How would you launch a content material advertising and marketing program in a technical business the place retail clients are sometimes confused?
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Publish a number of articles to make clear the technical subject material
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Create an FAQ to reply the commonest questions
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Undertake a technique to make complicated matters enjoyable, shareable, and academic
Vilasini P. Pillay, product and content material advertising and marketing supervisor for Direct Vitality Canada, picked possibility C.
The ensuing initiative gained Finest Content material Technique within the 2025 Content Marketing Awards, and Vilasini earned a spot on the finalist checklist for 2025 Content Marketer of the Year.
That profitable technique concerned schooling performed in a method that attracted hundreds of consumers and prospects to interact.
The insights that knowledgeable the content material technique
Alberta’s deregulated vitality market provides clients extra choices but in addition makes their procuring expertise extra complicated. “Even easy issues like a breakdown of a invoice have so many various parts to them. Folks simply don’t perceive who’s chargeable for charging what,” she says.
Vilasini began constructing a content material advertising and marketing perform and technique to handle these challenges.
She started with a content audit, which revealed that the model already had robust website positioning efficiency from its content material. One high-ranking article that defined kilowatt hours drew important site visitors.
That’s nice background details about the vitality business. Nevertheless, Vilasini’s mission was to develop a strategy tailor-made particularly to retail clients and prospects in Alberta.
By surveys and calls, she found that Albertans’ most typical challenges concerned understanding their expenses and vitality utilization.
Having spent her whole profession within the vitality business, Vilasini knew she may translate technical phrases into one thing the everyday utility buyer may perceive and relate to.
How easy quizzes beat video to drive content material success
Her first try concerned working with an company to create stop-motion explainer movies. “These carried out rather well, nevertheless it was a excessive upfront value to construct them,” she explains.
So, she explored less expensive however nonetheless fulfilling methods to coach her viewers about complicated matters.
Vilasini finally turned to quiz software program Interact, which enabled her to carry humor into the expertise by means of memes and GIFs.
In its first quiz (proven under), Direct Vitality Canada requested clients, “What type of energy user are you?” and gave every possibility a enjoyable title like energy police and vitality vampire.
“We despatched the quiz out in a e-newsletter, and we had tons of engagement with our clients — greater than every other communication we had despatched out previously,” Vilasini says.
“Personalised outcomes like vitality vampire or energy police [made] the content material stick, whereas the reasons assist clients take motion,” Direct Vitality Canada particulars in its Content material Advertising Awards submission.
After the preliminary success, the corporate distributed extra to see if the idea would proceed to resonate.
“These weren’t simply quizzes. They had been shareable, scroll-stopping content experiences designed to make studying fulfilling,” the awards submission explains.
The second quiz (proven under) grew to become the highest performer, possible as a result of it addresses the questions most Direct Vitality Canada clients have.
The 2-minute quiz requested questions like, “What’s the kWh (kilowatt-hour) quantity in your electrical energy invoice?” The multiple-choice solutions embody:
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A kilo what? (illustrated with a GIF of Steve Carell’s character from The Workplace blinking and asking “WHAT?”)
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My complete electrical energy consumption throughout that billing cycle (proven with a picture of a light-weight bulb)
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How far the electrical energy has traveled to succeed in my residence (with a photograph of a utility pole and wires in opposition to a cloudy sky).
It helped them be taught in a enjoyable method, Vilasini says. “You reply questions, and in case you get it fallacious, we clarify the reply.”
Subsequent quizzes included:
The combo of personality- and assessment-style quizzes later branched into personalized paths for extra complicated choices, similar to: “Ought to I set up a warmth pump or an air conditioner?” and “Which electrical energy and pure gasoline charge is correct for me?”
Every quiz pertains to providers Direct Vitality Canada supplies or addresses adjoining matters, similar to the electrical vs. hybrid car query, that clients would discover invaluable, strengthening the model’s place as a useful instructional useful resource. All of them are housed in a quiz hub in the learning center on the web site.
The corporate promoted the quizzes by means of natural and paid social media, newsletters, and its on-line account platform. It additionally examined the impression of incentives, like a $1,000 smart-home package deal or $100 Visa reward playing cards.
Even with out incentives, Direct Vitality Canada discovered, probably the most invaluable engagement got here from current clients.
“It is simply superb when it really works — what individuals will inform you and share — after which with the ability to customise it. It is a marketer’s dream,” Vilasini says.
Closing the circuit between schooling and gross sales
Training and engagement are nice. However Vilasini and crew didn’t cease there.
“We discovered methods to include a gross sales element to it when it comes to conversions, which, as a enterprise, is what it comes all the way down to,” she explains.
For instance, if somebody took the solar energy quiz and located their residence wasn’t appropriate, Direct Vitality Canada would share a special inexperienced possibility that the shopper may add to their electrical energy plan.
The photo voltaic quiz additionally revealed an surprising discovering: Greater than 50% of individuals had been ineligible for the corporate’s photo voltaic program as a result of age of their roofs.
The Will Photo voltaic Work? quiz requested individuals: “How previous is your roof?” (proven under) and offered these choices:
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Lower than 10 years (proven with a GIF of a Saturday Night time Stay’s Keenan Thompson in a personality as a balding middle-aged man saying, “I’m in my prime!”)
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10 to fifteen years (with a GIF of a person in a sweater saying, “I’m within the denial stage”)
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Greater than 15 years (with a GIF of Matthew Perry’s character from the TV present Buddies opening a door and saying, “Honey, I’m previous!”)
That perception helped form Direct Vitality Canada’s photo voltaic schooling content material and potential partnership methods.
When Direct Vitality Canada launched a brand new refer-a-friend program providing a $50 credit score to each the referrer and the good friend, Vilasini created a quiz to assist clients decide their “referral” character: trusted advisor, go-getter, or informal connector.
The quiz takers who offered their contact data in an non-compulsory kind obtained a follow-up nurture e mail personalised to their sort with tips about the way to refer Direct Vitality Canada to their good friend greatest.
For the speed comparability quiz, the e-mail beneficial a fixed-rate plan, whereas for the good residence quiz, individuals obtained personalised good residence product suggestions. “As a substitute of pushing data, we invited clients to work together with it, making them lively individuals of their vitality journey,” in response to Direct Vitality Canada’s awards submission. “This allowed us to nurture prospects in a extra focused, significant method.”
Vilasini says the open charges for these follow-up emails are considerably greater than common e mail engagement. “It’s serving to us construct out extra personalization as a result of now we’ve collected numerous helpful details about our clients as nicely,” she says.
Working the numbers
Prospects who accomplished quizzes had been considerably much less prone to churn in comparison with those that didn’t, in response to the info.
With almost 32,000 quiz completions in two years, and people numbers persevering with to develop, Direct Vitality Canada makes use of the details it collects to refine and evolve its content material extra successfully.
Having quiz takers full the non-compulsory contact kind to obtain the explanatory and follow-up emails permits Direct Vitality Canada to attach the dots for every buyer. “Now, we all know this particular person has performed all these quizzes and we all know what they’ve answered, the issues about their residence or about their character,” Vilasini explains.
To make sure the quiz and different editorial content material ship for the viewers and the model, Vilasini meets recurrently with the shopper retention, product advertising and marketing, management, buyer care, and IT groups.
She additionally understands the present enterprise actions and advertising and marketing to determine what to advertise and stays on prime of business information and altering laws.
That collaborative strategy helps the corporate present one of the best resolution or end result for patrons as a result of, as Vilasini says, “We’re bringing the brightest minds to 1 desk to determine it out.”
Greater than a commodity
These brilliant minds additionally assist Direct Vitality Canada stand out from the competitors.
“Electrical energy is a commodity. Everyone will get the identical electrical energy regardless… However then, past value, what else are you able to present them?”
Vilasini views the content material as a value-added profit for patrons and a win for the corporate, too.
“The quizzes actually set us aside as a result of none of our opponents are doing it.”
Already planning forward? Submissions for the Content material Advertising Awards will open within the spring. Visit ContentMarketingAwards.com to remain up to date on deadlines and particulars.
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