If you own a solar business and want to explore online lead generation methods, then you’re reading the right blog. Solar installation companies are a rapidly expanding industry, and customers that want solar are definitely out there – but how do you find those solar leads? Going through this article, you will find new and exciting ways of generating solar leads online.
The U.S. residential solar PV market size is expected to reach USD 14.1 billion by 2028, and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2021 to 2028. On average, it has grown 21.8% between 2016 and 2021.
Lead generation is the key to success for any business but specifically home improvement businesses. How are you connecting with homeowners who are seeking your services? Solar installers and solar businesses must find creative ways to market their business and services. With digital marketing becoming increasingly expensive and the cost to purchase leads continuing to rise, solar installers need to think about how to do marketing smarter, not harder. Whether you have a strategy to generate your leads or use a third-party service, it is essential to have a process in place to convert those leads into paying customers quickly. Here are my top five lead-building practices that have helped my clients effectively close homeowners with their projects.
Homeowners will want to find solar installers that are near their area. If your website has a strong local SEO presence, they might stumble across your website and contact you. Don’t overlook the concept of detailed service pages and other aspects of blogs and informative formats that help people answer questions about your process and your company. Since Google rewards clear and thorough answers to common questions, these pages can climb up to the first few search results for solar-seeking homeowners. Another easy tactic, claim your business listing on Google My Business and Yelp. This will boost your local presence more and people can leave reviews about how they found your services. Investing in your SEO will help you:
Rather than sending paid traffic to your main home page, we are big proponents of developing targeted landing pages with a single Call to Action on that page, testimonials (videos a plus), and all of our retargeting levers in place. Now that you’ve engaged and built trust with potential customers thanks to your awesome, free information and resources, you want them to convert into leads and customers. Once you have a basic lander template developed, you can just duplicate this across our various campaigns. Key takeaways:
Automate your solar lead generation, solar prospects are prone to take more time and have more patience to become fully educated about what their solar system might entail. Because of this, Youtube is the optimal research option for Solar prospects and it is where your informative, fun videos that reflect local homeowners’ concerns need to be. Release videos that are interesting and would give your customers insights into saving on their utility bills. This fosters a closer relationship.
The fact is, results from SEO take a little while (1-4 months) but with the right offer, in front of the right audience, Facebook ads can be great tools for building your email lists. The secret sauce is finding the right “vein” of relevant audience users on Facebook using their native ad targeting interests. Use social media platforms to promote the “affordability message” and the various benefits of using solar technologies. Constant messages focused on these pointers can create a sense of understanding in the clients’ minds and pull them closer towards the idea of opting for solar technology.
As any sales professional understands, the money is in the follow up. So often we speak with solar companies who have their reps manually following up with each lead with zero automation in place. There are plenty of tools that can help you automate SMS and Email follow up as soon as lead comes in, such as a series of 3 emails dripped out that reiterate the problems you solve, screenshots of reviews, before/after photos of electricity bills, and links to your appointment booking calendar. Once this system is built, you then have the framework to launch customer referral campaigns and re-engage cold prospects with a new seasonal offer, saving your reps hundreds of precious hours of following up manually one by one.
Successful solar installers use data from these online methods to find and qualify solar leads before engagement to ensure that every knock, every call, every mailer, every text & email has a higher probability of turning into a solar sale than it does a dead-end. Apply these tips and create the best and qualified solar leads. Still have questions, connect with me on Facebook Groups for any additional questions you have.
Thank you for reading,
Joe
