How Utilities Can Use Data And AI To Turn Every Interaction Into A Marketing Opportunity

Gautam Aggarwal

Forbes Councils Member

Gautam Aggarwal, CMO of Bidgely, evolving energy analytics for utilities with the power of data and artificial intelligence.

Personalization, automation and digitalization have redefined the fundamentals of business across nearly every industry, yet as Deloitte explains, the utility industry is transforming on a great scale. Utilities are investing in information technology (IT) to not just accommodate evolving customer needs and expectations but also improve operational workflows throughout the organization, including in marketing.

Advanced IT solutions in the utility industry aim to reduce redundancies and unify technology systems. But in order to justify the increase in spending on vertically-aligned cloud software, utility leaders should maximize ROI by optimizing and extending their existing IT stack to ensure it enhances efficiency utility-wide rather than in siloed units.

As the CMO of a company that offers AI-powered solutions for utilities, I’ve found that one of the simplest ways for utility CMOs to expand the efficiency of IT resources is by working with a CRM partner to integrate existing customer data and energy insights into a singular platform. Between smart meters and analog meters, utilities often collect an enormous amount of customer data that can be extremely valuable to utility marketers for segmenting, targeting and engaging with different audiences. The next step is to use this data to enhance marketing automation and break down the silos between departments to transform other departments into active marketers.

Integrating AI

At the most basic level, utility marketing programs use customer data like geographic location to support program-driven initiatives all the time. More sophisticated artificial intelligence (AI)-powered customer insights can further identify lifestyle preferences, energy consumption patterns, appliance usage and even purchasing power, enabling utilities to hyper-target communications and provide relevant, meaningful content.

For example, a utility could isolate which households own electric vehicles (EV), then target them with personalized marketing campaigns and programs. Marketers can also cater to these customers’ propensity for electrification by offering rebates on electric appliances.

By targeting individual groups to address a specific need, utilities can build trust and loyalty with customers.