Customer Segmentation Archives

Is Your Utility Sending Too Many Emails?

Sending more emails doesn’t always lead to greater customer engagement.

Utility customers are inundated with messages every day. When communications aren’t relevant to their needs, interests or lifestyle, they can quickly become disengaged.

“Customers are receiving personalized experiences everywhere in their daily lives,” says Joe Pifher, Creative Director at Questline Digital. “These interactions are changing what they expect from their utility’s communications.”

This growing demand for personalized communications is changing the way utilities approach utility email marketing. Instead of one-size-fits-all messaging, utility communicators are increasingly leveraging segmentation, utility email personalization and customer data to deliver more meaningful customer experiences.

The Risk of a One-Size-Fits-All Approach

Today’s customers expect emails that are timely, relevant and tailored to their needs. In fact, research from McKinsey found that 71% of consumers expect personalized interactions, while 76% become frustrated when those expectations aren’t met.

When utilities rely on too many broad email campaigns, customers often begin ignoring emails, deleting messages without reading them or unsubscribing altogether.

“If you’re sending customers information they don’t need or want, you’re training them to ignore your emails,” Pifher says. “Eventually, the messages that do matter may go unseen.”

Improving utility email engagement begins with delivering communications customers actually want to receive. Research shows that email fatigue is an ongoing challenge for marketers. According to a recent study, 43% of consumers say the primary reason they unsubscribe from email lists is because they receive emails too often.

“Utilities often discover they don’t need to send more emails to improve engagement – they need to send more relevant emails,” Pifher says. “When customers consistently receive information that matters to them, engagement tends to follow.”

Utilities communicate about a wide range of topics, from financial assistance to electric rate plans. While these communications provide valuable information, not every message is relevant to every customer.

Before sending an email, utility communicators should ask, “Who will find this information most valuable?” This simple change in perspective helps them send smarter utility email marketing campaigns that are more likely to accomplish program goals and create a positive customer experience.

Reaching the Right Customers

Segmentation is one of the most effective strategies for improving utility email engagement. By organizing customers into groups based on shared characteristics, behaviors and interests, utilities can send fewer, more targeted emails.

“Segmentation doesn’t have to be complicated,” Pifher says. “It’s simply about making sure the people receiving a message are the people who will actually benefit from it.”

The impact of segmentation can be significant for companies. According to the Digital Marketing Association, 77% of email marketing ROI comes from segmented, targeted and triggered campaigns, demonstrating the value of delivering the right information to the right audience.

Examples of Utility Segmentation Strategies

For example, customers who consistently engage with energy efficiency content will likely be interested in additional program recommendations. Customers with high energy usage patterns could benefit from energy-saving tips, budget billing options or home energy assessments. New customers need educational resources that help them understand account management tools, billing options and available utility programs.

The value of segmentation extends beyond utility email engagement metrics — it can also drive measurable program participation and business outcomes.

A large Midwest energy utility wanted to increase participation in its Demand Response program among commercial and industrial customers. Rather than sending a single message to all customers, the utility used a segmentation strategy, tailoring emails to prospective participants and previous program enrollees.

Prospective customers received educational content focused on program benefits, including cost savings, compensation opportunities and community impact. Previous participants received targeted reminders highlighting enrollment deadlines.

Through the segmented campaign, the utility achieved its 180-megawatt Demand Response nomination goal, exceeded enrollment expectations and reached participation targets ahead of schedule. This utility email marketing campaign demonstrates how segmentation can help utilities deliver more relevant communications while driving measurable program results.

Ultimately, segmentation helps utilities communicate with greater precision and maximize the impact of every message.

Sending More Relevant Emails

Many marketers think of personalization as simply inserting a customer’s first name into an email. While that tactic can help, today’s customers expect much more. Effective utility email personalization uses customer data to tailor messages to their unique needs, interests and behaviors.

“The message should speak directly to the customer’s situation,” Pifher says. “You don’t have to reinvent the entire email — you just need to make sure the most important parts – like the subject line, headline and introduction – are relevant to the audience receiving it.”

Utility email personalization can improve both customer engagement and program participation. One study found that personalized emails generated an 81.5% increase in click-through rates compared to non-personalized sends.

Infographic of 5 examples of utility email personalization

For example, a customer who recently purchased an electric vehicle may benefit from information about EV rates and charging infrastructure. Likewise, a customer struggling with high bills may be interested in budget billing or payment assistance programs.

Utility email personalization can be especially valuable when utilities need to explain complex topics. PSEG Long Island partnered with Questline Digital to help customers better understand new Time-of-Day (TOD) rates. The utility used personalized bill explainer videos that incorporated each customer’s actual bill data and energy usage patterns.

The videos provided tailored energy-saving recommendations, simplified TOD rates through clear visual explanations and helped customers better understand their energy costs.

The results demonstrated the power of personalized communications to improve understanding, build trust and help customers make more informed decisions. Nearly 93% of customers said the videos clearly explained bill components, and 92% found the information more helpful because it used their actual billing data. Additionally, 82% of customers said the personalized tips provided valuable cost-saving opportunities.

The Foundation of Targeted Communications

Successful utility email marketing is built on customer data. Segmentation and personalization are only possible when utilities effectively leverage the customer information they already have. Fortunately, many utilities have access to valuable insights that can help create more impactful communications.

Graphic showing how Customer Data Powers Better Communication

“Utilities are sitting on a gold mine of customer data,” Pifher says. “The challenge isn’t collecting the information, it’s understanding how to use it to create more relevant customer experiences.”

One of the biggest misconceptions in utility email marketing is that increasing email sends automatically improves customer engagement. In reality, customers are more likely to engage when communications feel valuable to their unique situation.

When utilities combine segmentation, personalization and customer data, the result is a more strategic approach to customer communications – one that benefits both customers and the utility.

“Personalization works hand in hand with segmentation,” Pifher says. “It’s really about removing the noise and making sure customers only see what’s relevant to them.”

Delivering More Value with Every Message

Utilities that embrace segmentation, utility email personalization and customer data are better positioned to meet evolving customer expectations. By focusing on relevance versus volume, utility communicators can create communications that strengthen long-term customer relationships.

“The future of customer engagement isn’t about sending more emails,” Pifher explains. “It’s about creating communications that are timely, relevant and useful for each customer.”

Discover how Questline Digital’s customer engagement solutions help utilities improve utility email engagement through advanced segmentation, personalization and data-driven communications.

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Powering Engagement Podcast: Episode Two Recap

Utility communicators face a common challenge: How do you increase customer engagement without sending more emails, adding complexity or overwhelming busy teams?

That’s the focus of Episode Two of Questline Digital’s Powering Engagement Podcast Series, Smarter Targeting & Optimization. Building on the fundamentals discussed in the first episode, the conversation explores how utilities can move beyond simply sending campaigns to create more intentional, data-driven communications.

Our team of experts explores how utilities can create more effective email campaigns that truly resonate with customers.

Smarter Targeting Starts with Segmentation

When thinking about sending a message to customers, utility communicators should first ask, “Who actually needs this email?”

According to Molly Dannaher, Questline Digital’s Applications Director, one of the most common communication challenges that utilities face is ensuring the right message reaches the right customer at the right time.

This is where segmentation becomes essential.

For some utilities, segmentation may be as simple as targeting newly enrolled customers with onboarding information. For others, it may involve more sophisticated audience criteria, such as identifying customers who recently opened an email, have overdue balances and live in zip codes that qualify for payment assistance programs.

While segmentation is often perceived as complex, Dannaher explains that the concept is actually quite simple: Deliver more relevant communications to the customers who need them most.

Without segmentation, utilities often send the same message to every customer, regardless of whether the information actually applies to them. Over time, this one-size-fits-all approach can lead to lower engagement and missed opportunities to connect with customers.

“Customers can experience message fatigue when messages don’t align with who they are and what’s important to them,” Dannaher explains.

Discussion of how utilities can use segmentation in email marketing

Segmentation is becoming increasingly important as customers have come to expect personalized experiences in nearly every aspect of their lives. When communications don’t feel relevant, customers are more likely to ignore them — or stop engaging altogether.

Fortunately, utilities don’t need complex strategies to get started.

Dannaher encourages utility communicators to look beyond basic demographic data and pay closer attention to customer behavior. Who is opening emails? Which topics generate engagement? Which customers consistently ignore messages?

Dannaher also recommends following up with customers who didn’t open an important email. In many cases, knowing who doesn’t engage can be just as valuable as knowing who does.

These insights can help utilities create more targeted communication strategies while supporting broader utility goals.

“When we segment, we see more engagement, less confusion, fewer questions and utility call centers often experience a reduction in customer calls,” Dannaher says. “Less customer confusion leads to better adoption of your programs and overall better customer engagement scores.”

Personalization Ensures Relevance

Once utilities identify the right audience, the next step is crafting a message that feels relevant to the person receiving it.

According to Joe Pifher, Questline Digital’s Creative Director, personalization is often misunderstood. Many marketers associate personalization with inserting a customer’s first name into an email. While that tactic has its place, Pifher notes that meaningful personalization goes much deeper.

“Personalization is removing all that noise,” he says. “You want to make sure that your customers only see what’s relevant to them.”

Discussion of improving personalization in utility emails

For utilities, personalization and segmentation work hand in hand. A customer already enrolled in a program doesn’t need the same message as someone considering enrollment for the first time. Likewise, customers who don’t qualify for a program shouldn’t receive an email about it.

Rather than creating dozens of different emails, Pifher encourages communicators to focus on tailoring the message to an audience’s specific needs and circumstances. “When you’re doing that well, the message is going to resonate with your customers,” he says.Unlike traditional marketing campaigns, utility communications often involve topics customers genuinely care about, including service reliability, financial assistance and energy savings. And these topics require a different approach to communications.

Instead of relying on marketing jargon or overly clever language, utility communicators should focus on providing straightforward information that helps customers make informed decisions.

“When you write from a place of being calm, clear and helpful, your customers are going to relax and you’re going to build trust,” Pifher says.

Clarity Beats Cleverness

The same principle also applies to email structure. Most customers aren’t reading every word of a message – they’re quickly scanning for the information that matters most to them.

According to Pifher, customers are typically looking for answers to three questions:

What is this?
Does it apply to me?
What do I need to do?

The faster an email answers those questions, the more effective it becomes. As AI-powered inboxes continue to evolve, clarity will become even more important for utility emails.

“Clarity beats cleverness,” Pifher says. “As a creative, I hate that because I would love to be clever in all my emails. But we’re finding that just being clear is more effective.”

When discussing best practices, Pifher offers one piece of advice utility communicators can apply immediately.

“My number one rule is one audience and one goal per email,” he says. “If everything’s important, nothing’s important.”

Utilities often attempt to include multiple announcements, programs and calls to action within a single communication. The result is a message that tries to accomplish too much – but ultimately accomplishes less.

Instead, Pifher recommends focusing on a single audience, objective and primary call to action. This approach creates clearer performance metrics and stronger engagement over time.

Drive Stronger Results With A/B Testing

Once utilities have defined their audience and crafted a relevant message, the last step is optimization.

Many utility communicators hear the term “A/B testing” and immediately think of additional work, complicated reporting or difficult-to-interpret results. However, Jeremy Harning, Questline Digital’s Vice President of Research & Development, encourages utility teams to think about testing differently.

At its core, A/B testing answers a simple question: What actually resonates with your audience?

“The way that I think about testing is that you’re always trying to move the needle toward perfection,” Harning says. “We know we can’t always get there, but we can make small improvements over time that help us get closer to the best results possible.”

Discussion of using AB testing to improve utility email communications

Rather than randomly changing elements from one campaign to the next, A/B testing allows utilities to make data-driven decisions based on customer behavior. Every email becomes an opportunity to learn something new and apply those insights to future communications.

When open rates are lower than expected, Harning recommends starting with the two factors that influence opens the most: sender name and subject line.

If customers are opening emails but not taking action, the focus then shifts to different elements within the message.

“If we’re getting good attention on our emails, but we’re not getting the action we want, that’s where we start looking at the CTA language, placement and the number of calls to action,” Harning explains.

Timing is another area where utilities frequently look for answers.

“There is no magic send time,” Harning says. “But there are things we can do to move the needle.”

According to Harning, utilities should avoid sending emails at the top of the hour, when countless marketing platforms are deploying messages simultaneously. Instead, consider scheduling communications at less conventional times to help your email stand out in a crowded inbox.

Most importantly, he encourages utilities to view testing as an ongoing process rather than a one-time exercise.

“It’s about consistency, documenting what happened and reusing what you’ve learned,” Harning says. “Every time we communicate, we should learn something from it and use that information to do better next time.”

Over time, those small insights become a valuable playbook that helps utilities continuously improve engagement, drive stronger results and create more effective communications.

Turn Insights into Action

One of the most valuable takeaways from Episode Two is that utilities don’t need to overhaul their communication programs to improve engagement.

Small adjustment, like segmenting audiences, leveraging behavioral data and simplifying messaging, can make a big difference.

Want to learn more about audience segmentation, personalization and optimization?

Watch Episode Two of the Powering Engagement Podcast Series to hear the full conversation and discover practical strategies your team can implement right away.

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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 messages 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 Will Improve Utility Communications

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 improve utility communications with more effective messages.

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 utility communications.

“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 Improve Utility Communications

Contact your Questline Digital account representative or reach out to our team today.

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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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