Turn Bills into Story-Sharing Tools

As a National Information Solutions Cooperative partner and a Meridian Cooperative partner, Pioneer works with both information technology cooperatives to share how to strengthen storytelling. We also are a Calix Go-To-Market Partner. As your communications co-op, we are always looking for partnerships and resources to help you build your story. Have a company you’d like us to work with? Tell us at hello@pioneer.coop.

Telling your story in an increasingly cluttered market can be hard. Printed newspaper ads don’t reach everyone, since so many people get news online. Some people tune out digital ads. Not everyone listens to radio. TV advertising is not only expensive, but many folks also use streaming services, which require a different platform for advertising.

With so many communication options, what channel do consumers have in common? They all get a bill. And that bill holds storytelling potential.

National Information Solutions Cooperative and Meridian Cooperative are two of the largest billing companies used by utilities across the country. Each co-op offers a marketing space on monthly bills–print and digital–for utilities.
Utility Pioneers can use these marketing spaces to:

• Promote e-billing, autopay and other programs.
• Explain steps to take during an outage.
• Share new payment options and/or locations.
• Highlight benefits of downloading the utility app.

NISC Advertising Options

NISC users have a marketing kit with a variety of bill ad images. The ad size changes depending on the space that AMS, NISC’s print services, gives the utility. The default size is 3.625 inches by 3.25 inches.

NISC Members can also design their own images for information and programs specific to their needs. Common ideas include partnering with local businesses and agencies to promote events in the community, reminders about seasonal changes like weather or back-to-school, or even periodically allowing local non-profit charities to promote their services through ads on the bill.

“We want to make it simple for you to customize the messages,” NISC Senior Marketing Services Consultant Scott Wild says. “Each ad highlights the problems solved or the benefits gained from a utility program.”

NISC provides InDesign templates so utility communicators can customize bill graphics, then follows up with NISC’s billing team to ensure custom messages fit and look good. The advertising templates are also available for print ads and website messaging, and Pioneer Social includes the templates in subscriber libraries for easy access and customization.

Bill marketing options include:

• Onserts, a set storytelling space option on the front and/or back of a bill.
• Monthly message center
• Inserts
• Ability to customize a message or ad based on data about the consumer or the billing location.

With Bill Message Management, NISC Members can target their audience through standard categories with custom bill messages or ads, too. Bill Message Management is a self-service application makes it easy for NISC members to manage and schedule text-based messaging, ad images and bill inserts for billing statements without the need to contact NISC for each change.

Approximately 40% of NISC Members print at least one full color ad image on their billing statements, which for 2023 would total about 94 million billing statements (paperless and mailed). Inserts continue to be a popular method to communicate with customers that receive a printed statement, and in 2023 our Members sent out approximately 52 million inserts to consumers.

“Marketing is an exercise in memorization,” Scott says. “Keep saying the same things until your audience can repeat it back to you.”

Meridian Advertising Options

Utilities that run billing through Meridian Cooperative have a variety of customizable messaging options at their disposal through Meridian’s bill printing team Arista Information Systems.

“The consumer may not participate in meetings, visit the utility office, or make payments in person, but they will receive a bill for services rendered,” Meridian Chief Marketing Officer Lindsay Tyson says. “Billing statements serve as a cost-effective platform for delivering crucial communications in a reliable and efficient manner.”

Bill marketing options include:

• Monthly messaging: Text or image-based areas that can be changed as needed, and even customized by the utility’s segmentation guidelines.
• Onserts: Also known as transpromotional messaging, an onsert can be a set space on the front or back of the bill for marketing or an additional page printed at the same time as the bill. Content can be changed monthly, quarterly, etc. Using consumer or location data, the information can be customized for the consumer.
• Duplex printing: The typical use of the back of a bill is a place to print information regarding policies, procedures, locations or office hours. While this is useful, it is also a perfect place to print marketing.

A small but growing number—about 20%—of Meridian partners are using the transpromotional features, combining consumer relationship management systems with variable data printing and location intelligence. This lets a utility print custom notices, newsletters or marketing information on or behind their bills either regularly or on a per-need basis.

“By tailoring messages with content specific to individual consumers, groups or demographics, utilities can personalize and enhance the relevance of billing communications, which increases engagement,” Lindsay explains. “This personalized approach adds a unique touch to each bill, amplifying the impact and resonance of the communication.”

Next Steps

Now that you know you can share your story on bills, what will you say?

Start with your strategic goals for the year. What do you want your members to know about your cooperative in 2025? Then align your key messages with billing opportunities throughout the year. Pioneer’s annual content planner offers a handy worksheet.

A good blend of bill messaging might include everything from the overall utility story, important programs you want to highlight and new technology aimed at making interacting with the utility easier.

Pioneer’s team works closely with our partners like NISC and Meridian to identify fresh storytelling opportunities for Utility Pioneers and develop strategic, engaging messages. Need help? Schedule time to meet with us or email hello@pioneer.coop.