BYOD
Customer Engagement
Demand Response
EV Charging
Incentive Processing
Program Design
Program Management Automation
Flexible Dispatch
Virtual Power Plants
Platform
Grid-Edge DERMS
Customer Engagement
Demand Forecasting
For more than a century, U.S. electric utilities have operated within a primarily regulated market as a natural monopoly, leaving any marketing efforts as a secondary consideration at best; why market when you’re the only option? Between the introduction of distributed energy resources (DERs), a market experiencing robust growth, and an increasing number of WiFi-enabled technologies, demand flexibility programs like demand response, EV charging, and BYOD programs are easier and more lucrative for utilities than ever.
By employing Grid-Edge distributed energy resource management systems, which manage behind-the-meter DER assets, as well as Grid DERMS, which manage utility-held DER assets, utility program managers can shift load to off-peak hours using any number of demand flexibility initiatives to enhance grid resiliency while defraying expensive peak demand energy costs. In each example, demand flexibility programs are only effective with customer support. So, how can you educate and engage customers to develop your programs?
Messaging Matters: Educate on Misconceptions
First and foremost, messaging matters. Customers often need to be made aware of their potential programs. Furthermore, too much information can be a bad thing. In fact, economists estimate that information overload and the subsequent paralysis associated with too much stimulus can cost a staggering $1 trillion globally. The challenge then is multi-faceted:
- Customers may not know about utility programs
- If customers are aware of a program, they may be leery of what they believe is ceding control of their personal devices to a utility company
- Some customers are likely subject to misinformation on the subject of distributed energy resources (DERs) and their various clean energy applications
To start, make sure you’re meeting customers where they are and addressing core concerns related to the program. If customers are apprehensive about DERs or clean energy, explain the benefits to everyone involved in simple and easy-to-follow language. Minimize fears by explaining how customers can control their energy journey. Above all else, make sure that you find the appropriate marketing channels to reach customers, whether that’s through mailers, billing inserts, television or radio ads, customer service scripts, social media posts, or more.
How To Boost Enrollment
Having determined messaging, it’s time to put together a marketing strategy. In 2022, we wrote a guide to bolstering enrollment in demand flexibility programs that enumerates some basics. That includes:
- Getting the right messaging – Follow the steps above to get started, but never shy away from market research including best-selling devices in your area or more, and use that to inform your decisions
- Finding willing and interested participants – Again, make sure you educate on the many values that DER assets and other clean energy initiatives create both for the customer and the community
- Identifying incentives – What kind of incentives are you offering, and how will you process them?
- Customer segmentation – are there multiple device types in your area that could provide multiple paths to demand flexibility?
- Finding the right device partners – Partnering with the right OEM can not only cut down on development time and costs but can create a path to potential candidates for your program
Marketing Doesn’t Have To Be Expensive (or Hard)
A common refrain we hear from energy professionals is how expensive and time-consuming marketing efforts are for an uncertain outcome. This past Halloween, we addressed these fears with an article all about affordably marketing demand flexibility programs to prospective customers using available resources. From marketing automation to call center scripting, there are many ways to employ existing utility assets to support demand flexibility program growth.
Measuring Demand Flexibility Success
Suppose you’ve started a demand flexibility program: how do you qualify success in your efforts? We tackled this subject in August 2023, with an article that looks not at the success of the marketing campaign, but the outcome of the program itself. In marketing, failure, as the adage goes, is the greatest teacher. First, it’s important to recognize that there is no true marketing failure to learn, but rather deficits in marketing strategies to be addressed. So, if a program underperforms, that informs a series of next moves like:
- Is the program big enough? Are there enough customers enrolled?
- Were enough program enrollees willing to participate?
- Was performance even relative to customer participation, or was it something more technical?
- If one device type underperforms, can you shift course to different a device or device type more common to the area?
Learning from mistakes is instrumental in improving and, hopefully, evolving utility demand flexibility programs.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
As above, outside of something extraordinary or controversial, there is no real failure in marketing, just new lessons to learn. That’s why our marketing team reports on key performance indicators (KPIs) each month to collect the data necessary to demonstrate the efficacy of our efforts. This strategy remains effective for utility marketing by providing actionable data about what does and doesn’t work. In September 2023, we published an article that enumerates these metrics, from enrollment and participation rates to channel effectiveness and more.
Demand Flexibility Program Marketing Power Guide Conclusion
Released in November, the J.D. Power 2024 Electric Utility Business Customer Satisfaction Study is an excellent indicator of what customers want and need from their utilities every year. It should come as no surprise that affordability and reliability remain critical to customer interests. However, this year, the report also indicated that customers are looking for proactive outreach. Coupled with Pew Research studies indicating that Americans overwhelmingly support green energy initiatives, it becomes clear how useful demand flexibility programs are in not only strengthening grid resiliency and decreasing peak energy expenses but in satisfying customer interests in a greener tomorrow.
As always, we can reach these goals better together, and utilities are poised with the resources they need to make a difference in the lives of their communities. Bookmark this guide as a reference for your marketing demand flexibility initiatives.
Want more tips on how to run the best demand flexibility programs out there? We’ve got you covered!
