Energy Assistance Marketing for South Jersey Gas and Elizabethtown Gas: How Digital Ads Led to Increased Awareness and Engagement
CLIENT
South Jersey Gas and Elizabethtown Gas
CAMPAIGN
Energy Assistance Marketing
INDUSTRY
- Energy
SERVICES
- Design & Copywriting, Digital, Strategic Marketing
Executive Summary
For the past 3 years South Jersey Gas (SJG) and Elizabethtown Gas (ETG) have partnered with Whale to increase awareness and engagement for their Energy Assistance programs. This case study specifically highlights the campaign efforts and results from the 2023 Spring campaign.
Client Overview
South Jersey Gas and Elizabethtown Gas are subsidiaries of South Jersey Industries and individually service more than 300,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in New Jersey. Their mission is to deliver safe, reliable, affordable natural gas to their customers.
In a commitment to support their valued customers during challenging times, SJG and ETG take a proactive stance by offering robust Energy Assistance Programs and grants to their existing customers. These initiatives are designed with a dual purpose: to provide crucial financial assistance and to guide customers in regaining control of their energy bills.
Campaign Objectives
The objective of this campaign is to increase awareness of available Energy Assistance programs and expanded program eligibility by encouraging qualified SJG/ETG customers to apply.
Whale Strategy
To help SJG/ETG achieve their goal of increased program awareness and enrollment, White Whale implemented a digital ad campaign using Facebook/Instagram, Google Responsive Display, Google Search, and Retargeting ads. This campaign ran from June – September 2023. All digital ads had messaging crafted to educate customers about SJG & ETG’s Energy Assistance programs and direct them to program assistance webpages within SJG & ETG’s websites to learn more or take the next step. For targeting, the client provided us with a database of qualified customers.
Whale Deliverables
– Strategy Development: Creation of digital channel strategy, timeline & budget.
– Creation of (4) Digital Ads: These ads were created for Google and Facebook and were targeted using customer email addresses, zip codes and retargeting pixels.
– Campaign Launch: Placement and launch of ads within Google and Facebook, and overall media management throughout the campaign.
– Tracking & Optimization: Compilation of tracking metrics and ongoing channel and media budget optimizations to ensure campaign success.
Success and Results
From this 3-month campaign, SJI experienced a notable 8% increase in assistance intake.
Over 1,600,000
impressions across Google and Facebook/Instagram
Average CTR of 26.75%
on Google Search, outperforming the industry average
Drove 56% More Users for SJG and 24% More Users for ETG
to the landing pages
Future Plans & Optimizations
Whale is currently orchestrating the Fall edition of this campaign, spanning from October 2023 to February 2024. Building on the resounding success of running ads on Facebook and Google in the Spring, these platforms remain pivotal in our current advertising endeavors for the Fall campaign. Notably, for the Fall campaign we introduced the use of Nextdoor ads, strategically positioning our outreach where homeowners actively seek advice and home-related information.
In an effort to amplify our digital presence, Whale also elevated the creative landscape by doubling the number of ad creatives running on each digital platform. Specifically, two (2) static ad creatives are now captivating audiences on Facebook, Google, and Nextdoor, while a singular (1) retargeting ad creative is tactically deployed on Facebook. This nuanced approach aims to maximize engagement across the audiences, ensuring an even more immersive and impactful campaign experience.
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