Shovels takes pride in collaborating with forward-thinking companies that are building a cleaner, more sustainable future. Today, we're excited to spotlight Copper, a Berkeley-based startup, dedicated to making home electrification simple, accessible, and affordable.
About Copper
Copper is transforming home electrification with innovative, battery-integrated appliances designed to simplify the transition away from gas. Their flagship product, Charlie, is a sleek, 30-inch induction range equipped with an internal battery, allowing homeowners to upgrade their kitchens without costly electrical panel upgrades or extensive rewiring. By eliminating these barriers, Copper empowers more people to embrace higher-performance, clean, efficient electric appliances—making tastier meals, creating healthier homes, and reducing emissions.
The Challenge: Identifying the Right Homes for Electrification
To scale their impact, Copper needed a reliable method to identify homeowners who were actively engaged in electrification but might still have gas-powered appliances. Co-Founder and CMO Weldon Kennedy approached Shovels with a specific challenge:
"We wanted to find families who had begun to electrify. The two indicators we looked for were people who had added solar panels or installed an EV charger. Our hypothesis was these folks were on their electrification journeys and would be eager to learn about Copper."
However, manually sifting through permit records to uncover these nuanced opportunities proved inefficient and slow.
The Solution: Shovels Permit API
Using Shovels' Permit Search API, Copper quickly pinpointed high-value leads based on specific permit activity. Here's how they leveraged Shovels:
- Focused Permit Categories: Used Shovels' permit category data to filter for homes undertaking solar installations, electrical upgrades, or setting up EV chargers.
- Geographic Targeting: Narrowed the search to targeted zip codes, ensuring relevance and efficiency in their direct mailer outreach program.
- Property Type Filter: Filter for single family and residential homes vs. commercial properties to accurately capture their target market.
- Detailed Contact Information: Accessed homeowner details through Shovels' Residents API to personalize outreach effectively.
Results: Targeted Outreach, Tangible Impact
After integrating the Shovels API into their workflow, Copper's direct mail program found substantial value in the precision and efficiency offered by Shovels' data-driven approach. The targeted postcard mailer campaign to households in New York City demonstrated significant success across multiple key performance indicators:
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High-Quality Web Traffic: The campaign reached 4,036 households with EV and/or solar permit histories, achieving a robust 1.41% conversion rate to the company website. This translates to approximately 57 highly targeted potential customers engaging with the brand's digital platform.
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Exceptional User Engagement: Recipients who landed on the website displayed remarkable interest, with an average site visit duration of 1.5 minutes. This extended engagement suggests the mailer effectively captured the audience's attention and prompted meaningful interaction with the brand's digital content.
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Substantial Conversion Events: The campaign generated 257 key conversion events, including critical actions such as email list sign-ups, video views, and potential purchases. These interactions represent tangible evidence of the mailer's effectiveness in driving meaningful customer engagement and moving prospects through the sales funnel.
The results highlight the campaign's potential for targeted marketing to environmentally conscious homeowners in the New York City area, with promising indicators of customer interest and brand interaction.
Weldon Kennedy, Copper Co-Founder & CMO
"Shovels made it possible for us to connect quickly and effectively with homeowners ready to electrify."
Why It Worked
The power of Shovels API lies in turning detailed, complex permit information into clear, actionable intelligence. Copper leveraged these insights to connect directly with homeowners at the right stage with the right message, dramatically improving outreach effectiveness and overall customer engagement.
Looking Ahead
The success of the initial NYC campaign gave Copper the confidence they needed to continue using Shovels to unlock more markets. Major markets they plan to expand to include Washington, D.C., Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, and Northern California.
We're proud to support Copper in their mission to simplify electrification and excited to watch their continued growth. As home electrification accelerates nationwide, Shovels remains committed to empowering businesses like Copper with the critical insights they need.
Ready to see how Shovels can boost your outreach strategy? Explore our API or reach out to our team today.
Discover more about Copper and their innovative electrification solutions at copperhome.com.