How to conquer the smart-grid market

By Tory Patrick

Although the implementation of smart meters has elicited varied opinions from the areas impacted, the bottom line is that restructuring our infrastructure will be beneficial for everyone in the long run. Hence, the increasingly competitive smart-grid marketplace, where there are new technologies sprouting up on a weekly basis. Smart-grid companies are faced with a market that isn’t completely understood or accepted by consumers yet, but at the same time is a fiercely competitive battleground. This market juxtaposition makes it more critical than ever for companies to fully understand the sector, have a clear message, and ultimately stand out among their competitors.

So how do they do it? For the most part, the critical factors mentioned above can be achieved with some good old-fashioned PR tactics.

Understanding the market

To truly know what is happening in your market, you’ve got to understand what is going on outside of your company. While you may have a great product, if you’ve got blinders on it becomes impossible to learn from others’ mistakes and triumphs, or hear about what your clients may be demanding, how the market is evolving, etc. One way of getting out there is through tradeshows, although most companies know about this one.

The other, slightly more intimidating avenue, is through social media (you knew this was coming, right?). Social media platforms are a great source of news. On Twitter or Facebook, you should be following or becoming fans of relevant people, publications and companies, and thus being fed information from sources you care about instead of sifting through aggregate information sources. Social media platforms can also connect you to an audience you may have not been aware of, and can therefore strengthen your understanding of the marketplace.

Developing a clear message

One of the best ways to do this is to write, write, write! Figure out what you want to say, to whom, and why. Most tradeshows host Calls for Papers where anyone can submit to speak at the show. This forces you to think long and hard about what the key issues are in your industry and how you want to accurately address them. Plus, if you get a speaking slot you get to practice talking about those ideas, which can help in sales meetings and more. The same goes for award submissions — look for relevant awards to submit for which celebrate your company as well as your personnel.

Conclusion

Employing some of these simple tactics can make a big difference for your company’s bottom line, so if you haven’t started leveraging them — get to work! The $4.3 billion that was put toward smart-grid development and deployment by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) continues to be leveraged by smart-grid companies — aka your competitors. This surge in development translates into a rapidly moving market, so you should make sure that you’re moving with it!

This was a guest commentary by Tory Patrick, an account manager with Vantage Communications.