Customer Segmentation Archives - Page 5 of 5

Homeowners and Renters: The Right Message for the Right Segment

Infographic explaining why homeowners and renters are different customer segments

Homeowners and renters are very different audience segments. Your energy utility needs to know how best to communicate to these customers based on their needs and interests. While homeowners are often focused on long-term energy savings, renters are more concerned with quick ways to save that don’t require a huge upfront investment.

Read on to learn about the energy utility programs and services that resonate with these distinct groups of customers.

Energy savings

Renters often don’t have the means or desire to invest in improving their rental properties. However, they still want opportunities to save energy and money on their bills. Communicate energy-saving tips for small, inexpensive things they can do that will make a big impact on their bill. For example, recommend LED lighting, water-saving showerheads or smart power strips.
Homeowners want to save energy and money but are also willing to make an investment in their property that will increase its value in the long run. Your energy utility should recommend energy efficient products through rebates and incentives. Showcase the latest ENERGY STAR appliances, smart thermostats or EV chargers on your online marketplace and help these customers transform their homes.

Renewable energy

Community solar programs are a valuable option for renters who may not have the finances or permissions for installing their own PV panels. These programs, also called solar gardens or shared solar, offer a way for renters to benefit from renewable energy. Community solar provides participants with the opportunity to positively impact the environment and save on their energy bill.
Solar panel installation is an effective way for homeowners to create a more energy-efficient home. Despite the upfront costs, help customers see PV installation as an investment that will add long-term value to their home.

Energy efficiency

Help your renters make their homes more energy efficient while they live there. Share DIY videos, workshops or classes on how to effectively install faucets, weather-seal their doors and more. Any opportunity to save money and energy on their rental home is a win for these customers.
Promote your energy utility’s energy efficiency assessment to homeowners. Let them know this is a unique opportunity for an energy expert to assess their property for energy efficiency upgrades like insulation or a new HVAC system.

Electric vehicles

Renters may be interested in, or have already, purchased an electric vehicle. But how do they charge it? Renters don’t always have the option to install EV chargers at their rental property. Offer solutions such as a map with the nearest EV chargers in their area or tips on consulting with their property owner about adding smart chargers. Your energy utility can also offer more information on purchasing hybrid vehicles as another efficient alternative to electric vehicles.
Homeowners who have purchased or are considering purchasing electric vehicles also need to be aware of the charging options for their home. Level 1 and 2 smart chargers are acceptable for home use and can be installed in a garage. Offer smart charger promotions to customers to persuade them to make this purchase and to showcase your energy utility as a trusted resource on this topic.

Make sure your energy utility has a plan in place on how to segment and market to these different audiences. Focusing on specific needs and interests for each group will lead to greater customer engagement and long-term satisfaction.

Is your energy utility reaching the right audience with the right message? Learn more about Questline Digital’s proven approach to digital engagement.

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3 Ways to Add More Customers to Your Email List

Infographic listing ways that utilities can grow customer email lists

Email is an extremely effective channel for energy utility communications. You can quickly reach a lot of customers and also deliver personalized messages to specific segments. You can maintain a consistent customer touchpoint with an email newsletter and then leverage that engagement with targeted program promotions.

However, you can’t accomplish any of these things if you don’t have email addresses for your residential and business customers. That’s why list growth is often the first step of an email marketing strategy. Here are three ways your energy utility can use other channels to acquire customer email addresses.

Call center

One of the best ways to acquire a customer’s email address is to just ask for it! Add intuitive questions to customer service rep scripts that demonstrate the benefits of receiving email from your utility. For example:

“Would you like to be notified of storm alerts and potential outages in your area?”
“What is the best way to reach you via email to share cost-saving energy tips for your home?”

Website

Customers are already visiting your website to learn about their energy use or seek out cost-saving programs. Take the opportunity to remind them that you can deliver this content directly to their inboxes.

Add simple email signup forms to your website that correspond to the content on each page. For instance, on an energy efficiency program page you could suggest, “Enter your email address to receive energy-saving tips and rebates.” The call-to-action on a safety education page might be, “Sign up to get more home safety and energy efficiency advice.”

Social media

Your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram followers might not realize they can also get relevant updates delivered via email. When you post on social media sites asking customers if they are interested in receiving updates, make sure you emphasize convenience and interests that appeal to social users. For example:

“Never miss an update. Get the latest energy-saving tips sent straight to your inbox.”
“Sign up to learn more about sustainability and renewable energy.”

With these tips you can add to your list and reach even more customers, taking advantage of the power to deliver targeted promotions and content with email marketing.

Is your utility welcoming new customers by asking for their email address? Learn how to build a strong relationship from day one with a Welcome Series.

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The ABCs of A/B Testing

Infographic listing benefits of A-B testing for email marketing

What messages resonate best with your target audience? A/B testing is an easy way for energy utilities to make data-driven decisions in your content and design choices.

Every customer is unique — a message that works for one audience segment may not be effective for another. With A/B testing, you can better understand what message garners higher customer engagement for a particular list by testing different versions with a small sample and then sending the “winning” message to the bulk of the list.

A/B testing can be used to optimize different parts of your message, including the subject line, hero image and call-to-action placement. However, only test one variant per A/B test. If you test both the hero image and call-to-action, for example, it’s difficult to determine which element triggered a better response.

We recommend testing for a full week, considering 93% of all opens and clicks happen during this time. Once the test has garnered enough responses, the next step is to declare a winner. A good rule of thumb is to look for 95% confidence between the variants (the minimum recommended). Depending on the sample size, this translates to a 25% to 35% performance variance.

Stop guessing which subject line will get the most opens or which CTA will attract the most clicks. Let your customers decide! By sending two versions of a message to a small audience, you can see which one customers prefer before sending the highest-performing message to the rest of the list.

Optimize your campaigns for success with a digital marketing strategy from Questline.

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Charging Forward with Electric Vehicles

As electric vehicles continue to grow in popularity, energy utilities have the opportunity to drive the trend forward as both a trusted resource and EV adoption influencer.

In 2018, more U.S. consumers purchased electric vehicles than ever before – an 81% increase from the previous year. While electric vehicles still only make up a small percentage of total U.S. car sales, demand continues to grow each year. A recent Deloitte report projects that electric vehicles will be priced on average the same as gasoline-powered vehicles by 2022.

Encouraging EV adoption

With the right resources, energy utilities have the power to educate residential and business customers about the benefits of electric vehicles and encourage EV adoption. According to a Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) survey, 42% of consumers said involvement or endorsement from their utility would influence their adoption of new technologies like EVs.

When it comes to EV adoption, barriers are often caused by a lack of knowledge about technology and perceptions of high upfront costs. In fact, fewer than 22% of consumers surveyed claim to have a complete understanding of electric vehicles.

Top 5 roadblocks to EV adoption:

Residential customers:

65% – Not enough charging stations in the area
60% – Upfront cost of EVs is too high
50% – EVs do not have enough range
50% – EVs increase electric bills significantly
48% – Too expensive to install charging equipment at home

Business customers:

55% – Prohibitive initial purchase price – 55 percent
44% – Inadequate charging infrastructure at facility
35% – Inadequate product availability
32% – Not enough public charging infrastructure
24% – Difficult to get buy-in from top leadership

From charging stations to EE programs

As a provider of electric vehicle “fuel,” energy utilities are a vital source of information for electrification and energy efficiency programs. EV owners are looking for ways to save money and better manage their energy usage. That’s why it behooves energy utilities to promote programs like time-of-use billing and managed charging to EV customers:

Electrification: Consumers are increasingly managing their energy usage through smart meters. Encourage EV customers to take advantage of this trend to more effectively manage their energy usage.
Time-of-use billing: Introduce EV owners to off-peak rates and incentivize customers to time-shift their energy usage. For example, customers would receive a lower rate by charging their electric vehicle during off-peak hours of 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Managed charging: This type of program is key to managing increased demand on the grid. By encouraging smart grid-capable EV charging, customers can be rewarded for participating in demand response programs.

Unlike owning a gasoline-powered vehicle, EV ownership is truly a lifestyle. EV owners need to install charging equipment in their home, and business customers must install charging infrastructure at their facilities. However, many consumers are unaware that energy utilities provide EV services. In fact, 60% of consumers said they would look to an outside retailer instead of their energy utility.

The road ahead

As more and more customers choose to live a sustainable, eco-friendly lifestyle, electric vehicles will be at the forefront of this movement. In fact, the International Energy Agency forecasts that 125 million electric vehicles will be on the road worldwide by 2030. That’s why energy utilities need to position themselves not only as EV experts, but as trusted smart home and electrification service providers.

Questline Digital’s Electric Vehicles Content empowers energy utilities to drive EV adoption.

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