Marketing clean energy to a complex audience: How to turn a sceptic into an advocate

When it comes to marketing, every industry has its own set of challenges and clean energy is no exception. As the UK continues on its quest to reach net zero in 2050, the clean energy market has become busier than ever before. More competition makes getting your message heard by the right people harder. 

However the winners here won’t be the people who simply bang the drum the loudest. The winners will be the ones who invest in the time and activity required to not just promote their product but tell a compelling story. 

“All marketing is about storytelling but with clean energy it’s more important than ever. You aren’t just having to tell your story, you’re having to tell a broader bigger picture story that can really resonate and engage an often sceptical audience,” explains Dan Jenkins, Head of Client Services at Platform 195. 

This raises the question, how can marketing take a sceptic and turn them into an advocate? 

Understanding existing perceptions 

Clean energy marketing requires a strategy that considers every stage of the customer journey. Whether B2B, B2C, or B2B2C, you need to understand the different segments of your target market and get to grips with how they are thinking. 

According to Dan, when it comes to clean energy solutions there are generally four common mindsets to consider. 

• Early adopters
• Cautious optimists
• Sceptics
• Disengaged 

“If you are marketing a car, you don’t need to sell people on the value of having a car. It’s a known entity. But with new and emerging technology you have to consider what people think the value is, and how you can influence and change that so they become motivated to transition,” explains Dan. 

Each of these audience segments have a different perception of clean energy technology. To market effectively you have to understand this perception and what is driving it in order to understand how you can shift it. 

With an understanding of the different segments and perceptions, you can then consider the messaging you need to resonate with each one. As with any marketing, this needs to be tailored, a one-size fits all approach just won’t cut it. 

Consider barriers to adoption

To put yourself in the mind of your audience and fully understand them, you need to drill into existing or potential adoption barriers. These barriers and pain points need to be identified so your marketing can address them directly.  

“You need to think about how people will interact and engage with your product. This isn’t unique to the sector but clean energy is a nascent sector and so these adoption barriers are often stronger or more prominent,” says Dan. 

Common clean energy barriers to adoption include concerns around affordability, reliability and installation or use complexity. Additionally, clean energy has the added challenge of having to combat misinformation or negative media narratives. 

Moving focus to the bigger picture

When it comes to messaging and the story you tell, clean energy businesses cannot rely on their proposition alone. 

“There is a huge opportunity for brands in this space to come together and have a shared voice. To succeed and shift perception and behaviour in a meaningful way we need collaboration. Energy challenges are not going away. Businesses need to constantly reinforce that if you do not make the change, you will get left behind,” says Dan. 

In order to drive this message and generate impact, you need strong and compelling storytelling at the heart of a marketing strategy. Before you sell the product or solution, you need to sell the challenge, humanise it and make it relevant to consumers on an individual level. 

“When we’re marketing clean energy solutions, we’re creating work that makes a difference. We’re building off a truth, or a tension, that goes beyond just the sector. We need to harness this tension to create relatable content that invokes a reaction. The marketing needs to be emotive,” stresses Dan. 

By creating content and messaging that focus on the bigger energy picture, you can invoke a human reaction that inspires and drives change. 

“You want people, whether individuals or businesses, to feel like they are part of a movement, that they are making a change for the greater good. Marketing clean energy is less about selling a product, and more about selling a way of living and positioning your brand as someone who understands that and is championing it,” adds Dan. 

Once you have built this momentum, you can then look at addressing specific challenges. This might include success stories, comparisons to existing technology, and simple tech guides to demonstrate ease of use. 

Reinforcing your message on every channel

With your story and positioning clearly defined, it’s important to make sure that it remains front and centre in all marketing. To maximise the effect of any marketing you have to look at how you create an integrated campaign across multiple channels.

Viewing any marketing channel in isolation, without a broader goal, means the activity becomes tactical and not strategic. To succeed in an emerging and busy sector,, you need to immerse yourself in it and deliver the right message, at the right time, at every stage of the funnel. 

This immersion across channels, and use of bigger picture storytelling is the most compelling way to take sceptics on a journey and ultimately convert them to advocates. 

“We have to think about marketing in a slightly different way for clean energy, there isn’t a well trodden path to success. We need to focus on being more benefit driven, we need to be aware and prepared for nay-sayers. There is a lot of critical thinking to do, but it has to be done to avoid being left behind,” concludes Dan. 

Are you looking to amplify your brand messaging with intelligent marketing? Contact the team at Platform 195 today. 

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