Fatrank Podcast

Kasra Dash:
So if I am looking to grow a commercial solar business and if I have some marketing budget, what do you recommend spending it on. How can I get a consistent flow of enquiries.

James Dooley:
If you're looking to grow a commercial solar business then I'm focusing only on commercial, not residential. In the UK there are government grants and tax relief for commercial solar. There are tax incentives that reduce corporation tax. That means my first major play would be educational blog posts and videos. Once those are created I'd run social media ads everywhere because a lot of business owners do not even know the incentives exist. LinkedIn ads could be strong. Even manually connecting with CEOs, CFOs and managing directors on LinkedIn works. I would message them and say did you know there is tax relief available.

My second play would be getting leads today. SEO is essential and you should still try to rank for commercial solar panel installs in your key areas but SEO is slow. It can take six to twelve months. PPC in this niche is expensive. That is why I would team up with lead generation companies. Over at fatrank.com we provide a consistent flow of commercial solar enquiries. If you fill in your details and qualify, you only pay on converted jobs.

The caveat is simple. Do not rely on FatRank as your only supplier. Diversify. Use one or two other lead generation companies and test ROI. Make sure they do not resell leads to four or five companies because that destroys margins. FatRank leads are exclusive and sent in real time. But again, diversify.

Away from lead generation, what are your thoughts on PPC or social media ads. Would you do anything like traditional marketing.

Kasra Dash:
PPC is something I avoid. I have had bad experiences. You get click fraud where competitors burn your budget. You also get window shoppers who click three ads and never commit. That means you spend £20 to £120 on a click that never becomes a client. It becomes expensive fast.

A safer strategy is social proof. If you've done a large commercial solar farm then get good video footage. Get before and after clips. Some solar firms even record client video testimonials. That always improves trust. When someone compares James Dooley Solar to Kasra Dash Solar and one of them has testimonials, reviews and video proof the decision becomes easy. That alone increases conversions.

SEO also works. Build pages for commercial solar panels, commercial battery storage, EV chargers for commercial premises and energy tariff optimisation. Build location pages too. Commercial solar company Manchester. Commercial solar company Oldham. Build everything. Then write blog posts and run paid ads to educate people.

James Dooley:
Something you said there is spot on. EV chargers. A commercial solar company might not install EV chargers but I would still want to rank for EV charger installations and heat pumps. Air source heat pumps are expensive to run. That means those customers often want solar. If you rank for heat pumps and send the lead to a trusted partner, they will refer commercial solar leads back to you. I call this shouldering niches. I help your business and you help mine. It builds a network.

This works both ways. If someone searches commercial solar they might also need EV chargers or heat pumps. You can upsell or work with partner installers. I would do this mainly through SEO, not PPC. I would also network on LinkedIn with EV charger firms and heat pump companies. That strategy grows your reach faster.

Kasra Dash:
Definitely.

If you want a free strategy call with FatRank to see if you qualify for commercial solar enquiries, the link is down below or head over to fatrank.com.