DON’T FOLLOW THE BANDWAGON

DON’T FOLLOW THE BANDWAGONEveryone seems to be flocking to running Facebook ads for solar leads since the advent of popular coaching programs like “The Solar Cheat Code”.  Despite many people having success with those types of programs, we have noticed a steady decline in results on Facebook since mid 2019 due to the immense amount of competition in the marketplace.  Running Facebook ads for solar companies is so 2018, and that was when we saw the peak in our results on that platform.  Since then, it has steadily become more expensive and the lead quality has consistently gone down as the Facebook news feed becomes more competitive.  Facebook used to show an ad once every 8-10 posts, now they show one every 2-3 posts.  Facebook is running out of real estate, and it is becoming more expensive for everyone.  Not only that, but there are already hundreds of solar ads in every major market in the United States today running and fighting for your leads’ attention.

We began running YouTube ads in mid 2019 and have seen way better results: lower costs and higher quality leads on a much more professional platform.  It is more complex to advertise on YouTube, so competition is not currently an issue.  We see lead costs as low as $2-$3 and as high as $10-$20 in some of the most competitive markets in the U.S.  If you’ve run Facebook ads any time recently, you know those costs cannot be beat.

FOCUS ON APPOINTMENT SET RATE

FOCUS ON APPOINTMENT SET RATEThe most important metric for exclusive high quality solar leads is how many transition to actual sat appointments.  In 2018, at the height of our Facebook lead production, we would see anywhere from 5-15% of the leads book a pre-set appointment immediately after requesting a quote directly on the website itself.  Then about 10-15% of the remainder of the leads (those that didn’t pre-set) would set an appointment when the inside sales rep called on the leads.  This would create a 15-20% lead to appointment set rate overall.  On YouTube, we’ve seen as many as 20-40% of leads pre-set an appointment immediately on the website, and then 10-15% of the other leads set as well.  This has increased our overall set rate to 30% or more in nearly 90% of all our campaigns.  Getting more sits from exclusive high quality solar leads will always transition to more sales for your solar business.  This is why we have a 90% success rate and our clients are actively increasing their spend with us each month as they grow.

CHOOSE A COMPANY THAT GETS RESULTS IN THE WINTER

CHOOSE A COMPANY THAT GETS RESULTS IN THE WINTERYou know a solar lead company is legit when they get results and high quality solar leads during the slowest season of the year.  Our lead costs were steady through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, as well as through the dead of winter in January and February.  We anticipate spring and summer 2020 to be one of our best years yet since switching to YouTube ads.  Lead costs are already very low, and the quality is very high, so we expect the results will only get better as the seasons get warmer and homeowners are more aware of their high energy bills.

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO COST PER ACQUISITION

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO COST PER ACQUISITIONEvery market and every one of our clients who purchase high quality solar leads have different results.  The reason for this is because every market has a different level of competition, and every client has varying talent in their ability to set appointments and generate sales from our opportunities.  We’ve seen our cost per acquisition be as low as $200 per sale in certain markets, although other markets can be higher.  We’ve even seen it lower for some sales organizations who are great at what they do.  We recommend looking at our testimonial page to hear from other solar sales organizations who have purchased high quality solar leads from us.  If you’re ready to discuss pricing, and your specific market’s costs, call our office at 702-462-7237 or book a call below this paragraph.  We look forward to getting you high quality exclusive solar leads and pre-set appointments!

SolarExclusive.com started helping solar companies with online Facebook marketing back in 2016 when it was still “easy peasy, lemon squeezy”.

Back then, in nearly every market we’d enter, we could see exclusive leads coming in at $10 or less.  We’ve helped over 400 solar companies generate millions of dollars worth of sales from these leads, seeing a cost per acquisition as low as $200 in some cases!

Facebook Makes it Simple

But something has happened in the past 12 months on Facebook, and it’s not going to be the easy platform for solar sales and marketing it once was. Facebook makes its platform quite simple to run ads on.  In regards to difficulty, on a scale of 1 to 10, it’s probably a three or a four.  So what’s happened is that people who previously used to sell solar have made millions selling “online courses” to solar sales organizations showing them how to run solar ads on Facebook.

A Seismic Shift in Facebook Advertising

In 2017 through 2018, there was plenty of fish in the sea, and solar marketing was still very profitable on Facebook. However, in 2019 we saw a seismic shift. Hundreds, even thousands of solar companies began advertising on Facebook in all of the same markets.  California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Florida, and several other states where solar was “hot” was starting to become too competitive to get leads on Facebook. Now don’t get us wrong. If you live in states like Michigan, Georgia, Missouri, or Wisconsin, you . probably are still seeing amazing results on Facebook (mostly because there’s not much competition).  And I’m sure there are plenty of people in the more competitive markets still getting results, but there’s no doubt that the cost per acquisition has steadily increased for your solar marketing efforts.

Also, due to it being an election year in 2020, prices on Facebook are going up.  Facebook is an auction, so competing ads in the solar space (which is a political topic according to Facebook) will cause prices to increase for everyone. We saw the writing on the wall 6-12 months ago and moved all of our clients to a new platform: Youtube! Now, we’re seeing lead costs like we did 5 years ago, because it’s a blue ocean.  Not many solar companies are advertising on YouTube compared to Facebook, because the difficulty is much higher (an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10). In even the most competitive markets, we’re seeing leads really be exclusive again, because they haven’t filled out 4 or 5 forms on Facebook before they request a quote from our clients.

We’ve seen appointment set rates double, and close rates increase. On Facebook, you have to pay for anyone who sees your ad, even if they’re a renter or unqualified. On YouTube, we don’t pay unless someone watches 30 seconds of your video, so if they’re uninterested or unqualified, they won’t watch beyond that point in our videos. We’ve dialed in these campaigns and have become masters at generating exclusive leads and pre-set appointments on Youtube, and we’ve never seen as much growth!

There are limited spots remaining in each market, so make sure you book a call by calling us at 702-462-7237 or by choosing a time below. Let’s take your business to the next level with truly exclusive leads and pre-set appointments that are not only better quality but also cost less!