Client Background:
Power of our Sun provides homeowners with resources to install solar panels as an alternative to traditional power. Deciding to go solar is a major financial decision and one that requires a lot of thought, but once you have decided to install solar panels onto your home you will reap the rewards of saving massive amounts of money on your electricity costs from a clean energy source.
Power Of Our Sun prides themselves on helping homeowners make the life-changing jump to harness solar power in their home. Their professional energy consultants are trained to build a system that is designed to power your entire home and save you money on electricity at the same time. Solar advertising campaign’s can be difficult to manage with growing competition.
The Problem:
The client had been doing Facebook ads for 2 years and saw great results but started to hit a ceiling on Facebook ad performance. They knew that there was much more opportunity outside of Facebook but didn’t also know that cost per click could be 8x of Facebook.
Outside of finding more lead volume to scale, the cost per appointment kept creeping up as more solar companies replicated the strategy our client was using. This was starting to impact profitability in a negative way. They weren’t unhappy with their $300 cost per appointment since their conversion rate was about 25% for appointments set.
Once the lead came in, they had a call center that would call the leads but no other automation to nurture the lead. In order to schedule an appointment, the prospect would need to connect with the call center, creating lots of friction.
Pain Points
- Hitting a ceiling since only Facebook ads were running
- Cost per appointment was going up with Facebook ads
- No lead nurture program running
- No self scheduling method
- Fearful of the cost per click on other channels
The Solution:
We agreed to a trial run for running Google search ads. We were going to target home owners who were searching for solar installation. To ensure quality traffic, we launched with exact match keywords only.
Once clicked, we set up a landing page that was straight to the point, showed what the consumer was going to get, and positioned the survey in a way that made it seem like the prospect needed to qualify for our $0 out of pocket program.
Once the lead came in, their sales team would reach out as before but we also included email/text nurturing. We set up a 14 day sequence that would email/text prospects valuable benefits of going solar with the call to action being set up an appointment.
To help create less friction, we created a self scheduling link where the prospect could schedule a consultation themselves rather than have to speak to someone to schedule.
Action items we completed to solve pain points and complete scope of work
- Expand the marketing to Google search
- Create exclusivity to the program in order to create urgency
- Setup a lead nurturing program
- Allow prospects to self schedule
The Results:
The results have been mind blowing compared to what they were used to seeing. The cost per lead is right about the same as Facebook but the amount of scheduled appointments have dropped down to $70, which is 76% cheaper than what Facebook was driving at $300 per appointment.
The beauty is though, the conversion rate from appointment to sale is around 25%, which is twice as strong than that of Facebook.
Overall, the cost per sale on Google is much lower than Facebook with the Google cost per sale at $280 and Facebook at $1,200.
On top of the cost per sale going down, it didn’t take as many resources from the call center to schedule the appointments since 75% of appointments are self scheduled.
Needless to say, the client is excited that the cost per sale is almost 75% cheaper all while using less overhead to make it happen.
Headline results of the impact that the solution had on the business
- Cost per booked appointment dropped by 76%
- Cost per sale is 75% cheaper than Facebook
- Less reliant on call center staff to get appointments booked
