If 2023 RFPs were any indication, a LOT of utilities want to update, revamp, and re-energize their utility marketplaces in 2024.Ā Utilities saw a lot of success over the past decade with utility marketplaces offering basic energy efficiency devices like smart thermostats and LED bulbs.Ā Those websites served a useful purpose spreading the word about energy efficiency, introducing new technology, and facilitating rebates effectively.
As LED technology and learning thermostats reach maturity and market saturation, however, sales have moderated, and traffic to those utility marketplaces have stagnated.Ā They remain a great forum for connecting with customers, but itās time for a refresh.Ā Follow these simple best practices to re-energize your marketplace and bring customers back for new information, education, and enrollment.
Modernize The CX
Check out your marketplace.Ā Does it look a little dated?Ā Have you looked at it lately from your smartphone or tablet?Ā Would it surprise you to know that about 70% of traffic to utility marketplaces happens on a customerās mobile device?Ā Does your site look good on a āmobile firstā basis?Ā Customer expectations for a modern and intuitive digital experience rise every quarter as so much of their education, engagement and shopping behaviors shift online.Ā Your platform partner should plan for regular updates, but if you DIY your own ecommerce tools for your marketplace, consider talking with your CX team about a mobile-first refresh. Ā Be sure to include strong visuals, clean and modern design and layout that adjusts for mobile experiences, and intuitive search and navigation tools to make it easy for customers to explore and enroll on your site.
Update Your Catalog
Smart thermostats and LED bulbs belonged on the banner of a utility marketplace when those technologies were new.Ā As those devices mature, customers want new products and services based on new needs.Ā Consider expanding the catalog to include education and offers for EV chargers, home energy management, streaming devices, and home office solutions.Ā Customers will spend more time in their homes in the future, so helpful insights AND offers for a wide array of products from their utility helps them find more comfort, convenience and productivity in addition to energy efficiency in their homes.
Personalize Customer OutreachĀ
The legacy marketplaces that focused on energy efficiency devices benefited people who could get value from LED bulb conversion or a smart thermostat, so a 1:ALL engagement strategy worked.Ā As customer needs and expectations for a marketplace expand, so does the need for personalized engagement.Ā Marketplaces offer utilities a great forum for experimenting and innovating with customer segmentation and personalization to reach more customers more effectively.Ā Create seasonal offers for efficiency programs for home owners, like a filter replacement plan to improve the efficiency of their HVAC before the summer and winter months.Ā Offer renters help with an upcoming move right before the anniversary of their service start date.Ā Look at vehicle registrations to find EV owners in your market for EV charging options. Ā And, donāt neglect āAging in Placeā customers who want a bit of extra help from contractors and service plans to stay in their home a bit longer with more comfort and convenience.Ā Personalizing offers to customers with these and other perspectives improves the quality and performance of your outreach campaigns.
Bundle Programs for Peak Participation
Customers shop at utility marketplaces for solutions, not products. EV owners donāt want an EV charger just to charge their vehicle.Ā They want a charger mounted in their garage that knows to charge their car at off-peak rates so that they get the extra value and saving that are the promise of an EV.Ā We recommend your marketplace offer bundles to deliver customers the solutions they expect.Ā Bundle an EV charger with compatibility to customersā vehicles along with an offer of a professional installation, and register the EV charger in a utility Time of Use rate plan when its activated.Ā
Thatās a full service solution customers can only receive from their utility marketplace and a great reason for those customers to return to shop for other solutions.Ā Consider bundling Demand Response enrollment with smart thermostats or home energy management plans.Ā Add a repair and protection plan to customersā orders for new appliances or EV chargers.Ā Let customers opt-in for new rate plans tuned to their purchases and lifestyles to create maximum value and CSAT on your marketplace.
Reach Customersā Channels of Choice
If it surprised you that 70% of marketplace traffic happens on a mobile device, then it may shock you to learn that more than 50% of customers ages 16-24 prefer social media search to search engines to find a marketplace.Ā Add to those figures that 47% of customers ages 25-34 are converting quickly to favor social channels over search engines.Ā Email remains the most effective channel for digital engagement if you have email and opt-in, but social media has become the fastest growing channel for helping the next generation of shoppers to learn about your programs and offers.Ā Consider meeting customer in their channel of choice and expanding awareness of your utility marketplace with well placed pictures and short videos to attract attention and traffic to your marketplace.Ā Itās not just Facebook.Ā Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube offer great channels for connecting with your customers.Ā Donāt think its just GenZ on those channels, either.Ā 73% of Americans ages 35-54 use Facebook.Ā Over 56% of Pinterest users age from 35 - 55+, making social a great channel to introduce your marketplace to a wide variety of your customers because thatās where your customers spend time on their mobile device.Ā Ā
Top performing utility marketplaces should offer something for virtually every customer, help the utility spread the word about new and innovative programs, and provide an easy one-stop-shop for customer solutions.Ā Bundling utility programs with products and/or services to help customers find more comfort, convenience, safety, and efficiency in their home shows them that their utility really understands their needs and helps expand utility support Beyond the Meter into their homes.Ā Increasing reach, traffic, and enrollments on your utility marketplace improves Customer Loyalty and Satisfaction for the entire customer lifecycle, so make it a refresh part of your 2024 plans.Ā Ā
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