer strategy showcases, targeted outreach can provide a critical safety net for customers in need. These communications have the power to build trust, improve customer satisfaction and reduce late payments or disconnections.

Example of a utility financial assistance campaign

Prepare Customers for Storm Season

As temperatures rise during the summer months, so does the potential for severe weather, high energy demand and power outages. From hurricanes to heat waves, this time of year brings a surge of events that can strain the grid and impact service reliability.

Communicating with customers ahead of a storm is one of the most effective utility marketing summer strategies to prepare communities for potential outages. Pre-storm communications give customers the information they need to take action, whether that’s charging devices, reporting outages or understanding how to stay safe during severe weather.

Best channels for pre-storm/outage communications:

Email or SMS alerts encouraging customers to sign up for outage notifications
Social media reminders about preparing an emergency kit and charging devices
Mobile app notifications with severe weather alerts and preparation tips
Website homepage banners with links to storm safety guides/outage resources

During a storm or outage, timely and transparent utility summer marketing campaigns are critical to maintaining customer trust and reducing frustration. Providing regular updates through channels like text alerts, mobile apps, social media and outage maps reassures customers that the situation is being managed and helps them feel more in control.

Effective in-the-moment communication improves the customer experience, eases pressure on call centers and reinforces the utility’s role as a reliable, responsive partner during emergencies.

Best channels for active outage updates:

Real-time outage updates via text or push notifications
Interactive outage maps showing estimated restoration times
Social media posts with safety tips (e.g., stay away from downed wires)
Email updates about affected areas and the number of customers impacted

Post-storm communications are an important part of the utility customer experience. After power is restored, customers want to understand what happened, how restoration efforts were prioritized and what steps are being taken to prevent future outages.

Sharing this information demonstrates accountability and provides an opportunity to recognize the efforts of restoration crews and the patience of the community. It’s also a chance to educate customers about outage safety, promote preparedness tools and invite feedback to improve future response efforts.

Best channels for post-storm communications:

Restoration progress emails with stats on customers restored and next steps
Social media “thank you” messages acknowledging customer patience and crew efforts
Educational emails or blog posts explaining how the restoration process works
Survey request messages to collect customer feedback on outage communications

After a recent severe weather outbreak, a large Pennsylvania utility worked with Questline Digital to email customers about the power restoration process. More than 240,000 customers lost power during the storm.

The email let customers know that power had been restored to 43,000 customers and offered safety tips and education on how the restoration process works. This outage update received high engagement, with a 36.14% Reliable Open Rate and 2.70% Click-Through Rate.

Keeping customers informed and offering helpful resources demonstrates a strong commitment to customer service, even in the face of disruption.

Educate on Water and Energy Conservation

Summer brings longer days, higher temperatures and greater demand for both water and energy. With air conditioners running at full blast and outdoor watering in full swing, utility customers often experience seasonal spikes in usage and bills.

This makes summer a prime opportunity for utility summer energy saving campaigns. Utilities should educate customers on simple ways to reduce consumption, save money and contribute to resource sustainability. From watering lawns efficiently to setting smart thermostats wisely, customers are more receptive to practical conservation advice during this high-usage season.

With many communities experiencing drought and rising temperatures, utility marketers can:

Share infographics or videos with simple seasonal savings tips.
Promote tools like online usage dashboards, leak detectors or lawn watering schedules.
Encourage behaviors like running appliances at night or installing smart thermostats.

Whether you’re promoting energy-saving habits or water-conserving behaviors, successful utility summer marketing campaignsshould be educational, engaging and memorable. In addition to supporting sustainability goals, conservation education also empowers customers to take control of their usage.

Best practices for conservation campaigns:

Timely and weather-aware: Capitalize on heat waves or drought alerts with real-time tips through email, text alerts and social media.
Segmented by customer needs: Tailor messages to different customer segments, such as homeowners, renters, business customers or those with high seasonal usage.
Visually engaging: Use eye-catching infographics, videos and animations to make the information memorable. For example, a short animation showing how much water is saved by turning off sprinklers during the hottest part of the day.
Incentivized and measurable: Promote rebates, rewards programs or smart thermostat incentives that encourage conservation. Offer ways for customers to track their usage via your mobile app or online portal.
Focused on behavior change: Highlight small, habit-forming changes, like closing blinds during the hottest part of the day or running full loads in dishwashers and washing machines, to make conservation feel achievable.

In Southern Nevada, the Las Vegas Valley Water District and Southern Nevada Water Authority have effectively used paid media campaigns to raise awareness around responsible water use and water quality.

With mandatory seasonal watering restrictions in place, the water district’s utility marketing summer strategies campaigns outreach efforts aim to educate homeowners on how to prevent water waste, particularly when it comes to landscape irrigation.

These creative campaigns strike a balance between informative and entertaining, using humor to engage audiences while delivering critical messages. The ads clearly outline conservation rules, why they matter and the simple steps customers should take, like adjusting sprinkler timers or staying updated on changing restrictions.

This example demonstrates how memorable and fun utility summer marketing campaignsare more likely to resonate with customers and inspire action.

Encourage Demand Response Participation

Demand response is critical in the summer months. Encouraging participation from key accounts and small business customers supports grid reliability and empowers businesses to take an active role in energy management and sustainability.

Large commercial and industrial customers are often ideal candidates for demand response due to their significant energy loads and capacity to make operational adjustments. However, small and mid-sized businesses, such as retailers, restaurants and offices, also present valuable opportunities when approached with flexible, easy-to-enroll options.

To boost participation, utilities should:

Highlight financial incentives: Emphasize potential cost savings, rebates or bill credits for reducing usage during peak events.
Offer flexible participation tiers: Make it easier for small businesses with limited resources to participate without impacting operations.
Provide advance notifications and clear expectations: Give businesses ample time to prepare for DR events with simple steps like pre-cooling spaces or adjusting lighting and equipment usage.
Share success stories: Showcase how other businesses in similar industries have benefited from demand response participation.

By communicating the dual value of operational savings and environmental stewardship, utilities can strengthen partnerships with business customers and build a more resilient energy system during the summer’s most demanding moments.

When businesses understand the grid and cost-saving benefits of demand response, they’re more likely to participate.

To drive participation in its Demand Response program, Consumers Energy collaborated with Questline Digital to launch a segmented utility summer marketing campaign. The initiative delivered tailored messages to two core audiences: prospective business participants and those who had previously enrolled in the program.

Centered around the theme “Better Together,” the campaign emphasized the shared value of the utility’s collaboration with local businesses, underscoring both environmental impact and financial benefits.

The emails spotlighted key incentives for prospective customers, such as financial compensation for curbing energy use during peak demand, cost savings for their business and the opportunity to support a cleaner, more reliable energy future for their community. Each message was enhanced with a compelling video testimonial from a local business.

Past participants received targeted communications encouraging them to re-enroll and reserve their place. With limited availability, the emails conveyed a sense of urgency through “Don’t miss your chance” messaging.

The integrated utility summer marketing campaign, which included email outreach, a program-focused landing page and an educational infographic, successfully boosted enrollment and helped Consumers Energy reach its program nomination goal of 180 megawatts. Participation exceeded expectations, with more businesses stepping up to contribute to grid reliability.

Example of a utility sustainability email

Make the Most of the Season

Summer presents utilities with a unique opportunity to strengthen customer relationships through timely, relevant campaigns. Whether offering financial assistance or encouraging energy and water conservation, these seasonal initiatives can make a meaningful impact.

Delivering proactive and personalized utility summer marketing campaigns help customers stay safe, save money and use resources more efficiently during the year’s hottest months.

Partner with Questline Digital to create impactful summer campaigns that engage your customers and deliver results.

Learn More

Inclusive Communication Best Practices for Utilities

Inclusivity in communications is more than just a buzzword; it’s a critical component of effective customer engagement and community building. Additionally, inclusive communications are essential for fostering a sense of belonging and equity among all customers.

Utilities have a unique responsibility to ensure their messages reach and resonate with every segment of their diverse community. Fostering inclusivity is especially important for utilities serving a broad customer base that relies on electricity, gas and water for daily living.

By prioritizing inclusive communication strategies, utilities can address customer needs and preferences. This approach not only helps build trust but also promotes a supportive relationship between a utility and its customers.

Understanding the Importance of Inclusive Communications

Inclusivity in utility communications means making all customers feel seen, heard and valued, regardless of their background. Fostering inclusivity involves recognizing and addressing the diverse needs of various customer groups, including different languages, cultural practices, literacy levels and accessibility requirements.

The importance of inclusivity in communications cannot be overstated. Inclusive communication strategies build trust and enhance customer satisfaction. When customers feel understood and respected, they are more likely to engage with communications, participate in programs and provide valuable feedback. This engagement, in turn, helps utilities improve their communications and better meet the needs of their entire customer base.

Examples of inclusive versus non-inclusive communications can illustrate the impact of these practices. Inclusive communications might include:

Providing marketing messages in multiple languages
Using simple and clear language for all literacy levels
Guaranteeing accessibility for individuals with disabilities

On the other hand, non-inclusive communications may overlook these considerations, leading to misunderstanding, frustration and disengagement among customers. By learning from these examples, utilities can develop more inclusive communication strategies.

Understanding Your Diverse Community

Understanding your utility’s audience is essential to creating effective and inclusive communications. Utilities serve a wide range of individuals with varying preferences, cultural backgrounds and circumstances. To tailor communications, utilities should gather and analyze data about their customers’ demographics. This process might involve collecting information, such as age, language preferences, income levels and additional needs, that can help utilities craft messages that resonate with different segments of their target audience.

Using customer personas is one approach to representing diverse groups within a customer base. Personas are fictional characters created based on data and insights, reflecting real-life customer segments. By developing detailed personas, utilities can better understand the specific requirements of different groups and design targeted inclusive communication strategies that address their unique needs and expectations.

According to E Source, many utilities use personas for three main reasons:

Designing or improving website features
Tailoring marketing messages
Developing tailored programs and services

Incorporating this understanding makes marketing messages more relevant and accessible to all customers. For example, knowing that some customers prefer receiving information in another language or that other customers require materials in an accessible format helps utilities to make appropriate adjustments. This targeted approach not only improves the effectiveness of inclusive communications but also demonstrates a commitment to diversity, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and engagement.

How to Create Inclusive Communications

Creating inclusive communication strategies and content is a crucial aspect of fostering diversity. To make information easy to understand for all customers, use clear and concise language and avoid jargon and complex sentences. Simplifying messages and using straightforward explanations can prevent misunderstandings and help customers easily grasp important information.

Multilingual communication strategies further enhance inclusivity by addressing the needs of non-English-speaking customers. Providing translations of key materials in multiple languages ensures that language barriers don’t hinder a customer’s access to essential programs and updates. Maintaining accuracy and cultural relevance in all translations is important when translating materials. This demonstrates your utility’s respect for linguistic diversity and helps to build stronger customer connections.

Questline Digital’s Engage Global Translate is a great example of a professional translation feature that makes it easy for customers to choose and save their preferred language for all web page content and emails. With 134 languages available to choose from, engagement is more inclusive than ever before.

GIF showing how Questline Digital's Engage Global Translate feature creates inclusive communications.

Visual inclusivity also plays a significant role in enhancing inclusivity and accessibility. This might include imagery featuring a diverse representation of people.

Visual content should also adhere to accessibility guidelines, such as sufficient color contrast and descriptive alt text. This ensures information is accessible to individuals with visual impairments.

By implementing these best practices, utilities can create a more inclusive communication experience that meets the needs of all customers, regardless of their backgrounds, abilities or preferences.

Engaging with a Diverse Community Across Channels

Engaging customers through various communication channels is essential for reaching a broad audience and making information accessible to everyone. Utilities should utilize both digital and traditional methods to connect with different segments of their customer base.

Digital channels offer convenience and immediate access to information. Your utility should be using a variety of digital platforms, including:

Email
Social media
Mobile apps
Email newsletters
Webinars

Traditional methods remain imperative to reach customers who are less comfortable with digital technology or those with limited access to technology. These formats may include:

Direct mail
Community events
Call centers
Bill inserts

By meeting customers on their preferred platforms, utilities demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity. Additionally, it’s an effective way to make sure that important messages are delivered and received.

Measuring Your Utility’s Inclusive Communication Efforts

Measuring your utility’s efforts to increase diversity and inclusion in its communications is essential for evaluating the success of your strategies and driving continuous improvement. Setting clear benchmarks and key performance indicators (KPIs) helps track the impact of inclusivity initiatives and provides a basis for evaluating their success.

When looking to track your inclusive communication efforts, consider metrics such as:

Email click-through rates
Email click-to-open rates
Social media impressions
Website page visits
Customer satisfaction scores

This feedback offers valuable insights into how well a utility’s marketing message reaches and resonates with its diverse community. Regularly reviewing these metrics allows utilities to identify areas for improvement and adjust strategies accordingly.

Embracing Inclusivity for Enhanced Customer Relationships

Fostering inclusivity in utility communications is crucial for building trust among your utility’s diverse community. By understanding the varying needs of your customers, creating accessible and multilingual content and engaging through various channels, utilities can ensure their communications are effective and equitable.

Inclusive communications enhance customer satisfaction, demonstrating a utility’s commitment to serving all members of its community with respect and consideration.

Explore how Questline Digital’s Engage Global Translate feature can help your utility engage with its diverse customer base.

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