5 Common Mistakes Small Solar Companies Make With Their Marketing Efforts
Contributing Author Andrew Barks
Residential solar installers tend to misjudge digital marketing in much the same way businesses in any other industry do: They overthink it.
Sure, rooftop solar is unique in terms of the personas it serves and the types of long-term sales installers make, but the need to demystify digital marketing is not solely a solar-sector issue. Companies across the board must focus on specific tactics and chase short-term payoffs at the cost of cohesive messaging and a holistic approach to improving the buyer’s journey.
Here are five of the most common mistakes smaller solar companies make in trying to stretch their marketing dollar online.
1. They Don’t Do The Work to Build a Specific Solar Company Brand Identity First
Particularly in the age of large language models (LLMs) search, knowing who you are and what differentiates you from competitors is essential to being discovered online. In a sea of sameness, companies that take the time to craft unique messaging and, critically, scale it across multiple channels will show up in search more regularly. Those with inconsistent company messaging will be perceived as less credible by the algorithms that drive these platforms, receive fewer AI Overviews, and less frequent citations from Chat GPT, Claude, Perplexity, and the like.
The foundation of your brand identity work generally shouldn’t be outsourced. It’s worth the time to get it right, and the inspiration for that identity lives right in your own house. It’s one thing to get an outside perspective to help refine your messaging, but the core components should be right at your disposal. If you can’t come up with a few elevator pitch-level lines about what makes your residential solar operation special, you may have bigger problems that extend through the sales funnel.
To start off, ask yourselves a few key questions: What do we offer that others don’t? What’s critical to our culture? And what positives do we want to hear from our customers consistently? The answers should be immediately available, informing everything from your product pages to your social presence.
2. They Don’t Prioritize a Smooth Online Experience For Solar Customers
A company's website is often the very first touchpoint a potential customer has. A clunky site creates immediate friction and distrust, especially when the purchase under consideration - installing solar - entails a significant investment.
A smooth user experience (UX) means a few things:
Speed and responsiveness: Your site should be, at a minimum, mobile-friendly. That means it loads quickly and formats properly on all devices. Given the high cost of acquisition in the solar industry, every second of load time matters, as slow sites dramatically increase bounce rates. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to diagnose and fix performance issues.
Intuitive navigation and CTAs: A prospective buyer should be able to find key information, like services offered, pricing, and customer testimonials or case studies, pretty simply. They should also be able to clearly recognize a path to the next step, such as "Get a free quote" or "Schedule a site assessment." Your most important CTAs should be prominent, repeatable, and strategically placed.
Customer-centric content: Too many websites look like online brochures. Skepticism around what companies are selling as the sole publishers of proprietary information has, in part, fed the AI search boom. Your site should garner trust. It should anticipate and answer common customer questions and objections.
Are you clearly explaining the rooftop PV system’s payback period and ROI, warranty, loss of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC), the installation process, and the long-term operations & maintenance (O&M)? Use interactive elements, like a simple solar savings calculator, to add value rather than discouraging prospective customers from navigating further and leading them to seek answers elsewhere.
3. They Treat Social Media as an Afterthought
Many solar companies view social media merely as a checklist item (if it’s even part of their arsenal at all) rather than a powerful tool for community engagement, education, and social proof.
They post sporadically, share unengaging content, or use it solely for hard-sell promotions. They blame a lack of resources or expertise, when much of social media’s impact comes from repetition and commitment.
Develop a consistent content calendar focused on value. Speak to your customers by meeting them on the channels where they already participate (whether that’s Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Reddit).
It’s okay to think small to start. Most consumers of social content are accustomed to crudely shot videos and other user-generated content by now. Showcase successful local installations (with customer permission), create short videos explaining the benefits of solar, highlight employee expertise, and actively engage with comments and direct messages.
Done right, social media builds brand trust and demonstrates industry expertise, which is crucial for high-ticket services like residential PV solar sales, which rely so much on referrals from brand ambassadors.
4. They Fail To Leverage Local SEO Effectively For Solar Sales
Rooftop solar is largely a geographically dependent service, yet many companies neglect the foundational steps of local search engine optimization (SEO), making it difficult for nearby homeowners to find them when searching for "solar installers near me."
You may have heard rumors that SEO is dead. It’s not quite that simple — we’re currently in a place where businesses need to consider both AI and traditional search — and local SEO has always been a niche game that savvy businesses can play to their advantage through a few rather simple steps:
Optimize your Google Business Profile (GBP). Table stakes. Google itself will give you the answers. Ensure your GBP is completely filled out with accurate contact information, hours, service areas, and high-quality photos of your work. Encourage and promptly respond to customer reviews here.
Monitor local citations: Ensure your business name, address, and phone number are consistent across all online directories (e.g., Yelp, Angi).
Targeted Content: Create website content and blog posts specifically targeting local regions — e.g., “Solar Installation Guide for Orange County, CA" — to capture hyper-local search traffic. You can customize CTAs within these posts to further hone in on your intended buyer.
5. They Only Play The Short Game
Don’t forget — your existing customers can be an extension of your marketing arm!
Acquiring a new solar customer is expensive. Ignoring opportunities for repeat business (through service, maintenance, or additional storage) and customer referrals is a massive oversight that inflates the overall cost of customer acquisition (CAC).
Formalize your post-installation communication strategy. Check in with customers at regular, established intervals to gauge their satisfaction and answer any performance questions. Crucially, establish an explicit, attractive referral program that rewards existing customers for bringing in new business — perhaps through co-marketed case studies or social content.
After all, a happy customer who trusts you is your best, most cost-effective marketer.
If any of these missteps sound familiar, you’re not alone. But you also don’t have to fix them alone. At Brayer Marketing, we specialize in helping residential solar installers clarify their brand positioning, optimize their digital presence, and build cohesive, long-term marketing strategies that actually drive qualified leads. From local SEO and AI search visibility to content development, social strategy, and referral campaign design, we help small- to medium-sized solar businesses compete with larger players without overspending. Learn more about how we support renewable energy companies and solar SMEs. Ready to get started? Reach out today for a consultation.