July 7, 2016 | By RGR Marketing Blog

Better Plan Your Solar Marketing Efforts Ahead of Time

As a solar installer, you probably receive plenty of offers for marketing opportunities. And even if you’re generally too busy to put much thought into your overall marketing strategy, you might take advantage of some of those opportunities by placing ads in local papers, sending out postcards, or setting up booths at local home and garden fairs.

While these marketing efforts are likely to yield at least minimal results, there’s no guarantee that they’ll help your business reach its overall goals. That’s because there’s no strategy behind them.

Think Like a General

Great military strategists have never won wars by engaging in random skirmishes whenever the opportunity arose – that would be a waste of resources. Instead, they identified strategic aims that would help them win the war. They chose their battles wisely, and tried to make every battle a step on the path to greater victory.

It’s not a bad idea to think of your solar marketing strategy like a general might regard the battlefield. In order to accomplish your aims, you’ll need to identify key strategic points and marshal your forces accordingly.

Without a solid strategy, you might as well be firing your cannons into a dense forest -- you might vanquish a few of your foes that way, but then again, you might not. And even if you did, you’d have a tough time figuring out what you’d really accomplished.

Identify Your Objectives

Obviously, the main reason you market your business is to create a more profitable company. But there are multiple paths to achieving that goal, and different businesses face different challenges.

For example, if nobody knows about your solar business, then they can’t purchase their solar equipment from you. You might want to make brand recognition a key goal for your marketing strategy.

Or, you might be losing customers to an aggressive new competitor. If that’s the case, then reestablishing your business’s reputation as the preeminent solar installer in the area should be one of your goals.

Perhaps sales numbers are down from last year. Maybe you need to target a new segment of potential customers or make your referral program more enticing.

Before you can create a successful marketing plan, you’ll need to have clearly defined goals in mind.

Call in the SWOT Team

SWOT is a commonly used marketing acronym that stands for “strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.” By taking an objective look at your business and conducting a SWOT analysis, you’ll have a better idea of how to structure your marketing strategy.

Let’s say your business is known for great service, knowledgeable technicians, and fast install time. Those would be your strengths.

Under weaknesses, file things like a lack of brand recognition, limited capital, or a lackluster online presence.

Opportunities might include breaking into new markets, widening your portfolio of offerings to include more efficient or more affordable panels, or bidding on municipal solar contracts.

Threats often come from your competitors, but they can also arise as a result of economic downturn, supply chain disruption, or energy policy changes such as the recently forestalled expiration of the federal solar ITC tax credit.

By correctly identifying your business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, you’ll be better able to craft a marketing strategy that helps you capitalize on your solar business’s strong points, take advantage of growth opportunities, and minimize weaknesses and threats.

Implement Your Plan and Measure Your Results

Once you’ve taken the time to create a marketing plan designed to help your business attain the goals you’ve set, put that plan into motion. All the planning in the world is worth little if there’s no follow-through.

Also, be sure to measure your results. Some of your marketing efforts will work as intended, while others may not. The important thing is not to throw good money after bad – if it doesn’t work, stop doing it. Instead, redirect your marketing dollars to a method that produces a worthwhile ROI, or try something new instead.

Solar Marketing Made Easier

We hope these tips help you create a highly effective marketing plan, and if you need help generating solar leads, we’d love to be a part of your success. RGR solar leads are among the best in the industry. Get in touch if you’d like to take your marketing strategy to the next level.

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