For more than 10 years, Powersun has been designing and installing solar systems on agricultural and commercial buildings. The company offers design, development and O&M services for carbon zero solutions encompassing renewable generation, storage and EV charging.
Ian Brent-Smith Director Powersun
Powersun’s aim was to generate sales leads by positioning itself as trusted energy advisors to the farming community with its expertise in agricultural solar. By hosting an event that brought together a network of partners and delegates, Powersun aimed to develop a pipeline of qualified leads.
We proposed an integrated marketing campaign to promote a free half-day seminar at one of Powersun’s customer sites. Crockwell Farm in Northamptonshire was chosen for its excellent conferencing facilities and the opportunity to view a 50kWp solar installation on the farm’s barn roofs.
A comprehensive database of over 1,000 farmers from Oxfordshire and neighbouring counties was targeted via direct mail.
We positioned the event as a ‘one-stop shop by farmers, for farmers’, bringing together experts in solar technology, finance and best practice for installing solar PV systems. Attendees could make informed decisions about investing in solar PV and how best to maximise their income from it.
We secured spokespeople from the National Farmers Union (NFU), chartered surveyors Fisher German, tax experts and equipment manufacturers. Presentations topics included raising finance, Renewable Obligation Certificates, Power Purchase Agreements, feed-in tariffs and personal taxation and the technology developments in panels, inverters and mounting systems.
As well as using direct mail and email, the promotional campaign included advertising, social media and PR, with journalists from several publications including Solar Power Portal, British Farmer & Grower, Farmers Weekly and The Farmer invited to attend. We recorded and shared presentation on the video sharing site Vimeo for those who couldn’t attend.
Around 50 farmers registered to attend the seminar. After the presentations delegates were given a guided tour of the farm’s solar PV installation and an opportunity to network with Powersun and the other presenters.
Coverage of the event appeared on Solar Power Portal with adverts appearing in National Farmer, Farmer’s Guide and the NFU’s regional bulletin.
Orders for agricultural solar PV installations were placed with Powersun amounting to £5 million; a 500x return on marketing investment.
Videos of the presentations have to date received over 500 views on Vimeo.
Ian Brent-Smith, director of Powersun commented on this achievement: “I have to admit that my business partner and I were initially cautious about investing in a marketing campaign. Our time and budget were limited and we were unsure of exactly what value and ROI it would deliver. With limited resources, our own in-house marketing activities had been patchy and hadn’t proved particularly successful so we decided to enlist the help of a professional agency.”
