Challenge, Solution and Result: Apex Ahead of Emerging Market

Challenge:

One of the wind industry's fastest-growing IPPs, Apex Clean Energy, was looking for a way to get ahead of an emerging market – corporate buyers of renewable energy. While this market is less than utility purchasers, it is growing at an incredible rate. In 2017, corporate and other non-utility purchasers accounted for 40% of total wind energy capacity contracted through PPAs. The company sales team was interested in having bilateral conversations to change the paradigm and value proposition with customers unfamiliar with the energy business.

Solution:

We created a ground-up inbound marketing program designed to attract corporate buyers of renewable energy. We developed 5 detailed customer personas of the decision-makers they needed to target, designed and launched new web pages for them with original content, and created a thought leadership program for their CEO, including speaking appearances and LinkedIn article publishing and amplification.

Results:

• In 6 months, Apex Clean Energy went from no marcom program to having the industry’s best:
• Designed industry-leading website featuring 11 new pages to educate market and capture leads
• Built CEO LinkedIn profile from zero to become an industry thought leader with 3,200+ followers, tens of thousands of views regularly
• Guided the asset management team into a clearer articulation of their value, with a real web presence and an impressive presentation
• Launched a landmark corporate buyers survey at the biggest corporate sustainability event of the year – VERGE – generating 11 original earned media stories, and over 500 sales leads via Apex’s website
• Supported productive sales conversations at WINDPOWER with original content and speaker trainings
• Trumpeted Apex’s pioneering accomplishment at Fort Hood with self-generated and earned content, driving 15 articles with a potential audience of 4.37 million readers