Generating leads for solar power is an important part of any business’ success. To maximize opportunities and expand your customer base, it’s essential to be proactive in cultivating potential customers—and that starts with knowing how to get solar leads.
This guide will explain the basics of lead generation, including what sources are available and the best practices for getting qualified leads. By the end, you’ll have a better understanding of what it takes to generate quality solar leads and how to use those leads to achieve your goals.
What are solar leads?
Generating solar leads for a solar business is essential to its success, but can be a difficult challenge. Every day more and more people are becoming interested in making the switch to solar energy as a way to save money and become more environmentally conscious. However, it’s not enough to simply have people who are interested in going solar; those leads must be nurtured and converted into customers.
Online marketing efforts such as search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can help you generate leads for your solar business. However, it’s important to focus on providing these potential customers with helpful information and resources that will assist them in making an educated decision about investing in solar technology.
Doing so will help build trust between your company and the customer, increase the probability of conversion, and ultimately boost your solar business’ bottom line.
How To Get Solar Leads
Inbound Leads
A captivating inbound sales process is like a magnet to prospective buyers. A useful online presence which offers valuable insights to potential buyers increases the probability of gaining their attention and favor when they seek out quotes or services.
This online presence should include having an active social media presence (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), paid Google Ads, a managed Google Reviews page as well as a professionally-built website with frequent updates.
The advantages of this type of marketing are clear – inbound marketing costs less per lead and generates 54% more leads compared to traditional marketing methods. It also has the potential to save businesses $20K annually. Additionally, dominating Solar SEO with relevant content educates customers on the specifics of the area and boosts local leads.
The downside of this, however, is that it takes time for results to appear – often up to 3-4 months before one sees significant returns from these efforts. This type of marketing is best for those willing to play the long game, who understand that patience and consistency will bring success over time. Lastly, it is passive in nature – leads reach out based on what has been posted; there’s no chance here for proactive outreach.
Referral Program
Referrals are one of the best sources of leads for solar companies, as they come pre-qualified and bring with them trust. Establishing a successful referral system is no easy task, but the rewards are worth it – an 83% increase in buyer trust according to one survey.
The benefits of referrals don’t come overnight; it requires ongoing effort and dedication to keep the ball rolling. This makes it ideal for motivated teams who are willing to spend time carefully constructing their referral system.
Solar techs should also look into strategies suggested by Aurora to optimize their referral engine even further. Referral prospects typically convert at an average rate of 20%, making it one of the most efficient ways to acquire leads.
The beauty of referrals lies in its passivity: whether customers decide to share your brand’s information with others or not is entirely up to them.
Get listed on solar company directories
Customers want to find your solar business when they’re searching online, but it can be hard to get your website on the first page of Google results. This is because Google favors sites with the most traffic and a long history of content.
The directories are often the ones that appear first in search results — even when customers include words like “near me,” or an actual location. To make sure customers can find you, you should be listed in these top directories: Solar Reviews, Energy Sage, Clean Energy Experts, & Consumer Affairs.
It’s also advisable to list yourself on industry association directories, as customers may seek out highly trusted sources for information. These could include organizations like the US Department of Energy or the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
For starters, these leads are usually shared with multiple solar installers, meaning that your competitors will most likely see the same leads you do.
Additionally, the quality of these leads is often inconsistent – it can range from people who just had a brief thought about getting solar power to those who are ready to have panels installed right away.
Finally, while these sites may dominate the organic lead search game on Google, they only generate a few hundred leads across the US on average each day. This makes them especially valuable in places where solar installations markets are not saturated yet since it’s more unlikely that other installers will be vying for the same customers as you.
Overall, these marketplaces offer passive access to potential customers but come with certain drawbacks that must be taken into account when making business decisions.
Reviews
Having previous happy customers write positive reviews on solar directory sites or even better – your own website – is a great way to get more leads. According to one survey, 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendations from friends and family.
Solar panel companies should be aware that the process for creating a good review-gathering system can take several weeks or even months. First, installers will need to set up a system where customers are offered an incentive for leaving reviews. This could be anything from discounts on their next installation to a monthly draw with a grand prize.
Once these systems are in place, solar installers should also ensure that their sales team are doing an excellent job. Reviews are a direct reflection on how companies treat their customers and any negative reviews will directly affect the number of leads generated from this source.
Buying Solar Leads
Buying solar lead lists is one of the most common solutions for solar installers looking to find commercial solar leads, or residential solar leads. The pros of this approach are that it can bring in income quickly and easily, but the quality of leads often leaves something to be desired.
Cheap solar leads are often non-exclusive and outdated by the time they arrive at your business, so while they may not be expensive, they might not be very effective. Investing in higher quality, exclusive lists is a more reliable option as your team will hear more responses and customers who are actually interested in your services.
Solar leads cost can vary greatly depending on the industry, and services will range from $10 to $500 per lead. The cost of leads also depends on their exclusivity – exclusive solar leads are typically more expensive but have a higher quality as only your business will receive them.
Businesses who need a quick way to find leads with reasonably high prospects of success should consider purchasing solar lead lists, especially if they have the resources available to invest in exclusive lists that have current contact information and don’t risk being shared with other companies. When it comes to generating high quality leads, this approach comes with certain risks and no guarantee.
Why not buy solar leads?
Purchasing leads is commonplace in the solar industry and, on first glance, could appear like a great option: paying someone for a list of “high-quality” and “vetted” potential leads who are reportedly interested in your products.
Unfortunately, this isn’t how it actually works. Studies show that 99% of leads found on bought lists are people who have already been contacted by numerous solar installers – they usually don’t even care about solar panels at all. This casts serious doubts on the quality of these leads.
But this isn’t just down to unrealistic expectations; cold calling itself is a disruptive, inefficient and outdated marketing technique that won’t work today. The latest research from Google and CEB shows that customers now self-navigate up to 60% of their purchasing process before ever getting in contact with a company or sales rep. Cold calls will only serve to annoy your potential customers, rather than entice them to buy from you.
Say goodbye to ineffective and disruptive cold calls, and hello to successful prospect acquisition using modern methods such as inbound marketing: search engine optimization (SEO), social media advertising and paid advertising can bring real qualified leads directly to your business, without the need for cold calling tactics.
Building a solar lead funnel for Solar Companies
Inbound marketing is the best way to build a high-quality solar lead funnel. It requires creativity, dedication and hard work to get it right – but once you do, you’ll have access to a consistent flow of new high quality leads that are already educated about your brand and interested in what you have to offer.
You’ll need to create high quality content that is targeted for people interested in solar, optimized for SEO and distributed via social media. This content should be tailored to each stage of the customer journey, from awareness (e.g., general information about solar energy) to consideration (e.g., explaining the benefits of getting a solar installation) and decision (e.g., discussing how you can help customers get solar panels installed).
SEO helps your website appear in search engine results pages (SERPs), so potential customers can find you. Social media advertising can be used to share content with specific customer segments, while paid ads and retargeting campaigns can be set up on popular platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads.
These methods, when used together, help you generate leads that are qualified and interested in your services. And, as they’ve already been educated about what you offer beforehand, there’s a much higher chance of converting these solar leads into paying customers. This saves you time (and money) because you won’t be wasting resources on solar leads that aren’t genuinely interested in what you have to offer.
So, the key to getting solar leads is to create an effective lead funnel using SEO, social media advertising and paid ads. This will help you generate high-quality organic leads who are already educated about your services and interested in what you can offer – which makes them much more likely to convert into paying customers.
Get more qualified solar leads online today.. Generate Solar Leads!
At Zircon, we understand that having the right inbound marketing strategies for the solar industry is essential to achieving success. Our expert team of Internet marketers is well-versed in what it takes to generate and convert quality leads into customers.
We’ve been proud to partner with hundreds of companies, allowing them to reach their aspirations. We invite you and your business to join us on this journey – let’s work together to generate high-quality solar leads and propel your company towards growth and prosperity.
Discover why 91% of our clients have chosen us as their long-term partner today! Contact us now to find out more about our lead generation services for solar companies and start generating solar leads for your local business today!
