The following is a guest post from Chelsea Uphaus with ROUSH CleanTech, one of TSN Communications’ clients.
We’ve all heard the saying, “No press is bad press.”
While I don’t entirely agree with that statement, I do think one of the best ways to make sure consumers or your own customers know who you are is to get them talking about you. One way we accomplish this at ROUSH CleanTech is by promoting our customers, instead of ourselves.
My job as director of marketing involves helping our sales team. We want our customers to feel great about their decision to purchase one of our products, like a propane-powered truck or school bus. They are making a huge financial decision that in the long run will actually save money. And it can be emotional when you’re talking about the tremendous health and safety benefits of putting school children on a bus powered by a cleaner fuel.
Through media, we’ve been able to promote our school bus customers in their communities and gain the support of parents, teachers and school boards alike. We’ve been able to present our messaging of cost-effective, emissions-reducing advanced clean transportation to the masses.
The way we approach our customers is to ask them if they’re interested in talking about their experience with an alternative fuel. We work with them to determine what story to tell. For example, do they have emissions regulations in their area that they need to meet? Are they laser-focused on budget and fuel savings? Are they looking to simplify maintenance operations? Or, are they just looking to get some attention for their decision to go with a clean alternative to gasoline or diesel?
From there, we bring in the experts, TSN Communications, to work with the customer to develop a media campaign.
We’ve had a lot of success securing stories in trade publications, local news and national media outlets, which has led to new customers and more sales. School districts, transit operators and commercial truck fleets read that their peer organizations use alternative fuels, and they take a look at it themselves.
Overall, our goal is to help our customers succeed. One way we do that is by promoting their new vehicles to the media. It’s a win-win.
Chelsea Uphaus is the director of marketing for ROUSH CleanTech, an advanced transportation solutions company and division of Roush Enterprise.
