Sharing Energy-Saving Tips with Utility Customers Through Contributed Content

An investor-owned utility that provides natural gas service to 200,000 customers in Colorado wanted to help customers become more conscious of their energy usage. Helping customers become more-informed energy consumers is a priority. This includes energy conservation — using less energy – and energy efficiency — getting more from the energy used at home or at work. The company wanted to be sure customers have access to bill payment assistance resources, including programs offered by the company and the state.

Client
Services
Media Relations & Influencer Marketing
Industry
Energy & Utilities
Awards

CHallenge

The company knew that rising natural gas commodity prices and colder winter temperatures across Colorado would have an impact on customers’ energy usage and monthly bills.

The utility’s goal was to connect with customers without investing in a costly paid media campaign. But shrinking newsrooms and resource-constrained editorial boards made it harder to secure earned coverage. Another hurdle: the company’s natural gas customers are spread out across Colorado, from the northeastern plains to the mountains to the southwest. Many customers are outside of big cities and major media markets, making them harder to reach.

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Solution

The company turned to Linhart PR for help reaching customers with 1) education messaging to remind customers that the amount of energy they use is the single largest driver of every monthly bill, along with practical tips for managing energy use at home and 2) information on where to go for bill payment assistance, including programs offered by the company and the state.

Linhart PR developed a contributed content strategy for efficient message delivery across multiple Colorado regions. Contributed content (e.g., op-eds, guest posts, etc.) is an effective way to reach audiences, control your message and position company leaders as thought leaders. Here’s what we did:

  • Linhart PR worked with the company’s community affairs team to write a series of three articles sharing tips for conserving energy by tackling energy efficiency projects at home, along with resources for bill-payment assistance.
  • Linhart PR executed a media relations strategy for placing the articles in daily and weekly newspapers across the state to reach the utility’s customers. Linhart PR proactively pitched the articles as contributed content with the goal of securing media placements in 50% of the larger communities served by the utility.

Results

Linhart PR secured contributed content placements in 92% percent of the larger communities served by the company, exceeding the goal. Notably:

  • Linhart PR secured 82 articles in print and online media, reaching more than 3 million readers in the utility’s natural gas service territories
  • Nearly two-thirds of the outlets where Linhart PR secured coverage ran two different op-eds; 13% ran all three
  • The company received many calls to its customer service team, thanking the author of the piece for sharing helpful energy tips
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