As summer ends and our busy season ramps up, I always like to take a beat and look with the advantage of hindsight at what we’ve seen and experienced so far this year. September is the sweet spot to adjust our bearings to stay ahead of the curve and keep our energy comms programs effective in this ever-changing industry. Here is a snapshot of what’s on my mind as the kids go back to school, the leaves change, and my thoughts start coalescing around ‘finishing the year strong.’
The Shrinking Media Pool and Rise of Digital Channels in Renewable Energy Communications
The fact that the energy media pool is shrinking isn’t new, but the shrinkage certainly hasn’t slowed down as much as I would like. A few years ago, news organizations established energy and sustainability desks to cover the sector. It was an exciting time to be sure, but now as the industry matures, a lot of these desks have been rolled back. This forces us to do what we always do – adapt.
A shift in focus: With specialized desks closing and resources consolidating, the narrative has shifted. It isn’t just about energy, but about how energy intersects, interacts, and informs other sectors – business, economics, policy, real estate, insurance, AI. This widening narrative means we need to craft angles that appeal not just to energy journalists, but to anyone covering an intersecting field.
Digital domination: As traditional media continues to reorganize itself into a tighter and tighter shape, digital platforms have become the go-to for news (and news-like) consumption. LinkedIn, X, and even TikTok are increasingly where consumers and decision makers are tuning in for news and insights. In fact, 55% of decision makers use LinkedIn to vet a company’s capabilities. We’ll need to continue to focus on creating compelling content for these channels, but also carve out time and budget to engage in these spaces regularly to build presence and influence in the realm of energy communications.
Transparency and Trust-Building Never Gets Old
Renewable integration, grid stability, environmental justice. These are not lightweight topics and take a heavy lift of trust to join the conversation in any meaningful way. The ‘now more than ever’ platitude is warranted when thinking about trust in this industry, in this year. Securing funding, announcing credit-building partnerships, and celebrating every step towards successful commercialization needs an unprecedented level of transparency to build the trust we need to reach net zero goals.
Open communication: Being transparent about operations, challenges, and initiatives is no longer a nice to have – it’s a baseline necessity. Audiences expect more than high-level statements. They want details. We must clearly articulate what we’re offering and how we’re doing it along with describing the scale and consistency of our efforts.
Trust through thought leadership: Over 50% of decision makers read other thought leaders’ content, so it simply must be good. With the onslaught of generative AI produced content, trust-building storytelling must go beyond the fundamentals. To gain credibility, we need to get our points of views out there, and they have to be paired with original insights and implications. These are the new table stakes of good content.
People Trust People More Than Brands
Something we’ve found time and time again in the 21st century – people are trusting brands less. People, however, can still be trusted, for the most part. We know that potential customers, prospective employees and journalists use personal profiles to vet people, and therefore, companies. We must utilize our best communicators, whether they are executive-level thought leaders or employees perfect for advocacy programs, to humanize our communications and deliver our messages.
Be audience specific: Brands tend to try to speak to everyone, but people are much better at talking to people. Creating person-to-person content that recognizes and empathizes with the shifting priorities and interests of consumers, policymakers, and investors is something we’ll continue to prioritize.
Get engaged IRL: Events, whether as speakers or attendees, offer priceless opportunities to engage with media, track industry trends, understand customer needs, and meet actual people. The energy industry does a great job of utilizing events to meet people in person – just check out the growing attendee list of RE+ each year.
The energy communications landscape is as dynamic as ever. Especially as we head into the final campaign pushes for the 2024 presidential election, it is important to keep pushing. All of this still applies no matter who sits in the White House. ‘Finishing the year strong’ means understanding the nuance of what we’ve learned so far. I’ll be encouraging our teams and clients to look, listen, learn and adjust. Consider the evolving media environment, the rise of digital channels, the absolute criticality of transparency and the undeniable value of human connection in order to stay agile and adaptable through this year and beyond.
