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Compassionate Communications: Educating Customers about Available Assistance Programs

When life takes an unexpected turn — a job loss, medical emergency or sudden expense — staying current with energy bills can become difficult. This is where financial assistance programs play a critical role for utility customers.

To ensure your utility financial assistance communications reach those who need it most, it’s important to communicate with compassion, clarity and consistency. Here are four utility program best practices to ensure your customers feel supported and understand their options.

Lead with Empathy and Understanding

Financial hardship can feel isolating and overwhelming, and customers need reassurance that their utility is a trusted energy advisor, not a bill collector. Every touchpoint in your utility payment assistance communications — whether an email, text or social media post — should use a supportive, empathetic tone.

Instead of saying:
“If you’re unable to pay, you may face service disconnection.”

Try:
“If you’re struggling to keep up with winter bills, we can help. Assistance programs are available to provide comfort and relief this season.”

A compassionate message builds trust and encourages customers to learn more about available resources. For example, PSEG Long Island’s financial assistance landing page uses warm visuals and empathetic messaging to connect with Long Islanders facing financial hardship.

Customers are directed to three pathways: Heating and cooling assistance, payment plans and a financial hardship form. This makes it easy for customers to find the course of action that best fits their needs. For customers who have questions, the landing page includes contact information for the utility’s team of advocates who offer customized recommendations on utility payment assistance communications.

Image of utility website bill payment assistance

Make Your Message Simple and Accessible

When a customer is struggling, even small barriers can discourage them from seeking help. That’s why clarity and simplicity are essential in utility financial assistance communications.

Understanding eligibility requirements and completing applications are often deemed a complicated process. Utility marketers should avoid technical jargon and lengthy explanations in email campaigns, bill inserts, landing pages and other communications. Instead, use simple language, short paragraphs and clear calls to action.

Additionally, visual elements can make information even easier to digest. Infographics, step-by-step graphics or short videos can guide customers through the application process or explain complex programs. For instance, an infographic illustrating “3 Easy Steps to Get Bill Assistance” can be more effective than text-heavy explanations.

Best practices:

Use friendly headers like “We Can Help” or “Find the Right Program for You.”
Keep paragraphs short and focus on one key message per section.
Include direct links to enrollment forms or contact pages.
Clearly list eligibility requirements and documents needed up front.
Use icons or checkmarks to visually organize important information.

ComEd, the largest electric utility in Illinois serving Chicago, created a simple and accessible online tool to help customers find financial support. The Smart Assistance Manager (SAM) helps customers explore available assistance programs without needing to contact customer service.

This online tool guides customers through eligibility requirements and the application process. By signing into their account, customers receive personalized program recommendations tailored to their needs.

Thumbnail image from utility assistance program website

Accessibility goes beyond content — it’s also about language and format. Offering utility financial assistance communications in multiple languages — or using translation tools for email, webpages and videos — helps ensure all customers understand assistance programs. An essential utility program awareness strategy, inclusive communication helps to reach diverse communities within your service territory.

A great example of accessible communications is Questline Digital’s Engage Global Translate. With this translation feature, customers can easily select and save their preferred language for website content and emails. Offering 134 language choices, Engage Global Translate ensures a more accessible and inclusive experience for every customer.

Reach Customers Where They Are

Not every customer reads your utility’s emails or visits your website regularly – that’s why a multichannel approach is key. A well-rounded utility program awareness strategy ensures your message reaches the right people at the right time.

Consider these touchpoints:

Email campaigns that drive awareness and encourage action
Bill inserts or messages in My Account portals
Social media posts to reach broader audiences
Community partnerships with local organizations or nonprofits that serve low-income customers
Outbound text messages to remind customers of enrollment deadlines

To increase awareness and enrollment in assistance programs among Pennsylvania customers, FirstEnergy wanted to reach eligible households with more personalized, recurring digital utility financial assistance communications. Partnering with Questline Digital, the utility launched a campaign using SmartVX, a personalized video solution that delivers unique, data-driven messages to each customer.

The highly personalized videos featured the customer’s name and highlighted state and federal programs they were most likely to qualify for, with Spanish-language versions available to engage diverse communities.

By embedding these customized videos into targeted email campaigns, FirstEnergy achieved strong results in just four months, including a 70.5% watch rate, 4,800+ call-to-action (CTA) clicks and 10,000+ video views.

FirstEnergy boosted its program enrollment engagement rate to 6.2% in 2024, marking a 2% jump from the previous year. Much of this success can be attributed to the impact of the personalized video campaign.

Example of a utility financial assistance case study

Tie Assistance to Broader Utility Values

Customers respond more positively to assistance programs when they understand that support is rooted in the utility’s mission and values. Your utility financial assistance communications are an opportunity to reinforce your commitment to affordability, energy equity and community wellbeing.

Consider incorporating messaging such as:

“As part of our commitment to energy equity, we offer a range of assistance options to help ensure every household stays safe and comfortable.”
“Supporting our community is at the heart of everything we do. Our assistance programs are designed to help customers during life’s unexpected challenges.”
“We’re dedicated to keeping energy affordable and accessible. If you’re experiencing hardship, we have resources that can help.”

Entergy, a large Southeast utility, emphasizes its commitment to community wellbeing through the Low-Income Customer Assistance and related programs — a powerful example of how financial assistance can reflect a utility’s core values.

According to the Entergy website, approximately 40% of the utility’s 3 million residential customers live below the poverty line. Since 2000, Entergy has invested over $175 million in programs aimed at helping low-income families. For example, the Power to Care program provides emergency bill payment assistance funded by donations from customers and employees, then matched by the company.

Entergy’s mission goes beyond providing energy service — it’s rooted in supporting customers and communities in need.

Thumbnail image from utility community assistance webpage

The Impact of Thoughtful Communications

Communicating about utility financial assistance communications is more than listing available resources — it’s an opportunity to demonstrate your utility’s commitment to customer wellbeing.

When utilities lead with empathy, simplify access to programs and connect assistance to their broader mission of community service, customers feel understood and supported. Compassionate communications strengthen trust and build lasting customer relationships.

Develop a compassionate communications strategy for your financial assistance programs with help from Questline Digital.

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How Utilities Can Build a Stronger Brand

Brand appeal is more than just a positive reputation — it’s the foundation of utility customer engagement.

When customers trust and value their utility, they are more likely to participate in programs, support rate changes and feel satisfied with their service.

To explore how utilities can build stronger brands, Questline Digital spoke with marketers from two of the country’s top-ranked utilities in brand appeal to learn their strategies and success stories.

Brand appeal challenges

According to J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Electric Utility Brand Appeal Index Study, customer perceptions of affordability, innovation and community support have decreased across the industry.

The study finds that overall brand appeal scores have declined by one point for electric utilities (694 out of 1,000) and three points for gas utilities (714 out of 1,000). This decline is largely attributed to a decrease in company reputation in the following areas: customer focus, environmental stewardship and innovation leadership.

In fact, customers who feel positive about their utility’s brand report much higher satisfaction — nearly 400 points higher than those who have a neutral or negative perception.

“Utilities with strong brands almost certainly have a great customer experience, exceptional reliability and a solid financial position,” says Jeremy Tucker, Manager of Corporate Strategy and Engagement at Delaware Electric Cooperative. “A strong foundation is essential — utilities must have a holistic approach to customer engagement.”

Emphasize core values

Brand appeal isn’t just about polished advertising. It’s about consistency, transparency and authenticity — values that resonate deeply with today’s utility customers.

To build a stronger brand, utilities should lean into authenticity, showing customers who they are and why they exist.

Salt River Project (SRP), a central Arizona-based utility, put this into practice with its recent Customer Commitment campaign, designed to educate customers about its not-for-profit business model and community-focused mission.

Through research, SRP’s Marketing team discovered that many customers didn’t fully understand the distinction of being a not-for-profit utility. With a growing and changing population in Arizona, new residents weren’t as familiar with SRP’s history and purpose as longtime customers. To bridge that gap, the campaign spotlighted the utility’s core values and brand promise.

The Customer Commitment campaign reinforced that SRP has no shareholders to serve, only customers. Revenue is reinvested into the community through improved infrastructure, enhanced customer programs and investments in innovation. By telling this story across multiple channels, the utility was able to effectively communicate how it serves the community.

Example of utility company branded advertisement

“At the end of the day, our brand promise is that we exist for the future prosperity of our customers and the community that we serve,” says Elise Gould, Senior Director of Customer Insights, Brand Strategy and Marketing at SRP. “As the largest not-for-profit utility in Arizona, we are uniquely empowered to prioritize the needs of our customers.”

Similarly, Delaware Electric Cooperative (DEC) built its brand around what makes the utility unique. Several years ago, DEC undertook a wholesale review of its marketing and communications strategy to identify what set it apart from other utilities. The answer was clear: Its not-for-profit, member-focused business model.

By consistently highlighting this difference, DEC has grown both brand appeal and long-term customer satisfaction. Over the past decade, the cooperative centered communications around its commitment to delivering reliable, affordable power. This transparency and emphasis on community governance reinforced customer trust and loyalty.

“We’ve spent a decade really focusing on our not-for-profit business model and building our brand around the idea that we do things differently from the investor-owned and municipal utilities,” Tucker says. “We are laser-focused on delivering power to our members at the lowest possible cost and ensuring a sustainable source of energy.”

Help customers save energy and money

In today’s climate of economic uncertainty, customers are turning to their utility for guidance on how to save energy and lower their monthly bill. Providing helpful programs and resources can make a difference in customers’ lives and build stronger brand appeal.

SRP offers a variety of programs to help customers save money, manage their energy use and feel more in control of their bills. For example, the utility’s Budget Billing program makes it easy for customers to plan ahead by spreading energy costs evenly across the year, reducing the surprise of seasonal bill spikes. Additionally, usage text alerts notify customers when their energy use is trending higher than normal. SRP also provides income-qualified assistance programs and energy efficiency rebates for customers facing financial hardship.

“Customers are busy with a lot of demands on their time and energy — they aren’t sitting around thinking about how they can save money on their energy bill,” Gould says. “We have to continuously inform them on where these opportunities exist.”

DEC empowers members to take an active role in keeping their electric rates affordable through the Beat the Peak program. When energy costs are at their highest during peak hours, the utility sends members an alert via email, text or the mobile app. Members can then take steps to use less energy, like turning off extra lights or waiting to use large appliances.

“Beat the Peak has saved our members more than $40 million since launching back in 2008,” Tucker says. “We’ve expanded the program beyond Delaware, giving cooperatives across the country the opportunity to leverage its benefits. Now, more than 100 cooperatives are using the program to help their customers save energy and money.”

Create compelling communications

One of the key findings from the J.D. Power study is that utilities are struggling to engage customers, despite an increase in digital platforms and paid advertising. Additionally, the study finds that communication intensity scores — which measure the volume and recall of utility communications — have decreased in 2025.

To improve communication efforts, it behooves utilities to focus on personalized messaging, community outreach and storytelling opportunities. To reach customers across generations, utility marketers should deliver relevant content across multiple channels, from social media and emails to bill inserts and community events.

DEC’s Marketing team engaged customers with a social media campaign marking the 30th anniversary of the region’s most devastating ice storm. Rather than simply looking back, the campaign highlighted how much the cooperative has changed since the mid-1990s.

The utility shared stories from employees who worked through the original storm, while also highlighting system upgrades and grid investments that now allow for faster restoration times.

The social media campaign struck a powerful balance between remembrance and progress, reinforcing DEC’s commitment to reliability and innovation. With record levels of clicks, shares and comments, it has become one of the utility’s most successful campaigns.

Storytelling is a priority for DEC, with stories of both employees and members shared through a variety of communications, including social media, newsletters and the cooperative’s annual magazine. “As a co-op for almost 90 years, we have a really powerful story to tell,” Tucker says. “But part of that story is our members. We have so many inspiring stories in our community.”

Strong community ties go a long way in improving utility brand appeal. Utilities that engage in local initiatives, such as supporting local events, providing energy education and investing in sustainable projects, often experience higher levels of engagement.

A powerful example of community partnership is SRP’s “Snow Day for Animals at the Phoenix Zoo” event. Designed to provide relief from Arizona’s extreme summer temperatures, the program brings 10 tons of snow into the zoo to keep animals like African lions, orangutans and meerkats cool and playful in their habitats. Guests also enjoy complimentary ice cream and frozen treats, making the zoo visit both refreshing and memorable.

Image of turtle at community partnership event at local zoo

Image of tiger at community partnership event at local zoo

Beyond the fun and entertainment, SRP uses the event as a touchpoint to engage with customers on energy efficiency. Utility team members share energy-saving tips and provide entry codes for the Summer of Savings Giveaway, where visitors can win energy-efficient prizes. To make the experience even more accessible, SRP customers receive discounted admission.

“Customer experience is the heartbeat of our brand,” Gould says. “Every interaction is an opportunity to reinforce our brand and remind our customers what we stand for. It comes down to that seamless, transparent and supportive service. We’re dedicated to finding those opportunities to make a real connection with our community.”

Build a better customer experience

A strong utility brand isn’t built on marketing alone — it’s defined by how customers feel during their everyday interactions.

Self-service tools like online portals, mobile apps and paperless billing options give customers the ability to manage their accounts anytime, anywhere. These seamless experiences demonstrate that the utility understands the expectations of today’s customers.

Equally important is how a utility communicates and responds during storms, outages and other events. An outage is a stressful and frustrating experience for customers, and often the moment when trust is either strengthened or lost.

Proactive updates, clear restoration timelines and multiple communication channels — from text alerts to social media posts — show customers that the utility cares. Through empathetic outage communications, utilities can turn critical moments into opportunities to build trust and reinforce their brand.

According to Tucker, social media plays an essential role in communicating with members during outages. It’s also the best platform for 24/7 communications, including responding to customers’ questions and concerns.

Whenever an outage affects more than 500 homes, DEC posts timely updates on Facebook and X, Tucker explains. Lineworkers regularly share updates and photos from the field with the Marketing team, which are then posted to social media. These posts give customers a transparent inside look at the restoration process.

“Every time a member calls us or interacts with one of our employees, whether a call center representative or a lineman, it’s a chance for us to show we care about them,” Tucker says. “We want them to walk away from that experience with a positive view of our cooperative.”

Showcase environmental stewardship

Customers are becoming increasingly conscious of their environmental footprint and expect their utilities to play a role in sustainability. Utilities looking to improve their brand appeal should be continuously thinking about long-term investments in environmental stewardship.

Additionally, utilities should be transparent in their communication with customers about these investments and their impact on the community.

“We have a fiduciary obligation to educate members on the long-term investments we are making to ensure we have a sustainable source of power for their children and grandchildren,” Tucker explains. “It’s not just about keeping our members engaged — we have a responsibility to communicate openly with them.”

DEC is the first utility in the state of Delaware to own a solar farm, and the utility continues to expand its array of renewable energy sources. In the next year, DEC will build a utility-scale battery storage facility at the solar farm site, which will improve grid resiliency, lower demand costs and help open up portions of the grid to more residential solar. The utility also plans to build a second solar farm dedicated solely to community solar.

“We have always tried to strike a balance between maintaining our fossil fuel power plants, which are needed for base-load generation, while also investing in clean energy projects that reduce our carbon footprint,” Tucker says.

SRP regularly shares its sustainability initiatives and clean energy investments through blog articles, press releases and social media. Recent highlights include the BYOT (Bring Your Own Thermostat) Program, which helps manage grid demand by adjusting customer thermostats during conservation events. Other features showcase how SRP supports local businesses in transitioning to clean energy and how customers can receive free desert-adapted shade trees to help lower energy costs.

Image of people planting a tree to lower energy costs

“Much of our communication focuses on sustainability initiatives — sharing our goals, the progress we’re making and reinforcing accountability to build trust,” Gould says. “Just as important, we want customers to understand how they can take part. By making small, informed choices, they can ‘walk the talk’ with us and contribute to positive outcomes for themselves, our utility and the entire community.”

Going above and beyond

The results from the J.D. Power study highlight a critical opportunity for utilities to re-evaluate how they communicate with and serve their customers. Fostering a strong connection with customers goes beyond meeting basic needs — it’s about providing valuable programs, impactful communications and personalized connections. By taking a customer-centric approach, utilities have the power to strengthen their brand appeal.

Ready to transform your utility’s brand reputation?

Let Questline Digital help you craft strategic campaigns that build trust and loyalty with your customers.

Communication Strategies to Better Connect With Key Accounts

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

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

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

Understand their business — and priorities

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

Questions to consider:

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

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

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

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

Support sustainability and energy goals

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

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

Here are a few ways key account managers can help:

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

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

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

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

Establish ongoing, proactive touchpoints

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

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

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

With each monthly edition, utilities have the opportunity to:

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

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

Connect through events and webinars

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Building better business relationships

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

Need help reaching your business customers more effectively?

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

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Smart Summer Campaign Strategies for Utilities

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

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

Help Customers Facing Financial Hardship

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

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

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

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

Use messaging that is:

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

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

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

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

Example of a utility financial assistance campaign

Prepare Customers for Storm Season

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

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

Best channels for pre-storm/outage communications:

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

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

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

Best channels for active outage updates:

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

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

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

Best channels for post-storm communications:

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

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

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

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

Educate on Water and Energy Conservation

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

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

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

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

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

Best practices for conservation campaigns:

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

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

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

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

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

Encourage Demand Response Participation

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

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

To boost participation, utilities should:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Example of a utility sustainability email

Make the Most of the Season

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

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

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

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Best Practices for Utility Email Deliverability and Engagement

Utility email marketing remains an essential communication channel. However, with evolving email service provider (ESP) requirements and changing customer expectations, maintaining strong email deliverability will require a strategic approach in 2025.

Discover these email trends for utilities that ensure messages reach inboxes and engage customers.

Enhancing Email Deliverability

For utility companies, strong email deliverability ensures that critical information reaches customers promptly, ensuring trust and engagement.

ESPs like Gmail and Yahoo are tightening their standards, making it more challenging for email senders who aren’t following best practices to reach inboxes. They are placing greater emphasis on authentication protocols to combat phishing and spam – with the goal of creating a safer and more user-friendly email experience. However, these changes are making it more challenging for large email senders.

Companies that send 5,000 or more emails daily to Gmail or Yahoo accounts must comply with new requirements to improve email security and the user experience. These protocols will be essential to follow in utility email marketing initiatives in 2025.

Example of large email sender requirements for utility marketing

Large email senders are now required to:

Implement authentication protocols: Implement Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) to verify email authenticity and protect your company from spoofing.
Send only wanted emails: Ensure your email lists are up-to-date and focus on sending relevant, consent-based communications to avoid being flagged as spam.
Simplify the unsubscribe process: Make it easy for recipients to opt out with a one-click unsubscribe option, reinforcing trust and respecting user preferences.

In the past, simply providing an opt-out option and ensuring proper domain registration and authentication were often enough to maintain email deliverability. However, new ESP requirements mean that senders must go beyond the basics with utility email marketing.

“The email landscape is changing – inbox providers are trying to fight for market share and they’re also trying to lower the cost of infrastructure to run a large inbox service,” says Jeremy Harning, Vice President of Technology at Questline Digital. “When you have tens of thousands of businesses blasting emails every minute, that’s a lot of computing power. That’s why they are trying to tackle the issue from two sides – the user perspective and email sender perspective.”

Strengthening Sender Reputation

Sender reputation remains a key factor in utility email marketing. Utilities must proactively monitor their email reputation, ensure compliance with changing regulations and prioritize subscriber engagement to maintain a strong sender reputation.

Strong sender authentication protocols like DMARC, DKIM and SPF will be more critical than ever, while maintaining a clean email list will play a key role in avoiding spam filters. These protocols are essential email authentication methods that verify whether an email truly originates from the domain it claims.

When it comes to utility email optimization, marketers should regularly update their email lists to remove inactive subscribers and ensure that their data integration tools are robust. Accurate data enhances personalization efforts and improves deliverability rates.

“Prioritizing customers who regularly interact with email is going to make a tremendous difference for your email deliverability,” says Molly Dannaher, Application Director at Questline Digital. “This is going to implicitly weed out those who are marking your emails as SPAMs as well as hard bounces. Inactive subscribers who haven’t opened or clicked on your emails need to be taken off of your list. Utilities should be cleaning their lists at least every year.”

According to Dannaher, re-engagement campaigns can be particularly helpful for improving email for utilities. These campaigns reach out to inactive subscribers with personalized content or an option to update their email preferences. This is a great way to re-engage inactive subscribers or remove them from your email list altogether to improve deliverability.

Utilities should maintain a strong sender score by:

Using a confirmed opt-in process: Ensure customers explicitly consent to receive emails to reduce spam complaints.
Keep your email list clean: Regularly remove invalid email addresses, bounces and inactive subscribers.
Segment your audience: Send targeted, relevant content based on customer preferences and behaviors to boost engagement.
Monitor engagement rates: Track open rates, click-through rates and spam complaints — and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Provide an easy unsubscribe option: Ensure your opt-out process is simple and accessible to minimize spam complaints.

Why Personalization is Paramount

One of the top email trends for utilities, personalization is essential for ensuring strong engagement and avoiding the promotions tab. ESPs are prioritizing user engagement more than ever, meaning emails that receive low open rates, minimal interaction or high unsubscribe rates are more likely to be filtered out.

Utility marketers can improve inbox placement by delivering content that aligns with subscriber interests, behaviors and preferences. Personalization can help create emails that feel tailored to each recipient, increasing engagement and signaling to ESPs that your messages are valuable. The more relevant your utility email marketing, the better your utility’s chances of landing in the primary inbox and building stronger customer relationships.

“If you end up in the promotions tab, you don’t get an undelivered message – the only way you know you’ve been ‘promo-boxed’ is plummeting open rates and click-through rates,” Harning says. “Deliverability won’t be negatively affected, but you’ll see your engagement rates take more hits. Low engagement rates equal getting promo-boxed, which equals lower engagement rates, and the cycle continues.”

Example of best practices for utility email marketing

Email personalization best practices include:

Segmenting email lists based on customer behavior, energy usage and preferences.
Using dynamic content to tailor messaging, such as including relevant energy-saving tips based on a customer’s past behavior.
Email content and design: Relevant, personalized and well-formatted content encourages engagement and reduces spam complaints.
Automating email journeys to send timely messages, such as outage notifications and personalized billing reminders.

Privacy Should Be a Priority

To maintain trust and credibility among customers, it’s essential to balance personalization with privacy considerations in utility email marketing.

Utilities can strike a balance between personalization and privacy by using data responsibly and transparently. By leveraging customer preferences, such as communication channels, language choices and service interests, utilities can tailor email content without overstepping boundaries.

It’s crucial to only use information that customers have willingly shared and to clearly explain how their data is being used to enhance their experience. Implementing robust security measures and giving customers control over their preferences — like updating their contact details or opting in to specific programs — builds trust while allowing your utility to deliver relevant content. This thoughtful approach in utility email marketing ensures personalization feels helpful, not intrusive.

By adapting strategies to prioritize privacy-first data and foster genuine customer relationships, utility marketers can continue to drive impactful, measurable results.

Improving Utility Email Marketing with SEO

SEO isn’t just for websites — it’s a powerful tool for improving email for utilities in 2025.

In the past year, Apple Mail Privacy Protection changed email senders’ reliance on open rates as a primary measure of engagement. Now, with Apple’s Mail Categories and Digest View, marketers will be using SEO principles into their utility email marketing strategies more than ever before.

Apple’s new Digest View automatically groups multiple emails from the same sender into a single expandable thread in a user’s inbox. This allows subscribers to easily scan content without having to open each individual message.

With this new feature, it’s vital for utilities to craft SEO-based emails that stand out in a bundled inbox. To capture attention, each email should have a clear, keyword-rich subject line and preheader that reflect what customers are actively searching for, such as “Lower Your Energy Bill This Winter” or “Rebate Programs for EV Owners.”

Within the email body, structuring content with scannable headers, bullet points and relevant keywords keeps readers engaged and makes key information easy to find. Utilities should also prioritize the most important information in the first few lines of the email. These SEO principles are key for improving email for utilities.

“Incorporating SEO into utility emails isn’t just about boosting open rates — it’s about meeting customers where they are, with the information they’re actively searching for,” Harning says. “By aligning email content with customer interests and search behaviors, utilities can create more relevant, engaging experiences.”

Example of SEO tips for utility email marketing

Consider these SEO best practices for utility email optimization:

Write clear, compelling subject lines that encourage opens.
Use alt text for images so recipients understand the message even if images don’t load.
Ensure mobile-friendly design to improve readability and engagement on all devices.

By weaving SEO principles into utility email marketing campaigns, utilities can better connect with their audiences, delivering timely, valuable content that drives engagement and action.

Email Deliverability Meets Engagement

As utilities navigate the changing landscape of utility email marketing in 2025, success will come from striking the right balance between performance, personalization and privacy. By embracing these email trends for utilities, marketers can navigate the complexities of email deliverability, building trust and providing value with every email sent.

Learn how Questline Digital can help your utility implement these email deliverability best practices into your marketing communications.

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