Well...here I am again, getting ready for another industry conference. Luckily, my industry, the utility industry, is filled with genuinely good people and I feel lucky to have developed solid friendships with peers across the country. Yet, these people get stomped on regularly by the press and customers. I can tell you from experience that they don't deserve it.
It is amazing to me how little people know about how their power is delivered. They have no clue about the people required to build and run a power plant (coal or renewable), maintain the transmission system to get electricity and gas to your house, and then help you use it safely and efficiently. Most people only see the big company name, the CEO's salary, and their bill...and that is enough for them. The only problem is that it isn't enough, because it isn't the reality.
Most of the people who work at utilities live where they work, work hard for their paycheck (which, by the way isn't much differnet than yours), and do the best they can to make ends meet for their families. Sound familiar? Many of the people I know regularly work nights and weekends to make sure the power stays on in your house and customers are informed about what is going on, what programs and services are available to them, etc.... Utilities aren't perfect, but don't forget that they are made up of people....not villains trying to screw you out of your hard earned money, but normal people like your neighbor, your brother, your spouse. Whether people like it or not, utilities are made up of people trying to keep the lights on in their own homes...just like you and me.
I will be writing more about this in the coming months.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Guest Blog: Insights From Jon Drost on Utility Marketing
Jon Drost is a respected market research and segmentation expert within the utility industry. He also happens to be a great guy and someone I have had the pleasure of getting to know over the past several years. I appreciate his taking the time to guest blog with his informed perspectives about our shared industry and some of the issues communicators and marketers need to be looking at in 2010 and beyond.
When Matthew asked me to guest blog my first question was “How much are you paying me?” He called my bluff and said “Nevermind”. In all seriousness, I felt honored that he would be willing to post my thoughts about marketing within the Utility Industry. Hopefully, he doesn’t cancel my show after the pilot episode.
This forum provides me with the unique opportunity to get out from behind the Marketing Segmentation role that I breathe day in/day out and view Utility Marketing in a more Macro sense. My team works directly with Electric and Gas Utility marketing departments on a daily basis on behalf of a small/boutique market research firm.
There are many different views and opinions on how a Utility should attack their marketing strategy. Hopefully one aspect that everyone can agree on is that the Customer is King. When companies fail to recognize this, they tend to fail in general. For this reason, it is very important for Utilities to take a Consumer-Centric stance for their organization…after all it is the consumer who is filling out the customer satisfaction scores in the regulated market and switching providers in the de-regulated market.
For the purpose of this blog entry, I’m going to focus on a variety of marketing channels. (very briefly)
Social Media
Let’s start with the hottest topic out there in the marketing space. Social Media/Consumer Generated Content…or any other name associated with it. While Matt is much more of an expert on the use of Social Media techniques within the Utility industry regarding marketing, outage communications, and listening. I am able to add a little fuel to his fire regarding this topic. Globally, time spent on Social Media sites is up 82% year over year.
In the US, total minutes spent on social networking and blog sites increased 210% year over year.
So as you determine if engaging in Social Media is the right move for your organization, it is important to keep in mind that consumers are migrating to social sites at an alarming rate. Not only is it a great way to listen what is being said about your brand…it allows you a forum to control outgoing information. For instance, consumers tend to complain that their Utility does not do an adequate job with Environmental Stewardship or Community Involvement. Those of us in the industry know this may not necessarily be true but it is a perception of the consumer. While a lot of accomplishments are highlighted in the shareholders annual report, not a lot of your consumers are going to be reading that. Social Media can help you get the word out of your accomplishments as an organization and mainstream media does look to social media for topics and article ideas. A few Utilities are doing this with the aid of Twitter but there is tremendous room for growth in this area. I also want to highlight Sempra Energy’s micro-site www.sempraeveryday.com , this is a text book example on highlighting the topics mentioned above.
E-Mail as a marketing channel
This will be a quick topic. ABSOLUTELY
According to the 2009 Nielsen Energy Audit survey (32K+ respondents), which tracks the home energy usage behavior and attitudes of the US Consumer, approximately 30% of consumers PREFER to be contacted via email from their local utility regarding their programs/services. If your Utility does not have 30% coverage of email addresses in your data warehouse, you are certainly not alone. There are two ways to increase your coverage and I recommend doing them in succession.
First, I would use this as an opportunity to drive the adoption of Online Bill Payment, Paperless Billing, etc through segmentation and direct mail. Not only will you be enrolling a customer into a more convenient program for the them (and a more cost effective one for the utility), you’ll capture the email address for future campaigns and education regarding DSM, Renewable Energy, Community Involvement, Environmental Stewardship, Smart Grid, PHEV, etc.
Secondly, you can purchase an email address append from a variety of sources.
Why should you go in this in order? Guaranteed e-mail accuracy with the first step and then supplement with a Third-Party data set.
Direct Mail is not Dead, not even close
In the same 2009 Nielsen Energy Audit Survey state above, approximately 68% of consumers PREFER to be contact via Postal Mail from their local utility regarding programs and services. Since a direct mail campaign is not as cost effective as an e-mail campaign, it is crucial to employ sound segmentation and messaging tactics in order to have the most successful campaign possible. As an industry we should be well beyond “spray and pray” and “income targeting”…a lot of people might argue but I maintain the stance that “household income” is not the driving factor behind the decision criteria for today’s home energy consumer. It is definitely a solid variable in any segmentation schema but it will never the THE variable.
Tying it all together through Segmentation
These are just a few of the questions my team gets on a daily basis.
Which of my customers engage in social media? Who prefers to be contacted via certain marketing channels? I’m doing a direct mail campaign for a Critical Peak Pricing Program (you can substitute for any program here), who should I target? Which customers are beating us up on poor satisfaction scores? What areas in my service territory look like high potential for PHEV adoption? Where should we advertise on TV, Radio, etc? What messages should I use for the audience? Can this information help me in front of the PSC?
When a company makes the consumer the focal point of their organization, the answers to the above questions can be answered fairly easily. Market research and segmentation is the GPS of any organization, helping navigate the strategic direction.
For more information about any market research/media measurement from Nielsen. www.nielsen.com
When Matthew asked me to guest blog my first question was “How much are you paying me?” He called my bluff and said “Nevermind”. In all seriousness, I felt honored that he would be willing to post my thoughts about marketing within the Utility Industry. Hopefully, he doesn’t cancel my show after the pilot episode.
This forum provides me with the unique opportunity to get out from behind the Marketing Segmentation role that I breathe day in/day out and view Utility Marketing in a more Macro sense. My team works directly with Electric and Gas Utility marketing departments on a daily basis on behalf of a small/boutique market research firm.
There are many different views and opinions on how a Utility should attack their marketing strategy. Hopefully one aspect that everyone can agree on is that the Customer is King. When companies fail to recognize this, they tend to fail in general. For this reason, it is very important for Utilities to take a Consumer-Centric stance for their organization…after all it is the consumer who is filling out the customer satisfaction scores in the regulated market and switching providers in the de-regulated market.
For the purpose of this blog entry, I’m going to focus on a variety of marketing channels. (very briefly)
Social Media
Let’s start with the hottest topic out there in the marketing space. Social Media/Consumer Generated Content…or any other name associated with it. While Matt is much more of an expert on the use of Social Media techniques within the Utility industry regarding marketing, outage communications, and listening. I am able to add a little fuel to his fire regarding this topic. Globally, time spent on Social Media sites is up 82% year over year.
In the US, total minutes spent on social networking and blog sites increased 210% year over year.
So as you determine if engaging in Social Media is the right move for your organization, it is important to keep in mind that consumers are migrating to social sites at an alarming rate. Not only is it a great way to listen what is being said about your brand…it allows you a forum to control outgoing information. For instance, consumers tend to complain that their Utility does not do an adequate job with Environmental Stewardship or Community Involvement. Those of us in the industry know this may not necessarily be true but it is a perception of the consumer. While a lot of accomplishments are highlighted in the shareholders annual report, not a lot of your consumers are going to be reading that. Social Media can help you get the word out of your accomplishments as an organization and mainstream media does look to social media for topics and article ideas. A few Utilities are doing this with the aid of Twitter but there is tremendous room for growth in this area. I also want to highlight Sempra Energy’s micro-site www.sempraeveryday.com , this is a text book example on highlighting the topics mentioned above.
E-Mail as a marketing channel
This will be a quick topic. ABSOLUTELY
According to the 2009 Nielsen Energy Audit survey (32K+ respondents), which tracks the home energy usage behavior and attitudes of the US Consumer, approximately 30% of consumers PREFER to be contacted via email from their local utility regarding their programs/services. If your Utility does not have 30% coverage of email addresses in your data warehouse, you are certainly not alone. There are two ways to increase your coverage and I recommend doing them in succession.
First, I would use this as an opportunity to drive the adoption of Online Bill Payment, Paperless Billing, etc through segmentation and direct mail. Not only will you be enrolling a customer into a more convenient program for the them (and a more cost effective one for the utility), you’ll capture the email address for future campaigns and education regarding DSM, Renewable Energy, Community Involvement, Environmental Stewardship, Smart Grid, PHEV, etc.
Secondly, you can purchase an email address append from a variety of sources.
Why should you go in this in order? Guaranteed e-mail accuracy with the first step and then supplement with a Third-Party data set.
Direct Mail is not Dead, not even close
In the same 2009 Nielsen Energy Audit Survey state above, approximately 68% of consumers PREFER to be contact via Postal Mail from their local utility regarding programs and services. Since a direct mail campaign is not as cost effective as an e-mail campaign, it is crucial to employ sound segmentation and messaging tactics in order to have the most successful campaign possible. As an industry we should be well beyond “spray and pray” and “income targeting”…a lot of people might argue but I maintain the stance that “household income” is not the driving factor behind the decision criteria for today’s home energy consumer. It is definitely a solid variable in any segmentation schema but it will never the THE variable.
Tying it all together through Segmentation
These are just a few of the questions my team gets on a daily basis.
Which of my customers engage in social media? Who prefers to be contacted via certain marketing channels? I’m doing a direct mail campaign for a Critical Peak Pricing Program (you can substitute for any program here), who should I target? Which customers are beating us up on poor satisfaction scores? What areas in my service territory look like high potential for PHEV adoption? Where should we advertise on TV, Radio, etc? What messages should I use for the audience? Can this information help me in front of the PSC?
When a company makes the consumer the focal point of their organization, the answers to the above questions can be answered fairly easily. Market research and segmentation is the GPS of any organization, helping navigate the strategic direction.
For more information about any market research/media measurement from Nielsen. www.nielsen.com
Monday, February 1, 2010
What Utilities Should NOT Do In 2010!
2009 was filled with a lot of bad choices. Below are suggestions for making 2010 a little better, based on some of the insanity I saw last year.
- If you are thinking about giving out big bonuses...don't.
- Thinking about increasing your CEO's or exec pay? Don't do that either.
- Corporate jets are out. Take normal planes, like the rest of us.
- Don't provide money saving CFLs to your customers and then charge them heavily for it. 3 for 0 last year. Don't think you are any different.
- Don't dismiss social media as the "silly Twitter and Facebook stuff that kids do"...information vacuums continue to blind side organizations in these days of Web 2.0.
- Smart meter deployment can be wrecked by a poor communications plan. Don't assume cool technology speaks for itself. Be communication ready before, during and after your deployment. Perception is king and Smart Grid has gotten a lot of taxpayer money and a lot of unrealistic hype, which makes for a potentially volatile environment to work in. Look for a backlash in 2010 - 2011.
- In difficult situations, being opaque and obtuse is no longer a viable strategy. "Silly Matt...what do you know of such corporate operational things?" What I do know is that there is bloody trail of politician, athlete, celebrity and corporate reputation carcasses littering the 2009 landscape. People expect big companies be slimy, so surprise them by explaining what is going on, how it impacts them, how it impacts you, what you are doing about, why you care, and how people can provide feedback that you will listen to.
Is anyone else tired of seeing big baseball players cry as they admit to doing things they didn't know they were doing, but now realize that what they did was wrong, even though they didn't know they knew it was wrong at the time when they were knowingly doing it...but haven't actually admitted to doing anything at all. BAH!!!
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Guest Blog (Joe Pulizzi, Junta 42) - Content Marketing Spending Report
I'm really excited to have Joe Pulizzi, founder of Junta 42 , sharing his valuable insights as a guest blogger. I truly respect his work, consider him (as do many others) one of the world's leaders in content marketing strategy and services, and am also honored to call him a friend. Thank you Joe for providing your insights!
Content Marketing Spending Report
6 in 10 Marketers Spending More on Content Marketing in 2010
by Joe Pulizzi, Founder, Junta42
For the third straight year, marketers are planning to spend significantly more on their content marketing efforts. For 2010, approximately six in 10 marketing professionals surveyed plan to increase their spending on content initiatives. The January, 2010 findings came from a survey of 259 marketing professionals.
Key Content Marketing Survey Findings:
- According to the survey, Content Marketing Spending comprises 33% of the total marketing budget (up 11% from 2008)
Smaller companies spend more than 2x that of larger companies on content marketing - Marketers are increasing their focus on mobile content solutions
- Only 7% of marketers are spending less on content in 2010
Download the complete content marketing spending report here (no signup required). Tweet this!
2010 Content Marketing Spending
59% of marketers surveyed plan to increase content marketing spending in 2010, compared with 56% in 2009 and 42% in 2008.
Content Product Breakdown
Marketers are leveraging new media content products more than ever - nearly 3/4 are leveraging content through social media and a majority are tapping into blogs and enewsletters. White papers and case studies continue to be mainstays in the content marketing portfolio.
Content Marketing Education
The clear winner for educational needs is mobile content marketing solutions, up 63% from 2009 survey figures. Considering only 10% are currently using mobile content marketing, 2011 should show a dramatic increase in that area.
Interested in Getting Your Content Program Started?
There is no doubt about it...the hardest part about content marketing is finding the right custom content provider, so make sure you check out Joe's Junta42 Custom Publishing Service, a free service that will find you the expert content providers you need. There is no oblication.
There is no doubt about it...the hardest part about content marketing is finding the right custom content provider, so make sure you check out Joe's Junta42 Custom Publishing Service, a free service that will find you the expert content providers you need. There is no oblication.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
E Source Releases White Paper on Key Lessons for EE Program Success
E Source just released a white paper entitled Launching Energy-Efficiency Programs: Ten Lessons for Success (and One for Failure). It is an excellent piece that is worth picking up. It talks about key principles to keep your EE program(s) on track. Keep in mind that this white paper is based on the collective knowledge of my company E Source, which has spent the last 23+ years focused on Demand Side Management and Demand Response, so this is a highly credible document.
For my part, I discuss the evolution of FirstEnergy's CFL program communications situation in the paper. I wish I could say I was surprised with how quickly this story moved up from the blogosphere to the mainstream media, and into the national spotlight, but it's just another volatile example of the new communications landscape utilities (and all businesses) live in. This particular story went from rather neutral/standard press coverage, to national political leaders calling for investigations in less than 48 hours. I suggest that understanding this phenomenon, specifically how quickly stories (particularly controversial ones) can gain momentum and find their way into the regional or national consciousness, is critical to the modern communications professional.
You can get the white paper off the E Source.com website here. It is painless for non-members. If you are an E Source member, you should have access to it when you log in to the site. As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.
For my part, I discuss the evolution of FirstEnergy's CFL program communications situation in the paper. I wish I could say I was surprised with how quickly this story moved up from the blogosphere to the mainstream media, and into the national spotlight, but it's just another volatile example of the new communications landscape utilities (and all businesses) live in. This particular story went from rather neutral/standard press coverage, to national political leaders calling for investigations in less than 48 hours. I suggest that understanding this phenomenon, specifically how quickly stories (particularly controversial ones) can gain momentum and find their way into the regional or national consciousness, is critical to the modern communications professional.
You can get the white paper off the E Source.com website here. It is painless for non-members. If you are an E Source member, you should have access to it when you log in to the site. As always, if you have any questions, please let me know.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Utility Brand/Sustainability/Community/PR Websites
FPL's Generation Clean website (http://www.generationclean.com/) and Sempra's Every Day Life website (http://www.sempraeveryday.com/) represents a unique brand-focused site that speaks specifically to utility values, their role in the community, efforts on sustainability (often including reports and internal/external initiatives), recent projects, and sometimes service options (like online billing or green power) that customers can utilize. It is a trend we are seeing more an more. Design and functional elements are often very strong, utilizing images of the environment and the communities they serve. The sites are often distinct from from the primary utility website. I will be discussing these sites more in 2010 through E Source, though dates at still TBD.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Best Practices in Energy Efficiency Advertisments
Chad Garret (fellow E Source Manager) and I had our paper on Best Practices in Energy Efficiency Advertisements selected by AESP (Association of Energy Service Professionals) for presentation at their 2010 National Conference in Tuscon, AZ. We are excited to be part of this 20th anniversary event and look forward to presenting on our analysis of over 60 utility energy efficiency print ads from across North America.
For our talk, we will look at the positive and negative characteristics of both the most popular ads, as well as those that didn't garner the same attention. We will break down commonalities, differences, effective ad elements and structures worthy of consideration for 2010. Hopefully, we will be able to provide some useful insights during this particularly important window of increased attention and funding for Demand Side Management (DSM) programs. Tens of millions of dollars are spent on EE advertising and this is only going to increase as efficiency is increasingly viewed as a critical resource in meeting future energy demand. I will post conclusions after we present in February!
For our talk, we will look at the positive and negative characteristics of both the most popular ads, as well as those that didn't garner the same attention. We will break down commonalities, differences, effective ad elements and structures worthy of consideration for 2010. Hopefully, we will be able to provide some useful insights during this particularly important window of increased attention and funding for Demand Side Management (DSM) programs. Tens of millions of dollars are spent on EE advertising and this is only going to increase as efficiency is increasingly viewed as a critical resource in meeting future energy demand. I will post conclusions after we present in February!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The Comfortable Chairs at Starbucks
Marketing and social media consultant Ken Chen (Founder of EM Marketing), recently wrote in his blog:
“The big opportunity sitting right in front of most brands is to build a meaningful community or experience inside their own site. A place where their customers come, share thoughts and opinions, talk to other customers, gain valuable information, have fun, and want to return again and again. It's the online equivalent of the comfortable chairs at Starbucks.”
Ken is absolutely right…even within the energy industry. No, utilities are not particularly sexy, but we are uniquely positioned within our communities to provide important and useful content to those we serve. National consumer research shows that consumers are more aware than ever of energy and its impact on their lives. How can you be useful to your customers? How can you provide a user experience that brings them back again and again for assistance, energy insights, community support? In other words, what could your comfortable chair be?
“The big opportunity sitting right in front of most brands is to build a meaningful community or experience inside their own site. A place where their customers come, share thoughts and opinions, talk to other customers, gain valuable information, have fun, and want to return again and again. It's the online equivalent of the comfortable chairs at Starbucks.”
Ken is absolutely right…even within the energy industry. No, utilities are not particularly sexy, but we are uniquely positioned within our communities to provide important and useful content to those we serve. National consumer research shows that consumers are more aware than ever of energy and its impact on their lives. How can you be useful to your customers? How can you provide a user experience that brings them back again and again for assistance, energy insights, community support? In other words, what could your comfortable chair be?
Monday, December 21, 2009
Finally Firefox has taken over IE...and growing!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Effective Elements of Top Utility Energy Efficiency Print Ads
All utility marketing professionals recognize that energy comes with a complex and evolving set societal baggage related to finance, fairness, entitlement, pragmatism, morality, apathy, and simple understanding. Breaking through these barriers is a difficult challenge that requires the combination of creativity and properly placed pressure points to not only grab the customer’s attention, but compel engagement and action.
We, meaning my marketing research and analytics team at E Source, pulled together a national utility energy efficiency print advertising contest in 2009, which included a highly respected set of judges from Crispin Porter, SmartPower, the University of Colorado at Boulder, E Source, and others. Based on their feedback/comments and our own comparative analysis, we found that simplicity, iconic and narrative focused imagery/visuals, a clear and concise call to action, and intelligent humor and/or irony, are all effective elements and techniques used in 2009 energy efficiency utility ads. Just use those and you will be all set. Clearly, there is no way to wrap a tidy bow around any type of advertising and the suggestions above are somewhat amorphous when suggested out of their physical context (meaning the 60+ EE print ads we reviewed), but such is life. Clearly ad creative is an art linked to science; however, the insights we gained from this work were not only interesting, but also compelling, and will hopefully be helpful to the community of utility DSM advertisers. If you want to see some of the top ads, let me know and I'll happily pass them along!
Here is the link to the press release about the print ad contest results: http://www.esource.com/esource/getpub/public/pdf/press_releases/ES_PR_AdContest09.pdf
We, meaning my marketing research and analytics team at E Source, pulled together a national utility energy efficiency print advertising contest in 2009, which included a highly respected set of judges from Crispin Porter, SmartPower, the University of Colorado at Boulder, E Source, and others. Based on their feedback/comments and our own comparative analysis, we found that simplicity, iconic and narrative focused imagery/visuals, a clear and concise call to action, and intelligent humor and/or irony, are all effective elements and techniques used in 2009 energy efficiency utility ads. Just use those and you will be all set. Clearly, there is no way to wrap a tidy bow around any type of advertising and the suggestions above are somewhat amorphous when suggested out of their physical context (meaning the 60+ EE print ads we reviewed), but such is life. Clearly ad creative is an art linked to science; however, the insights we gained from this work were not only interesting, but also compelling, and will hopefully be helpful to the community of utility DSM advertisers. If you want to see some of the top ads, let me know and I'll happily pass them along!
Here is the link to the press release about the print ad contest results: http://www.esource.com/esource/getpub/public/pdf/press_releases/ES_PR_AdContest09.pdf
Thursday, December 17, 2009
2010 Utility Marketing & Social Media Trends
I think it is clear that we will see the continued growth, commercialization and overall sophistication of online social media. This will have interesting implications for its evolution, both on the user and marketing sides of the coin. A small number of utilities will begin integrating social media presence with their traditional marketing efforts, but this will not happen on a broader scale until 2011 and beyond.
Utilities will also start seeing the cross-functional complexities of operating in the social media space. Integrating communications, marketing and customer care will be a challenge for 2011+. Few will have problems with it this year...though it will start to appear on the internal radar.
The influx of brands and other commercial interests into social media sites will continue to fracture online communities into more refined and specialized sub-groups. To keep up and maintain relevance, marketers will have to better understand the behaviours and intersections within these communities, as well as the relationship with traditional marketing. Figuring out what is valuable to customers will be ongoing process of learning; however, data and more sophisticated analytics will be increasingly mission critical. Social search optimization (SSO) will be a more recognized term in 2010, though mostly irrelevant to utilities. And yes, the argument for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will remain valid and strong.
Better understanding and leveraging media convergence will be of increasing importance. Utility communicators will look for social media resource expenditure ROIs (at the request of management) and find them elusive at best in 2010. There will be significant advancements in social media tracking and analytics as provider compete, Though this automation will not match perfectly with the utility need, the industry will adapt and leverage where they can. Utility communicators and some util marketers will become increasingly savvy in this area, which will lay the ground work for 2011+.
Bottom line, social media will continue to quickly evolve and both marketing and communications will be forced to adapt along the way. While the primary focus for utilities in 2010 will still be strategic communications and brand, we will see its awareness and influence grow within other departments.
Utilities will also start seeing the cross-functional complexities of operating in the social media space. Integrating communications, marketing and customer care will be a challenge for 2011+. Few will have problems with it this year...though it will start to appear on the internal radar.
The influx of brands and other commercial interests into social media sites will continue to fracture online communities into more refined and specialized sub-groups. To keep up and maintain relevance, marketers will have to better understand the behaviours and intersections within these communities, as well as the relationship with traditional marketing. Figuring out what is valuable to customers will be ongoing process of learning; however, data and more sophisticated analytics will be increasingly mission critical. Social search optimization (SSO) will be a more recognized term in 2010, though mostly irrelevant to utilities. And yes, the argument for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will remain valid and strong.
Content will remain king, especially for utilities. Utility social media efforts that don't provide valuable, helpful and/or compelling information to users will fall flat. Being there will still not be enough in 2010 and for the foreseeable future. It will take time for customers to connect with their energy provider(s) and understand what that relationship can be.
The smart phone revolution will rapidly innovative new ways of communicating and interacting, though utilities will not be on the cutting edge of this movement. New business models will emerge, but few utilities will integrate in 2010.Better understanding and leveraging media convergence will be of increasing importance. Utility communicators will look for social media resource expenditure ROIs (at the request of management) and find them elusive at best in 2010. There will be significant advancements in social media tracking and analytics as provider compete, Though this automation will not match perfectly with the utility need, the industry will adapt and leverage where they can. Utility communicators and some util marketers will become increasingly savvy in this area, which will lay the ground work for 2011+.
Bottom line, social media will continue to quickly evolve and both marketing and communications will be forced to adapt along the way. While the primary focus for utilities in 2010 will still be strategic communications and brand, we will see its awareness and influence grow within other departments.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Social Media Metrics - A conversation w/ Ken Chen
I get asked all the time about how utilities should measure their social media efforts. It is an important piece of the social media puzzle for utilities, since we are measurement driven organizations. It is also easy to believe the hype that there is no effective way to measure social media, but that is simply not the case.
A lot of smart people, like respected social media and marketing consultant Ken Chen (Founder of EM Marketing), flatly reject the “no metrics” assertion and actually see the opposite. For Ken, the very nature of the web provides marketers and communicators plenty of data points they could have only dream of twenty years ago. These metrics can be found both inside and outside your site, including traffic, engagement, participation, velocity of talk, sentiment and your content uptake. As a side note, it is critical to get your baseline measurements, or access to past data sets, before you swing into action…otherwise, gaining context is significantly more difficult.
"Bah!...some of those are old metrics" you say? Well, Ken's approach to social media measurement reflects an appropriately holistic and goal-oriented view of your online marketing and communications efforts. Social media is not an end, but rather a means. It is critical to clearly understand and define what the end game really is for your utility's social media efforts (program participation, information sharing, customer care/service, brand building. etc...?). Once you are clear on that piece, the metrics, both new and old, will begin to fall into place and make a lot more sense moving forward.
A lot of smart people, like respected social media and marketing consultant Ken Chen (Founder of EM Marketing), flatly reject the “no metrics” assertion and actually see the opposite. For Ken, the very nature of the web provides marketers and communicators plenty of data points they could have only dream of twenty years ago. These metrics can be found both inside and outside your site, including traffic, engagement, participation, velocity of talk, sentiment and your content uptake. As a side note, it is critical to get your baseline measurements, or access to past data sets, before you swing into action…otherwise, gaining context is significantly more difficult.
"Bah!...some of those are old metrics" you say? Well, Ken's approach to social media measurement reflects an appropriately holistic and goal-oriented view of your online marketing and communications efforts. Social media is not an end, but rather a means. It is critical to clearly understand and define what the end game really is for your utility's social media efforts (program participation, information sharing, customer care/service, brand building. etc...?). Once you are clear on that piece, the metrics, both new and old, will begin to fall into place and make a lot more sense moving forward.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Smart Meter / Smart Grid Backlash
Watch out! The SmartGrid/SmartMeter backlash wave is gaining strength with each passing week. The questions is, what do you get when you combine the bad economy, a debt crisis, rate increases of new meter installation and infrastructure upgrades that happen to be connected to billing/usage increases (whether perceived or real), surcharge increases, fuel cost increases, data privacy concerns, widespread corporate mistrust, lawsuits, and then add an very hungry and polarizing mainstream media, the blogosphere and digital social networks? The answer: A problem. In many ways, it is a perfect storm.
In the past week alone, I spoke with five major utilities in various phases of their deployments and they were all starting to feel the heat from SmartMeter/Grid controversies in other parts of the county. It is a rude awakening to the new, inter-connected world. Customers in the Northwest that were previously on-board with SmartMeters are suddenly asking questions based on events in the Southeast. The Bakersfield, CA lawsuit against PG&E is garnering national attention and coalescing resistance against these initiatives in other parts of the country.
I covered the SmartMeter communications trends and some of the critical shifts I've seen just in the past few months. The number one take away is to be flexible and be proactive, as this storm is only starting to form. Many of my clients are shifting to specific and more focused messages that address specific concerns their customers have locally and even nationally. There are certainly external factors that could stop this story's momentum, but I wouldn't count on it. I suspect we will see more legal action, and thus more negative attention, in the coming months and year. Even if the backlash hasn't reached you yet, I would start preparing and planning for when it does.
In the past week alone, I spoke with five major utilities in various phases of their deployments and they were all starting to feel the heat from SmartMeter/Grid controversies in other parts of the county. It is a rude awakening to the new, inter-connected world. Customers in the Northwest that were previously on-board with SmartMeters are suddenly asking questions based on events in the Southeast. The Bakersfield, CA lawsuit against PG&E is garnering national attention and coalescing resistance against these initiatives in other parts of the country.
I covered the SmartMeter communications trends and some of the critical shifts I've seen just in the past few months. The number one take away is to be flexible and be proactive, as this storm is only starting to form. Many of my clients are shifting to specific and more focused messages that address specific concerns their customers have locally and even nationally. There are certainly external factors that could stop this story's momentum, but I wouldn't count on it. I suspect we will see more legal action, and thus more negative attention, in the coming months and year. Even if the backlash hasn't reached you yet, I would start preparing and planning for when it does.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Utility Employee Pandemic Communications
Severe pandemics have the potential to impair every level of your organization. Therefore, proactive internal communications are essential to preparing your utility employees for potential operational and personal impacts. Beyond general health education and awareness (for example, how to catch sneezes and coughs properly), it’s important to provide information on your company’s pandemic flu (PanFlu) policies and procedures, such as security procedures and anti-viral drug dissemination information.
If you don’t have a PanFlu communications plan, you should seriously consider creating one. A PanFlu communications plan is a living document that requires regular updates as policies, procedures, and objectives as circumstances evolve. The plan is helpful, but the planning process itself is essential, as it will force you to walk through the many details and potential implications specific to your utility. If you have questions on what goes into a utility employee pandemic flu communications plan, let me know.
If you don’t have a PanFlu communications plan, you should seriously consider creating one. A PanFlu communications plan is a living document that requires regular updates as policies, procedures, and objectives as circumstances evolve. The plan is helpful, but the planning process itself is essential, as it will force you to walk through the many details and potential implications specific to your utility. If you have questions on what goes into a utility employee pandemic flu communications plan, let me know.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Social Media vs. Social Marketing
It isn't unusual for folks to use "social media" and "social marketing" interchangeably in conversation these days. Although similar sounding, they are actually quite different. You will hear many different definitions of both, but the basics remain distinct.
"Social Media" refers to social interactivity and content creation/collaboration tools/plaforms on the web. The most commonly referenced examples of "social media" are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube; however, there are many different ways for users to share their thoughts, ideas, expertise, as well as collaborate and network online. "Social Media" is an extension of "Web 2.0," which is a term used to describe web applications that provide user-generated content. Web 2.0 encompasses things like blogs, wikis, and podcasts, as well as the social media sites mentioned above.
"Social Marketing" is the use of marketing techniques to influence behavior or social perception, as opposed to marketing a particular product or service. Examples of well know social media campaigns include: environmental behavior change (Crying Indian Campaign), seat belt usage (Dummy Campaign, "You could learn a lot from a dummy!"), Forest Fires (Smokey The Bear Campaign), Anti-Smoking (Truth Campaign), etc... Internationally, "social marketing" is used to combat malaria, AIDS, water and environmental degradation, gender violence,. drug abuse and much more. These "behavior change" campaigns leverage social norms, competition, social networks, careful messaging, and precise targeting effectively influence their audiences.
"Social Media" refers to social interactivity and content creation/collaboration tools/plaforms on the web. The most commonly referenced examples of "social media" are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube; however, there are many different ways for users to share their thoughts, ideas, expertise, as well as collaborate and network online. "Social Media" is an extension of "Web 2.0," which is a term used to describe web applications that provide user-generated content. Web 2.0 encompasses things like blogs, wikis, and podcasts, as well as the social media sites mentioned above.
"Social Marketing" is the use of marketing techniques to influence behavior or social perception, as opposed to marketing a particular product or service. Examples of well know social media campaigns include: environmental behavior change (Crying Indian Campaign), seat belt usage (Dummy Campaign, "You could learn a lot from a dummy!"), Forest Fires (Smokey The Bear Campaign), Anti-Smoking (Truth Campaign), etc... Internationally, "social marketing" is used to combat malaria, AIDS, water and environmental degradation, gender violence,. drug abuse and much more. These "behavior change" campaigns leverage social norms, competition, social networks, careful messaging, and precise targeting effectively influence their audiences.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Democratization Of Information and Voice
Thanks to Kate Rowland (@katerowland2) for this blog post from a recent conversation we had. It is an excellent snapshot of why utilities should care about, and pay attention to, social media. Welcome to the new reality.
http://www.energyblogs.com/rowland/index.cfm/2009/10/16/Tweeting-Up-the-News
http://www.energyblogs.com/rowland/index.cfm/2009/10/16/Tweeting-Up-the-News
The Social Media Four Step
The fundamentals of social media are no different whether a utility or Proctor & Gamble. Across industries, I see four basic steps that most most companies generally work (sometime stumble) through:
- Ignore
- Listen
- Engage
- Lead
This isn't a new or unique concept and is very high-level; however, it does provide the framework to think about where you are and where you are headed.
Let's start with the fact that ignoring social media is not a viable strategy. If nothing else, you should at least be thinking about it. One good way to begin that process is to better understand where your organization sits in the digital/social media space. Listening will help you understand how much chatter there is about your utility (a lot or a little?), who is doing the talking (mainstream media, bloggers, micro-bloggers?), what they are saying (good, bad or neutral?), and other data to points to help provide some direction. Although E Source (www.esource.com), my employer, has a more advanced, utility-focused social media monitoring and analytics platform, which we provide to all of our clients, the no-cost options (like Google Alerts, TweetDeck, Technorati, etc...) are a great place to start.
Armed with better information, you can start to develop a strategy and potentially engage in conversations at an appropriate time and in an appropriate manner. Engagement is about becoming a consistent and trusted voice within the various communities you decide to join. If you are a credible source of good/helpful information/service, you will be able to eventually start conversations, influence discussions, obtain feedback, and have people actually listen to you. The bottom line is that leadership is earned over time and I think it should be a goal for most (not all) utilities.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Utility Social Media Cross-Functional Teams
I have been impressed with the increased sophistication of utility social media strategy teams. Although obvious to utility professionals, social media is a different animal for utilities, as compared to a small business or even a large consumer products company, so we need to take a more coordinated and planned approach.
One trend I see more and more across North America is the creation of cross-functional teams to outline social media goals, strategy and work flow. Communications has been the traditional home for social media in most utilities; however, these newer teams often include communications, marketing, customer care, legal, IT and sometimes even HR and investor relations.The purpose and focus of each team changes from organization to organization, but the issues I see them tackling include things like:
• Organizational goals, within the context of departmental goals
• Channel selection
• Departmental responsibilities/boundaries
• Use case planning and associated work flows
• Governance
• High-level metrics
• Strategy
• IT requirements
• Legal exposure
• Management case development
• and much, much more…
The bottom line is that social media potentially touches on so many different aspects of a utility’s operations that these cross-functional teams are not only a critical vehicle for the initial planning and implementation phases, but the ongoing evolution of the organization’s social media strategy.
One trend I see more and more across North America is the creation of cross-functional teams to outline social media goals, strategy and work flow. Communications has been the traditional home for social media in most utilities; however, these newer teams often include communications, marketing, customer care, legal, IT and sometimes even HR and investor relations.The purpose and focus of each team changes from organization to organization, but the issues I see them tackling include things like:
• Organizational goals, within the context of departmental goals
• Channel selection
• Departmental responsibilities/boundaries
• Use case planning and associated work flows
• Governance
• High-level metrics
• Strategy
• IT requirements
• Legal exposure
• Management case development
• and much, much more…
The bottom line is that social media potentially touches on so many different aspects of a utility’s operations that these cross-functional teams are not only a critical vehicle for the initial planning and implementation phases, but the ongoing evolution of the organization’s social media strategy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
