The New Rules for Reaching Electrical Installers in 2025

Looking at any electrical wholesaler in Europe in 2025, there are a few printed catalogs on the counter ready to be skimmed, sure – but what are the installers actually doing? Texting reps, checking specs on their phones, blitzing QR codes on packaging, watching install videos on YouTube… using WhatsApp to contact suppliers.

Installers across Europe are shifting how they find, trust and act on product information. The channels they rely on are faster, more digital and more direct than they were five years ago… even two years ago. Meanwhile, manufacturers and wholesalers are investing in a mix of trade magazines, flyers and product microsites, and fingers crossed something sticks. The results depend on the market and the audience.

A strategy built around only one of these channels can miss part of the audience. Here’s what you need to know and what you need to do.

The findings presented in this 2025 overview are accompanied below by historical results from the Q1 2023 and Q1 2021 European Electrical Installation Monitor. The older figures describe different research periods and measures; they are not a directly comparable time series.

WhatsApp Isn’t a Trend – It’s Infrastructure

Think about it: installers are mobile professionals. When they need specs, answers or support, they need it fast and on their phone – no logins, no waiting on hold. That’s why WhatsApp has become a default tool across Europe. It gets them what they need, when they actually need it. Here’s the data:

Messaging measures reported in the 2025 overview.

This isn’t just convenience, but a default for field communication. If your support team isn’t available via WhatsApp or a comparable platform, you’re effectively introducing friction into your buyer’s workday. So it’s generally good to stop treating WhatsApp like a social app. Build dedicated workflows for order inquiries, tech support, product documentation and stock availability. Turn it into a frontline service channel.

Installers Are Looking for Spec Sheets

Installers also search with exact, technical queries like “3-phase DIN rail contactor datasheet” or “LED driver 24V dimmable wiring diagram.” They want specs, wiring diagrams, installation guides instead of marketing fluff, trends or buzzwords.

The numbers tell the story:

• 96% of installers use Google to find product info
• 94% visit manufacturer websites
• the #1 content installers want – technical specs, followed closely by installation guides and pricing

This can be high-urgency, task-oriented digital behavior – they need answers and precision, so they want answers in seconds, not minutes.

The action plan is auditing your website. It is not a brochure. It’s a tool your customers use to get their job done. You need structured and easy-to-find product data, fast loading speeds, mobile-first UE and SEO tweaks that match exact product-level keywords, not corporate jargon. Think like your customer: “Can I find this in 15 seconds or less?” If an installer can’t, you’re losing to whoever is faster.

Apps Should Save Time

Europe’s electricians are using more digital tools than ever, but they’re not interested in shiny apps with vague functionality. They want utility, speed and clear ROI. Otherwise, uninstaller software is fired up, and it’s off to find a new app.

Apps and digital tool usage is particularly high in Germany ( 91%) and Sweden ( 87%), and we see manufacturer apps outperforming third-party ones, but only when they solve actual problems.

What works best? Product lookup by code or name. On-site installation help. Stock checking across distributors. Built-in calculators for load, wiring or compliance. What doesn’t work at all? “Marketing-first” that buries functionality.

I.e. – don’t build an app for engagement purposes. Build an app that gets used. If it isn’t time-saving, or meant for on-site utility, it’s ignored by Wednesday and uninstalled by Friday.

Print Media Has a Pulse in Certain Markets

We’ve seen a steady decline of traditional media channels for years now, but dead would definitely be the wrong word. Print still matters in specific regions and demographics, especially among installers over 45.

Case in point – in Germany, 78% of installers say printed materials are still important, and their French, English and Belgian peers agree. If we instead look at the Netherlands, Denmark or Sweden, print use has sharply declined. This divide has a geographical and generational background.

Older professionals want printed catalogs, technical handbooks, even trade magazines. Younger installers would rather check a digital app, scroll a YouTube how-to or ping a support rep on WhatsApp.

The best course of action would be segmenting your collateral by market maturity. Use print strategically – targeted catalog drops, leave-behind technical manuals or regional trade magazine placements; and only in markets where it still carries authority. In other markets, put more emphasis on the digital sources your audience uses.

Social Media is Rising, But Not in All Channels

There’s a general tendency to lump social media together into a single box that effectively neutralizes very tangible differences among channels. Even when they are sharp and functional.

Younger installers (the under 45s) use Instagram, YouTube and Facebook for product discovery. They actively check out how-to content and visual product explanations. They investigate tools and trends that show up in their feed, getting sharper and more informed by the scroll. Older installers, however, lean more on familiar, trusted, traditional media.

You should tailor socials depending on the message and audience. Showing off a new product feature? Try with a 30-second vertical video on Instagram. Want to provide install instructions? Use YouTube. Trying to win hearts with corporate brand stories? Check whether Facebook fits your audience and message.

Age and personal sources: findings from Q1 2023

The Q1 2023 research used a different age split from the under-45 discussion above. Its findings add detail about social media and personal information sources:

When we split up installers in a younger group below 50 years of age, and an older group above 50, their media orientation behaviour differs a lot. That is especially the case for social media usage. Not only are younger installers more likely to use social media, they spend more time on them and are more likely to use them to promote their company as well.

Installers 50 and older, on the other hand, are less likely to use social media. That means that they are also less likely to be reached by a media campaign that relies on social media channels. If you want to reach that older generation, for instance, because they are more often in higher positions and have more decision-making power than their younger colleagues, it is best to use other channels.

Interestingly, the traditional channels, which are steadily losing their audience, may be a better option here. Older installers more often use traditional media like magazines and find printed sources more important. This goes to show that knowledge of the general trends of media usage and orientation behaviour in the installation sector cannot guarantee successful marketing. Knowing the finer details of the audience you aim to reach is essential.

Essential though these finer details may be, they are still based on averages. Aside from social media, the older generations are also less likely to use digital media. But that does not mean they never use them. Similarly, the younger generation may be using social media more and more often, but that does not mean they place no value on personal sources of information.

Digital and personal sources are used by nearly all installers as sources of professional information. Especially personal sources are highly valued and often used. To find out which personal sources installers value most and which information they expect to gather there, we refer you to USP Marketing Consultancy’s Q1 2023 European Electrical Installation Monitor.

Historical context: media orientation during the pandemic

The Q1 2021 European Electrical Installation Monitor asked electrical installers in seven European countries about changes in media orientation during the pandemic. These are historical findings:

When asked whether they used more digital media sources during the pandemic, a majority of electrical installers reported no increase at all. This differed quite a bit between countries though. In Germany, a whopping three quarters reported no change at all. But even in the countries where the largest share of installers reported an increase, France and Spain, still half of the installers reported no change at all, which can hardly be called an explosive move of installers to digital sources.

Absence of an explosive increase in usage of digital sources does not mean there was no effect of the pandemic at all though. In the Netherlands and the UK, for example, when looking at digital sources of which usage increased the most, online conference software like MS Teams and Zoom takes first place, which would have been hard to imagine without a pandemic.

No dramatic changes in media usage due to COVID does not mean there are no changes at all. Looking at a broader image of usage of media sources over a longer period of time creates a clearer image and may even provide some explanations for the above. Usage of certain digital sources, like the internet in the broader sense, and certain search engines and websites of manufacturers more specifically, was already quite high among electrical installers before the pandemic. If almost all installers were already using the internet as a source of information, a pandemic can hardly increase that amount explosively.

What can be seen when looking at trends is that electrical installers’ professional usage of social media is slowly increasing. Also, usage of traditional sources like printed product documentation and professional and manufacturer magazines are slowly declining in five of the seven countries.

Advertising response: findings from Q1 2021

We also asked installers about their orientation behaviour and the role of advertisement during the interviews for the Q1 2021 report of USP Marketing Consultancy’s European Electrical Installation Monitor, which focused on media orientation of electrical installers in seven European countries.

We asked installers whether they invest time in learning more about the latest trends and product developments at all, and whether seeing or hearing advertisement triggers them to further investigate a new product. As it turns out, for both statements, there are vast differences between countries.

In Germany, only 41% of electrical installers report to invest in learning about trends and developments. Moreover, only 27% claim to be triggered by advertisement, which means it is harder for manufacturers to solely rely on advertisement to truly reach German electrical installers.

On the other side of the spectrum are the Netherlands, where two thirds of the installers invest time in learning more about the latest trends and product developments, and a whopping 72% claims that advertisements trigger them to further investigate products.

Country is not everything

Before applying these historical figures to an advertising plan, please note that installers are not homogeneous in their behaviour, and vast differences exist between different types of installers within countries. That means the success of your advertisements depends on characteristics of your target group other than nationality as well.

One of such characteristics is age, for example. It stands to reason that older installers often hold higher positions or have more influence within installation companies. In that line of thought, the oldest of installers hold more sway over purchase decisions, making them a more lucrative target group for advertisement aimed at them specifically, right?

Well, no, or at least it depends on the channel. The oldest age group of European installers, aged 60 or older, has the highest share of installers that claim to invest time in learning about product trends and developments (62%). However, that same age group is least likely to be triggered by advertisement to find out more about new products, as only 45% of the 60+year-olds state to do so.

These figures measure reported interest and further product investigation, not purchases or conversion rates. They should not be used as current country benchmarks.

Installers Are Segmenting

Here’s the biggest takeaway from the entire report – there is no single “installer persona” anymore.

Younger, digital-native electricians behave differently than legacy professionals. Mid-size firms operate differently from one-man bands. Germany is not Denmark. If you’re running a communication that tries speaking to everyone, you’re essentially not speaking to anyone. So use data to break your audience into real behavioral groups, align messaging and channel to their habits – not your assumptions – and measure what matters (say, time-to-support, download volume, app engagement, instead of vanity metrics).

Think like a smart product manager. Build user journeys. Define personas based on data. Then deploy the right content, in the right format, on the right platform, at the right moment in their workflow.

Conclusion

Electricians are practical people. If your content, app, support or sales funnel isn’t solving a problem or saving time, it’s an effective liability. You don’t need more budget. You need better precision.

Meet your customers where they are. Want to know how? Get in touch. We have in-depth reports, practical webinars and specialized tools to get you where you want to be.