Bright Ideas Blog, Content Marketing, Marketing Plans

Those Pesky New Year’s Solar Marketing Resolutions

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Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions for 2018? We hope so, but a recent study has shown that a whopping 80% of New Year’s resolutions are broken by February.

That doesn’t have to be you.  Don’t put extra pressure to upend your solar marketing strategy just because you’re writing 2018 on your checks and emails. Look at January as a natural inflection point to assess progress toward your marketing goals, and build on lessons learned from 2017. 

Reflection – it’s not just for mirrors anymore.

Screen Shot At . . Pm - Clean Power Marketing Group Before 2018 really takes off, give yourself some time to reflect on what you did well in 2017, and what your competitors did even better.

With a large and constantly evolving solar sector and 2018 shaping up to be a pivotal year for our industry, marketing strategies that were effective last year (or even last month) need to be regularly revisited.

A few tips:

3 Words: Write it Down

Feeling a bit overwhelmed? We recommend the simple action of writing down your goals in plain English — or whatever your native language might be.  Keep your goals concise, focused, and achievable. Every goal expert knows this – writing things down gives them power. Committing your solar marketing plan to writing is step #1 to achieving your goals.

Once you have written down your goals, don’t let them get buried in your daily clutter.  Take a moment to place your goals in an visible place, where they can be easily reviewed every day:

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  • Tape your goals to your laptop or place them in a prominent location
  • Mail yourself envelopes with a single goal written in each one.
  • Make key milestones an event on your digital calendar or set an alarm for recurring goals on your phone.
  • Ready for expert mode? Create a “Goals 2018” calendar of events, content, and share key with colleagues and collaborators to keep everyone on point — and accountable — including yourself.

Competition? Bring It On

The solar industry used to be a cottage industry with only a few competitors per market. These days solar is attracting all kinds of competitors, from energy conglomerates to HVAC companies. Don’t let that discourage you. Face your competition head on by paying attention to what they’re doing. But also, keep a close eye on what customers want. Again, the powerful prescriptive to write it down helps:

  • Write down the 3-4 companies in your space who you admire, and what specifically makes them successful to you.
  • Set Google news alerts for your competitors, and track what they’re doing on social media.
  • Ask your customers what they’re planning to accomplish in 2018. Figure out how your goals can support their goals.

Tracking competitors can provide good insights and light a fire under your team. But don’t let it distract you from your core business objectives, and from serving customers well. This will outdo any competitor’s marketing tactics.

Do Your Dailies

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Semiconductor industry pioneer Jim Morgan, who as CEO of Applied Materials had one of the longest runs of any Fortune 500 CEO, was known for a simple but powerful mantra: Do Your Dailies.

Whatever you decide your marketing goals should be in 2018, stick to the plan. Ask yourself every day what you’re doing to help you achieve your goals. If the plan needs revising, that’s normal — just make sure you are consciously and consistently working from a plan that works for the whole business.

Need help with your plan? Contact Clean Power Marketing Group for a free consultation and keep those Marketing Resolutions on track!

 Have a happy (and clean powered) new year!