7 Ways to Begin Solar Marketing to Generate Leads

Solar energy is gaining momentum as people worldwide become more conscious of how energy use affects the environment. As a solar business, now is your time to shine as you create opportunities to use a powerful renewable energy resource.

Reaching your audience and generating leads is how you can attract and access potentially high-paying customers who will help you gain your foothold in this industry.

But how can you get started with solar marketing? Keep reading to learn about 7 ways to start generating leads for your solar company:

1. Define your target audience
2. Implement content marketing
3. Harness organic social media
4. Invest in search engine ads (i.e. Google ads)
5. Keep your GMB profile and local listings up to date
6. Grow your Google reviews
7. Consider an online solar calculator

Getting leads for your solar business isn't always simple, but when you work with our team at Rocket Media, you're a step ahead of the competition. With over 20 years of experience and a full team dedicated to developing lead generation strategies for solar businesses, we're the right choice to help power your marketing plans. Click to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation below!

Make sure to check out our case study: How a solar calculator helped generate significant lead volume and $4.75 million in sales within 6 months.

To get started with content marketing, you need to define your target audience. Whether you're a solar installer marketing to a local audience or a national solar panel distributor hoping to generate more B2B sales, you must define the audience you want to reach.

Ask yourself questions such as:

• What is the age group of the audience I want to reach?
• Who is my target demographic?
• Where do my ideal customers live and work?

Simple questions like these can help you determine who you should market to for the best leads.

Now that you have your target audience in mind, it's time to implement effective content marketing strategies. Content marketing often focuses on search engine optimization (SEO), but you will also need to use solar advertising ideas as part of your overall marketing strategy.

Let’s take a look at some of the most effective content marketing strategies.

Blogs and help guides are the perfect way to reach your audience.

If you're a business trying to sell to consumers, you can put together how-to guides on how to buy and save money with solar products. If you're selling to other companies, you can create B2B pamphlets with statistics to encourage business owners to buy your products or use your services.

Blogs are a great way to reach your audience members and educate them on what you offer. You can include step-by-step instructions on calculating the cost savings of turning to solar power, for example, or explain exactly how your products differ from others.

Nothing says, "This product/service rocks!" like a great customer testimonial. To get testimonials, ask former customers what they think about your products.

Don't assume all your testimonials have to be 5-star recommendations. In fact, having too many positive reviews can be a big red flag for consumers and make them wonder if you're being honest. Just be sure to have more positive reviews than negative ones.

Have you had solar business opportunities that allowed you to collect data? Did you conduct a survey of your clients to find out more details about what they want? This gives you the perfect foundation for a case study explaining how a customer used your product or service to achieve a desired result. For example, if a consumer reduced their utility bills by 65% after installing your solar panels, that's an outcome you should advertise.

Email marketing helps you get leads in several ways. It targets customers based on their stage in your sales funnel, keeps your company at the top of customers' minds and can help you build relationships with new customers. Simple drip campaigns can be surprisingly effective when building new relationships, as well as nurturing ongoing ones.

Many businesses don't realize how important social media is today. It's estimated that 4.9 billion people use social media all around the world — you only need a small segment of that population to support your business for it to thrive.

Organic social media is free, but what should you post?

Any blogs, case studies and testimonials you have on your website should also be shared on your social media pages. Share links, create new video content and see your follower count rise.

You can also use organic social media to help promote your business's estimating service. One great way to bring in leads through social media is by providing a link to free solar estimates. Since there's no cost to provide this service, offering free estimates is a simple (and potentially high-converting) option to gather contact information from potential customers.

While organic social media is certainly the cheapest way to market, you'll probably need to market with paid search engine ads. Google Ads is a great resource for this type of advertising. With these ads, you normally pay per click (PPC) to get your solar company's name out to the masses.

Not sure how to use your ad spend effectively? Give Rocket Media a call at (800) 339-7305 and let us share how our PPC pros can help you!

Don't forget the importance of keeping your GMB profile and local lists up to date.

Google My Business helps people find important information about your business, such as when it's open, where it's located, and more. To get started, you should set up your Google Business Profile and local listings management. Then, fill out every section of the profile. Be meticulous, and ensure your contact information is 100% accurate.

Using your GMB profile, you could see anywhere from 40 to 70% of the organic traffic searching for your services reach out to you directly. You want to take advantage of that as you grow your business.

Remember that Google is usually the first place people look when researching a business and looking for information about its offer. If you don't have Google reviews now, there are a few things you can do to improve the likelihood that you'll get some.

To get started, focus on improving your customer service and delivering an amazing experience every time. That way, your customers will be more likely to leave reviews for your company. Many of those reviews will likely be positive, influencing others to buy from you.

The next thing you can do is start talking to your customers about the importance of receiving feedback. At the end of recorded calls, ask for online reviews or tell customers you'd appreciate it if they completed a survey about your business.

At opportune moments, such as right after a caller explains how much they love your service or when your technicians get done working with someone on-site, ask for a review on Google. Customers are more likely to leave you a positive review when they are happy.

Another good time to ask for reviews is after you solve a problem. The customer might not have been happy with a service or product, but they will be happy that you positively resolved the problem for them.

When it comes to a solar installation, we’ll bet the #1 thing you get asked about is, “how much does it cost?” To save time and generate high quality leads, consider adding an online solar calculator to your website. Customers can quickly enter in their information (location, home size, power needs, budget, etc.) and then get a ballpark estimate. All without picking up the phone or sending an email.

You’d be amazed at how effective this method is. In fact, we’ve written a case study on how we helped a solar company generate significant lead volume and $4.75 million in sales within 6 months of using their new online calculator.

If you want to add a solar calculator to your website, contact Rocket Media today: (800) 339-7305.

We know it can be tough to make your solar business stand out. The good news is that Rocket Media has over 20 years of experience doing just that! We offer free consultations, no contracts, month-to-month agreements, and all the help you'll ever need with your solar marketing strategies. Contact us today to power up your marketing campaigns and convert leads into sales.