Utilities may not think they have stories to tell, but they do. And those stories are what resonate with your customers.

But how do you identify, plan, deliver, manage, and measure the success of those stories? And how do you use them to support your utility’s business goals and brand?

At the 2018 E Source Forum, we interviewed Caroline Aoyagi-Stom, digital content strategist at Southern California Edison (SCE), and Blaine Kyllo, senior strategist at Content Strategy Inc., on best practices for utility content strategy.

Getting started with a content strategy at your utility

When you’re developing or improving a content strategy, it’s important to:

• Align each piece of content with corporate goals to deliver clear results to your leadership team.
• Build a team of strong writers and storytellers, and make sure you loop in your web team or a web vendor early in the process.
• Start with your most important corporate priority, figure out how content can support that priority, and then build a strategy to create, promote, and govern that content.

Kyllo and Aoyagi-Stom explained content strategy basics (figure 1); how to build a content team when you have limited resources and budget (figure 2); and the importance of finding team members who can ensure the accuracy, quality, and efficiency of content (figure 3).

Figure 1: What is content strategy?

Figure 2: How do you start a corporate content site?

Figure 3: How do you assemble a content team?

Finding compelling stories

Good content should be meaningful to your audience. The goal should be to develop a relationship with your customers so they keep coming back. Your fellow employees across the utility have amazing stories. Find out what they’re talking about, set up interviews with them, and meet with your content team regularly to discuss which stories will engage your audience and bolster your brand. Use an editorial calendar to plan your content and keep it fresh and relevant. And be sure to publish new stories at least weekly.

Aoyagi-Stom talked about how SCE mines employee stories and publishes content that resonates with the utility’s audience (figures 4 and 5).

Figure 4: How do you determine good content?

Figure 5: How do you get story ideas for the site?

Customizing content for your audience

Utilities’ external audience includes residential and business customers, local organizations, the media, and others. A good story can cut across interests and lifestyles, so you don’t need to segment your content. Instead, target readers by channel and deliver content to them where you know they are.

At our Forum conference, Aoyagi-Stom told us that “human beings are human beings. Everybody appreciates good content.” So SCE writes and publishes good stories that all of its audiences can relate to and consume (figure 6). Kyllo reminded us that even though utilities serve everyone in their territory, they’re not publishing web content, direct mailers, commercials, or radio ads for everyone. He advises that you deliver your content through the channel that you know your specific audience is using (figure 7).

Figure 6: How do you customize content for your audience?

Figure 7: Are you really creating content for everyone?

Managing content

Using an editorial calendar for scheduling what to publish when is an effective way to plan stories. Digital tools can help keep track of your calendar details, but you should also hold regular content meetings to float new ideas, understand what other departments are working on, and look for ways to reuse content.

For regulated utilities that need to stay within a certain set of rules and processes, a strict framework may help to keep your content consistent and provide a better web experience for your customers.

In figure 8, Aoyagi-Stom says she plans her content a year ahead. She makes sure SCE’s content corresponds with holidays, events, and national days. The utility also publishes content that supports its overall objectives, such as promoting clean energy. In figure 9, Kyllo suggests that regulated utilities have an easier time managing content because strict guidelines help standardize their content.

Figure 8: What tools do you use to plan and manage content?

Figure 9: How do you manage content within a regulatory environment?

Measuring success with your content site

You can easily measure the success of a content site with page views, unique visitors, time spent on a page, and the percentage of visitors who leave the site after viewing just one page (known as bounce rate). At SCE, Aoyagi-Stom says her team looks for upticks in customer satisfaction in brand resonance surveys, such as those conducted by J.D. Power and the Marketing Science Institute (figure 10). Kyllo noted that you can also measure the return on investment for content by looking at how long it took to publish a piece of content and how many errors that piece has, which can affect how well the content performs (figure 11). Demonstrate the value of your content strategy by reporting back to your leadership team with how you’re improving and adjusting content and the processes you use to create it.

Figure 10: How do you measure content performance?

Figure 11: How do you measure content effectiveness?