Digital Marketing Archives - Page 12 of 13

Marketing vs. Advertising: What is Right for Your Energy Utility?

Many people use the terms “marketing” and “advertising” interchangeably when, in fact, they are quite different. To put it simply, marketing promotes a business and its products or services, while identifying customer needs and how best to meet them. Advertising, however, is the act of calling attention to products or services, specifically through paid methods. You can market without advertising, but your energy utility shouldn’t advertise without marketing.

As digital engagement technology continues to evolve, it’s important for your energy utility to understand these differences in order to know which strategies are best to reach customers and achieve program goals. Read on to learn about the specific differences between marketing and advertising and how to use both to your energy utility’s advantage.

What is marketing?

Marketing is the practice of expanding your business by identifying how to best align a product or service to your customers’ needs. Effective marketing helps you understand how best to reach a target audience while increasing revenue at the same time.

In business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing, a business is reaching customers directly, such as what your energy utility does to reach your residential or business customers. In business-to-business (B2B) marketing, efforts are directed to reach other businesses. Often, a marketing strategy is broken down into four phases called the four Ps:

Product: A company’s offerings (products or services) that meet customer demands.
Price: A pricing strategy could be built around profit margins, perceived value or opportunity costs.
Place: How and where your products are distributed, such as a physical stores or ecommerce websites.
Promotion: This can include advertising, public relations, content marketing and sales efforts.

Types of marketing

Marketing is not one-size-fits-all. There are several types of marketing available, including:

Content Marketing: A strategic approach based on creating and delivering valuable information, such as blog posts or infographics, to educate your target audience about your business.
Inbound Marketing: A focus on attracting customers to your website. Instead of pushing sales messages on customers who may not be interested, inbound marketing offers solutions that customers are looking for — inspiring them to seek out your business. Tactics often include a combination of content marketing, social media marketing and search engine optimization.
Social Media Marketing: The use of social media channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to maintain a conversation with your audience.
Digital Marketing: A “catch-all” for online marketing, leveraging search engines, emails, websites or blogs on both desktop and mobile devices. Digital marketing includes digital advertising as well, such as search engine marketing or paid social promotions.
Traditional Marketing: The opposite of digital marketing, using offline sources, such as print, radio, mail or billboards.
Relationship Marketing: A strategy that relies on both traditional and digital tactics. This strategy focuses on customer retention and satisfaction instead of new sales.
Brand Management: Uses techniques to increase the perceived value of a brand over time. This is achieved through initiatives that manage brand equity, consistent brand messaging and new product pushes that effectively showcases the brand and increases customer loyalty.
Product Development: Filling a gap in the business for a product or service to meet customer needs.

What is advertising?

Advertising is the process of making products or services known to customers, mostly through paid channels. An advertising campaign must be creative, timely and strategic. When executed well, advertising can educate customers, convince them a product or service is superior, improve brand perception, publicize new products, attract new customers and upsell existing customers.

A successful advertising campaign can use a mixture of traditional and digital media to deliver its message and align with the wants or needs of the customer. Advertising is just one component of a marketing strategy; while marketing helps you develop and position products based on customer needs, advertising communicates those products’ existence and influences customers to make a purchase.

Types of advertising

As with marketing, there are numerous types of advertising available. The most successful advertising campaigns uses a mix of these methods:

Digital Advertising: This includes ads paid for on social media, online publications, apps, sponsored content, search engine marketing and programmatic display ads.
Traditional Advertising: This includes advertisements in traditional media, such as newspapers or magazines, billboards or bus stops, direct mail, TV commercials or radio spots.
Retail Advertising: Featured point-of-purchase advertising within stores, such as product placement on displays or carts.
Product Placement: Paid advertisement to have a product emphasized in a TV show or movie.

Marketing or advertising: What should your energy utility focus on?

The short answer to this question is both. You need marketing and advertising efforts aligned to create a well-rounded strategy and connect with your energy utility’s customers. Marketing needs to be the core of what you do — researching customers, understanding their needs, segmenting target audiences to address those needs — but advertising needs to be an aspect of your marketing strategy to fully promote your programs and solutions.

Begin by creating a marketing plan that encompasses your energy utility’s goals. This should be an overarching strategic plan detailing which products, programs or services you want to focus on. In this marketing plan, think about plans for market research, public relations, product development, segmentation, customer support and pricing. Once these items are figured out, add advertising to the mix. While this is often a large part of a budget, it’s necessary to extend your brand’s reach.

Through thoughtful research and implementation, your energy utility’s combined marketing and advertising strategies will help your energy utility achieve its program goals and conversions.

Let Questline Digital’s experts help you craft a marketing and advertising strategy to connect with energy utility customers.

Learn More

Best Practices: A/B Testing for Energy Utilities

Performance metrics are the secret sauce of digital marketing, allowing marketers to directly measure the results of their campaigns. But why settle for evaluating performance metrics after a marketing campaign has run? Why not use those metrics to your advantage — to evaluate, adjust and improve performance during a campaign?

That’s the promise of A/B testing: Sending two variants of an email to a portion of your list to determine which performs better. By following these best practices, you can use A/B testing to drive email opens and clicks and improve the results of your energy utility’s marketing campaigns.

What is an A/B test?

An A/B test, also known as a split test, is a digital marketing tactic that involves testing two versions of a campaign asset to determine which performs better. In some cases, the “winning” asset may be immediately deployed; in other cases, the asset may be further tested against another variation in an iterative process to optimize several different campaign elements.

A/B testing can be used to evaluate any type of digital marketing asset, but it is commonly associated with automated email marketing. In an email campaign, the test is sent to a small percentage of the list — say, 10% of the list receives version A and 10% receives version B. After a period of time, the better-performing version is determined and the email platform automatically deploys the “winner” to the remaining 80% of the list.

What elements of an email campaign can be tested?

Nearly any aspect of an email can be tested — but it is critical to test only one element at a time. If there is more than one difference between version A and version B it will be impossible to determine why one performs better than the other.

Email campaigns commonly A/B test one of these elements:

Subject line: What message prompts the higher open rate?
Sender: Should the email come from a company, person or other brand name?
Call-to-action: Which color, button or active verb drives more clicks?
Headline: Which title pulls recipients into the message and results in conversions?
Imagery: Do recipients respond to a photo, illustration or particular design treatment?

What are the benefits of testing a subject line?

The subject line is the most common element tested in an email campaign. It is the single-biggest driver of email opens — and if recipients don’t open your emails, your campaign has no chance of success.

A subject line test allows you to see what message better resonates with your audience so you can optimize results. Questline Digital’s performance metrics show that emails with A/B-tested subject lines achieve 7% higher open rates.

What are the benefits of testing a call-to-action?

While email opens are obviously a critical first step, your campaign’s call-to-action is what drives results. Without clicks on a CTA button or link, your email won’t achieve its conversion goals. A/B testing can optimize those clicks.

Emails with A/B-tested call-to-action placements improved click-through rates by 16%, according to Questline Digital performance metrics. Depending on your message’s design, we recommend testing the size, color or placement of a CTA button and the text used in the call-to-action.

What A/B test sample size works best?

There isn’t a hard-and-fast rule to determine how big your A/B test sample audience should be. The variables to consider include the total size of your list and the expected response rate. Basically, you want to send to enough recipients so the test results are statistically valid and achieved in a timely fashion. Accounting for these factors, sending a test to between 10% and 20% of your list is usually sufficient.

How long should you run an A/B test?

As with list size, there isn’t an easy answer to how long a test should run. For a large list, 24 hours is usually sufficient. If you have a small list (and time to wait), running an A/B test for a full week has the advantage of eliminating fluctuations caused by the time or day you send.

How do you determine the winner of an A/B test?

The variable that a test measures is determined by the element you are testing and your campaign goals — typically open rate, click-through rate or conversion rate. These parameters are defined when setting up an automated A/B test; for example, the “winner” is the subject line with the higher open rate.

When testing the following elements of an email campaign, these are the metrics typically evaluated to determine a winner:

Subject line: Open rate or click-to-open rate
Sender: Open rate or click-to-open rate
Call-to-action: Click-through rate or conversion rate
Headline: Click-through rate or conversion rate
Imagery: Click-through rate or conversion rate

In order to eliminate random chance or errors from results, it’s important to measure the statistical significance of the test. A good rule of thumb is to look for 95% confidence between the variants; depending on the sample size, this translates to a 25% to 35% difference in performance metrics.

For example, if subject line A earns a 20% open rate and subject line B has a 22% open rate, you may not be able to determine with statistical significance that the subject line is the cause of version B’s performance. But if subject line A has an open rate of 20% and subject line B drives an open rate of 26% — an increase of 30% — you can say with statistical significance that subject line B is the winner of your A/B test.

Reach your marketing goals with A/B testing

Don’t just rely on digital performance metrics to analyze marketing campaigns after the fact. Use performance metrics to your advantage to optimize results during a campaign. With A/B testing, your email campaigns will deploy higher-performing subject lines, CTAs, messaging and content, boosting results and helping your energy utility reach its marketing goals.

Learn how to build stronger customer relationships with a digital engagement strategy from Questline Digital.

Learn More

Content Performance Metrics: How to Measure Success

A successful content marketing strategy usually hinges on two factors: understanding your customers, and producing relevant content to connect with them. The secret is to make sure that both sides of this equation are in balance. Once your content is aligned with your audience’s needs and interests, the results will show.

But how do you actually measure the results of your content strategy? The reality is that while successful content marketing will increase customer engagement and lead to measurable outcomes such as program signups, the key performance indicators go way beyond simple conversion rates.

Is your content strategy working?

Content marketing is a long-term approach to customer engagement that positions your energy utility as a helpful resource in customers’ lives. When your content answers their questions and offers useful advice, customers will not only be more satisfied with their energy provider, they will be more likely to participate in your programs.

Engagement metrics will help you understand how this content is performing. For example, the number pageviews indicate how popular a piece of content is. If a page hosting your utility’s most recent energy efficiency infographic is racking up a lot of pageviews, it means your customers find it helpful or interesting.

If a piece of content is lacking in pageviews, however, it could mean that it isn’t providing value to customers. The popularity of your content (measured in pageviews) will help you understand topics and formats resonate with your customers.

Average time on page is also important for understanding the value of your energy utility’s content. When combined with pageviews, the results show just how engaging a piece of content is — that is, the content isn’t just popular, customers are spending time with it.

For example, what happens if your energy efficiency infographic is receiving a lot of pageviews but customers are only spending a few second with it? This could mean that your headline or link is piquing customer interest — they click to the page — but when they get there they find the infographic is not valuable or interesting so they quickly leave. So, the infographic appears to be popular but it’s not effective. That’s why it’s important to review all performance metrics in context when evaluating your content strategy.

If your content includes a CTA linking to a program page or other promotion, it’s also valuable to review the number of clicks it receives. Try testing different CTA options, such as “Learn More,” “Sign Up” or “Get Started” to see what connects with your customers and improves the click-through rate. These metrics indicate if customers find the content relevant and valuable enough to click through to the program or other information.

Drive results with content performance metrics

When it comes to content strategy success, the performance metrics are just as important as the quality of the content itself. This insight will show your energy utility what content is working and what isn’t, so that can optimize engagement and drive program results. Remember to review metrics in content, rather than separately, to get the complete picture of how customers interact with your content. As you develop your content marketing strategy, understanding your data will help set up your energy utility for success.

Boost customer engagement and drive program results with a Content Marketing solution from Questline Digital.

Learn More

How to Put a Friendly Face on Your Energy Utility Brand

When customers think of energy utilities, their first thoughts aren’t always the friendliest. They might be mad about a late payment fee or frustrated that their power isn’t restored yet. Often, they forget that there are real people behind the energy utility. As marketers, it’s important to remind customers that their utility is part of the community, and its employees are their friends and neighbors.

That’s why humanizing your energy utility’s brand is so important. The more you share the personal side of what matters to your energy utility, the more people see that it isn’t just a corporation. It’s made up of living, breathing people working toward helping others.

Connect with community programs

Many energy utilities have a special mission to give back to their communities. For example, AEP Ohio supported a “Math Camp-In” to help students learn and understand math in an entertaining way. This program quickly had to adapt to virtual learning due to the coronavirus pandemic, and AEP Ohio was there to ensure students could access the Math Camp-In virtually with no hassles.

AEP Ohio also helps customers facing financial hardship with the Neighbor to Neighbor assistance program, which is especially needed during these troubling times. The program helps customers maintain or restore their energy service by allowing other customers to donate through their AEP Ohio bill. AEP Ohio then matches every donation and 100% of the proceeds helps a family in need.

Eversource Energy has a similar program called the Neighbor Helping Neighbor Fund. In partnership with six community action agencies, the program helps customers who are not able to pay their utility bill due to a crisis, such as the pandemic. Eversource helps customers make a one-time or continuous donation contribution through their monthly bill.

Mississippi Power’s Project SHARE is a way for customers to help elderly or medically disabled customers. For as little as a dollar a month, customers can add a donation to their utility bill payment. Since its creation, Project SHARE has received more than $900,000 in donations from both customers and employees of Mississippi Power.

Each of these examples focuses on helping customers in financial need, but it also shows a connection to the community. Your energy utility is not just an electric service for customers; it’s also a part of the community. Programs like this show that your energy utility cares about customers in difficult times with tangible programs and services.

If your energy utility does not currently have a program like any above, strongly consider implementing one to make a difference in your community and customers’ lives.

Sustainability matters to your customers

Your customers’ concerns go beyond finances. For example, many customers are looking toward a greener future — more renewable energy and less carbon emissions. What is your energy utility doing to work toward this goal?

Dominion Energy has a plan in place to cut net carbon and methane emissions to zero by 2050 and it’s currently building the largest offshore wind farm in the United States. The energy utility is also committed to creating as little waste as possible and recycled 46 tons of equipment in 2019 alone. Additionally, Dominion Energy is focused on implementing building and program designs that avoid impact to wildlife and habitats around their facilities.

Avista is also committed to addressing the issues of climate change and transitioning to a lower carbon future with plans to integrate renewable energy, influence climate policies and lead with energy efficiency and conservation.

It’s no longer enough to talk about working toward a better future. Your energy utility needs to take action. And it’s important to share these plans with your customers. This is especially important as the Millennial and Gen Z generations become more influential.

“Long gone are the days when big brands could hide behind clever marketing campaigns that made it seem like they stood for something important,” according to a Forbes. “Today’s younger generations are smarter than that and take pride in knowing which brands aren’t just talking the talk but are walking the walk. Companies are being forced to change their approach when it comes to marketing to Millennials and Generation Z consumers.”

Show your utility’s personal side

If we didn’t have people working for energy utilities, the world would be a dark place (pun intended). Your employees are a vital part of the community — consider showcasing their work to your customers. Customers often forget the people behind the screen answering their questions or the lineworkers restoring their power during a storm. Fortunately, there are many ways to share the great work your employees are doing.

On National Lineman Appreciation Day, Hawaiian Electric took to social media to share a video to recognize their lineworkers. Many other energy utilities followed suit, but you don’t have to wait for one day a year to share your appreciation. Profile your lineworkers in a blog post on your website or in a video in your newsletter.

For Employee Appreciation Day, National Grid created a video to “recognize and highlight the hardworking men and women” that make up the energy utility. The video was filmed across three different states. Customers want to learn more about the people that help them every step of the way, from starting their service to keeping it on.

A human brand for human customers

Customers want to get to know your energy utility past the bills and power outages. So, let them. There are moments when you need to show your corporate side, but there are also many times to show your human side. For example, empathy in times of crisis goes a long way and being active in your community is essential to building customer relationships. Know when to humanize your energy utility, and you’ll be able to better understand your customers as well.

Learn how a custom digital marketing campaign from Questline Digital can help your energy utility connect with customers.

Learn More

Digital Marketing Performance Metrics: What You Need to Know

Digital marketing performance metrics are vital to understanding the success of any email or social media campaign, especially for energy utilities. Metrics like click-through rate, reach and time on page can help energy utility marketers understand what content is resonating with customers and what actions customers take as a result.

In order to analyze the data, however, you first must understand the terminology. With a variety of metrics across different digital channels, there’s a lot to keep track of. That’s why it’s important to start at the beginning.

Email campaign performance metrics

When it comes to analyzing the performance of email campaigns, understanding the basic terms will set you up for success. Here are the most common performance metrics used in email marketing:

Delivered emails are all sent emails minus any emails that bounce. A delivered email is one that has been successfully handed off to the recipient’s mail server.
Delivery rate is the number of delivered messages divided by the number of sends.
An open occurs when all the images are downloaded in an HTML email.
Open rate is the ratio of unique opens out of the total delivered.
Unique Opens refers to distinct subscribers who open an email.
Unique Clicks refers to distinct subscribers who click an email.
A click happens when an email recipient clicks on any link in an email.
The click-through rate (CTR) measures unique clicks on any link in an email.
Click-to-open rate (CTOR) differs from CTR by comparing the number of unique clicks to unique opens.

Email list performance metrics

Digging deeper into understanding the performance of emails, these metrics help marketers measure the growth and health of their email subscriber lists over time:

Open reach is the percentage of subscribers that have opened at least one message sent in the past year. It shows how much of your list is engaging with emails over time.
Click-to-open reach (CTO reach) is the percentage of subscribers clicked on any link after opening a message in the past year.
Opt-out rate measures individuals who opt-out by using an unsubscribe link in an email.
A complaint occurs when a recipient classifies the email message as unwanted. This is more commonly known as marking the email as “spam.”
Complaint rate calculates the total number of complaints in relation to messages delivered.
List growth is the rate the subscriber list grew in the past year. It’s calculated by taking all subscribers in the list over the course of a year and dividing it by the total size of the previous year’s list.

Content performance metrics

Apart from the email clicks and opens that drive customers to your energy utility content, these metrics will help you evaluate the performance of that content:

Pageviews are the total number of times a website page was viewed. This metric is a great way to gauge which piece of content is most popular with customers.
Unique pageviews combine the number of pageviews generated by the same user during the same session. This metric allows you to estimate the overall percent of your audience that is interested in the content, and how many of them are repeat visitors.
Average time on page is the amount of time users spend on a single content page. If your average time per page is relatively high, then you’re doing well, particularly if the pageviews are also relatively high. However, if the average time per page is low, it means your visitors are simply skimming the content, probably because it is not very engaging.

Social media performance metrics

On social media, performance metrics go beyond clicks and views to measure engagement activity such as shares and comments:

Engagement rates track how involved consumers are with your content based on likes, shares and comments.
Impressions are how many times a post shows in someone’s timeline.
Followers are the number of people who follow your particular social media page.
Likes are the number of times someone likes either a post or your page in general.
Shares and retweets measure how many times your post has been recommended to others from someone’s personal page.
Reach is the potential number of unique viewers were exposed to a post.
Response rate and time measures how quickly and when someone responds to a direct message or comment on your social media page.
Web traffic is the amount of users who visited your website from your social media pages.
Share of voice is how users are talking about your business compared to others.
Sentiment connects to share of voice by taking what customers are saying about your brand and putting them into negative or positive context.

Put digital marketing performance metrics to work for you

Understanding performance metrics — for email campaigns, content and social media — is critical for your energy utility to measure the success of marketing campaigns and improve future efforts. Devote time to these metrics and you will see customer engagement and satisfaction increase as your marketing becomes more effective.

Creating a campaign is only one step on the way to success — analyzing its success is the next big step.

See how your digital marketing performance metrics compare to the rest of the industry with Questline Digital’s Energy Utility Benchmarks report.

Download Now