Modernize your cleantech marketing strategy

For small businesses in cleantech, marketing strategy is as important to success as having a valuable product. Marketing starts by creating something that people actually want—then creating the hype for it. Don’t expect your product to sell unless you exert efforts to create demand for it.

Cleantech businesses target a niche segment of the market. While cleantech solutions are highly innovative, their marketing strategies are old-school. Many cleantech companies cling to in-house promotions and print campaigns in their bid to compete. Today’s customers expect companies to be able to keep up with them seamlessly.

Make your business relevant by speaking to your audience in the language they are tuned into. In order to compete, it is vital for cleantech businesses to modernize their marketing approach by balancing between an innovative solution and a go-to-market strategy relevant for the digital age.

Social media

Love it or hate it, social media is a primary source of contact for many companies. It is an increasingly effective medium for improving customer satisfaction. People will share their views about your company on social media whether you are present or not. Therefore, it makes sense to leverage the advantages of social media. This can raise your customer service and engagement to a whole new level.

Above all, use social media as a tactical weapon to expand your digital footprint. Customers are exposed to a large amount of electronic content that continues to grow year on year.

According to Nielsen, Americans now spend roughly 10 hours per day tethered to computers, smartphones, tablets, and other devices.

Data analytics

Listen carefully to online conversations. Use data tracking analysis, market optimization and search engine optimization (SEO) tools. Track the flow of data and analyze it for actionable insights.

Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to study metrics about buyers’ visits so that you can continually revise messaging and content. Then, apply data-driven reasoning to create personalized customer experiences and to respond quickly to evolving market conditions. This will also enable to you accurately calculate the ROI for targeted marketing campaigns.

Tactical marketing

Inbound marketing is bi-directional. If you provide valuable and compelling content, your customer prospects can provide data about their interests and needs based on how they engage with that content. Make sure to optimize it so that it ranks in searches. Track a set of metrics on buyers’ visits to your website to revise messaging and make follow-up sales contact smarter and better timed.

Attention spans are shrinking. This means that to attract a prospect’s attention, customer education content has to be quick and current. Typically, customers will do their research online and buy only when they are ready.

Research shows that up to 60% of customers are using the internet to explore their options before buying.

Content marketing is key. Make your website the go-to place for valuable, accurate, and informative content about the product, the industry, and market trends. Update your resource library and knowledge base. The most important thing is to ensure that your content brand is not just mimicking what others are also saying online.

Provide value with your content. Provide insights, thought leadership and data that makes your prospects come back for more. Stay focused on your vision and commit to serving your audience. Continue to put out valuable stuff over and over again. However, while it looks simple on paper, execution can be intensely challenging.

Branding

Build brand stickiness. Establish your brand as a beacon for cleantech. Prioritize branding to win customers and build loyalty. For cleantech companies, this means surveying the market, the competition and the audience. Craft your brand as one that balances clean and green with efficiency and profitability.

Marketing in a digital age. There’s no cookie-cutter strategy as each company has unique business needs. Engaging buyers and creating tailored customer experiences are the new way to do business.

Marketing strategies have to work together to address changing market conditions. Unlock success by assembling a strategy that leverages on social media, data driven reasoning, and tactical marketing to attract and acquire new customers.