Nowadays, homeowners are starting to consider renewable types of energy such as solar energy. Aside from offering a cleaner energy source, those who will opt for this will receive tax incentives from the government. Therefore, there has been a competition to gather potential business for the companies in this market. Generating solar leads is one of the most challenging parts of the business process. Perhaps it is trickier than sales and installation of solar panels. There are two ways to generate them; to do a manual campaign or buy from lead agencies.
Buying or Generating Solar Free Leads?
Generating your leads will be exceptionally challenging, especially if you are handling it yourself rather than employing the service of a professional. Understand that your prospects will have to look for a service in a pretty saturated market. They will probably start with an internet search using a search engine platform. If you don’t have a solid SEO strategy in place, then there’s a lower probability that they will find your service. While it may be challenging, it is not entirely impossible to generate solar check leads. Moreover, it is highly effective in growing your company’s bottom line. It can be an invaluable and rewarding tool to increase your sales leads.
On the other hand, buying solar leads is easier, but it comes with various pitfalls. Most of the leads you will get will be invalid ad low-quality; others may be cold leads. As you know, it may take a while before you can turn your cold leads to warm leads. Based on the numbers released by Solar Reviews, the lead generation in solar energy has increased to about 25% compared to the data last 2018.
Pros of Buying Solar Leads
- Easy to Calculate- Since you are purchasing the leads for a specific cost, it will be easier for you to complete your return on investment. You are no longer required to monitor the hard-to-track data and metrics.
- Instant- As we mentioned, it will not take months to generate a decent number of leads; you will receive them instantly.
Cons of Buying Solar Leads
- Not exclusive- Usually, the lead list you will receive will be exclusive to your company. There’s a chance that your competitors have already received the same list. It will be a competition of who will reach out first to the prospect.
- Expensive- The lead list will be costly and offers a substandard result.
Pros of Generating Leads
- Cheaper- Generating your solar leads is a lot cheaper. Perhaps the costliest investment would be the paid advertisements. If you do this properly, it will offer an excellent return on investment.
- Authentic Engagement- Aside from being cheap, it offers authentic interaction with your potential customers. As your prospects become more familiar with your business, it encourages loyalty.
Cons of Generating Leads
- It Takes Time- The result will not be instant. It will take time before you can develop a solid lead list.
Your Third Option
You have a third option to capture your solar free leads. Hiring a company that will generate the leads using the organic method. For instance, Webtudy offers a comprehensive strategy that helps generate exclusive leads. They will not provide you with a lead list but will generate it using their system. It is a more convenient option for those who have no time to perform this time-consuming task.
Solar Lead Generation for Your Business
If you plan to generate solar leads, you will need to have a solid strategy in place. Certain lead generation campaigns will be low-cost and extremely effective. Here are some of our recommended methods that will help build your lead and improve your conversion rate.
Creating Buyer Personas
You need to have a clear perspective of your ideal clients. Developing a buyer persona requires being aware of the things they need and their value. You should know their preferred method of communication or how they love to be served. You should also find out how you can provide them with better service. Having a buyer persona will help you deliver more personalized support and experience. It will help you target your solar check leads more efficiently.
How Do You Create Buyer Personas?
To start, you will need to research your ideal prospects. Even if you think you have a clear picture of who your usual clients are, you should definitely take an in-depth look at the possible people you will be working with. Some of the information you should gather includes the decision-makers name, their position in the company, how they reach out with the company, their hobbies, age, etc.
Once you have collected all the information you need, it is time to categorize your buyer personas. The research process would be the most time-consuming process; after that, organizing the data would be a breeze. Once this is done, you will have to build a full buyer persona profile. You should not hesitate to add a bit of your creative side when creating the profile. Finally, focus on the challenges, solutions, and goals. Your buyer personas are necessary to personalize how you reach out to your solar leads.
Building Quality Content Invites Quality Lead
Now that you have created a comprehensive buyer persona, it is time to build content relevant to them. You should develop a content calendar that offers a solution to their problem and valuable information. It means that your content needs to be factual, informative, and engaging. Do not hesitate to add a link that will direct them to other content, such as infographics, whitepapers, research, videos, and blog posts. Start with a small objective. For instance, you can create one long article per month. Google loves long and informative articles. The average length of the website that appears on the first page is around 1,200 words. Moreover, you need to keep your page active since the search engine loves fresh content and your solar check leads will return to your website every time you post an update.
What Are Some Types of Content Relevant to Your Buyer Persona?
If you have a buyer persona, you can develop personalized content that will receive a higher engagement rate. For instance, if you know that your solar leads patronize environment-friendly solutions, you could create articles about cleaner and renewable options. Here are some content that are persona-targeted.
- Videos-While the concept of solar energy is no longer new since it has been discussed in schools and mainstream media, it can still be confusing to your average homeowners. Therefore, a video is a proper way to explain things to them. It is an excellent method to clarify how the process and installation works. It is a great method to relieve their confusion and anxiety and ensure that they will be confident and comfortable with their choices.
- Downloadable Resources- A video promotion could be costly for a small solar business. Therefore, a downloadable resource could be a good option if you want a more affordable method to reach out to your solar lead. With this, you can add your answers to some of the most frequently asked questions. It could be an infographic or a fact sheet. You can create an ebook for those who need a more detailed explanation.
- Informative Blog Post- You need to know what your prospects need to know before developing an educational blog article. Using a keyword research program or Google Trend would be an excellent place to begin your research. Aside from being informative, make sure that it will be engaging. They must feel excited about your content.
Developing Case Studies
When looking for ways to capture your solar leads, you should not undermine the power of case studies. Especially since you want to convince your prospects that it is a more apt solution than conventional energy sources. It can also allow you to provide a detailed account of how your service could surpass your client’s expectations. When building reputation and brand, companies will often ignore this marketing material. Using case studies as your lead magnet can encourage your existing customers to be a brand ambassador since they can already inform your prospects about the different benefits your solar solution offers.
Most people will stay away from this because they think that it is too difficult to make. However, some tools can streamline the process, such as Case Study Buddy. You can also feature your clients’ names on your case study, but be sure to get their permission first. You can encourage them by offering a discount on their next service. Your case study should be posted on platforms that will be easy for your audience to see, such as a featured post on your blog site or for paid advertisement. Your solar free leads will be more willing to be converted if they know how happy your previous customers are.
Using Paid Search
We’ve already slightly touched on the paid search idea above; it is a more straightforward method to generate solar check leads. However, it may not be efficient if you fail to follow our recommendations above. You should also familiarize yourself with top paid search platforms such as Microsoft Advertising and Google Ads. You need to understand their audience; for instance, Bing attracts the older population while Google is for the younger audience. As opposed to SEO, paid search is not about ranking on top of the search result since you will appear on the first page. It is about looking for the set of keywords that will deliver the highest RoI. Remember some of these when you are using paid search campaign.
- Monitor Keyword Performance- A keyword will not always perform well. If it is not performing like how it used to be, you need to remove it. Otherwise, you will only increase your expenses without getting something in return.
- Remember Your Personas- When you built a comprehensive buyer persona, you may have added a section that tells about their online behavior. This may include the list of keywords they use when searching for similar services.
- Monitor Your Ad campaign- Monitoring seems to be common sense, but marketers often ignore this. If one of your campaigns performs great and the other delivers below your expectations, consider diverting your budget to attract more solar leads.
Finally, you should consider using an advanced organic solar lead generation strategy. Look for ways to rank higher on a particular keyword, such as link building. Be sure that you have a great product and an excellent marketing strategy. These two are necessary to ensure that your business will thrive.