Data-Driven Storytelling Competitively Positions LevelTen Energy
Long-standing media relations partnership with cleantech company LevelTen Energy yields massive spike in coverage for quarterly data reports.
Overview
LevelTen Energy operates the world’s largest online hub for renewable energy buyers, sellers, advisors, asset owners and financiers, giving them the tools, data and services to get clean energy deals done faster. Throughout LevelTen Energy’s four-year partnership with Walker Sands, the cleantech company has trusted our PR team to solidify its reputation as the leading platform for global clean energy transactions and a key voice in the industry while building relationships with key top-tier and trade reporters covering the business of energy.
Since 2018, LevelTen Energy has published a quarterly PPA Price Index Report that provides data on real power purchase agreement (PPA) prices to help clean energy professionals understand price trends, benchmark deals and anticipate future industry trends. These reports include pricing information on renewable energy PPA price offers in North America and Europe, as well as survey results from renewable energy project developers.
After three successful years of publishing the PPA Price Index Report, LevelTen Energy monetized the report for the first time and expanded the amount of information available in the North American and European reports, aiming to hit a new revenue goal and enhance data points for media outlets. Leveraging our expertise and media relationships in the cleantech space, Walker Sands exceeded client expectations and helped LevelTen Energy earn top-tier coverage in target publications like Reuters, Axios and POLITICO for the first monetized report and each of the following quarterly reports.
placements within one week of launching each quarterly report
data-driven placements in 11 months
over data coverage goal
The Challenge
Each quarter, LevelTen Energy collaborates with the Walker Sands PR team to handle media relations for the PPA Price Index Report. The PR team’s media relations efforts are designed to increase brand awareness, amplify LevelTen Energy’s reputation as a leader in the renewable energy space and drive traffic to the company’s website. Prior to monetizing the reports, Walker Sands was already delivering consistent energy trade coverage for each report, averaging five stories per report.
When LevelTen Energy decided to monetize the reports, the PR team was challenged with securing a higher quantity and quality of media coverage across top-tier business and tech outlets in addition to energy trade publications. To make the reports more attractive to media outlets, the team highlighted timely news and events, and their effect on wholesale electricity and PPA prices. To support LevelTen Energy in hitting its monetization and marketing goals, Walker Sands aimed to boost media coverage by 400% for the first report, and continue to gain traction for all of the following reports.
The Solution
Walker Sands’ approach to leveling up media coverage for the paid version of the PPA Price Index Report focused on two areas: tapping into established reporter relationships and delivering hyper-personalized stories to those reporters. The team strengthened existing relationships with targeted media outlets, and nurtured new reporter relationships to expand the company’s reach. By focusing on reporters who are “influencers” in the energy industry, Walker Sands hoped to increase the likelihood that other journalists would pick up the story.
Since the reports contain a significant amount of dense and technical information, storytelling was crucial for drawing attention to the most important takeaways. In response, the PR team intentionally crafted narratives that tied the data to major points and relevant news, such as the Department of Commerce’s Auxin (AD/CVD) investigation and the Inflation Reduction Act, to make the reports easier to digest for reporters.
The team also worked with LevelTen Energy to add media-worthy content to the survey portion of the report as a way to capture reporter interest. Specifically, in the first monetized report, content focused on how developers were responding to growing uncertainty in the energy market due to the war in Ukraine, a topic the team knew would appeal to trade publications. In addition to pitching to media outlets, Walker Sands suggested LevelTen Energy include sponsored content in a key trade outlet, Canary Media, to guarantee launch-day coverage.
Throughout the year, the team nurtured key reporter relationships by routinely inquiring about their coverage plans and providing reporters with pre-embargo alerts about the reports. This effort paid off, especially with the third monetized report, when the team secured embargoed interest and media interviews a full month before the report’s release date.
The Results
In 11 months of promoting LevelTen Energy’s monetized PPA reports, Walker Sands surpassed both the yearly total coverage KPI by 178% and the data-driven placement KPI by 420%. Walker Sands consistently secured more than 10 media placements in the first week following the release of each quarterly report.
Every quarter, our team gained coverage for LevelTen Energy in top-tier outlets, including Axios and S&P Global Market Intelligence, and key trade outlets like Utility Dive, Environment + Energy Leader and Renewable Energy World. The high stakes first report also surpassed the goal of 20 placements. LevelTen Energy received nearly 30 placements in the first month following the report’s release, with an impressive 50% of these placements in top-tier outlets.
This level of coverage remained consistent throughout the year. In 11 months, LevelTen Energy received 101 data-driven media placements. Overall, this partnership has expanded LevelTen Energy’s list of friendly reporters and solidified the company’s credibility with top-tier outlets like CNBC, TechCrunch and Bloomberg.
At Walker Sands, our clients are our partners, and our long-standing partnership with LevelTen Energy is a testament to the impressive results that are possible when we work collaboratively with clients to generate creative solutions capable of helping them achieve their goals.
