How a Solar Company Uses an App and Social Network to Connect With Customers
The kinds of people who invest in solar panels are usually the ones who are just a little obsessed with their household energy usage. SolarCity, a leader in full-service solar power systems, is banking on that enthusiasm to drive new business with a redesigned app that helps solar energy fans build their tribes while also keeping closer tabs on their real-time usage.
SolarCity’s newly relaunched MySolarCity app offers basic energy assessments via EnergyExplorer, shows usage stats, measures energy production and displays the cost per hour, but those metrics will all be familiar to anyone who is fanatical about energy. There are plenty of monitoring apps out there, after all (though not many that will let users track the location of visiting technicians). What makes the MySolarCity app different is the built-in social component.
While MySolarCity won’t show users the exact location or name of other SolarCity customers, it does display a map of nearby users. The newly designed app also gives solar energy devotees a place to chat, swap solar stories and even share photos of their installations.
“People are very excited [to share] that they’ve gone solar, but if you go to a BBQ or a bar, you can’t take your solar panels with you,” Peter Rive, SolarCity’s chief technology officer told the Washington Post. “The next best thing is to take out your phone.”
The app is more than just a fun extra for existing customers, of course. MySolarCity may eventually give the company a forum for market research and a means of spreading promotions via an already loyal and passionate fan base. More importantly, the app could fast track the mainstream adoption of solar panels via crowdsourcing.
SolarCity designed the app specifically to make it easy for existing customers to become brand ambassadors. Like Rive explained, it’s as straightforward as taking out the phone and pulling up a couple of photos of an installation with MySolarCity. Customers who pair their share with a sales pitch (think solar panel costs versus benefits) stand to earn $250 each when friends and family sign up. With plenty of information regarding solar panel costs and the ability to get a free quote online, existing customers can simply refer interested friends to SolarCity’s website. There’s even a game element – users can compare their referral numbers with other users from around the United States.
The company is working with a large network already, with more than 168,000 customers across the U.S. – the majority of which are residential. Considering that solar energy companies have found that traditional online marketing has been much less effective than word of mouth, it’s been challenging to find a means of using technology to draw new customers into the solar energy fold. Ideally, MySolarCity will bridge the gap between face-to-face referrals and sign ups. Future iterations of the app are set to include a “simple and frictionless” sign-up process modeled on technology used by Amazon and Uber.
All of this may add up to lower user acquisition costs for SolarCity and more visibility for solar energy, with loyal fans doing most of the heavy lifting. That’s not a bad set of returns for a single app.
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