Customer Segmentation Archives

How to Use Customer Information to Improve Utility Communications

Utilities send millions of customer communications every year, from billing notifications and outage alerts to program promotions and educational newsletters. Yet many utility marketers still struggle to answer a critical question: Are these communications actually influencing customer behavior?

Measuring utility customer engagement goes beyond email open rates and webpage clicks. The ultimate goal is helping customers take action, whether enrolling in paperless billing, signing up for financial assistance or participating in energy efficiency or water conservation programs.

To truly improve participation, utilities must look beyond traditional marketing metrics and adopt a more data-driven approach — one that connects communications with the latest customer information.

“Utilities have more opportunities than ever to connect with customers,” says Brian Lindamood, Executive Vice President at Questline Digital. “The challenge isn’t just sending communications, it’s making sure those messages are actually relevant to customers’ needs and interests.”

Meeting Customer Expectations for Targeted Messages

Customer expectations for utility communications have evolved over the past several years. Today’s consumers interact daily with companies like Amazon, Apple and other leading brands that have set a new standard for personalized communications.

These companies use data to deliver highly targeted messages — from customized product recommendations to mobile notifications about order updates or rewards programs. As a result, consumers have grown accustomed to receiving information that reflects their preferences, behaviors and immediate needs.

The same expectations are increasingly shaping how customers engage with their utility providers.

“Customers today are accustomed to highly personalized communication from the brands they interact with every day,” says Mark Wilkinson, Executive Vice President at Advanced Utility Systems. “Modern brands have trained consumers to expect relevant information that reflects what they’re experiencing in the moment. Utilities have access to a tremendous amount of customer information. When that data is used effectively, it can power communications that are far more meaningful to the customer.”

While utilities operate differently than retail and technology companies, customers still expect communications that are timely, relevant and easy to act on. Generic, one-size-fits-all messages are becoming less effective as customers look for content that directly relates to their actual usage, billing situation and program eligibility.

Data-driven communications can help utilities meet these evolving expectations. By leveraging insights from billing systems, customer interactions and energy usage data, utilities can deliver messages that are better aligned with each customer’s unique situation. For example, utilities can use data to proactively share financial assistance resources with customers who may have fallen behind on their energy bill payments.

“Relevance is what drives engagement,” Lindamood explains. “When utilities communicate with customers at the right moment — whether it’s during a billing cycle, after a service interaction or when a program could help them — those messages become far more impactful.”

When utilities communicate with the same level of personalization that customers experience from other trusted brands, they create stronger engagement, build greater trust and help customers make more informed decisions.

Relevant Outreach Improves the Customer Experience

Every department within a utility interacts with customers in different ways.

Billing teams monitor account activity, payment patterns and enrollment in programs like paperless billing and auto pay. Customer service teams interact directly with customers, answering questions about bills, programs and account management. Meanwhile, marketing teams develop campaigns designed to inform, educate and engage customers.

Individually, each team holds valuable information about customer behavior. But when these insights remain isolated within departments, utilities miss opportunities to create more effective communications.

For example, when a customer calls with questions about a high bill, customer service representatives have access to valuable information about their usage trends, payment history and whether they’re enrolled in specific programs or services. When representatives use that information to trigger helpful communications — such as energy efficiency tips or assistance programs — it creates a great customer experience.

“Billing and customer service teams interact with customers every day, and they often have insights that communications teams don’t see,” Wilkinson says. “When those insights are shared across departments, utilities can better align their communications with the needs of their customers.”

Turning Customer Data into Program Participation

Utilities across the country offer programs designed to help customers manage costs, improve efficiency and take advantage of digital account management tools. However, many utilities struggle to achieve a desired level of participation.

Data-driven communications can help utilities better understand the customer journey from receiving a marketing message to ultimately enrolling in a program.

For example, if a campaign promoting paperless billing generates strong open rates but low enrollment, the issue may not be the message itself. Instead, there may be friction in the enrollment process, confusion about benefits or the program may not be relevant to a particular customer.

“Customers are far more likely to engage with information that arrives at the moment they need it,” Wilkinson says. “When communications are timely and connected to what the customer is experiencing, open rates increase, trust grows and customers are more likely to act on the information.”

To help utilities improve engagement and program participation, Advanced Utility Systems and Questline Digital developed Customer IQ, a tool designed to bridge the gap between customer information and customer communications.

Through a centralized dashboard, utility teams can see program participation data and quickly identify opportunities to increase customer understanding and improve enrollment. From there, they can easily launch ready-to-deploy campaigns to educate customers and drive conversions.

“Customer IQ helps utilities connect communications with the customer data in their CIS,” Wilkinson explains. “Utilities can identify which customers would benefit from specific programs and deliver personalized communications that encourage action.”

Customer IQ also helps align teams across the organization. Billing, customer service and communications teams can access insights about customer behavior and program performance, making it easier to coordinate strategies and improve the customer experience.

“Utilities already have a tremendous amount of data about their customers,” Wilkinson says. “The key is putting that data to work so communications are timely, relevant and connected to the actions customers are most likely to take.”

Communications Powered by Real Customer Insights

As utilities introduce new programs, services and digital tools, effective communication will play an increasingly important role in helping customers understand their options.

For continued success in the future, utilities must embrace a data-driven approach to customer engagement, connecting communications strategies with real customer insights.

“The utilities seeing the strongest engagement today are the ones using data to guide their communication strategies,” Lindamood says. “When communications are informed by customer information, they become far more effective at building relationships and encouraging participation in programs.”

See How Customer IQ Can Help Your Utility

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Best Practices: Customer Segmentation for Water Utilities

Every customer is different, so a single approach to connecting just won’t work. Customers want to see messages that align with their needs, interests and preferences and, simply stated, don’t want to be inundated with messages that don’t. In fact, according to Campaign Monitor, 74% of consumers get frustrated when content is not aligned with their interests.

As businesses, including water utilities, compete for customers’ attention, one strategy that should not be overlooked is customer segmentation. By employing this strategy, water utilities can cut through the digital clutter and deliver relevant content that matters to each customer, in turn boosting water utility customer engagement.

What is Customer Segmentation?

Customer segmentation is a marketing strategy used to identify and connect with target customers. It involves organizing customers into groups (or segments) based on shared characteristics, then tailoring outreach efforts with relevant messages.

Relevant communications with utility customers are no longer nice-to-haves — they’re expected. That’s why segmentation is crucial for water utility customer engagement. It allows utilities to better understand customers and customize communications to meet their distinct needs. To boost water utility customer engagement, your utility can segment your customer base in several ways:

Demographics: One of the simplest, yet most effective ways, is grouping water customers based on shared demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, income and education.
Geographics: Geographic segmentation divides customers into groups based on their location, such as service territory, zip code or neighborhood. Your utility can target messages effectively to people who are in a particular location.
Psychographics: This type of segmentation is based on customer interests, values and personality traits. Your water utility can determine what motivates your customers and provide value based on those interests.
Behavioral: Group customers based on their actions, behaviors or responses. For water utilities, this could mean paying attention to what programs customers participate in or what content they engage with.
Firmographics: Water utilities have many business customers across industries, such as agriculture, healthcare, education or retail. Water utilities need to engage these customers based on their specific industry needs.

Benefits of Customer Segmentation

The benefits of customer segmentation can be substantial — marketers who use segmented campaigns can see as much as a 760% increase in revenue.

Some of the key benefits of customer segmentation for water utilities include:

Increased Efficiency and Performance: Targeting groups of customers rather than your entire list can be more efficient and cost-effective. By sending offerings to those customers who are genuinely interested, your utility can reduce wasted resources on ineffective marketing efforts.
Better understanding of customers: Segmentation provides valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences, allowing your utility to gain a better understanding of what customers care about.
Increased Customer Engagement: Tailored messages are more likely to resonate with customers, leading to higher engagement rates and increased program sign-ups.
Improved Customer Satisfaction: Customers feel uniquely communicated with and understood through targeted communications, increasing overall customer satisfaction.

Water Utility Customer Segments

77% of return on investment comes from segmented, targeted and triggered campaigns. Segmentation for water utilities can be approached in various ways, and it can be difficult to know where to start. When grouping customers into segments, consider the following:

Residential vs. Business Customer: Residential and business customers have distinct needs, goals and interests. To ensure that your messaging resonates with a particular audience, pay attention to the type of customer that you are communicating with and tailor those messages to meet their needs.

Small vs. Large Business: ”Business customer” is a broad term that can be segmented into smaller groups. Commercial and industrial business customers differ greatly from small businesses, so it’s important to communicate messages according to employee count or facility size to increase engagement.

Recognizing that not all business customers have the same needs, newsletters are a great way to segment and curate communications based on the type of business. For example, when AEP Ohio was looking to boost engagement among its business customers, the utility took advantage of segmented newsletters through Questline Digital. The newsletters targeted individual industries like healthcare, manufacturing and retail with industry-specific educational messaging. The newsletters were so successful that AEP Ohio saw an 84% increase in customer engagement for its healthcare segment.

Income-based Messaging: Tailor messages about low-income assistance programs to households that meet eligibility requirements or to those identified by behavioral factors such as high bills or late payments.

When it comes to income-based messaging, your utility should only target customers who are eligible and interested. For example, FirstEnergy was seeking ways to reach customers with financial assistance programs and utilized Questline Digital’s personalized video platform, SmartVX. The technology behind SmartVX allowed the utility to send personalized information about beneficial programs to each customer (those who were eligible for the program but hadn’t yet enrolled). The segmented campaign resulted in a 162% increase in program enrollments over four months, prompting an additional 6,800 customers to apply for financial assistance.

Example of how segmented income-based messages could boost water utility customer engagement.

Water Usage-Based Messaging: Segment customers based on their water usage patterns for a more targeted outreach. High-usage customers might benefit from water-saving programs and resources.

Program Promotions: Promote specific products and services tailored to segments based on their engagement with content, eligibility and previous interactions.

Focusing communications on segments rather than your entire customer list can yield significant results. For example, when PSEG Long Island aimed to enroll 1,200 participants in its EV rewards program, the utility began by conducting customer surveys and analyzing data to shape campaign messages and segmentation strategies. Questline Digital deployed a segmented marketing campaign spanning five months, utilizing advanced tactics such as behavioral email sends to maximize registration and enhance water utility customer engagement. PSEG Long Island surpassed its initial goal, achieving 1,300 new enrollments.

Example of how segmented program promotions could improve water utility customer engagement.

Build Stronger Customer Relationships with Segmentation

Customer segmentation is crucial for water utility customer engagement. With segmentation, your utility can drive program participation, boost conversions and increase customer satisfaction – all by delivering relevant information to target audiences. As the competition for customer attention continues to grow, implementing segmentation could be the distinguishing factor for success.

Improve water utility customer engagement and satisfaction with a segmented strategy from Questline Digital.

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How Utilities Can Personalize Energy Communications

Today’s customers expect more than just a reliable energy supply from their utility. They want to take control of their energy use — to save money, or reduce their carbon footprint, or just make their homes more comfortable — and they’re looking for advice and resources that will help.

Energy providers can give customers that support by taking advantage of utility personalized communications. By leveraging their data to understand customers’ needs and preferences, and delivering messages tailored to each individual, utilities can better connect customers with relevant, useful resources.

“Customers expect marketing messages to be relevant to their needs and interests — or they will simply tune them out,” says Jared Brandon, Director of Innovation at Harris Computer. “Utilities need to be communicating in the same way.”

Utilities can learn from outside industries like retail, tech and consumer goods on how to tailor messages to individual customers. With personalized energy communications, utilities can build the same kinds of digital relationships that customers expect from other popular brands.

For example, Starbucks takes advantage of personalization through its gamified mobile app. The app uses customer data like purchase history, mobile app usage and location to recommend products, build loyalty and increase engagement.

Shutterfly, a website for creating personalized cards, photo books and gifts, uses personalization in its marketing efforts. When customers download the company’s app, they can allow Shutterfly to access their photos. With this feature, each product is personalized with the customer’s photos, encouraging them to make a purchase.

As these examples illustrate, personalization is everywhere in today’s digital landscape. Utilities can adopt a similar approach when communicating with their customers.

Personalized Communications: The Utility Advantage

Customers view their utility as an energy expert and helpful resource, whether they need advice on improving home energy efficiency or taking advantage of solar power. Personalized energy communications allow utilities to give customers the detailed and accurate energy information they expect — and which they can’t get from any other source. This is a powerful differentiator for utilities.

“Utilities have information that people care about,” says Matt Irving, Questline Digital’s Creative Director of Video. “I think it’s valuable for customers to know, for example, where they fall in terms of energy efficiency compared to their neighbors. Utilities have all this data at their disposal. Why not use it to make personalized videos to improve the customer experience?”

Data is an important component of a personalization strategy, used to create customer segments and identify characteristics for targeted messages. But data can also be used in the content of the messages themselves. Customers can learn how their energy usage compares to their neighbors, for example, or how a new rate plan would affect their bill based on their actual energy usage.

“You could send them a positive message like, ‘Great job for reducing your energy usage! That’s comparable to a reduction of (insert number) gasoline-powered cars on the road,’” Irving says. “Positive feedback just makes customers feel good and encourages them to keep pushing forward to reduce their energy usage even more.”

One of the biggest benefits of utility personalized communications is educating customers on complex energy programs and technologies, like time-of-use rate plans (TOU) and smart meters. For example, a TOU marketing message is much more effective when it provides specific information on how much a customer can save based on their energy usage behaviors. Without personalization, the savings benefit is ambiguous.

“The reality is that customers don’t live and breathe the utility industry,” Brandon says. “Personalization can simplify complex industry-specific topics to a layman’s audience, while also showing customers why a particular program is relevant to them.”

A Midwest-based utility recently used personalized videos to educate customers about relevant financial assistance programs and encourage enrollment. The videos provide each recipient with tailored program recommendations based on their energy usage, past program participation and payment history. The videos have voiceovers and onscreen graphics that are unique to each customer.

In a Questline Digital webinar, Tony Todesco, Market Research Senior Specialist with Con Edison, explained that personalization was essential to prepare for community events.

The utility’s outreach team leveraged zip code-level statistics to prepare for these events held in local neighborhoods throughout New York City and Westchester County. They gained important information like language preferences, education, affinity for tech adoption, likelihood of being eco-friendly and more.

“In marketing, we’re primarily using this data to analyze key customer segments, like electric vehicle drivers, solar adopters and low-income customers, and use the findings to refine our marketing strategy and act on opportunities,” Todesco says. “This data typically takes the form of personas characterizing specific users of technology. We always learn something new with personas.”

Effective Communications Require the Right Data

Utilities have a wealth of customer data available to them for personalized energy communications, including energy usage, program participation, content consumption and more.

According to a recent survey, the biggest challenge for utilities is finding the right tools to gather and analyze customer data. While this is a vital step to ensure accuracy, McKinsey & Company notes that utilities shouldn’t be hung up on how much data they have. To send effective personalized energy communications, utilities don’t need more customer data – they simply need the right data.

To truly connect with customers and provide value, personalization is only going to grow in importance. As utilities ramp up their efforts to communicate with customers about complex topics, like TOU, smart meters and demand response, utility personalized communications will be necessary to educate, engage and encourage program participation.

“If you want customers to stay engaged to receive the full message, and actually take meaningful actions from it, communications have to be personalized,” Brandon says. “Greeting customers by name, showing them their usage, and how a program specifically impacts them helps to build trust and deliver value.”

Learn how a personalized energy communications solution from Questline Digital will improve engagement with your utility’s customers.

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The Benefits of Personalized Videos for Utilities

With the proliferation of digital media and communication channels, capturing the attention of utility customers is more challenging than ever. As businesses compete for attention, one tool has risen above the rest in its ability to engage and captivate: personalized video. Recognized for their unique ability to connect with viewers on a deeper level, personalized videos are revolutionizing the way we communicate with customers.

Imagine opening an email from your favorite company. Instead of a generic message, there’s a video made just for you. It addresses you by name, discusses your unique needs, and offers tailored discounts or information for products that you’re interested in.

As futuristic as it may sound, the reality is that personalized video is available now, and many companies are already embracing this powerful marketing tactic.

“Personalized video combines the entertainment value of video marketing with the data-driven targeting of other digital tactics,” says Brian Lindamood, Questline Digital’s VP of Marketing and Content Strategy. “The ability of a video message to speak directly to each customer leverages all the best aspects of digital engagement in a uniquely powerful way.”

Personalized videos can lead to higher retention and conversion rates, as well as increased customer engagement. In fact, data shows that using personalized calls-to-actions (CTAs) result in 202% more conversions than those without. Building on the success seen in other industries, utilities can now harness this tool foster stronger relationships and drive customer satisfaction.

The Emergence of Personalized Videos

The rise of video marketing is hardly surprising given its unique ability to convey complex messages succinctly, evoke emotions and create a sense of connection. Data shows that 80% of customers are more likely to purchase from a brand that provides these tailored, emotional experiences. Today, video is not just an add-on to a digital marketing strategy, it’s an essential component that can significantly enhance your utility’s visibility and impact.

Quotation from Adobe - Personalized videos get 16x more click-throughs compared to non-personalized videos

One facet of video marketing that’s gaining widespread popularity is personalization. By tailoring messages to each customer, businesses can make customers feel more valued and recognized. Personalized videos leverage customer data to create a unique viewing experience for each individual. This could be as simple as addressing the viewer by name or as complex as providing product recommendations based on their interests and engagement history.

For utilities, this could mean personalized program recommendations based on a customer’s energy use, explaining changes to a bill, introducing a new rate plan, updating customers on relevant energy efficiency programs, and more.

The result? A powerful marketing tool that stands out from the digital clutter and resonates on a personal level with customers.

Several leading brands have already harnessed the power of personalized video marketing to deliver exceptional results. For example, in Nike’s “Outdo You with Nike+” campaign, the company used personalized videos to connect with customers. Each video was tailored with information from a user’s location, activity and personal Nike+ movement data, providing a unique and highly personal viewing experience. This innovative approach not only helped Nike connect with their audience, it also motivated customers to achieve their fitness goals.

Spotify’s end-of-year Wrapped campaign is described as “all about celebrating the endless ways that millions of creators and fans connect through audio each and every day.” Through the “Made for You” recommendations and usage data, Spotify is able to provide personalized videos to each user at the end of the year that allows them to view summaries of their activity. Spotify includes the names of the listener’s top musicians and songs, genres and their listening personality, all delivered in a seamless personalized video.

Why Personalized Videos? Why Now?

The sudden surge in the popularity of personalized videos can be attributed to several factors. In today’s digital age, consumers increasingly expect personalized experiences that cater to their specific needs and preferences. In fact, 71% of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions, and 76% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen.

Personalized videos meet this expectation by providing content that is tailored to each viewer’s individual circumstances and preferences. Moreover, personalized videos have proven to be highly engaging and effective at increasing customer retention and conversion rates. According to Adobe, personalized videos get 16 times more click-throughs compared to non-personalized videos.

Personalized videos can also help brands stand out in the crowded digital landscape, providing a unique and highly personal viewing experience that can capture the customer’s attention and leave a lasting impression. This not only increases the likelihood of the customer taking the desired action, but also strengthens their relationship with your utility.

“Personalized videos really help utilities connect with their audience on a deeper level and drive more effective engagement,” says Lindamood. “With relevant, targeted content like this, customers can see that their utility understands and respects their preferences, which is the foundation of a successful, long-term digital relationship.”

Additionally, with the rise of digital technologies and data analytics, creating personalized videos has become more accessible and cost-effective, further contributing to their use as a key marketing tactic in a wide variety of industries.

5 Benefits of Personalized Videos

Personalized videos allow utilities to connect customers with relevant information based on their interests and information. This tool also has the ability to deliver complex information, such as energy usage or billing details, in a clear, concise and engaging manner. The goal is to enhance customer understanding and interest by creating content that speaks directly to them, addressing their specific needs and circumstances.

The benefits of personalized videos for utilities are substantial, including:

Simplifying complex information
Enhancing customer engagement
Driving behavioral change
Boosting customer satisfaction
Building strong customer relationships

Simplifying complex information

Personalized videos are an effective tool for simplifying complex information. They leverage the power of visualization to break down intricate concepts or data sets into digestible, easy-to-understand content.

For example, your utility can use a personalized video to explain a customer’s energy usage pattern or billing details, using animated charts and customer-specific data. This not only makes the content more relatable but also helps customers better understand their consumption patterns or charges.

By presenting complex information in a clear and engaging manner, these videos can significantly improve customer comprehension, reduce confusion and enhance overall communication effectiveness. Additionally, by improving customer understanding, your utility will foster greater trust and transparency in the long run.

“Energy technology, programs and rate options are getting more complex,” says Lindamood. “It’s critical for utilities to use a communications tool that can effectively educate customers about these topics and help them take control of their energy use.”

Enhancing customer engagement

Let’s face it — customer attention spans are short and competition is fierce. By leveraging customer-specific data and presenting it in an engaging, visual format, personalized videos can cut through the clutter to deliver information in a way that resonates with each viewer.

This relevance and personal touch can lead to higher view rates, longer watch times and more meaningful interactions, all of which translate into increased customer engagement and program participation.

“When customers complain about receiving too many marketing messages, what they mean is they get too many message that they’re not interested in,” explains Lindamood. “Customers are willing to spend time with messages that they are interested in. A useful, relevant message isn’t considered to be clutter at all. That’s why personalization is so important for all digital marketing tactics, including video.”

Driving behavioral change

By presenting usage data in an engaging and accessible way, personalized videos can make customers more aware of their consumption patterns and the impact they have on both their bills and the environment.

For instance, a video showing a customer’s energy use over time, compared to more efficient usage scenarios, can be a powerful motivator for change. It can prompt customers to adopt more energy-efficient behaviors, such as turning off lights when not in use or optimizing heating and cooling systems. This not only helps customers save money but also contributes to broader sustainability goals. Personalized videos can also be used to recommend specific programs or products that a customer might be interested in based on their behavior and preferences.

Through personalized insights, recommendations and clear visualizations, personalized videos can inspire proactive change and foster more responsible consumption habits among utility customers.

Boosting customer satisfaction

One of the common challenges in the utility industry is making customers aware of programs or services that are relevant to them or could assist them, such as rebate programs. Personalized videos can address this challenge by presenting such information in a clear and personalized manner. This can improve customer understanding, reduce confusion, and ultimately lead to higher customer satisfaction.

Additionally, personalized videos focus on relevant recommendations, only promoting programs that a customer is eligible for and likely interested in — and not promoting programs that don’t apply to the customer.

By proactively addressing customer needs and concerns through personalized content, utilities can make their customers feel valued and well-served, further boosting satisfaction levels.

Building strong customer relationships

Personalization as part of any digital marketing strategy shows customers that their utility knows them, understands their needs and values their business. This can foster a sense of connection and trust with the customer. Moreover, by providing useful, personalized recommendations, such as energy-saving tips based on a customer’s specific usage patterns, utilities can position themselves as helpful, trusted energy advisors rather than just service providers. This can enhance customer loyalty and strengthen long-term relationships.

Best Practices for Creating Personalized Videos

Implementing a successful personalized video marketing strategy involves several best practices.

One of the most important aspects to consider is exactly how to make the content more relatable. To achieve this, it’s crucial to understand your audience’s needs and preferences, and use customer data to tailor the content to each viewer’s specific circumstances. This also means not only personalizing the content based on individual data, but also considering factors like the viewer’s stage in the customer journey, their specific needs and interests and current trends or events.

Storytelling can be a powerful tool for personalization. By weaving customer data into a compelling narrative, you can create a more immersive and emotionally engaging viewing experience. Remember, the goal is not just to present data, but to use that data to create a connection with your customers.

Keeping the content relevant and concise is another best practice for creating effective personalized videos. Customers’ time is important, which is why it’s essential to deliver your message quickly and clearly. Avoid including unnecessary details or complex jargon that could confuse viewers. Instead, focus on the most important information that your customers need to know and present it in a straightforward manner.

Additionally, an effective personalized video should always include strong calls-to-action (CTAs). The CTAs are what prompt your customer to take the desired action after watching the video, whether that’s signing up for a service or adopting more energy-efficient behaviors. Make sure your CTAs are compelling and easy for the viewer to carry out.

It can also be beneficial to personalize the CTA based on the viewer’s individual circumstances or the specific content of the video. For instance, if the video shows a customer’s high energy usage during peak hours, the CTA could drive customers to sign up for your utility’s time-of-use (TOU) rate plan and encourage them to shift some of their usage to off-peak times. This not only makes the CTA more relevant, but also helps drive more effective behavioral change.

You also need to consider the length of the video; if it’s too long, you might lose customers’ interest before they even arrive at your CTA. Typically, the shorter, the better. Consider the most concise point you’re trying to make and keep the story as succinct as possible.

It’s important to remember that personalized videos should only be one part of your marketing strategy. “Some topics and program promotions really lend themselves to personalized videos. But some may also benefit from follow-up email campaigns, SMS, or other digital outreach,” says Lindamood. “Personalized videos are an important tactic, but they should be part of an overall mix to reach different customers in their preferred channels.”

Harness the Potential of Personalized Videos

Personalized videos offer utilities a potent tool to develop a deeper connection with their customers. By delivering tailored, relevant, and engaging content, your utility can enhance customer loyalty, boost conversions and stand out in today’s crowded digital landscape.

As technology continues to evolve, personalized videos are set to shape the future of digital marketing, offering endless possibilities for utilities to connect with their audience like never before.

Learn how Questline Digital’s personalized video solution can help your utility build stronger digital relationships and boost customer engagement.

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How to Reach Low-Income Customers of Energy Utilities

As energy costs rise and inflation continues to impact household budgets, a growing number of utility customers may qualify for low-income assistance programs. And while these customers share many of the same interests and needs as utilities’ general customer base — from an interest in smart home technology to reducing their energy usage — identifying and reaching customers in need of low-income bill assistance is often a challenge for utilities.

To connect with low-income customers, your energy utility needs to take a closer look at this unique audience and what barriers exist to reaching them.

Easing the Energy Burden for Low-Income Families

Low-income customers come from every walk of life, from rural communities to major metropolitan areas. They represent all ages and are made up of households with and without children. According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficiency Economy, low-income households spent an average of 8.1% of their income on energy bills. In contrast, the average U.S. customer spends just 2.3%.

While income is the major characteristic that differentiates this group from higher-income customers, demographics also come into play. The median energy burden is 43% higher for Black households, 45% higher for Native American households, and 20% higher for Hispanic households. These customers look to their energy provider for support and understanding, as well as utility low-income assistance programs to help ease their energy burden.

The reality is that barriers exist for many customers to take advantage of utility low-income assistance programs. One of the biggest hurdles is basic awareness of these programs. In fact, only 46% of these customers are familiar with utility assistance for low-income families to help with their monthly electric bill, according to the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative’s (SECC) research. Awareness was even lower for energy efficiency programs. Only 33% knew about energy efficiency upgrades offered by their energy utility.

Connecting Customers to Relevant Low-Income Assistance Programs

For energy utilities, building awareness is key to driving interest and participation in financial assistance programs. This starts with utilizing various communications to connect low-income customers with relevant programs like low-income utility bill assistance and budget billing.

FirstEnergy took advantage of a segmented email campaign to reach low-income customers in multiple states, including Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and New Jersey. Each message focused on a specific government assistance program that either helped to pay a portion of their energy bill or provided more consistent monthly bills.

The emails utilized personalization with the customer’s first name in either the headline or email salutation. Some of the programs were segmented based on homeowners or renters. This email campaign was successful in enrolling customers into utility low-income assistance programs, especially during the winter high bill season.

Sample email promoting low-income assistance programs to utilities LMI customers

National Grid wanted to get the word out to multiple communities about available financial assistance programs. The utility partnered with Questline Digital to produce a series of four educational webinars. To reach a wide range of customers, the webinars were produced with closed captioning and broadcast separately in Spanish and Portuguese. The webinars also included a video of an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter.

“The webinar format lends itself to education because of the interactivity,” said Brian Lindamood, Vice President of Marketing and Content Strategy at Questline Digital in a recent American Public Power Association webinar. “You can answer customer questions live during the event, and you can also reach a lot of customers at the same time. For the four webinars in this series, almost 9,800 customers registered.”

Budget billing is another relevant program to promote to a low-income audience. Encourage customers to sign up for this program to keep their bills more consistent and avoid any surprises.

To relate to customers who face hardship with unexpected expenses like doctor visits and car repairs, Duquesne Light Company used the message, “Life is unpredictable. Your electric bill shouldn’t be.” The email campaign communicated the key benefits of Budget billing: consistent bills (even with high electric usage) and easier budgeting.

Example of email from utility communicating low-income customer assistance

Energy Efficiency Help for Low-Income Customers

In addition to offering payment options to make it easier to pay their monthly bill, low-income customers benefit from energy efficiency tips and advice. To ease the energy burden for both homeowners and renters, energy utilities are making energy efficiency programs a priority.

By improving energy efficiency, low-income customers can better manage energy use in their homes, which has a profound impact on their monthly bills. Energy providers should reach out to low-income customers with energy-saving products and utility low-income assistance programs focused on energy efficiency upgrades.

PSEG Long Island educated income-eligible customers about the utility’s Residential Energy Affordability Partnership (REAP) to help them lower costs through a free home energy assessment. Each email message included a testimonial from a PSEG Long Island customer who benefited from the REAP program.

“I’m a huge fan of testimonials,” Lindamood said. “If you can get a customer to share their real-life experience with a program that helped, that will really resonate with other customers. Testimonials add a lot of authenticity to your message.”

Sample of utilities using an email to promote low-income assistance programs

For energy utilities, another aspect of improving energy efficiency is a focus on multifamily building energy efficiency. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, more than 36% of people in the United States currently rent — and 60% of renters live in multifamily dwellings. That’s why an increasing number of utilities are creating programs to help property managers make energy efficiency retrofits.

One example is the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s Comprehensive Affordable Multifamily Retrofits Program (CAMR), which helps property owners of low-income multifamily buildings take advantage of energy savings opportunities. The municipal utility has 8,000 multifamily buildings currently in the pipeline. The program, launched in 2022, features three key approaches:

Energy efficiency opportunities
Building electrification (natural gas to electric)
Onsite solar through virtual net metering

“There’s a lot of opportunity, but it’s a challenging market, especially here in L.A. where we have a lot of old apartment buildings that have not been upgraded in a long time — if ever,” said David Jacot, Director of Efficiency Solutions at LADWP. “Many property owners are struggling and don’t have the ability to invest in their properties.”

Adoption of Smart Technologies for Low-Income Customers

Smart energy technologies, ENERGY STAR® appliances and rooftop solar panels can seem like luxuries to even the typical energy consumer. However, it’s not only higher-income customers who have an interest in them. Beyond communications about low-income utility bill assistance, energy utilities should provide educational resources about smart home technology.

When making purchasing decisions, a variety of drivers spark an interest in smart energy technologies for low-income customers. For example, the primary driver to purchase smart thermostats is saving money and making their home more comfortable. When purchasing smart appliances or smart lighting, low-income customers are motivated by the ease of use. For rooftop solar panels and community solar, a passion for helping the environment is a significant motivator.

Despite these drivers, smart energy adoption remains a challenge. According to SECC research, 28% of low-income customers believe that these smart energy technologies are not worth the effort. To encourage adoption, reinforce the fact that these technologies are beneficial for both saving money and maintaining comfort in their homes. It’s also important to provide insights on the positive impact on the energy grid and local community.

Reach Utility Low-Income Customers with a Relevant Message

As this research demonstrates, low-income customers share many of the same values and motivations as higher-income customers. To better connect with this audience, it’s vital to increase awareness about utility low-income assistance programs, energy efficiency programs and smart energy technologies.

With the right messaging, your energy utility can effectively reach this audience with relevant utility bill assistance and other resources and help them achieve their energy goals.

Learn how a payment assistance campaign from Questline Digital can proactively reach low-income customers with important program information.

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