Customer Engagement Archives - Page 13 of 19

Energy Spotlight: Greg Anderson

Greg Anderson is one of three Marketing Managers at Atmos Energy. He works for the MidTex Division, covering most of North Texas — roughly half of all of Atmos’ customers. He leads a team of five Account Managers who work with developers within the utility’s sector to add new meters and customers.

Anderson began his career in the energy utility industry as an electrical engineer for Texas Utilities Electric Company. A surprising timeline of events shifted Anderson from engineering to marketing, beginning with TU Electric’s purchase of Lone Star Gas in 1996. TU Electric then added “Gas” to its name and became a dual-fuel company.

Following electric deregulation in 2000, a position opened in TU’s gas sector for marketing management. Anderson had an interest in cross-training to better understand both fuel types, so applied and has been in marketing ever since. “It wasn’t by design really, but I couldn’t be happier with how the path worked out,” he says. “It’s been an interesting journey.”

During our Q&A, Anderson said the initiative he is most proud of is his work with Habitat for Humanity’s Zero Net Energy Homes program. Atmos partnered with Habitat for Humanity on several build projects to help create energy efficient homes, with an end result of zero net energy.

“In addition to creating an energy efficient home, this is also an opportunity to show the public that natural gas can be a vibrant part of a zero net energy home and be good for the environment,” Anderson explains.

Atmos partnered with Habitat for Humanity in Colorado for the first home build, which was completed mid-year. Another home is under construction in Austin, Texas, and Anderson’s team will begin work on one in Dallas in the new year.

“This is a great way to partner and help families in need. We’re very supportive of our communities and we’ve always had a partnership with Habitat for Humanity to volunteer with man-power,” Anderson says. “However, with COVID we couldn’t do that so we thought, why not partner in another way and showcase a new type of home.”

He adds, “In many ways, natural gas gets a bad reputation because it’s a fossil fuel so people assume it has to be dirty. But actually, we can use natural gas heating, water heating and cooking in a home and it will still be zero net energy and meet all the indoor air requirement mandates. It’s a way to say, ‘Hey, don’t forget about us. We’re not the problem, we can be part of the solution.’”

Anderson lives just north of Dallas with his wife and son. He’s an avid sports fan and outdoorsman, loving to fish and hunt. He also plays baseball and has been in a league since he was 20 years old. Although he’s had some shoulder surgeries, nothing keeps him out of the game and he looks forward to every season.

Questline Digital spoke with Anderson to get his views on changes in the utility industry, thought-provoking marketing campaigns and the evolution of energy.

How did you get started in the energy utility industry?

I was an electrical engineering graduate from Texas A&M and received an offer with TU Electric Company, where I cut my teeth in the industry.

What has changed the most about your job over the course of your career?

Many things, such as changing from an “electric guy” to a “gas guy,” the changing energy landscape with regard to primary fuel source options, and the significant augmentations in competition within the Texas market.

What excites you the most about the energy utility space?

The rapid evolutionary changes in the industry, which are now playing a positive part of the national conversation around the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) topic.

What initiative are you most proud of?

Working with Habitat for Humanity to create Zero Net Energy homes for their recipients, where the homes include clean, efficient and affordable natural gas appliances.

What marketing campaign outside the industry do you wish you’d thought of?

Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign seemed revolutionary to me as it appealed to everyone’s inner fight/no-quit spirit. As I recall it solidified Nike’s stranglehold on the athletic footwear market.

What is the hardest part of working in the energy industry today?

Well, unfortunately of late, our industry seems to be a microcosm of the polarized “misinformation” of our society as a whole. The energy industry would be best served by unbiased, fuel-agnostic, collaborative approaches to energy efficiency, emissions and environmental preservation for the betterment of everyone.

Finish this sentence: If I weren’t working in marketing, I would be…

Working outdoors, enjoying the accompanying exercise and the weather, rain or shine!

What is your favorite eNewsletter outside of the utility industry?

I absolutely love Quora Digest. It features interesting questions from everyday people about specific fields of study (such as space, aviation, car repair, sports) that are answered by other everyday people with proficiency in those areas. To me it’s a wonderful, non-politically biased sharing of knowledge through a social platform/newsletter.

How do you anticipate the world of energy evolving in the coming years?

Continued technological advancements will facilitate our quest for sustainable, net zero, affordable energy for generations to come without the negative environmental implications of today.

What advice would you give those entering the utility space?

This isn’t your grandparents’, or even your parents’, utility industry. Compared to those versions, this space is moving at light speed!

Participation in Questline Digital’s Energy Spotlight series does not indicate an endorsement from utility partners.

Energy Spotlight: Hanna Balla

From the airline industry to healthcare, Hanna Balla has seen it all. Currently the Director of Customer Experience & Insights for NiSource, Balla looks to her past industries with gratitude for helping her get to where she is today.

Working with utility digital experiences, Balla has seen the energy industry go through a major transformation. Long gone are the days of “ratepayers,” making way for opportunities to engage and listen to customers. Her passion for the environment ties in perfectly with the growing role that utilities play in energy efficiency and sustainability. “The industry is fun to be in right now,” she notes.

Balla grew up in New York but has lived in Columbus, Ohio, since college. Beyond her work with NiSource, Balla loves hiking, surfing and traveling. Although international travel had to be put on hold due to COVID-19, Balla said that the remote year actually helped her team, which is scattered throughout the Midwest, become more efficient, effective and closer. “In the past, Columbus colleagues would meet in the office,” she said. “With everyone now over Zoom, the opportunities to engage as a full team have been equalized.”

Balla is also a strong advocate for minorities in the energy industry. “I’m Korean-American and I don’t see a lot of Asian-Americans in the energy industry, at least from where I sit. Since I don’t see it, I’ve become an advocate for minorities in energy and leadership in general. It’s been really fun to be a part of that and to pave a path for others.”

Focusing on customer experience is also important to her work. “The voice of the customer has gotten louder and we’re responding to it,” Balla said. “Previously, old systems and processes hadn’t been touched, but now we’re focused on making things easier for customers and catching up to their expectations. There is a lot of energy and acceleration to help customers do more online than they could before.

“Things are changing, and utilities are excited to get fun and creative now,” she added. “The moment we look at things as a customer, the narrative changes.”

Questline Digital spoke with Balla to get her thoughts on changes in the utility industry, thought-provoking marketing campaigns and the evolution of energy.

How did you get started in the energy utility industry?

It was actually by accident! I had a couple of good friends/former colleagues in the healthcare industry who were working for NiSource. At the time the company was hiring a marketing manager for one of its states, Columbia Gas of Ohio. Given my experience, my former colleagues reached out about the opportunity.

I didn’t have any sort of background in the energy industry. Most of my experience was in the airline, healthcare, retail and QSR (quick-service restaurant) industries, but a lot of those skills were transferrable to the role at Columbia Gas of Ohio. I applied — and I’ve been on the energy industry learning curve ever since.

What has changed the most about working in the utility industry over the course of your career?

I’ve actually held four roles in the five years I’ve been with the company. I started in energy efficiency marketing for Columbia Gas of Ohio and now I’m leading customer experience and insights across the enterprise (six operating companies). It’s been exciting because things have constantly been in flux. The energy industry has seen a major shift in customer-focused modernization and transformation in the last few years. Sitting on the customer-focused side, that’s the biggest shift I’ve seen.

What excites you the most about the energy utility space?

The opportunity. We’re in an industry that experiences a lot of change and innovation, from digital transformation to a focus on renewable energy, and we’re giving our customers more control, transparency, and options. The industry is ripe for change, and the pace of the change has been rapid, which has been very exciting.

Tell me about the campaign or initiative you’re most proud of.

When I first joined Columbia Gas of Ohio, we did a full marketing audit and a rebrand to ensure that our messaging was consistent and impactful. Also to ensure it resonated with our customers in order to improve awareness, recall, and action for energy efficiency programs and initiatives. It was exciting to see the impact that strategic marketing can have on not only customer awareness and participation of our programs, but the positive impact those actions were having in communities and on our environment.

What is the hardest part of an energy marketer’s job today?

I think it’s keeping things simple. Our industry is large and complex, but at the end of the day, our customers care about having reliable service and interactions being simple. One of our challenges is making sure we constantly see and solve for things through the customer’s lens — not our own as people who are close to the industry.

How do you anticipate the world of energy evolving in the coming years? What are you looking forward to?

We often say that our customers don’t have a choice to be our customers, and though that may not change in the near future, I do think that how they get energy from us will change and the options they have for energy sources will grow. With that, customer choice becomes greater and being able to meet customer needs and keep things radically simple and transparent will become more and more important. I think the opportunities with renewable energy is incredibly exciting!

What advice would you give to those entering the utility space?

Stay curious. This is a large, complex industry with a lot of moving pieces and parts, and a lot of history with dependencies in many areas. In order to do good work, it’s critical to understand the industry itself and all the levers that influence the work we do. That means there’s a lot to learn, there are a lot of existing systems in place, and sometimes, it takes some creative problem solving to get things done.

Five years in, I feel like I just scratched the surface. I think it’s a balance of understanding the industry and also bringing fresh ideas to the table to really make an impact for our customers.

Participation in Questline Digital’s Energy Spotlight series does not indicate an endorsement from utility partners.

How Celebrating Your Customer Anniversary Can Boost Engagement + Anniversary Email Examples

After new customer onboarding, energy consumers are accustomed to receiving billing notices and outage alerts from their utility. While these are essential messages, you need more than just transactional communications to build a long-term positive relationship. Anniversary emails can help increase engagement by recognizing a meaningful touchpoint in the customer lifecycle.

What is a customer anniversary email?

Anniversary emails celebrate a customer’s annual milestone with their energy utility. A customer’s anniversary offers a chance to reach out one year post service enrollment and show that you care.

We recommend sending an anniversary email one year after a customer receives their first Welcome Series message. An easy addition to your email marketing strategy, these personalized messages are automatically sent to customers when they reach the one-year milestone.

Why should you send a client anniversary message?

Customer and client anniversary messages are known to boost engagement. Questline Digital data shows that customer anniversary emails achieve an 89% higher open rate than our baseline.

In addition to providing a reason to connect with customers, anniversary emails help to humanize your energy utility — something not possible with a program promotion or other transactional messages.

They are also the perfect tie-in with content marketing.

In addition to the celebratory message, you can share seasonal energy savings tips or promote a product. If a customer hasn’t yet used a service, this is a great time to remind them of what’s available or what’s new.

Make it extra personable by including a special discount and/or overview of individual energy use over the last year.

A customer anniversary email is especially great for first-time homeowners or customers that finally moved into the home of their dreams. Moving is a major milestone in everyone’s life and sending an anniversary email that offers congratulations, assistance and remembrance stands out. Your customers will appreciate this personalized message.

Customer anniversary email examples

Check out these anniversary email examples. They include a mix of product promotions, personalization and thanks.

Wemo

Wemo reaches out to customers one-year post initial purchase to offer a unique discount code. This not only reminds customers of their previous purchase, but it also highlights how they can continue turning their home into a smart hub with other Wemo products.

SHIPT

The grocery delivery company uses its annual client anniversary message to recognize accomplishments and encourage continued account growth. They highlight a customer’s key moments in the past year, making the recipient feel proud of the work they’ve done while also showcasing where they might have room for improvement.

Utility example

This Southwest utility says, ‘thank you’ and directs customers to available resources to help them save on energy. Just because a customer is celebrating their anniversary doesn’t mean they know about every available tool or program – it’s essential to remind them. The message is also populated with the customer’s name to make it more personal.

Airbnb

Airbnb follows up with customers a year after they sign up for booking services to suggest travel destinations. Sometimes a timely reminder is all a customer needs to prompt action. Don’t miss the chance to celebrate your customer anniversary and encourage deeper engagement.

Setting up automated anniversary emails

When building your onboarding email cadence, add a customer anniversary message to the workflow. An anniversary email should be scheduled 365 days after your first Welcome message.

This added touchpoint makes customers feel special, gives your utility an opportunity to promote important content and services and is proven to boost overall engagement.

Learn how a Welcome Series and Anniversary Emails can build strong digital relationships with your energy utility customers.

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Energy Spotlight: Matthew Allen

Matthew Allen is the Senior Key Accounts & Business Analyst for ElectriCities of NC and acts as a guide for their municipal utilities. ElectriCities of NC provides administrative, technical, legal and legislative services to municipal electric utilities throughout North Carolina, as well as some in South Carolina and Virginia. Working with 32 member utilities, Allen helps their commercial and industrial (C&I) customers become more energy efficient and save on utility costs.

Between performing energy audits, encouraging C&I customers to participate in load management programs and helping other member utilities establish or improve their Key Accounts programs, one could say Allen keeps busy.

Allen is a homegrown advocate of ElectriCities, starting his career as an intern during college. He was born and raised in Lexington, North Carolina, and graduated from the University of North Carolina. After college, he applied for a full-time role with ElectriCities and has been with the company ever since. Outside of work, Allen enjoys golf and spending time with family, including his Golden Retriever, Summit.

For Allen, focusing on customer service and the customer experience is always top-of-mind. “In general, a lot of utilities focus on keeping the lights on,” he says. “While this has been the main priority for years, improving the overall customer experience should be an important consideration as we move into the future. All customers have different needs. It’s important for us to listen and identify ways that we can provide value beyond simply keeping the lights on.”

Questline Digital connected with Allen to get his thoughts on changes in the industry, the evolution of energy and advice for those entering the utility space.

How did you get started in the energy utility industry?

I began working at ElectriCities as an intern my sophomore year at UNC Charlotte. My role was year-round and I averaged working about 20 hours per week while in school full-time studying industrial engineering. Once I graduated, a position opened that I was interested in, so I applied. I have been in my current role for almost four years.

What has changed the most about your job working in the utility industry over the course of your career?

In my role, I work closely with our business customers advising them on energy efficiency opportunities. Over the past seven years, I would say newer technologies are allowing customers to reduce electric costs and become more energy efficient more easily than before. And the price of some of these technologies is continuing to decline. LED lighting is a good example of this. I also think the utility industry is beginning to focus more on customer service and the overall customer experience due to more competition. It is fun being a part of this transition.

What excites you the most about the energy utility space?

Electricity is something that impacts everyone. Most everyone uses electricity daily. I enjoy helping folks gain a better understanding of how they use energy and ways they can become more efficient and reduce electric costs. The entire process from energy generation to getting it to the end use customer intrigues me, so it is fun learning more and more about the industry beyond my specific role.

Tell me about the campaign or initiative you’re most proud of.

Over the previous year, we have begun working on some short videos that our members can share with their customers. These videos are targeted toward a variety of different business customers to help them better understand different aspects of electricity usage and utility billing. One of these was a five-minute video that explains energy consumption and peak demand for billing. While we have currently only produced three videos, we have plans for more in the queue.

What’s a marketing campaign you wish you’d thought of, inside or outside the energy industry?

This is not something that I have put a ton of thought into, but I’d say any campaign that can simply explain complex issues and topics to help customers better understand aspects of the industry, such as why utilities charge for peak demand and why conserving energy during peak periods is important. In addition to financial incentives, if customers better understand why certain programs are offered, they can participate more effectively.

What is the hardest part of working in the energy industry today?

I’d say competition is one challenge everyone in the energy industry faces. Municipal utilities, co-ops and investor-owned utilities all have different business models, although they all provide the same product, which is electricity to retail customers. So, it is important to highlight your strengths while also addressing your weaknesses and working to improve those.

Finish this sentence: If I weren’t working with energy key accounts, I would be…

That is a good question. I can’t really see myself working in a different industry. If I wasn’t in a key accounts role, I think I would enjoy working in the operations department or possibly project management.

What is your favorite eNewsletter?

Questline Digital has produced a lot of good content. In general, videos and articles with seasonal checklists tend to be my favorite. It’s easy to forget about everything you need to do to your HVAC system to prepare it for the cooling season during early spring when it has been months since it was regularly used. Seasonal checklists such as this also help me out by providing timely reminders when performing energy audits at different times throughout the year.

How do you anticipate the world of energy evolving in the coming years?

Over the coming years, I believe we are going to continue seeing more and more distributed generation from things like batteries, solar and other small generators as businesses continue to adopt green initiatives. From the utility perspective, it will be a challenge to determine how to best provide reliable power while also meeting the needs of customers. I look forward to helping solve the complex challenges.

What advice would you give to those entering the utility space?

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and don’t feel like you have to be an expert on everything. If a customer asks you a question that you don’t know the answer to, tell them you will find out and follow up with them.

Participation in Questline Digital’s Energy Spotlight series does not indicate an endorsement from utility partners.

Webinar: Using Interactive Content to Engage Customers

Interactive content is not a new concept, but it can be daunting for many companies to understand, let alone produce. However, it’s not as difficult as it appears to develop interactive content.

In our latest webinar, “Using Interactive Content to Engage Customers,” Matt Irving, Brian Lindamood and Robert Abbott share best practices and benefits of using interactive content to increase engagement and grow customer satisfaction for energy utilities.

What is Interactive Content?

Interactive content is easiest to understand as a two-way experience. It requires and encourages active participation from the user. In fact, customers are more likely to learn and remember your message when they actively participate. This type of content is more conversational because it allows the user to decide what path to take. Questline Digital Creative Director Matt Irving explained, “Your click is your voice.”

Customers now expect interaction. We live in an on-demand world, where consumers are constantly “choosing their own adventure.” Irving shared that 81% of marketers agree that interactive content grabs attention more effectively than static content.

There are a few key factors that make interactive content so powerful:

More rewarding – Customers want to have fun
Human nature – We love to interact
Social sharing – Encourages customers to share with friends
Competitive advantage – Helps break through noise in the content space

Benefits of Interactive Content for Energy Utilities

Beyond the theoretical reasons to use interactive content, there are very real benefits. In general, interactive content can help marketers:

Generate first-party audience data
Gain insights on consumer interests
Increase engagement
Optimize lead generation

For energy utilities in particular, interactive content can help them stand out by:

Teaching complex topics
Increasing program awareness
Improving customer experiences
Learning customer preferences and behaviors

Interactive content is also proven to build relationships by building brand awareness and deepening customer loyalty. This type of content doesn’t need to be complex in order to meet business goals.

“We measure customer relationships in decades, and maintaining customer satisfaction with their utility throughout that lifecycle is so important,” said Brian Lindamood, Questline Digital VP of Marketing and Content Strategy. “When an experience is entertaining, as well as informative, it really makes the customer not just more interested, but more likely to engage with it. You’re showing the customer that you care about their needs and interests. … You’re literally interacting with them while also demonstrating that your utility is a helpful resource for them.”

Tips for Producing Interactive Content

Robert Abbott of Context Digital shared helpful insights on both the technical and creative sides of developing interactive content. As with anything, producing this type of content could incur added costs and resources, but it’s a worthy investment. Customers will recognize and appreciate the investment in their entertainment and education.

Abbott stressed that it’s one thing to have the idea for an interactive content piece and it’s another thing to build it. All teams need to be aligned in figuring out the best solution that meets the goal. In the end, the product needs to be produced with the audience in mind. “Always consider what your audience needs or wants,” Abbott said.

Some other tips that Abbott shared, included:

Consider if you have a compelling reason to use it – Don’t create interactive content just for the sake of creating it
Don’t always reinvent the wheel – Use content you already have and repurpose it
Decide on how to measure success – Clicks and engagement rates are important, but consider quantitative metrics as well
Match the format to its intended function – Make sure the type of content is created for the right goals
Consider partnering with interactive content providers – You don’t have to do everything; allow experts to guide you to create a better experience for customers

Interactive Content is King

There are numerous types of interactive content to consider when producing new assets, including:

Calculators
Quizzes
Polls/Surveys
Games
Infographics
Clickable images
Interactive video

Each format has its own specific benefit to improving engagement or enhancing the customer experience. It’s up to your energy utility to research what hurdles your customers are facing and which format can best solve their problems. Put customers first and the content will follow.

Connect with your energy utility’s customers and build engagement with an interactive content strategy from Questline.

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