ASSESSING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIES Hannah Arnold Efficiency Exchange 2017
How do we know if customer engagement strategies are working? Utilities and Program Administrators (PAs) throughout the country are experimenting with different customer engagement strategies Understanding their effectiveness is critical to figuring out return on investment. Sponsors look at the value of customer engagement from many perspectives: Customer relationship development Participation lift Energy savings Efficiency Exchange 2017 2
How do we know if customer engagement strategies are working? There are multiple ways to assess effectiveness What do the results tell us? Examples Community Based Outreach to increase participation and energy savings Umbrella Marketing to change attitudes and behaviors Efficiency Exchange 2017 3
Case Studies Efficiency Exchange 2017 4
Community Based Outreach Efficiency Exchange 2017 5
Defining Community-Based Initiatives Community-based energy efficiency initiatives are efforts that target a specific community (audience or geography) through engagement strategies designed for that specific community (marketing and outreach, program design and delivery, etc.). These efforts might or might not engage local community leaders or stakeholders in any part of the engagement process. Level of community engagement Partnership with a community Marketing and outreach Assistance with delivery (scheduling, phone support) Delivery (audits, installations) Efficiency Exchange 2017 6
Efficient Neighborhoods Plus (EN+ SM ) Core Initiative A largely statewide initiative that is community-focused Open to nearly all residents of target community, but goal is to increase participation among a harder-to-reach population Featured enhanced incentive structures and a wide variety of marketing and outreach tactics Phone Social Media In-Person & Community Events Direct Mail Efficiency Exchange 2017 7
EN+ SM Core Initiative (Cont.) Efficiency Exchange 2017 8
Initiative Reach The initiative reached 22% of all eligible customers in EN+ SM target communities and completed assessments among 7% of them 100% 12,469 Total number of eligible customers Unaware 22% of the n 927 7% 2,743 927 Customers aware of the EN+ initiative Customers who completed an energy assessment Efficiency Exchange 2017 9
The initiative was successful at lifting participation and achieving energy savings Achieved During the Initiative s Implementation % Incremental to the Initiative # Incremental to the Initiative Total # of energy assessments 927 69% 636 Total # of projects 248 76% 188 kwh savings 699,587 74% 516,784 Therm savings 35,351 84% 29,691 MMBTU savings 10,698 73% 7,786 Total # of LI customers channeled into the LI program 91 -- -- Efficiency Exchange 2017 10
Umbrella Marketing Efficiency Exchange 2017 11
Energy Upgrade California The Statewide Marketing, Education and Outreach (SW ME&O) program, implemented under the umbrella brand, Energy Upgrade California, is a social marketing initiative that utilizes a wide range of marketing channels with the goal of educating, motivating and activating consumers to take energy-saving actions Source: Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE) Efficiency Exchange 2017 12
Each marketing channel reached vastly different numbers of California residents Engagements/Visitors Impressions Earned Media 929,636,846 Paid Media 1,183,480,278 Data Source: CSE Tracking Data Efficiency Exchange 2017 13
Consumers were significantly more likely to remember some types of interactions than others Note: Letters are assigned to each marketing channel. Letters next to percentage indicate the percentage is significantly different from the indicated marketing channel at the 90% level. Source: Attribution, Event Follow-Up, and Mobile Surveys, Fall 2015. Efficiency Exchange 2017 14
Retail events appeared to have the greatest impact on information seeking behavior Note: The first # in legend refers to the # of survey respondents answering "% Have searched for information since interaction", and the second # refers to the # answering "Interaction was influential in decision to search for information". Source: Event Follow-Up and Mobile Surveys, Fall 2015. Efficiency Exchange 2017 15
Changes in daily routine were more common than home improvements Note: Letters are assigned to each marketing channel. Letters next to percentage indicate the percentage is significantly different from the indicated marketing channel at the 90% level. Source: Event Follow-Up and Mobile Surveys, Fall 2015. Efficiency Exchange 2017 16
What does this mean for your organization? Efficiency Exchange 2017 17
Customer engagement can spur participation and savings The outreach strategies best suited to your organization s efforts will depend on your goals The success of those strategies will depend on a number of factors Nature of the Interaction Quality of the Information Where the Engagement Happens Reach and Frequency Efficiency Exchange 2017 18
Establishing metrics and success criteria is key However, planning, tracking and measurement are critical to implementing successful customer engagement efforts Develop strategic marketing plans Establish Objectives Identify Metrics Identify most salient metrics Use industry benchmarks, historical experience Determine Success Criteria Measure & Track Achievement Document Tie perform. to objectives Efficiency Exchange 2017 19
Contact For more information, contact: Hannah Arnold Managing Director harnold@opiniondynamics.com 510-214-0813 Efficiency Exchange 2017 20