Get More Customers For You Solar Installation Business With These Marketing Tips

Solar energy is increasing in popularity as an eco-friendly sustainable power source that offers lower energy costs and even energy independence. With more and more solar installation companies emerging every year, it’s essential that you do everything you can to make sure your company gets noticed by the right people.

Why You Need Solar Installation Marketing

Marketing for solar installers is vitally important because it helps you to attract and keep customers in an extremely competitive industry. More than 1.3 million homes in the UK already have solar powered energy and the trend is growing. 

However, there are also more than 4,000 solar installers listed in the UK which means the industry is becoming very competitive. As more homeowners and businesses start to consider solar energy, having effective marketing will help your business stand out from the crowd.

Because solar energy is a fairly new source of power, marketing also helps to educate your target audience. Most people have questions and some misconceptions about solar energy including; the cost, the benefits and the installation process.

By utilising social media, content like videos and blog posts as well as targeted campaigns you can answer these questions and show the long term savings that can be made by installing solar energy. As well as show how sustainable energy is the only way forward.

Solar Installation Marketing Tips

Now that you can see just how important it is to get your business seen by potential customers, let’s look at the best ways to achieve this. They include;

Create An Eye Catching Website

If you want to generate organic traffic and convert site visitors into customers, you need a website that stops people from scrolling. A good website will make your business appear legitimate, make it easy to find, show your brand identity and generate real leads.

When most people want to find any sort of industry or service nowadays, they typically turn to a search engine like Google or Bing. To make your website stand out from the crowd in search engine results you need to make the site clear and easy to understand.

You also need your site to load fast on all platforms, more and more people use their mobile phones to search for things and if your website doesn’t load fast enough, they’ll click off and go to a competitor’s website that loads quicker.

You also need to use plenty of relevant keywords and make high quality content and keep your site easy to navigate. Your website should also include all of your important information. You should add your business name, contact details, logo, the exact services you offer and the areas your company covers.

Other details you can add to make a visit to your site more enjoyable and engaging for customers include, customer reviews, photos of you and your team and you could also include an online booking system.

Make Social Media Work For Your Solar Energy Business

Whether you love it or hate it, social media is here to stay and it’s more popular than you might realise. Used correctly, solar energy social media can connect you with lots of potential customers for your company.

Most people now spend at least part of their day scrolling through social media sites and apps like Twitter (X), TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube shorts. You should make short videos either showing your work or some interesting facts about alternative energy sources like solar.

You could also highlight the energy and financial savings available to homes that have solar energy installed. Apart from video content, you should create a few short but entertaining blog posts. Blogs should contain more detailed information than videos.

All of the posts you create for social media will help increase customer awareness in your company and help you to build trust. When someone in your area is looking for a solar energy installer, they’ll remember your videos or posts and contact you first.

How To Produce Content For Social Media

When using social media to promote your business remember that people are all different and not everybody likes the same types of media. To reach an even larger percentage of potential customers, you should produce short videos as well as blogs and consider making infographics.

To make short videos fit for sites like TikTok or YouTube shorts, all you need is a smartphone. Be sure to include your contact details and the areas you cover in the description so that potential customers can find you.

When writing blog posts or articles, make the content easy to read. Write using short paragraphs, make use of bullet point lists and be sure to separate content using subheadings and include at least three or four images.

This all helps to keep the reader engaged and entertained. You should also publish content regularly as this gives you an online presence and helps grow trust in your solar energy company.

Another great aspect of social media marketing is that it can be used to target the exact audience you’re aiming for. Make sure you target your preferred audience to maximise your leads.

For every video you create or blog post you produce, you should make a separate landing page to keep the visitor focussed and engaged. They’re much more likely to reach out for advice and services if they don’t have to spend ages searching through your website looking for the right page.

We all know how social media works, we spend more time scrolling than we do reading or watching videos. To stop potential customers from scrolling past your content, make sure it is eye catching. Your posts should not only reflect the nature of your business, they should also stand out from the general run of videos and blogs.

If you’re beginning to think that a solar energy social media campaign would work for you but you don’t know how to go about it, give us a call. Our dedicated team has a proven track record in getting businesses like yours right in front of customers looking for your services.

Solar Energy Installation SEO To Increase Business

You might have a great website containing all of the information needed to inform a potential customer of all of the benefits of using your company. But if they can’t find your website, it’s all for nothing.

SEO or search engine optimisation gets your website noticed and if done correctly, your website will be among the top of the rankings on search sites like Google and Bing. Search engines decide on which websites show up on search engine results pages (SERPs) based on ever changing algorithms.

They use certain formulas to analyse your site including, the name of your business, your domain name and various keywords to see how closely they match the terms being searched for when people search for a solar energy installer.

Most people only look at the first page of a search result so unless your website is ranked on that first page, they won’t find you. To ensure that you appear high up in the SERP you need to do keyword research to find out what customers are looking for and the wording they use when they search.

Once you have all of that information, you can use it to create blogs and posts that discuss those topics. This has two main benefits, it improves your rankings in the SERP and gets more people following and engaging with you.

How To Optimise For SEO

Although you might not think it’s relevant, improving the load time of your website is crucial to improving your SERP.  You can use Google Page Speed Insights to see how fast (or slow) your site loads and find ways to improve on the speed.

You also need to optimise for the relevant keywords as well as optimising your tags and URLs.

SEO can be quite a complicated and intricate process which although you can do it yourself, here at Footsteps we have been successfully getting websites ranked highly on the SERPs using our tried and tested techniques. Give us a call today and let us lift your solar energy business to the next level.

Make PPC Marketing Ads Work For Your Solar Energy Installation Business

EVen if you’ve got a great eye catching website and you’ve optimised for SEO, it will take time to rise up the ranks of the SERP. That could mean you and your team are idly waiting for jobs that don’t seem to arrive.

While you’re waiting for the search engine bots to crawl through your website you need a fast way to generate new leads. The best way to do this is to initiate a pay per click (PPC) ad campaign.

When you do a search on a site like Google, you know the first ads you see that say “sponsored”, they’re PPC ads. As we just said, they’re the first listings you see for a particular search term. This could give you many more leads which could convert to lots of solar energy installation customers.

You need to use images, videos or text or a mix of all three to target your local area. You will need to set a budget, but you only get charged if someone actually clicks on your ad.

This means it’s vitally important that you include the specific services you offer as well as the exact areas that you cover. You should target long tailed keywords of three or more words because these are more specific and will have less competition.

Be sure to list all of the services you provide and the area you cover to prevent time wasters and paying for clicks that can’t go anywhere. Each PPC ad should have a custom landing page to keep visitors engaged and focussed.

If you get any reviews be sure to engage with the author, even bad reviews can be turned to your advantage if they’re answered politely and calmly. Just like your website, to get the best chance of attracting new customers, you need your ad to be eye catching.

Don’t forget to keep an eye on your ad budget. To make the most of your ad budget, adjust your bid amount. Take notice of how your ads are performing and alter the bids wherever necessary to get the most from your PPC ad campaign.

Claim & Optimise Your Google Business Profile

If you want to connect with local customers and increase your share in the solar energy market in your area, you need to optimise your Google Business Profile. It’s free, easy to use and can be customised with your business hours, photos of you and your team and your contact information.

Once set up correctly, your Google Business Profile makes it easier for local potential customers to find your company. Plus, it boosts your presence in local search results as well.

You need to make sure that all of your business information is correct and up to date. Include all of your contact information, your business address, the hours you work and the areas that you cover.

You should also include photos of you and your team as well as photos of the solar systems you install. This adds a more professional edge to your profile and encourages confidence in your ability to do the job properly.

Get satisfied customers to leave positive reviews to boost trust and credibility and always respond to any reviews left, even bad ones.

Publish Reviews Online

Once you’ve successfully installed a solar energy system, ask the customer to give you an online review. Always take the time to answer any reviews and start by thanking them for their review. If you get a negative review, be calm and polite and try to resolve whatever problem they’ve identified.

This shows that you listen to your customers and are able to resolve any issues. 

Initiate A Referral Program

You can generate new solar energy installation leads without the hard sell if you get existing customers to refer you to their friends and families. These people have probably seen your system working in the home of their friend or family member and have been impressed by it.

The homeowner has probably already sung your praises and this means the referee is ready to commit. To get a referral program started, offer existing customers a slight discount if they refer someone and offer the referee a slight discount as well.

Make it clear that the discount will only be applied after any new work has been carried out. You can set up an email sequence that helps to push the referral program forward.

We can assist and advise you on how to set up referral emails and we can design and build the emails for you designed specifically for your solar energy installation business.

Consider A Leaflet Drop To Promote Your Solar Energy Installation Business

Not everyone has access to online services and a good old fashioned leaflet campaign can get your company in front of more local people. Your leaflet should follow your brand and colours and include images of your work.

You should also include all of the relevant contact details and other information including opening hours, the areas covered and the services you provide. Distributing the leaflets can be undertaken by the Royal Mail or you might be able to do a deal with a local newspaper or magazine.

Link With Other Local Businesses

To increase your reputation and boost your workload you should link with other construction based businesses in your area. For instance, you might need to fix a roof before solar panels can be installed or you might need an electrician to make a circuit safe before connection.

By linking with other construction based companies and working with them, you will often get referrals when their customers express an interest in solar energy.

Utilise Chatbots For Customer Service For Your Solar Energy Installation Website

People don’t have the time or patience to wait for anything nowadays. If you get an inquiry outside of business hours you need to do your best to answer as soon as possible. Automated conversation systems or chatbots are designed to give customer support 24/7.

They can offer help and assistance in real time as well as answer many common questions. Chatbots improve customer satisfaction and free up your time to get on with solar energy installations.

Offer Free Estimates & Consultations

You’re more likely to get someone to commit to a meeting if you offer free consultations and estimates. You can promote your free consultation service on your website, social media channels and in your leaflets.

Use an online booking service so customers can select a time that suits them. All you need to do then is listen to what the customer is looking for, offer a professional service and explain exactly how your company can facilitate their requirements.

Show the examples of similar work you have satisfactorily completed to help gain their trust and show your company’s capabilities.

Offer Virtual Consultations

One of the best ways to get ahead of your competitors is to offer virtual consultations. If you spend all day travelling to different locations to consult on prospective new work, you don’t have time to do any work.

Plus you can increase the number of consultations you provide by a factor of two or three by doing it online. 

Utilise Local Media To Promote Your Solar Energy Installation Business

Getting your company featured on local media is a great way to increase your visibility and credibility. This can be through radio interviews, newspaper articles, local TV segments or podcasts.

These features help your company to get seen by a larger amount of people than just an online presence. Start by checking out the type of things that local media sites publish and make your own press releases that will attract the press.

You could publicise your eco-friendly green credentials, highlight innovative projects you have recently undertaken, local sponsorships your company is involved in or other community projects.

By attending local business events that the press will be covering you can create real interest in your solar energy installation business. It also gives you the opportunity to promote your company’s USP (unique selling point).

Sponsor A Local Event Or Team

If you want to get your business noticed and increase your reputation in your local area it’s a good idea to become a sponsor. Whether it’s the village fete, a local youth team or a sporting event, sponsoring can get people to really start to recognise your company as part of the community.

When anyone in the local area is considering installing a solar energy system they’re automatically going to think of that company that sponsored the town show.

Offer Seasonal Promotions

Most people start to think about solar energy installation during the warmer months when the sun is shining (hopefully). Which can often mean you’re sitting idle during the colder darker winter months.

You could offer discounts during these quieter periods to keep your team busy. Even if all you’re doing is assessing sites for future work, it’s a great way to connect with potential customers.

You could offer a full study of their property to establish its suitability for solar panel installation and educate them on the benefits of solar energy from saving the environment to saving money.

Let Us Get Your Business Noticed In All The Right Places

You already have a successful solar energy installation business, but with a stronger online presence and a digital marketing campaign, you could become busier than you ever have before.

At Footsteps we have many years of experience working with solar energy companies and can offer you a full range of digital marketing techniques. From website design, SEO, PPC, leaflet design, content marketing and social media management, we can do it all for you.

If you want to grow your business to its full potential and increase your market share, contact Footsteps design or call 01206 864441. We’ll concentrate on all things web related while you concentrate on providing the best solar energy installation in your area.

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