You know it, we know it, everyone knows it: Energy is one of the leading industries in Australia. The industry is worth nearly AUD$80 billion, with a hand in producing about 2.4% of total world energy.
As one of the largest industries in the country, competition is fierce in the energy space. Sales funnel optimisation for effective lead generation becomes a top priority when faced with an ever-increasing focus on sustainability that only urges competition between energy companies.
As the world’s twentieth largest consumer of energy, with 22% of that energy consumption taken purely by gas, gas companies must understand the importance of effective lead generation and utilise B2B solutions to get ahead of the competition. Check out our guide to B2B Marketing here.
What is lead generation?
Lead generation is one of those buzz phrases that appear in most marketing and sales pitches. But why is it actually important?
Generating leads is how you gain traction within your business. Lead generation refers to the process of identifying and attracting potential customers and engaging them with your services. The aim is to collect contact information, qualify them as sales leads and nurture those leads so that they move on to become paying customers.
How do you start generating leads?
Discovering what is going to work best for your business can be a lengthy process, so we’ve laid out some of the key gas lead generation tactics you can employ to ensure you are generating quality leads.
Identify potential customers
Similar to any other business or industry, the first step is identifying potential customers and where is best to communicate with them. When it comes to sharing your message, identifying your target market and target audience is crucial. No business can target everyone. Without a path to follow, your message will get lost in a constantly moving and expanding sea of information. Finding out who is going to use your services and where they are going to find information on those services is a non-negotiable first step. Find out more about target market vs. target audience here.
Email marketing
Once you have identified your target or targets, it’s time to figure out if they can all be communicated with in the same way. By segmenting your audiences, you can send communications, particularly in the form of EDM’s (Electronic Direct Mail) with total confidence that you are communicating to your audience and know what they need and what they want and want to hear
B2B lead generation practices
Business-to-business focused generation practices can increase the number of leads and proposals returned for energy industry customers. A B2B focus allows the ability to quickly target leads from within the global utility and power generation industry to meet specific criteria and ensure you’re speaking to the right people.
Integrated strategic marketing solutions
Issues like sustainability and being seen more and more at the forefront of what is important for consumers. For gas companies, given historical perceptions of the industry, this is particularly important. Digital agencies like Mo Works can offer integrated strategic marketing solutions that include lead generation services and business development programs. Our experienced integrated team of technical marketing staff can handle the entire sales process from the identification of opportunities to the submission of formal proposals, negotiations and sales contracts. Find out more here.
Lead generation through websites and marketing campaigns
Ensure your website is using correct SEO practices and utilising the latest technologies to target the right people. Marketing campaigns created specifically with gas companies in mind will take into account the industry as a whole and what people are searching for when they’re looking for an energy company. This increases the focus of the campaigns and therefore lead generation. Find out more about how marketing agencies are accelerating businesses' sustainability missions here.
Give the people what they’re looking for.
If you’re not sure what to say or how to say it, think about the kinds of services you’re providing and who you want them to reach. There are a few different things you can do to ensure you’re getting the most out of your lead generation efforts.
Optimise your website for search engines
As mentioned above, ensure you are employing SEO tactics to attract more traffic to your website by including keywords and phrases in your website copy. These keywords are what bring your website to the top of the search page.
Create educational content
Tell people about what you do. Gas companies can create educational content like blog posts, whitepapers and even ebooks to draw in potential customers. Personalise the information to ensure you are providing the information that people are searching for. The focus of this is providing informative and valuable content to your readers that tells them what you offer, what it does and why they need it. Often when people are looking at gas companies, they already have an idea of what they want, so spelling it out for them can help push their decision over the line. Find out more about personalisation for creating engagement here.
Build a social media presence
Using LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to engage with audiences is a great way to increase your brand awareness and create organic traffic and leads. And it’s not just about advertising. In this day and age, engaging in conversations, commenting on videos (even unrelated ones), and creating trend-based content puts your brand out there and makes you recognisable to audiences. Think about the types of content that will appeal to your target audience and integrate them in your branding. The more recognisable your brand is, the more memorable it is, which means when the time comes for people to switch providers or look at rates, you spring to mind first. In short, building an online community has some key advantages for boosting your profile, engagement, opportunities and retention. Find out more here.
Know what to do now but don’t have the time to do it?
Outsourcing your marketing to agencies that understand the gas and energy markets and how best to capture them is one of the best ways to optimise your sales funnel and generate quality leads in an efficient manner. But be sure to do your research before signing on with an agency. Ensure that their previous work aligns with where you are looking to take your organisation, but also take into account their values, and how they engage with those of your organisation. Choosing the right agency for your branding and your direction is crucial to building momentum.
Mo Works’ full-service team does exactly that. Our marketers are experts in content creation, strategy, advertising and management and can utilise a wide range of knowledge and services to ensure the highest quality leads for your business.
