Looking for different ways to generate maximum leads for your solar company? You have found the right post. We have rounded up the top 8 practices to generate leads for green energy companies that will help you multiply your conversion rate and acquire new customers in no time, and that’s for sure.
Let’s dive in!
Demand for green energy is ascending which is why the solar industry is booming and projected to grow 40% by 2027. Many new entrepreneurs have joined the race to pull maximum revenue from this industry, making the solar market fiercely competitive each day.
To survive in this relentlessly competitive industry and earn your well-deserved share of this highly profitable solar market, you need to learn the best practices to generate maximum leads for your company.
So, without any further ado, let’s get acquainted with the finest techniques and practices to generate new leads and boost your conversion rate.
Let’s get rolling!
Countless people are interested in green energy as many benefits tag along with a renewable switch. From saving on utility bills to minimum carbon footprint, thousands of homeowners are adopting renewable energy and are eager to install different types of solar panels on their rooftops.
However, finding and converting them into customers is a highly challenging task. But!
To make this job easier for you, we have broken down top practices that will help you generate maximum results from your marketing efforts.
Here are some of the best practices to generate leads for green energy companies and earn more sales.
1. Solar Company Directories
The primary step that your target audience takes in a solar buying process is ‘research’. They look for ‘best solar companies near me’ or residential solar companies near me’ on different search engines. Here, you would want your customers to discover your website whenever they put such queries on the internet. Right?
However, it is very tough to get that visibility on the top search results. Here, most search engines, including Google, favor sites with good footfall along with relevant content like the company directories. To earn this favor for your solar business, you need to ensure that you provide what your customers are looking for.
To get listed in the top directories like SEIA (Solar Energy Industry Association) and NABCEP (North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners) that help homeowners find certified solar installers, you need to include positive reviews, communication details, company address, etc. properly on your website.
2. Indulge in Homeowner Communities
Another effective method to generate quality solar leads is indulging in homeowner communities and local associations. To make it resultful, you are required to identify local homeowner communities in your area and contact its management. You can simply research on the internet or even drive around your area to jot down the names of the associations near you.
Many communities, especially large ones include the names of board members and their staff on their site. They also include business directory information and potential opportunities for sponsorships. You can reach out to them and get listed on these community newsletters and websites and sponsor events including yard sales. Such events allow you to set up an information table that helps interested households to directly approach you.
Small associations and household communities mostly don’t have a website but are actively participating in Facebook groups. Such groups can give you a lot of information about people who are interested in going solar. If you are unable to join such groups, you can always contact the management to get actively involved. This greatly helps in generating solar panel leads.
3. Start a Facebook Social Group for Interested Prospects
In addition to the previous point, the key goal of starting a social group on Facebook is to get involved with as many homeowners as possible. You can directly connect with residents who are interested in going green. Connecting with interested prospects and offering them your expertise free of cost helps you build a good relationship. Once they build trust in your brand, they choose you whenever they decide to go solar.
With over 2.5 billion active users, Facebook is one of the great platforms to reach a massive number of people at once. There would be countless people who like the idea of going green and might have little interest in going solar. You just need to spark this interest into an ultimate purchase. And starting a Facebook group has a lot of potential in reaching this goal.
However, here are a few things that you need to consider whenever you start a social group on Facebook.
- Don’t only focus on selling. There is a long road to generating leads through this strategy. To gain more followers on your Facebook social group and make it successful, make sure you post relevant and helpful content, answer queries, and provide solutions.
- Keep your Facebook business page up-to-date as many people will visit it to find out more about your solar panels and installation process.
- Include a link to your solar business site along with a professional logo, so people can be easily navigated.
- Give social proof by posting testimonials and reviews periodically from your satisfied clients to gain trust.
4. Utilize SMS Marketing
Also known as text marketing, SMS marketing is considered one of the most impactful solar lead generator tools. 98% of text messages are opened and read by people which is comparatively higher than the email open rate i.e. 20%.
To leverage SMS marketing to the fullest, you need to create a database of contact numbers of prospects. Once you do it, you can send targeted messages to the contact number to promote your solar business brand. Your text should not only promote your solar panels but also offer saving options on the same.
For instance, Send Solar to 5555 and save thousands on your solar installation, or Grab 50% off on residential solar systems this December. Make sure you give the option to opt-out as well.
The next step from here will be the follow-up. The prime objective of a follow-up is to shift the conversation from text messages to voice calls. You can send a message like:
‘Thanks for glancing out Solar XYZ offers. To find out more, just let us know the right time to give you a call’
Regards
Richard, Solar XYZ.
If you don’t get the expected response don’t worry. Your prospects might be looking at other options right now or not ready to connect in a call. In such cases, you can do a follow-up once a month with new saving options to grab their interest.
5. Referrals Are Powerful
Referrals are one of the most powerful lead generation techniques for green energy companies. 83% of buyers consider referrals the most trustworthy as that particular person has already tried and tested your brand. These are pre-qualified leads who are interested in doing business with you. Using your existing customer base to generate new leads is considered among the most influential tactics for residential solar leads.
You know that solar panel installation is expensive. Therefore, before putting a big chunk of money into this heavy project, homeowners are going to research every bit of your brand before partnering with you. If your former clients share good words about your company, you will quickly gain your prospective customers’ trust and convert them into your paying clients with ease.
To drive more positive reviews, you need to make it a win-win deal. Try incentivizing your former clients to refer your solar company to their friends and family. Offer them discounts or cash rewards on each referral. The more you offer rewards to your existing customers, the more they will send prospects your way.
6. Build a Robust Instagram Presence
Instagram is another popular social media platform where you can attract the best solar leads for sales. Many residential solar companies utilize Instagram to generate solar leads and have experienced tremendous positive results.
Posting relevant content religiously will improve your visibility among interested homeowners. Be consistent with posts and plan them before time. This will help you stick to a defined schedule.
To earn quality solar leads, your post should include:
- Photos and videos of solar installation in progress.
- Pictures from company events.
- Testimonials, reviews, and photos from your former clientele.
- Quotes, memes, and graphics on green energy and its benefits.
- Before and after pictures of project completion.
- Video stills of particular projects.
Next comes the right usage of #hashtags. People use hashtags to find influencers, businesses, marketers, etc. This element does the free promotion of your post on Instagram. Many Instagrammers follow ‘#’ as a page as well. You can use 30 hashtags every month on your post, so pick them smartly.
Avoid choosing overly competitive hashtags because your page will get lost in the massive crowd. For instance, #solar is utilized by over 4 million posts on Instagram, so it will be a great deal to stand out in this mass. So, do your research wisely, and search # on your page to get the idea.
7. Run Targeted Ads
People who are ready to buy solar leads are highly qualified leads. Such types of solar leads have already passed the stage of research and are ready to invest in solar installation. However, finding such people is a big challenge altogether.
To identify and generate solar leads, you can run targeted Google Ads in front of those people who are actively looking for solar options. Through targeted Google Ads, you can reach qualified solar leads who are interested in immediate residential solar panel installations. These targeted ads help your business site gain visibility in Google search results.
This helps you bag quality solar leads as more and more people looking for solar installation discover you on the top search results. You can utilize the following tools in Google Ads:
- Remarketing: This tool targets those leads who already have seen and interacted with your ads, business app, or website. Such leads will see your ads more repeatedly online.
- Topic target: Topic-targeted ads like solar panels or solar installations help you reach various pages in the network.
- In-market: Using in-market, you can display your ads in front of those people who are looking for solar installations or are keen to know more about them.
- Content keywords: Shows your ads to people who put specific keywords or phrases on Google like ‘solar panel installation near me’ or ‘best solar companies in Philadelphia’ etc.
- Placement: This tool displays your targeted ads on particular websites that homeowners often search for solar installations, such as solar directories.
8. Utilize Content Marketing
Content marketing is another authoritative and long-term strategy that helps businesses convert leads into paying customers. Content marketing drives more than 54% results than other traditional methods. This technique works well for solar company SEO.
This marketing strategy includes creating and publishing relevant content in the form of blogs, social media posts, infographics, etc. Including high-quality content on your site enables search engines to discover the keywords you have targeted in the post and increase its visibility among people who are searching for solar panels.
For instance, if you have published a blog regarding the cost of solar panel installation with the title ‘What is the cost of residential solar panel installation? If your potential customer is researching the cost of solar installation, they will find this content in search results. Once they click on the post, they will get navigated through your business website. This entire process is called content marketing.
If you want to get quality solar leads for free, you should start utilizing content marketing. It may sound basic but it generally works.
Parting Thoughts
Like many other things, generating leads through various marketing methods is challenging in the solar industry. However, if you identify and generate solar leads the right way and hit the correct button, you can establish yourself as a trusted solar brand in your region.
To supplement your conversion rate, you need to generate quality solar leads efficiently.
All the aforementioned practices help your solar business to strike this objective soon.
Good Luck!