12 • OIL
&
ENERGY
THE HEATING SEASON IS UPON US,
but there is still time to tackle some
last-minute marketing projects that can
generate additional revenue and improve
your profitability in the cold months ahead.
Whether you have invested
sensibly in marketing this year or let
things slide a little, it’s not too late to
raise your visibility, influence your
customers and bring in some new
business for this heating season.
Every company has its own
unique set of challenges and opportunities,
and the suggestions below do not constitute
a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, think
of this as a helpful checklist to stir your
thinking and help you build your business
this winter.
1. TUNE UP THE COMPANY WEBSITE.
When customers go looking for a new
fuel service or home comfort provider,
they are probably searching the Internet
and choosing only from those companies
that turn up near the top of their search
results. Evaluate your website and run some
searches to see how well it is performing.
First, make sure that your home page
is well arranged for winter, so that your
heating services have top billing. If your site
needs work, try to update and upgrade at
least the home page. Be sure that the home
page description puts your company in a
favorable light and does not understate your
capabilities. It’s hard enough to secure new
business when you do everything
right; an unprofessional website vir-
tually guarantees that your business
will not reach its potential. Don’t let
another year go by without putting
your best foot forward online.
If your site does not appear on
the first page of results when you perform
searches for local heating oil and heating
services, you need to improve your search
engine optimization (SEO), which is the
coding behind your site that communicates
with Google and other search engines.
Without good SEO, your website can never
achieve the visibility you need.
2. SEND A NEWSLETTER.
Communicating effectively with cus-
tomers is a great way to reinforce the value
you provide and keep them onboard. It also
shows that you care and don’t just take their
business for granted.
Newsletters are particularly useful
for a couple of situations. First, if you
are concerned about losing customers to
natural gas, it is essential to tell your side
of the story, and a newsletter is the perfect
vehicle. Natural gas might have a price
advantage now, but there are some excel-
lent reasons not to switch fuels that you can
share with customers to offset the utilities’
propaganda.
In addition to the known advantages on
safety and service, Oilheat is converting to
clean-burning ultra-low sulfur fuel, while
natural gas is taking on ugly environmental
baggage relating to methane. Natural gas
is also attracting large demand for power
generation, transportation and exports,
and there is every reason to think the price
advantage will be short-lived. A newsletter
is a great place to tell those sides of the
story.
Another great use for newsletters is for
a company that has added new services.
A newsletter alerts customers and explains
the new services and their value. Your own
customers are your best prospects for new
services, so it makes sense to invest in
informing them.
3. EXPAND YOUR WEB PRESENCE.
There are many opportunities for free
or low-cost publicity on the Internet, and
they reward you. Start by registering with
10 Ways to Generate More Business This Winter
By Richard Rutigliano, PriMedia Inc.
Continued …
Marketing
