Solar installer marketing works best in a set order. Measure what each signed job cost, answer enquiries quickly, get your Google profile and website right, run search ads where people are already looking, then time campaigns to rebate changes. Most installers start with ads or a new website, and then can't tell whether either one paid.
- 1MeasureCost per signed job, by source.
- 2AnswerEnquiries replied to within minutes.
- 3Local searchGoogle profile, service pages and reviews.
- 4Search adsWhere people are already looking.
- 5Rebate campaignsShort pushes around known dates.
Measure signed jobs, not leads
A lead count tells you what the seller delivered. A signed job tells you what you got. Trace each signed job to where it came from, even in a spreadsheet, and work out the cost per signed job for each source. Our cost-per-signed-job calculator does the sums, and it will also show you when buying leads is still the cheaper choice.
Answer before anyone else
This is usually the cheapest fix available, because you have already paid for the enquiry. Try your own form on a weekday afternoon and time the reply. If nobody answers for hours, more leads will only lose more jobs. We cover this in shared or exclusive solar leads.
Win the searches near you
Homeowners search for solar in large numbers, and battery searches now rival panel searches. These are Australian monthly volumes from Ahrefs:
Some of these are hard to rank for, because lead sites and big retailers already hold them. Terms for a service plus your city are usually easier. A useful local setup has these parts:
- A complete Google Business Profile, with your real service areas, job photos and a reply to every review.
- A page for each service you want to sell: solar, batteries, EV chargers, commercial.
- Honest pages for the areas you serve, each with real jobs from that area rather than the same text with a different suburb name.
- A quote form that goes straight into your CRM.
AI tools now answer some of these questions directly, so your company also needs to be easy for them to find and name. Our guide to solar SEO and GEO covers both.
Run ads where the homeowner is already looking
Search ads come first, because the person is already looking. Meta ads suit short campaigns with a clear reason to act, such as a rebate change. Keep the ad accounts in your own name, and review the search terms weekly, since irrelevant searches are where most waste starts.
Time campaigns to the rebate
In Australia the timing comes from the government. The Cheaper Home Batteries Program lowers its certificates per kWh every six months, from 6.8 to 5.7 on 1 January 2027 and 5.2 on 1 July 2027. That gives you a date to sell against, followed by a drop you may need marketing to fill. Installs are running high: 276,011 batteries in the first half of 2026, and 180,878 rooftop systems, up 35%.
Show homeowners the difference with our free battery rebate calculator, which you can put on your own site. Past solar customers without a battery are often your warmest market, if you hold the consent to message them.
What to stay away from
Cold calling and door knocking draw attention from regulators, and they are banned under Solar Victoria's programs. In the US, sell carefully: Wood Mackenzie forecasts customer acquisition cost rising 40% to $0.84 a watt in 2026, after the homeowner tax credit ended, so check that the numbers work before you add spend.
Do it yourself, or hire it out?
An owner who has a few hours a week can do the profile, reviews and response time alone, and that alone often helps. Ads and search take more skill and regular attention. If you hire an agency, ask for three things in writing: the accounts stay in your name, reports show jobs signed rather than leads, and you can leave on short notice. Ours is the Growth package.
