10 things you should know when marketing to Professional Electricians in 2022

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, the importance of knowing your audience when it comes to marketing communications cannot be underestimated. Underpinning your whole marketing strategy – from your brand tone of voice and visual style, to the channels you choose to reach them, this insight is invaluable.

With this in mind, at Oil the Wheels we love it when Hamerville Publishing Ltd shares the results of their readership survey with us.

Here’s what we learnt from their 2020 results…

1. 81.5% Professional Electricians are aged between 41-60+ years, with only 4.2% aged between 18-30 years.

2. 67% are small businesses (1-3 employees).

3. 50.8% visit a wholesaler at least once a week. 16.7% visit everyday.

4. 37% belong to the NICEIC, 19.4% to NAPIT, but 28.4% do not belong to any trade association.

5. Type of work undertaken: 73.5% Rewiring, 80% Test & Inspection, 76.5% Circuit Protection and 62.5% Cable Management.

6. 36.4% said they undertake Smart Home Installation and 52.3% say that they are interested in reading about Smart Home Technology.

7. Where they find information about products: 90.1% Trade Magazines, 46.0% Manufacturers websites/internet, 39.2% say Wholesale Counter Staff

8. Where they look for technical advice: 53.6% Internet, 68.9% Trade Magazines, 63.75% Trade Bodies and 13.9% Wholesale Counter Staff. NEW Electrical Forum Groups/Social Media 45%

9. Use of Internet for business: 53.3% Industry News, 71.7% Purchasing Products, 86.7% Product Information, and 89.5% Technical Information.

10. 58.8% regularly use Facebook, 50.6% YouTube, 28.4% LinkedIn and 23.4% Twitter. 27.3% Instagram, 15.5% don’t use social media

Source: Readership survey 2020 (640) conducted by Hamerville Publishing Ltd:

How does this help with the development of future product launch campaigns for manufacturers of electrical products?

 The demographic profile of the sector is still relatively mature – not significantly changing since 2016, though there are even fewer professional electricians within the 18-30 bracket.

The older the customer group, the harder it is to get them to embrace and adopt new technologies – though the results suggest some are trying! With a growth in the number of electricians installing smart technologies, undoubtedly prompted by the increasing consumer demand for smart products, this implies that an element of ‘product training’ to the trade has a role to play in any successful product launch.

The buzz within the marketing sector is that everything is now digital, and while the pandemic encouraged a surge in online product purchases – initially by necessity rather than desire and now for convenience – still over half of the electricians surveyed said they visit a wholesaler once a week, with nearly seventeen percent visiting once a day!

This means that the opportunity to market in-store is still as strong as ever. And with wholesaler counter staff influencers in their own right – often influenced themselves by in-store merchandising and access to product information, which is then shared with their customers, – this is an invaluable resource for electrical accessory manufacturing firms to tap into.

So product Attention, Interest, Desire can all be achieved at the wholesaler, with the Action of the digital delivery of product information through the scanning of a QR code from branded P.O.S. materials direct to the phone or tablet.

The one channel that did show significant positive change is the use of social media within this audience. The greatest increase is in the use of YouTube and Instagram – perhaps aligned with the use of the internet in search of product and technical information by this audience. With YouTube being the second largest search engine in the world behind Google, it doesn’t take a marketer to work out that this is a good place to be.

While this insight supports the growth in branded video, it’s pertinent to remember that these, contrary to former belief, don’t need to be slick. A quality video taken on a phone, featuring genuine members of your workforce in an informal setting has an authenticity that resonates well.

No one size fits all, but it is possible, with the help of the right agency, to develop an integrated program that will deliver maximum returns, i.e. sales opportunities.

For an insightful approach to your next campaign, get us involved!