Octopus Energy BusinessTraining & digital marketing strategy

The strategic challenge

Octopus Energy Business had two objectives in mind – firstly, they wanted a trial strategy to inform lead generation plans and secondly, they were keen to boost their internal capabilities.

When it came to the trial strategy, the challenge was to find the most effective marketing channels, while keeping the cost per acquisition (CPA) within budget and staying true to the brand’s values. The organisation wanted to connect with SMEs and micro-businesses at the right moments and gather useful insights to help their internal teams grow smarter and faster.

The team needed a solid reporting system to keep track of their progress. Navigating the blend of B2B and B2C behaviours was tricky, particularly alongside high costs in the competitive B2B energy market. Plus, with many customers locked into fixed-term contracts, picking the right channels to target those ready to switch was key.

Once the strategy was created, the second part of our project was to implement focused training for the teams at Octopus Energy Business who would be carrying out this strategy and similar plans moving forward.

Project outcomes encompassed SEO, PPC and digital marketing strategy services.

Trial strategy

To tackle Octopus Energy Business’s objectives, we developed a plan for the business to test and find new cost-effective ways to generate leads. This trial was designed to identify channels that could effectively support their growth.

To keep the process organised, we set clear guidelines and benchmarks and incorporated plans for A/B testing, audience segmentation and budget monitoring. By analysing the data, the business would be able to gather useful insights to refine these strategies and assess the performance of each channel.

Success would be measured by regularly evaluating how well benchmarks were met. Our approach involved collecting detailed data using analytics to track things like user interactions, engagement and conversion rates, helping Octopus Energy Business to make informed decisions.

From the beginning, we defined success metrics and KPIs – such as target CPA, traffic volumes and email sign-ups – to make sure the project would stay on track and align with the organisation’s goals.

Training

To empower the Octopus Energy Business team and build on the skills needed for strategic growth, we ran a series of comprehensive training sessions. These consisted of:

• A suite of SEO training – This covered essential platforms and tools, a GA4 guide, industry benchmarks, channel mechanics, competitor insights, checklists, and best practice guidelines.
• Media partnerships training – This training focused on boosting Octopus Energy Business’ website traffic and lead generation, improving brand visibility through high-quality backlinks, and securing editorial features to strengthen the organisation’s brand image and market reach.
• Affiliate marketing training – Our training covered partnering with third parties to promote services. We explored how Octopus could leverage these partnerships to expand their reach and drive results.
• Analytics training – This focused on key platforms and tools, creating dashboards and reports, identifying essential KPIs. We also provided training resources alongside demo reporting to enhance data analysis skills.
• PPC insights training – We provided an overview of pay-per-click advertising as an acquisition tool. We covered how it works, its benefits, competitor insights, typical campaign workflows, industry benchmarks and channel mechanics.
• Social media management training – This explored various platforms and resources plus paid and organic strategies. We included resources to help maximise the potential of the Octopus Energy Business social media channels and discussed future possibilities for the brand.

Each session was designed to help the Octopus Energy Business team implement and manage future strategies.

The result

With the strategy from Submerge ready to go, Octopus Energy Business was well-positioned to implement its strategy trial. This comprehensive approach would help internal teams discover the best ways to connect with SMEs and micro-businesses at key moments to boost new business.

Our bespoke training ensured that the relevant teams in the organisation further developed their skills when it came to navigating channel strategies and understanding scalability. Our support meant that they were better equipped to assess future marketing opportunities and use data insights to inform business decisions.