As a Certified B Corp, our mission is to help clients grow sustainably—minimizing waste while improving returns. With AI rapidly changing the landscape of marketing, we’re taking a close look at how it can support this mission.
During our last Solar Marketing Q&A, we discussed examples of highly targeted paid media campaigns that improve ROI and provided some examples of how the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can further improve paid media performance.
Targeted Campaigns for Maximum Impact
One of the most immediate and effective applications of paid media discussed was its ability to facilitate highly targeted campaigns in response to real-world events.
- Regional Response: Paid media excels at responding to real time events like power outages. Focusing ads and custom landing pages on areas currently experiencing power outages or severe weather disruptions, solar companies can deliver timely, customized messaging that directly addresses residents’ and business owners’ immediate concerns about resilience and reliability. This capability allows for a rapid, contextual response that organic search alone can’t match.
- Geographic and Segment Focus: Beyond emergency response, paid media is critical for testing and scaling campaigns based on granular database segmentation. For instance, you can specifically target existing solar customers for battery storage upsells or focus on homeowners that have high propensity for adopting solar. If there is a state-specific tax or rebate incentive, for example, segmentation by state/region allows for delivery of unique messaging by location.
Maximizing Paid Media With AI-Powered Data
With the right data intelligence, paid media can go even further. Platforms like 257 make this possible by combining AI and hundreds of household-level data points to identify homes most likely to adopt solar, batteries, heat pumps, generators, or smarter energy plans. This precision targeting allows energy providers to focus spend where it matters most—connecting with high-propensity households and reducing acquisition costs by 25% or more.
257’s “digital energy twin” for every U.S. home helps shift from broad demographic targeting to actionable, household-level insights—detecting homes with high electricity usage, aging HVAC systems, EV ownership, recent power outages, or neighborhood solar adoption. Leveraging advanced targeting in paid media campaigns can dramatically reduce wasted impressions and improve cost-per-acquisition metrics across digital channels.
Some real-world examples of advanced targeting from the 257 platform:
New Solar Sales – High propensity solar homes in Florida
Battery Upsells – Existing solar homes in California without a battery
Resiliency Pitch – Dallas area homes with a recent outage and no battery or generator
Energy Whales – High-usage AZ homeowner, single-family, $100K+, no solar
AI: The New Optimizer for Paid Search and Content
AI is a foundational element for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of all marketing channels, including paid media.
- Reducing Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The strategic use of AI in SEO and content optimization has a direct and positive ripple effect on paid media. By ensuring your website content is highly optimized—not just for traditional search engines but also for Large Language Models (LLMs)—you can improve organic visibility. This, in turn, can reduce your overall reliance on expensive paid channels for generic keywords, allowing you to focus your paid budget on more niche, high-intent targeting. A highly optimized site also directly impacts paid search performance, signaling stronger ad relevance and improved user engagement to Google, which has a positive impact on expected cost-per-click, relevancy, and over time, cost-per-acquisition.
- Content and Landing Page Enhancement: The quality of the content your paid ads drive traffic to is paramount. AI-generated content can provide a solid foundation, but to truly stand out, it must be refined with unique insights and value. This ‘human-plus-AI’ approach ensures landing pages offer the credibility and depth needed to convert traffic driven by paid campaigns.
- Multi-Channel Tracking: AI and advanced platform integration facilitate better tracking. Integrating your website with a robust Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is non-negotiable. This integration, supported by tools like UTM parameters and lead attribution, allows you to precisely analyze the ROI of every paid ad, email campaign, and organic search effort, optimizing your budget allocation for better lead generation and conversion. Connecting your website and CRM keeps you in control, making every campaign accountable and every dollar transparent.
Preparing for the Post-ITC Future
As the industry prepares for the 2026 changes to the 30% ITC, the marriage of paid media and AI becomes even more critical for managing the shift in value proposition.
- Shifting Messaging: As solar becomes more expensive post-incentive, marketing must pivot from an “incentive-driven” pitch to a “value-driven” one. Paid media is the perfect vehicle to test and scale messaging focused on long-term cost savings, home equity, and resilience (battery storage, outage protection).
- Optimized Lead Management: As demand continues to be high—potentially exceeding year-end installation capacity for some—paid media efforts must be tightly managed. Using AI-driven insights from the CRM, companies can develop a strategy for handling excess leads efficiently, ensuring no opportunity is lost and all paid media spend is contributing to a high-value pipeline. In addition you can adjust budgets, campaigns, and geo-targeting to where you are most profitable or have the most resources. For example, if your panel installers are booked through year end but you have room for battery storage installations, you can shift focus from panels to batteries while reaching the same audience. Or if your team in the southwest is at capacity but you have resources in the southeast, you can adjust geo-targeting to reach prospects where you have more resources.
By strategically aligning paid media’s speed and precision with AI’s power to optimize content and track performance, solar companies can successfully navigate market shifts, reduce CAC, and ensure their messaging resonates with customers focused on long-term value and energy independence.
Did you enjoy reading this article about AI and Paid Media? Check out some of our other articles that are centered around artificial intelligence:
- How AI Is Rewriting the Rules of SEO and What Your Business Should Do About It
- AI & Web Development: The Role of Website Designers and Developers
- How MAYO Uses AI to Power Smarter, Faster SEO Results
