Marketing for green installers - How to protect your customers

If you’re in the business of selling heat pumps, solar panels, bio boilers or any other green heating tech then you need to make sure you’ve got your marketing right.

This isn’t just because effective marketing will win you more leads, but more pressingly, the wrong marketing might get you prosecuted.

That’s right, if you get your marketing wrong, you could end up behind bars!

Okay okay, before you cancel all your ads and fire your marketing team, we first need to clarify a few things.

In the worst-case scenario, you are highly unlikely to go to jail. What’s more likely is that you will receive a large fine - not ideal, but not prison time.

Secondly, we should explain what we mean by bad marketing.

When we say bad marketing we’re not referring to an ineffective marketing campaign or a cringey ad, we’re talking bad in the sense that it could be harmful to the customer.

Bad marketing refers to any customer-facing material that might deceive or mislead those you are selling to. This you need to get right.

So what is the golden rule of green heating marketing?

The golden rule of marketing for green heating

There is one key rule you should bear in mind whenever you’re creating any marketing material for your products, whether that be in your pricing, offers or other promotions.

That rule is, “Never mislead your customer”.

This approach should be applied to all your marketing. Always ask yourself, could this ad or this conversation mislead the customer in any way? Is it possible that the customer might not have understood what was being communicated?

If there is room for ambiguity or the possibility that the customer might be led to an inaccurate conclusion, then you could be culpable.

As long as you are always transparent, informative and accurate, you won’t go far wrong.

Now, let's break this down for your pricing and product claims.

Headline price

When creating your headline price there are a few things you need to get right.

Most of these points are fairly obvious but they’re still worth going over as it can be easy to unintentionally get your pricing wrong.

1. Your advertised price should match the final invoice your customers pay, including fees and other charges. Don’t leave anything out.
2. If your price varies by customer you should advertise the likely price based on the most common scenario. You should also stipulate how this price was calculated.
3. Additional and unavoidable related work (such as new radiators for a heat pump) should be included in your price.
4. Any ongoing costs post-purchase should be made clear.
5. Don’t create misleading offers. Don’t price below the real total cost or present your price as a discount against an inflated price.
6. Don’t include government funding in your price*.
7. A ‘from price’ should start from a price point a significant portion of your customers will pay.
8. Important qualifications should be presented clearly, close to the headline price.
9. If your price is subject to change, make sure this is stated.
10. When selling a product bundle, make the individual prices clear as well

* On point 6, you are technically allowed to include government funding in your price when it is applicable to the majority of people you are selling to. However, it’s better not to do this. If you do decide to include funding in your price, make sure you clearly indicate that the price includes this funding and who it is or is not available to.

Making product claims

It goes without saying that any claims you make about your product should be as accurate as possible.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) provides some top tips on how to correctly advertise your products.

1. Any claims made must be backed by evidence.
2. Your evidence should be relevant to the use case you are promoting - if you’re selling a domestic heat pump don’t use a commercial pump as an example.
3. Don’t guess. Use credible evidence from verified sources - even better if you have your own data, just make sure it’s extensive.
4. Provide your customers with all the information in a clear and obvious place. If qualifications don’t fit in the ad the info should be just one click away
5. Don’t leave out anything that might influence a consumer's decision. If your ad doesn’t work without it and you’re out of space, don’t run that ad.
6. Avoid ‘up to’ claims. If you do use them, add evidence and base it on a significant proportion of consumers.
7. Base your claims on real-world conditions.
8. If you make comparisons to competitors, include details so the customer can compare for themselves
9. If your claim requires a change in behaviour let the customer know.
10. Avoid jargon or overly technical language.

What happens if you get it wrong?

So we’ve covered what you need to do to ensure you get your green tech marketing right, but what happens if you do cock it up.

The first thing to say is that we all make mistakes. If you get it slightly wrong it’s not the end of the world, however, it’s important that you take ownership of your mistakes and be accountable.

Apologies and try to provide reasonable compensation. If you get yourself in a situation in which you have deliberately deceived people then the consequences can be more severe.

Usually, the process will start with a formal investigation, followed by warning notices and even an injunction to stop your poor practices.

If things get really serious you could be looking at fines up to £20,000 alongside legal fees that can spiral into the millions.

You should also be wary of the reputational damage. Enforcement bodies can publicly name and shame businesses that are not compliant.

All in all, this is best avoided.

The best thing to do is to always consider the customer’s point of view. Put yourself in their shoes and ask yourself “Have I provided the customer with the best information to make an informed and balanced decision?” If you’ve done that you won’t go far wrong.

For a more detailed breakdown on how to market green heating and insulation products in the UK, you can read this government advice.

If you’re looking for detailed marketing tips then our article on how to market your solar business has everything you need to know.

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