It's Time To Get Personal: And Offensive

By offensive. We mean go on the offensive.

The balance of power is an unequal one.

Energy companies, manufacturers and oil based industries have a well documented and entrenched relationship with government in the UK and Europe. But the balance of power is shifting. We can make it shift faster. By getting personal.

Readers of this magazine are actively engaged in pushing towards transformative change. And if you want to move people to transformation it's essential you use this powerful tool, emotion. Emotion can be a double barrelled weapon. For sure, but it's the best trigger to get people to take action.

Happy people are over optimistic - anger can provoke risk taking the result can be bad decision making

Making retrofit a practicable and preferred choice for a home owner involves more than just inspiring a jolly feeling that a new heat pump could be a positive choice for them, their family and the planet.

Your audience need to feel they could be in the story your telling, but first, who's telling the story?

Reinforcement By Representation

We still have a dramatic shortage of representation for almost every aspect of the retrofit sector. What does that mean? And Why? Let's understand the Mindy story.

If you haven't heard of the "Mindy Kaling Effect" it's a very active discussion about the representation of South Asian stereotypes on the big screen.

It seems to reignite when the eponymous star Mindy Kaling ever makes a new feature, writes or stars in a new vehicle for her incredible talent.

Already a scapegoat - Mindy gets the inevitable backlash Benedict Cumberbatch doesn't get

However, there is a great advantage to this discussion. It's happening. And it's global.

So how does this relate to representation of industries like heat pumps, insulation and solar?

Mindy Kaling is famous because she controls the narrative. Mindy Kaling is a phenomenal storyteller. When Mindy was playing the role of Kelly Kapoor in the US version of the British made hit sitcom The Office.

She had a superpower.

Mindy was at the helm of the show. She was in the writers room, writing the lines that her and other characters were going to repeat in front of a growing, dedicated fanbase.

The argument about wether Mindy Kaling reinforces stereotypes is a valid one - yet only ten years before today you could count the number of American actors from the South Asian diaspora on one hand. So that's where we come to the idea of representation.

You have to be in the room to get a seat at the table.

In the context of retrofit. You have to be making content, useful content, to be getting noticed. So you had better start learning how to tell a story. 'Cause then you're in the writers room and getting to be the star of the show too.

Getting Notice - And Not Getting Cancelled

Ok the title is a bit extreme but the idea is solid. Audience attention is pretty difficult to attract. But the ability to personalise and segment your storytelling is getting ever easier. Otherwise your getting clicked off.

Getting personal can make a difference. It means you can appeal to the real concerns a prospective retrofitter might have. And the sort of story they like to read.

But before we get ahead of ourselves. Let's talk about attraction. Yeah, that emotion.

Just like a real book. Your metaphorical 'cover art' needs to be on the button. The first impression of your brand, these days is most likely coming from social media.

It's never been more important to know the earliest part of the sales funnel, the pains of early growth - or the attraction game.

The Importance Of The First Click

Have you have been on Tinder/Match/Bumble/Hinge? They're dating apps for the uninitiated.

And trust the editor here.

They are brutal. There's in fact whole industry built around making your profile stand out. Your opening lines are critical.

So as much as you 'd like to sweat over your video and copy content. It's the first hooks that get people in.

Segmented marketing and personalisation tools now mean that every newsletter post, social comment, podcast tease and Youtube video has so much potential to reach the right people, you should be getting more traction more easily.

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Getting metrics on who is actually watching and interacting with your content can help avoid the worst emotion. Disappointment.

Turning People Off

If you are working in the retrofit sector. You'll know that some of the more technical language is pretty dull. It doesn't excite people being educated about a U-value. Back to those dating apps.

Catfishing, the horrible situation where your date turns up looking ten inches shorter, 20 inches wider and 30 years older can come as a surprise if their cover photo looked more like David Gandy.

Likewise. If you've segmented your communications and then nailed your opening gambit, dull as crap content will mean your not getting a second date.

A core issue in many sectors of marketing and engaging with consumers and businesses is getting to know the messaging that doesn't work. Mention politics and your toast. Get too 'environmental' and you're also facing challenges.

Although people know there's a climate crisis it's a very fine line reminding them we're all like boiling frogs and gently trying to coax your audience to use retrofit solutions that will some sort of usable planet for the next generations.

Avoiding Getting Cancelled - Ideate and Iterate

Don't vacillate. Ideate and iterate. (I knew GCSE English was worth it).

An obsession with nailing the core content each time and every time is going to hurt your brand.

You need to be ideating, making and testing your content as often and as much as you can.

Content Creator Jack Gaisford does a good job of summing that debate up;

So getting content onto people feeds is important. But one of the most failed aspects of content creation is taking risks and creating vanilla, unhelpful and forgettable content.

If you've got this far then you'll probably know that the next emotion we want to avoid, is loneliness.

Being Consistent and Reliable

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At this point, every marketeer will be acknowledging the point where they sign off their leads and pass them to the customer handlers, the sales team, the advice gurus.

This is when your customer relationship management skills kick in, possibly with some AI help and you gently coax your interested audience to the final emotion.

Creating Joy With A Convert

Once you have been successful and converted one of your legion of interested followers into a subscriber to your brand, a follower of your community, an engaged convert.

There's a final stage or opportunity that can often be missed. Using them as an advocate for your brand.

Anyone who's benefitted from the service or product will (hopefully) not be suffering from 'buyer remorse'. They'll be feeling pleased with what they have and at this point. You could capitalise that warm fuzzy feeling by asking them to provide a testimonial, a positive review or the rocking horse poop equivalent - participate in a case study film.

Cross Sell, Resell, Upsell

One of the lost arts of sales and marketing. The followup. At London Business School they spend a lot of time looking at this part of the purchase or sales cycle to, in their words to increase the lifetime value of a client or customer.

All that effort, cost and time gone in to attracting and converting someone should be applauded. But don't rest on your laurels.

There is always an opportunity to do more, so make sure you re-visit those happy customers after a soak time and see what else you can do for them.

Going On The Offensive

In the competitive market of retrofit, with limited time to help resolve the climate crisis. The onus is on you to create the demand for your product, solution or service.

The opportunities to make content and lot's of it are there for any company that wants to succeed in the sector.

Don't listen to the naysayers that tell you it's too late to start a podcast, a Youtube channel or a LinkedIn company profile.

All these platforms are actively promoting smaller, informative and useful channels of content.

With shows for B2B and B2C facing companies coming up thick and fast this year. It's about time you upped your game and got content working for you now.

Just remember. Don't make people cry.

Find out more about marketing concepts that attract people to retrofit from one of the countries top researchers;

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