Welcome to the 2016 election cycle. As I write this, the Iowa caucuses are over and the candidates are heading to New Hampshire. But this post isn’t about politics (although one might argue that all energy is political.) This post is about motivating residential and commercial solar prospects to act and pull the purchase lever, or at least to get a solar quote.
How can creating original cartoons motivate home and business owners to get a quote? Before I answer that in writing, let me answer visually with a few of my favorite clean energy political cartoons that I’ve seen throughout the years:
I don’t know about you, but when I see cartoons like these, I not only smile, but also feel motivated. The old saying that “a picture is worth a thousand words” is even more powerful when that picture can evoke emotions. In this case, the emotion in these cartoons is bitter but truthful irony. For me, these images motivate me to do something to counteract these bitter truths, and with solar energy, we can.
Due to copyright laws, these cartoons can’t be used by solar marketers (unless it’s for commentary and analysis like this blog post.) But solar marketers can create their own cartoons to create the same sense of motivation.
If these cartoons were solar marketing cartoons, they would be missing one element: a call-to-action. It could be very simple, such as a button that says “Get a Solar Quote,” “Go Solar Now,” “Time to Go Solar.”
The idea is to show the current energy problem and in the end, present solar as the solution that enables your customers to act, to push that quote button or to sign that contract. As solar marketers, our goal isn’t to sell to, but to inspire people to feel empowered to make the right decision to go solar. Creating cartoons or videos like these are one way to do just that.
If you’ve got some good ones, share them on Twitter @Solar_ThinkTank or on the Solar Marketing Think Tank LinkedIn group.
Tor “Solar Fred” Valenza is the chief marketing officer of solar at Kiterocket. Follow him on Twitter at @SolarFred.
