B2B Energy Marketing and the Monsters Under the Bed

Posted by Dave Treston on July 14, 2017 at 9:30 AM

What do the boogieman and energy marketing have in common?

The unknown. 

Uncertainty about what lurks (or doesn’t lurk) around every corner (or under every bed) is the reason that young children run to their parents’ room at 1:00am.

It’s why moms and dads crawl under beds with flashlights to prove there are no such things as monsters.

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The same uncertainty that creates a fear of monsters in children can also affect decision makers at businesses large and small.

Uncertainty, especially related to their expenses and bottom line can keep a leader up at night, wondering how their organization will respond to an ever-changing marketplace.

We’re seeing the impact of uncertainty over and over again in series of conversations with business decision makers on the topic of energy management. Take for example this comment from a decision maker at a candy manufacturer:

“We’re looking to control costs because there’s always uncertainty. We don’t know what’s going to happen in the market. Right now energy rates are relatively cheap and to lock them in for two years is one less variable cost to worry about.”

But how much control over his organization’s energy costs is he really achieving when in two years the cycle starts all over again? Will rates stay low? What if they don’t?

These companies that are playing the rate management game rather than developing an energy management strategy (or investing in energy efficiency) are an enormous opportunity for energy efficiency marketers.

But how can we break through to them? 

Just as Mom and Dad have to get out of bed with their flashlights rather than simply telling their kids that monsters don’t exist, we have to do more than tell business leaders about our solutions.

We have to show them why a holistic energy management strategy is a better long-term bet.

And we have to prove it by providing easily understandable data to back up our story. 

So everyone grab their proverbial flashlight and let’s get started.
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Want to hear more from our conversations with business decision makers?

It’ll be coming soon.

Stay tuned!

 

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Topics: Customer-Centric Marketing, Utility Communications, Data and Analytics, Digital Transformation and User Experience, Innovation, Marketing Strategy and Best Practices, Audience Segmentation