Marketing & Outreach – Identify Partners. Strategic partner selection will help your program build meaningful, fruitful marketing and outreach partnerships. Take the following considerations into account when brainstorming ideas for partners and evaluating their usefulness to your marketing and outreach efforts. Determine potential partners. The partners identified as part of your program design (link to PD. Identify Partners) are a good place to look for support for your program marketing and outreach. Also consider any organizations or individuals that provided feedback on your marketing and outreach- related goals and objectives. If you still have marketing and outreach gaps, expand the partner search to new organizations. These could include public, private, and nonprofit organizations with a history of collaboration and community involvement that are likely to be trusted sources for your program’s priority target audiences. Some of the first partnerships you might want to consider are: Home Performance with ENERGY STAR.
If your program is looking for a trusted, national brand to fill a marketing gap, consider partnering with the U. S. Department of Energy and ENERGY STAR by joining the Home Performance with ENERGY STAR (HPw. ES) program as a Sponsor. Sponsorship gives programs access to technical and marketing tools branded with the credibility and familiarity of ENERGY STAR. Local contractors as sales partners. Commercial properties in the City of Austin and Austin Energy's service territory. The Austin Energy Multi-Family Program provides cash incentives to owners. Home » Austin Energy - Multi-Family Energy Efficiency Rebate Program. Austin Energy - Multi-Family Energy Efficiency Rebate Program. Many programs assume having qualified contractors is enough, but bringing local contractors into your marketing and outreach efforts as a partner that can help “sell” your program is a critical component of residential energy efficiency program success. Contractors are the primary point of contact for homeowners during the home energy upgrade process. Take advantage of this direct contact by ensuring that your contractors know how to sell your program. Learn how Better Buildings Neighborhood Program partners turned their contractors into effective sales partners in the following U. S. Department of Energy case studies. Engaging contractors as sales partners can also help your program’s bottom line. Some HPw. ES Sponsors split the cost for marketing materials with contractors, saving the program money. Deborah Kimberly joined Austin Energy. John Ashe, Board of Directors.Trusted nonprofit organizations or neighborhood groups. Partners might include civic organizations, employers, faith- based organizations, universities, energy efficiency non- profits, state energy offices, or regional energy efficiency organizations. These organizations’ goals and messages should align and complement yours, and they should have readily available communications channels that can be used to promote your program’s offerings. Utilities. Utility partners can provide communication channels, recognized brands, credibility, and information about what motivates customers (and what does not). Financial institutions. In addition to enhancing your program’s financial offerings, financial partners can help conduct marketing and outreach activities for your program. Their customers may be more likely to consider a loan product for a home energy upgrade if they see a co- branded marketing piece from one of your financial partners. Media organizations. Local news outlets, bloggers, or home improvement columnists can help promote your program offerings by sponsoring contests, covering events, or becoming early adopters and providing testimonials. Try establishing a relationship with a local blogger or columnist and ask him or her to be an “early adopter” of home energy upgrades in your community and then write about the experience and benefits. In Their Own Words: Empower Contractors to Sell Upgrades and Loans. Source: U. S. Department of Energy, 2. In Their Own Words: Empower Contractors By Building Sales and Business Skills. Source: U. S. Department of Energy, 2. Evaluate potential partners. With a list of potential partners in hand, you are ready to evaluate them and their potential usefulness to your program. When evaluating potential marketing and outreach partners, look for organizations that have: A mission, capacity, and organizational strengths that meet your program’s needs, and vice versa. Complementary marketing and outreach goals and messages. Audiences that align with or complement your program’s priority audiences. A reputation of credibility in the community. An active constituency and an appreciation of the value of your program to constituents, and vice versa. Motivation and sufficient resources to recruit participants from their constituents Well- established communications mechanisms with numerous followers or readers. A person with the authority to fulfill commitments and act as your program’s champion within their organization. A history of collaboration and community involvement, which provides security that they are likely trusted sources for your program’s priority target audiences. Better Buildings Neighborhood Program Partnerships. Efficiency Maine provided contractor sales training and offered contractors a standard assessment checklist and professional development courses to help them communicate with homeowners. The program organized monthly webinars to explain available incentives, discuss what worked for contractors, and talk about what could be improved. By creating a partnership with contractors, Efficiency Maine’s assessment- to- upgrade conversion rate grew from 1. Learn more in the case study Spotlight on Maine: Contractor Sales Training Boosts Energy Upgrade Conversions. Philadelphia Energy. Works partnered with local energy and gas utilities to share data, including marketing results, that helped sustain the program into the future. Energy. Works also partnered with faith- based organizations to build trust for the program and conduct outreach within the local community. The Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance (GCEA) partnered with AFC First Financial, which provided the marketing tools and training that contractors needed to promote financing options to homeowners, helping GCEA save resources on marketing and outreach. Better Buildings Program San Jose leveraged local, well- known organizations that delivered non- energy services to low- income residents to provide targeted outreach on home energy upgrades in San Jose, California, locations. The Milwaukee Energy Efficiency program (Me. Wisconsin’s statewide energy efficiency program, Focus on Energy, to locally market home energy upgrades. Me. 2 leveraged Focus on Energy’s contractor network and community- based marketing to promote Focus on Energy’s statewide rebate program. In Their Own Words: Marketing and Outreach Partnerships. Source: U. S. Department of Energy, 2. Foster Media Relationships. Strong media partnerships are a valuable program asset, but the relationship needs to be maintained over time. Here are a few simple tips to help foster media relationships. Do: Be helpful, responsive, and appreciative. Keep your promises. Position spokespeople as experts in subject matter. Stay in touch and provide information even when you are not pitching a story. Don’t: Be critical or complain if something minor is not right. Ask to see a story before it runs. Send a pitch to more than one person at the same organization. Ask for more than one thing during your pitch. Get more information on media partnerships and other tips for working with the media in the U. S. Department of Energy’s How to Work with the Media webcast. All City of Dallas Incentives. The City of Dallas actively partners with qualified projects that are looking to expand or relocate within Dallas. Our goal is to provide qualified projects a competitive incentive offer that matches each project’s needs. With this goal in mind, the City of Dallas has created a public/private partnership. Dallas can offer: City of Dallas Regional Center (CDRC) The CDRC is dedicated to assisting individuals and their families through the EB- 5 immigration process via investment into businesses and development projects located within the Dallas city limits. Duties are charged when completed products are distributed into the U. S. Products for export are not taxed. Freeport Tax Exemptions. Incentive depends on location. Historic Tax Incentives. DCCCD opportunities include: basic skills, GED preparation, and skills enhancement. Workforce facilitates employer access to qualified employees, as well as provides job training, workplace education, child care and educational initiatives. Municipal Management Districts. Through their fundraising powers they can provide infrastructure and other services within the district according to a district- approved service plan. New Markets Tax Credits. Corporate or individual investors can receive tax credits for qualified investments. Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE)An innovative financing program that allows owners of commercial, industrial, and multi- family residential properties (with five or more dwelling units) to obtain low- cost, long- term loans for water conservation, energy- efficiency improvements, and renewable retrofits. Public Improvement Districts. Tax rates are the same as elsewhere in the City and no added cost to private parties is incurred.
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