While customer engagement platforms like SAP Emarsys can be an obvious solution for a retail giant or an entertainment company, there can be unexpected benefits for smart customer relationship management for Utilities companies. With integrated, personalized, 1:1 communications, utilities can succeed in less regulated, highly competitive markets where it’s easy for consumers to choose a competing provider.
Today’s macroeconomic disruptions and regulatory climate require more flexible and resilient marketing tools for utilities companies. It is very much an industry in transition, requiring modern tools for overlapping audiences of businesses and consumers acting as users, producers, and consumers. Managing complex consumer profiles of preferences, usage, and contractual data requires the smart, flexible use of data and requires utility-specific marketing and engagement capabilities.
Here are a few ways utilities can drive engagement in today’s market:
1. Attract New Customers Through Targeted Advertising Campaigns
With ever-fragmented spheres of attention, the most effective customer acquisition strategies involve speaking to potential customers where they are and in the ways they choose. The goal of personalized marketing is to engage prospective customers by communicating with each individual. Targeted messaging on a potential customer’s social media of choice is far more likely to garner engagement than older, less targeted methods. But achieving this takes data, the use of identifying lookalike audiences to existing ones, and the ability to test and refine your approach.
2. Leverage Personalized Omnichannel Marketing Strategies
Keeping existing customers engaged increases conversion and fosters customer loyalty. Consumers are likely to interact with your company across a number of channels, including email, social, mobile, and print. Creating cohesive messaging across channels can help consumers have a more personalized experience, engendering a more positive view of your brand. Businesses that dedicate resources to create successful personalized marketing strategies benefit from the competitive advantage that leads to customer satisfaction and loyalty. When you activate rich utility data to drive targeted and personalized engagements, you better serve customers and increase their lifetime value.
3. Increase Revenue Through Targeted Product Offerings and Personalized Recommendations
Identifying customers who may be ready for a service contract on existing supply lines can mean increased revenue. With the smart mining of customer usage data, you can offer personalized recommendations and targeted messaging that can result in improved results, better ROI, and more revenue. Reacting to usage and churn signals in real time can influence consumer decisions, leading to greater retention.
4. Utilize Personalized Communication to Establish and Enhance Your Brand Image
Responsible corporate governance and responsibility are important in our evolving landscape, and those efforts should also involve helping customers and prospects understand the good work that’s being done on sustainability and social responsibility. Customers want to know where their utility companies stand on the environmental issues that matter to them. Community engagement in these important efforts can foster loyalty and retention.
5. Promote Energy Efficiency Through Marketing Campaigns
Hand in hand with consumers’ desire for sustainable, socially responsible energy practices comes their own need to conserve energy. You can help promote energy efficiency through messaging that educates customers on the benefits of intelligent energy usage. Utilizing their own data as a jumping-off point, you can launch smart campaigns simulating potential savings, giving conservation tips, and helping to manage resources during times of heavy demand. In this way, you can help customers become energy prosumers and participate in sustainability efforts.
What Can Your Martech Help You Do Today?
Enabling your digital transition to the cloud, and helping you leverage your existing customer usage and preference data can help propel your utility to its next phase of growth. Using lookalike audiences of existing profitable customers can help you acquire new customers. Engaging customers in an automated, scalable, and personalized way will drive both efficiencies and differentiation. When you communicate consistently across your app, email, SMS, website, and print, you give your customers one consistent message that drives loyalty and customer satisfaction. The savvy use of a customer engagement platform can help your utility grow and increase revenue.