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How to generate solar lead enquiries
If you’re a solar installer that’s been in the business for any length of time then you know that having a steady steam of solar leads is the lifeblood of your business.
Even better if they’re qualified and in the market to buy.
But how do you increase the volume of these magic manna life giving leads?
Well there’s two main ways to look at it
- Paid Strategies – Faster and will get your volume up quickly
- Free/low cost methods – Slower, but good if you’re starting out and have a limited budget
Personally we recommend having a mix of both.
Paid Strategies
Work with a Solar Leads Pay Per Lead
The benefits of working with a solar lead generation agency like ourselves is that you can get a predictable flow of sales qualified leads at a set price without having to learn how to generate leads yourself and without the long term commitments that a traditional retainer based agency would charge you.
Our pay per lead program provides you with real time, exclusive leads which are sent directly to your preferred CRM or email.
Exclusivity allows for you to build a more personal, impactful connection with a lead, increasing the likelihood that they convert and become a client of yours.
Run ads targeting people looking to buy solar panels now to generate fresh solar leads
You can always run ads yourself or with a dedicated solar leads ppc agency to people who are searching with buyer intent terms such as “buy solar [city]” these people are more likely to make a decision quickly as they’re likely past the information gathering phase.
One of the best ways to identify these potential clients is by running google ads aimed at people actively shopping for solar panels. You can do that using the following tools in Google Ads:
- In-market: Show ads to users who have been searching for products and services like yours.
- Remarketing: Target users that have already interacted with your ads, website, or app so that they’ll see your ads more often.
- Content keywords: Show ads to users who are searching on Google for specific keywords or phrases (e.g., solar panel companies near me).
- Topics: Target ads to multiple pages about certain topics (i.e., solar panels). Topic targeting lets you reach a broad range of pages on the Display Network.
- Placement: Show ads on specific websites that potential customers are visiting (like directories).
Organic Strategies
Going door-to-door (canvassing) for solar leads
Quite simply put this is a numbers game, it’s free bar the time you or your sales team put into it. You’ll get a chance to meet homeowners face to face and refine your sales pitch. Not my favourite method but well worth doing at least during some point in your sales career to test your face to face solar lead generation skills
Cold-calling for solar leads
Again a volume game, you can go to sites like 411.com, search addresses and start calling. You’re not likely to have a high conversion to customers but with enough dials you’ll make some sales which you can put the funds into more lucrative methods.
Use a property intelligence tool
Another way to find organic leads is by using aerial imagery and analytics tool like eagleview, reonomy or propertyradar.
Get listed on solar company directories
The first step many customers take when considering solar is to search online for solar installers — “best solar panel companies” or “solar companies near me” or “solar installers in Arizona.”
Of course, you want customers to find your solar business when they’re searching but it’s tough to get your website to show up on the first page of Google results. That’s because Google tends to favor websites with the most traffic and a long history of posting content — like the directories.
This means the directories are most likely going to show up first when customers are searching online. Even when customers are searching for a local business (by including words like “near me” or an actual location like “Boston”), the competition is still fierce.
So to make sure customers can find you when they’re looking, you’ve got to be listed in the top directories. The ones that typically show up highest in Google include:
United States
Australia
It’s also a good idea to be listed on industry association directories for consumers who are seeking a highly trusted source of information. These include:
United States
NABCEP – The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners maintains two directories on its website to help people find certified installers: The Company Accreditation Directory and the Certified Locator Directory.
SEIA – The Solar Energy Industry Association directory includes members from every aspect and vertical within the solar industry, from manufacturers and project developers to installers and financiers.
Australia
ARENA – Our purpose is to support the global transition to net zero emissions by accelerating the pace of pre-commercial innovation, to the benefit of Australian consumers, businesses and workers.
Clean Energy Council – Clean Energy Council members are companies who work in or support the clean energy sector. They join to receive various member benefits such as getting the latest industry updates, networking opportunities, contributing expertise to key industry discussions and having a central voice to represent the sector.
Build a strong Instagram presence
Instagram is a solid platform for attracting an audience of homeowners interested in solar, ideally they’ll have you top of mind when it comes time to make their buying decisions and for referring friends.
It’s a great way to organically generate solar leads over time.
Post consistently and at the right time
Shoot for once a week to start with and gradually increase to three times a week. Planning your content ahead of time makes it much easier to stick to a consistent schedule. Some ideas for Instagram worthy content that many solar companies use include:
- Before and after photos
- Photos of projects in progress
- Videos of specific processes, like someone applying spray foam
- Photos from company events
- Testimonials, photos, or solar reviews from happy customers
- Solar or green energy related quotes, graphics, or memes
- Announcements of company awards
Posting at the right time of day also matters. Research shows that posting in the afternoon on Mondays through Fridays is best. That said, it’s always a good idea to test out different times and days of the week to see what’s right for your specific business.
Use the hashtags the right way
Hashtags are essentially free advertising for your posts because people use them to find businesses and other influencers based on a particular topic. Many people even follow hashtags on Instagram like they do profiles.
Instagram lets you use up to 30 hashtags per month — but you should choose them wisely. You want to use hashtags that people will be searching for, but are also not overly competitive. For example, if you use a general hashtag (like #solar), it’s tough to stand out among 4 million other posts.
You can search by hashtag on Instagram and then view related hashtags to get ideas. Medium competitiveness hashtags (used less than 500,000 times) or community hashtags (used less than 20,000 times) are a good place to start.
Start a Facebook Group to Help your company get more inbound solar leads
The idea behind this strategy is to connect with homeowners who are interested in solar, offer your expertise for free, and when they’re ready to buy, you’ll have a relationship with them.
A few important things to remember when starting a Facebook group:
- Don’t try to sell your product. You’re playing the long game with this strategy. With that in mind, you should only post helpful and relevant information, answer questions, and offer expertise. The goal is to help group members solve their problems without being overtly salesy or sleazy.
- Make sure your Facebook business page is up-to-date and professional. After all, many group members will visit your page to find out more about you and contact you if they’re interested in taking the next step.
So your page should include a high-resolution business logo, a link to your website, and quality posts that show off your best work. From time to time, you should also re-post testimonials and reviews from past customers as social proof.
Use content marketing to get solar leads from people searching online
Another popular and really effective method for generating leads is content marketing.
The concept in itself is relatively simple. Let’s say someone is googling “how to get solar panels installed in arizona” and you have a blog on your site that answers this question, then it’s highly likely that they’ll visit your site and become a lead now or in the future remember you as the installer that gave them solid information.
When done right, this method can be highly lucrative.
In fact, content marketing results in an average of 54% more leads than traditional paid marketing while saving businesses roughly $20,000 per year.
Use Incentives To Encourage Referrals for Solar Leads
As with any business, tapping existing clients for referrals is a powerful strategy to generate solar leads. Referral prospects typically come more informed and ready to move forward with a purchase faster than other leads because they’ve learned about your company before making contact.
And when it comes to big, expensive products like solar panels, existing clients are typically more motivated to refer. After all, people have to front a lot of money to install the panels and they’re going to be motivated to earn anything back on it that they can.
Plus, existing customers will have a relationship with your company for decades, possibly resulting in multiple referrals if you make it worth their while.
Incentives like discounts or cash rewards are great motivators, especially if you offer tiered rewards for sending multiple solar leads. If a customer knows they will earn more with every referral, they will be more likely to send more your way.
e.g “Refer a friend and get x”
Conclusion
We hope this guide has been useful to you and if you’d like our help in generating solar leads we’d love to assist. Please reach out.
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Jos Aguiar is a father, entrepreneur and traveler. He’s been building brands and helping businesses grow since 2010. Since founding leadshunt in 2021 he’s been on a mission to help create a new standard of excellence within the industry combining expertise in traffic generation and education of clientele through our content and learning materials. His aim is to not merely sell you leads, but to leave you permanently better.