Call us Today
(888) 846-4937
Email us Today
info@destinymarketingsolutions.com
We created this Solar Facebook Marketing Guide for B2C or B2B solar companies and their in-house marketing staff. Facebook is a great platform to expand your solar brand’s reach, and we hope the strategies and tactics included in this guide will help inspire action!
First rule: Your website serves as the hub for your digital marketing efforts. All channels should drive visitors and prospective customers back to your company’s website.
Make sure that your solar business has a clean, responsive website to attract prospects.
Don't go overboard on your website's homepage; simply ensure that it includes high-quality images and information about your team, what you do, why a prospect should choose you, and why they should take action as soon as possible.
Solar is quickly becoming a viable option for more and more Americans thanks to the demand for sustainable energy sources. With more public demand comes more competition, and forward-thinking solar companies avail all advantages to capture market share, both online and offline.
You can promote your solar company more efficiently with collaborations with other solar experts and businesses.
Leverage social networking tools like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to connect with like-minded brands and explore potential partnerships. Cross-promote your partners’ content, and usually, they will do the same for you.
Before implementing any digital marketing plan, it’s essential to understand who you are targeting.
For instance, consider your company sells solar panels directly to the end consumer.
As of October 2021, the global audience showing interest in solar panels has 26,244,600 members, with the following demographics:
Use this information to develop your marketing message, understand the target audience’s pain points, and develop Facebook content that will resonate with them.
Solar power solutions are gaining momentum as the most viable renewable source of energy. Solar power installs are more common in homes and businesses, enabling households and companies to reduce their carbon footprint while cutting electricity costs.
This article will discuss how solar companies can use Facebook to increase sales, develop loyal customers, and spread brand awareness.
Facebook provides unique features that should make it a mainstay of your solar company’s digital marketing strategy. Your prospects can like your Facebook page and see company updates in their newsfeeds.
Other reasons why Facebook marketing is an excellent choice for your solar business:
A well-designed page for your solar business shows people why they should care about the products and services your company offers.
Proper Facebook marketing can help you create a page that stands out from the crowd and establish your company’s authority within a specific niche or technology within the solar sector.
Even if you're not running active campaigns, Facebook is an important place to establish a presence.
Solar companies looking to develop a strong presence on Facebook need to be prepared to spend time and energy promoting their page before seeing results.
When setting up or reviewing your Facebook business page, do not use industry jargon or sales language, as this will drive prospective customers away.
Instead, focus on creating a superior About section with all of your solar company’s vital information: business address, business phone number, and website URL. Also, make sure to choose the appropriate business category for your page, as this can vary depending on your products and services and whether you serve households or other businesses.
Next, add a clear call to action button at the top of your page, customizing your button to fit the next step you want your prospects to take in your sales journey. You can use options such as “Book Service,” “Learn More,” etc.
Lastly, make your solar brand’s Facebook page visually appealing. Use high-quality images that resonate well with your audience and are also in alignment with your solar company’s branding.
Use social media as a customer service platform, where you can address concerns and questions from your target market and current customers. You must find out what type of content they are looking for and try to accommodate them with a unique content strategy. A basic approach would be to develop a blog using a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress or Hubspot.
Repurpose content from the company website into posts that are shareable on Facebook.
Facebook posts are a great way to drive visitors to your website with links to relevant content.
The content you post should be original and compelling and provide unique value compared to competitors. Consider which values make your solar brand memorable, and infuse these values into your content assets.
Also, determine your brand’s voice and tone.
Do you have a fun team culture?
Make sure this translates to the content you produce and share on Facebook!
If all else fails, try an app like Woobox that allows you to do contests and giveaways such as free t-shirts or coupons.
The most important thing is to give them constant updates on the benefits of solar energy and encourage them to follow you for similar updates in the future.
Don't just shove your logo in their face. You want people to know whose page they're on, but you don't have to overload them with your company's message.
Don't try to sell too much. People don't like being "marketed to,” so instead of coming off as a salesperson, you should introduce them to the benefits of solar-generated electricity and let them drive the conversation from there.
Ideally, you should post creative and unique posts to your Facebook page that attract and target the correct audience. This approach will help to increase engagement on your page, thus driving more business to your solar company. Consider topics such as rising energy bills, the public’s independence on energy from fossil fuels, or the suitability of their home or business for solar.
Regardless of your approach, always position your brand as the authoritative expert within your niche.
Use Facebook events to demonstrate products that you would typically show in person or drive solar leads. Scale these product demo efforts with virtual events, leveraging Facebook’s native live feature or a third-party platform like Zoom.
Structure your virtual events as educational webinars. Even if an attendee does not make a purchase, they leave a good impression of your company and are more knowledgeable during their research process. Record these events to leverage as video content for future marketing campaigns.
Your team can also host digital lunch and learn events, targeting your ideal audience. For example, if your company provides advisory services for local and national compliance, you can host an event targeting Directors of Engineering. The audience leaves the event with helpful information, and your team establishes important contacts.
These are other ways you can promote your Facebook presence on other places online:
One of the biggest mistakes solar companies make is failing to promote their Facebook page across multiple platforms, including their website. Consider setting up Facebook-driven content feeds on your website to automate the process of sharing and set up Facebook’s native integration with Twitter.
Follow these steps to integrate your solar Facebook business page with Twitter:
First, set up a Twitter account for your Facebook page. To do this, go to 'settings, select 'profiles,.’ and click the radio button next to "Add a profile."
Next, enter your new username and password, click on the gear icon at the bottom of Twitter settings and change your profile picture to match the image you're using for your Facebook Page.
Now, whenever you tweet from your personal Twitter account, it will automatically appear on your Facebook page. If you don't already have a Twitter account, create one and add it to your profile before moving on.
Content is even more powerful when targeted to the right audience, which you can do with Facebook Ads.
If you're wondering how to sell solar on Facebook, the platform's Ads Manager allows you to manage your entire solar ad campaign in a single location. Ads Manager includes a comprehensive set of tools for selecting your audience, setting goals, creating ads, and setting firm budgets and timelines to ensure you don't spend more than the budgeted amount.
Host recurring (i.e., weekly) engagement campaigns to build a community around your solar brand. These campaigns might include "fan-only" offers or contests that are available exclusively to Facebook fans.
With Facebook, you can create ads targeted to specific audiences, and various metrics will help you determine whether these ads drive the results you want. For example, did your paid campaigns result in more quality website traffic, allowing your solar brand to see a lift in conversions? Does your advertising message align with your target audience?
If not, this is where A/B testing helps identify the optimal combination of the target audience, ad copy, offer, and landing page that drives actual business results for your solar company.
Other tips for your solar company’s Facebook ads:
Understand what is most important for your audience. Emphasize your customer’s potential electricity savings. Also, consider the different angles when targeting homeowners compared to business owners.
Design your ads with a human element in mind. Ads with people tend to perform well because we are naturally drawn to fellow humans. Consider the posts you see organically on Facebook: parents with their family, pets, etc. Human faces create emotional appeal, so use this to your advantage with your Facebook ad strategy.
Video content typically performs best. In your video content, provide educational value to your target end-user. For example, if your company offers solar panels, promote videos that detail how DIYers can set up an effective solar system for their home or off-grid projects.
Make your call to action clear and concise.
Leverage retargeting ads to target prospects who previously showed an interest in your solar company’s high-quality solar products or services. These are called Facebook Custom audiences, and your team will have to install the Facebook ad pixel to use them. Learn how to set up a Facebook ad pixel here.
In addition to Facebook Custom Audiences, you can build lookalike audiences to expand your solar brand’s potential reach. Lookalike audiences model prospects who visit your solar website or engage with your Facebook content.
Minimize the text content in your Facebook ads, and don’t overlay text on your images. Speak to what your customer cares about: saving money. Not the technical features of your solar products.
If you’re looking to generate Facebook solar leads, lead ads may be an excellent fit for your objective. Lead ads enable you to identify people who might be interested in your solar products or services and collect information from them. You can collect contact information such as name, email address, phone number, and more using an Instant Form.
We want to emphasize the first point above. See the solar Facebook ad examples below:
Image Source: Marketing 360
Solar energy is synonymous with an eco-friendly lifestyle; however, these types of ads rarely deliver what you’re looking for with your ad campaign: website traffic and booked appointments.
The best solar Facebook ads drill into the primary reason someone is looking to take action: money! In this case, your audience is concerned with saving money. This focus on what drives their decision-making is what gets your prospects filling out forms.
Even though you’re eager to fill your sales pipeline with qualified leads, please do not mislead your prospective customers. Stay away from promises such as “free solar panels” or referencing solar stimulus programs that don’t exist. Misleading information can cast your solar company in a negative light and potentially lead Facebook to remove your brand’s page and account.
Image Source: Business Insider
What does it look like when all these elements work together for your solar company’s Facebook presence? Often, it means having a team dedicated to initial Facebook business page optimization, disseminating insightful and engaging content that will appeal to your target audience, and leveraging Facebook’s paid promotion options to expand the reach for your message.
Growing your presence on Facebook takes time and effort, but the payoff can be enormous as you develop your business page as an asset that generates new business. There is no “magic bullet” for digital solar marketing, so combine a strong Facebook marketing effort with other initiatives such as Google Ads and content, and you’ll reap significant benefits.
Are you looking for a trusted partner to help develop your solar brand’s presence on Facebook? Our team of digital marketing experts can provide a wealth of experience, with projects ranging from the initial Facebook business page set up to running Facebook ads for solar companies.
We develop custom lead generation systems for solar companies at each step of the value chain.
Learn more about how we can help you achieve your goals.
Solar Digital Marketing Services
Commercial Solar Digital Marketing Services
Solar eCommerce Online Marketing
Digital Marketing for Solar Manufacturers & Distributors Guide