Regardless of industry, social media use is on the rise. At InfoPrint Solutions Company, we began our journey into social media a few years back and even went as far as to encourage our employee’s to blog and tweet. This was quite a departure from our heritage as a hardware manufacturer. So it is no surprise that even the most regulated industries such as utilities have begun to tweet. Recently E-Source did a survey to find out how many utility companies are using social media. And as expected, similar to our main objective for social media most uses are for customer communications.
Utility companies are engaging with customers via social media in efforts to create a better overall customer experience. E-Source found that hundreds of utility companies are using social media, and that the most successful ones see the long term benefit and are investing in the staff and time to incorporate social media into their day to day communication efforts. This integration should eventually be tied to all customer communications. Wouldn’t it be nice as a consumer to have images at the bottom of your bill directing you to where to find more information on the web from your utility company? Considering the overall “instant and immediate” concept of social media, these channels might be the first place I’d look for more accurate, up-to-date information on my services, local initiatives and more.
In related news, the Energy Collective recently posted an article about the growth of Consumer Experience Managers (CEM) as an up and coming position within the industry. This job is a blend of promoting the Smart Grid within social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. CEMs use new methods to enhance the traditional hoping to increase positive customer relationships and loyalty while decreasing disengagement which leads to frustrated, unhappy customers.
Some consumers may view their utility company as “old school” but these stats and steps highlighted above ensure us that these companies are in fact embracing these “new” mediums. They are taking advantage of social media to educate and inform their customers of anything from smart grids to new policies – and by the looks of it, it’s paying off.
What do you think of CEMs in the utility industry? Will they have a strong affect on consumers? Do you think social media is the way to go for utility companies and how can they best optimize other channels to promote their work in this space?
Looking forward to your thoughts!
Best,
Lee Gallagher
Director, Precision Marketing Enablement
Tags: data analytics, MSP, Precision Marketing, Social Media, TransPromo