Learnings & Insights from the Fiber Regional Connect Savannah

Just back from the Fiber Broadband Association’s Regional Fiber Connect event in the beautiful city of Savannah, Georgia, where around 300 attendees came together for what was, interestingly, I believe the FBA’s first marketing-focused regional event.

Having attended ISPAmerica in Atlanta earlier this year, I was keen to hear more about the opportunities and challenges facing fiber providers, particularly smaller and rural operators, as competition intensifies and the focus shifts from simply building networks to acquiring and retaining subscribers profitably.

What struck me was how much of the discussion focused on traditional marketing fundamentals: knowing your customers, building trust, getting involved in local communities, delivering on your promises and making it easy for people to do business with you.

Of course, AI featured prominently too, but there was a healthy dose of realism about what it can and can’t do.

Here are some of the key learnings and insights I took away from the sessions I attended.

Keynote: Gary Bolton on the Future of Fiber

Gary Bolton, President and CEO of the Fiber Broadband Association, opened with an optimistic vision of the industry’s future and the critical role fiber will play in supporting the next wave of technological innovation.

He highlighted the progress made in extending broadband coverage across the USA, with some 88 million homes already passed and the ambition to reach 130 million by the end of the decade being very achievable.

Interestingly, smaller and rural providers accounted for around 40% of fiber deployment last year, demonstrating that the industry’s growth isn’t simply being driven by the ‘Big 3’ companies (a.k.a. Xfinity, Spectrum and AT&T).

But Gary’s main message was that fiber is about much more than providing faster internet connections.

As AI becomes embedded in more aspects of our lives and businesses, networks will need to evolve from simply transporting data to supporting what he described as the thinking economy, with intelligence distributed throughout an increasingly interconnected infrastructure.

He pointed to the enormous investment in AI, citing a figure of US$370 billion, equivalent to approximately 2.3% of global GDP, and compared the scale of this technological transformation with previous infrastructure revolutions, including the railroads, which he said accounted for closer to 20% of global GDP. Suggesting that we’re just at the beginning of the AI rollout.

The argument was that AI needs the low latency, capacity and resilience that fiber provides, and that the industry will need to accelerate deployment considerably to support future demand.

He also highlighted developments such as 25Gb fiber services and hollow-core fiber, which uses air rather than solid glass as the transmission medium and can significantly reduce latency.

While much of this technology remains expensive or difficult to deploy at scale, the direction of travel is clear: demand for fiber isn’t going away.

For marketers, though, the more immediate challenge is making sure that the millions of homes already passed by fiber networks actually become paying subscribers.

Some Key Statistics

A few numbers from the conference caught my attention:

Obviously, some of these are individual provider experiences rather than industry averages, but they give a useful indication of the economics and marketing challenges facing the sector. Although, as Gary Bolton mentioned, fiber broadband remains profitable, as illustrated by the difference between the reported CPAs and lifetime customer values reported above.

In particular, the CPA and LTCV figures demonstrate why retaining existing subscribers and encouraging happy customers to recommend their provider are becoming increasingly important.

Competition Is Intensifying, Even in Rural Markets

One theme that echoed what I’d heard at ISPAmerica was that the days when smaller rural providers could rely on being the only realistic broadband option in their communities are increasingly coming to an end.

In rural areas, Starlink is becoming a credible competitor, offering a service that can be attractive to customers who previously had limited alternatives in rural areas.

Meanwhile, larger telecommunications operators are extending their fiber footprints, entering new markets and bringing substantial marketing budgets and aggressive pricing strategies with them.

This creates a particular challenge for smaller providers, which often don’t have the financial resources to compete with the national operators on advertising spend or sustained price reductions.

Tactics to combat this included offering lower prices to customers susceptible to switching, as well as targeted pricing for lower-income households, as these are often those most likely to switch for better deals, in some cases effectively replicating the benefits of the former Affordable Connectivity Program. The logic being that even retaining half of this revenue was beneficial, compared to losing it entirely.

Local Outreach: Building Trust Before Building Fiber

Perhaps the strongest recurring message from the conference was that successful fiber deployment begins long before the first cable is laid.

One speaker made the memorable observation that if the first time someone hears about your fiber company is when a construction crew starts digging up their driveway, something has gone wrong.

And that seemed to sum up much of the discussion about community engagement.

For smaller providers entering a new town or community, particularly one where they have no existing brand recognition, the first challenge isn’t necessarily convincing residents that fiber is faster.

It’s convincing them that the provider can be trusted.

This can be especially important in rural communities, where residents may be suspicious of outsiders arriving with promises of better services, particularly if previous infrastructure projects have caused disruption or failed to deliver.

Several speakers stressed the importance of identifying the people and organizations that already have the trust of the community.

Obviously, local politicians and municipal officials matter, but the most influential people aren’t necessarily those with formal positions of authority.

They might be librarians, teachers, church leaders, fire departments, local business owners or the organizers of community events.

One example involved a provider that struggled to generate sign-ups because residents simply didn’t trust the company. Working through schools, churches and other community organizations helped it establish the credibility it had been missing.

Another speaker suggested that providers might need to attend a dozen different local events before they begin to earn the community’s trust.

That’s a significant investment of time, particularly for a small marketing team, but it reflects the reality that trust can’t always be bought through advertising.

Practical activities mentioned included community workshops, helping senior citizens understand how to use apps or protect themselves from cybercrime, providing free Wi-Fi hotspots and supporting local libraries.

One provider even found an opportunity to secure support for a local project through connections with the scouting movement.

The common theme was to understand what matters to a particular community and find ways to contribute, rather than simply turning up to sell broadband.

There was also a reminder that stakeholder relationships need to be maintained, not just established at the beginning of a project.

In one example, a change of mayor threatened to derail a fiber deployment in favor of a competitor, but the relationships the provider had built with other people in the community helped save the project.

For marketers, the lesson is that local engagement isn’t simply a brand-awareness exercise. It can have a direct impact on whether a provider gets permission to build, how construction is received and ultimately how many subscribers it acquires.

Local Go-to-Market: Marketing the Whole Community

Community engagement is not only seen as important when building a network but also as part of the marketing effort when entering a new market.

A recurring point was that providers shouldn’t think only in terms of the homes they intend to connect.

They should consider the whole community, including residents, businesses, schools, municipalities and other organizations.

After all, the owner of a local business is probably also a residential broadband customer, and may be an influential voice in the community.

Likewise, a school or community college may not represent the largest immediate revenue opportunity, but supporting it can create goodwill and strengthen the provider’s local reputation.

Several examples highlighted the value of sponsoring local organizations and activities, particularly when these are connected to the interests of community decision-makers.

One provider described sponsoring a community college, but the emphasis was on being genuinely involved, rather than simply putting a logo on an event.

As one speaker put it, providers need to do more than serve the community; they need to live within it.

There was also an interesting discussion about how broadband should be positioned.

Rather than selling gigabits and download speeds, providers should focus on what connectivity enables: working from home, accessing healthcare through telehealth, education, running a business and generally improving quality of life.

Broadband is increasingly essential infrastructure for economic opportunity, particularly in smaller and rural communities.

This provides a much stronger story than simply claiming to offer the fastest connection.

Coordinating Construction and Marketing

Another practical takeaway was the need for much closer coordination between marketing, local government relations and construction teams.

In many cases, the construction contractor will be the first person a resident encounters representing the fiber provider.

If that experience is poor, it can damage the brand before the customer has even had the opportunity to sign up.

Several speakers stressed that providers should contact municipalities and residents well before construction begins, rather than waiting until permits have been submitted or crews are about to arrive.

Homeowners should understand when work will take place, what disruption to expect and why contractors may need access to easements on their properties.

Even simple things can help, such as construction teams distributing postcards directing residents to a website with more information, or making sure people working in the area are clearly identifiable as representing the provider.

This is particularly important when a provider intends to remain in a market for the long term rather than simply build a network and sell it.

After all, the same residents inconvenienced by construction are the people the provider hopes will become subscribers and recommend the service to their neighbors.

Customer Acquisition: It Takes More Than One Touch

One of the more interesting marketing statistics was that one provider typically needs around 13 touches to convert a prospect into a customer.

That’s a useful reminder that even when a fiber provider has a compelling offer, consumers don’t necessarily sign up after seeing one advertisement or receiving one piece of direct mail.

In many cases, they may be happy enough with their existing broadband service, unsure whether they need faster speeds or simply not ready to switch.

This makes coordinated, multichannel marketing particularly important.

Examples discussed included combining direct mail with door-to-door sales, ensuring that sales teams visit neighborhoods around the time marketing materials arrive.

One provider mentioned using Postalytics to track when direct mail was delivered so its door-knocking teams could coordinate their visits.

The idea is straightforward: if someone has recently received information about a new fiber service, they may be more receptive when a representative calls at their door.

But the timing needs to be right.

There was also a strong emphasis on making it easy to do business with the provider.

Simple pricing, transparent offers, no unexpected installation charges and a straightforward switching process can all make a difference.

One provider described simplifying its proposition to just five basic offers, avoiding unnecessary complexity.

Another talked about introducing a more personalized, white-glove experience for customers switching from competitors.

This was particularly interesting because the same provider had previously experimented with selling additional smart-home services, but found that its rural customers weren’t sufficiently interested in paying for them.

The lesson was that adding more products and features isn’t necessarily the best way to grow.

Sometimes, doing the basics exceptionally well is a better competitive strategy.

The Power of Local Influencers

One of my favorite examples from the conference involved a regional provider experimenting with influencer marketing.

The marketing team identified a local influencer with around 200,000 followers and provided free internet service at her home, hair salon and her husband’s tattoo shop.

They then created three videos covering the problems with her previous broadband service, the installation of the new fiber connection and her subsequent experience.

The results were impressive.

The provider reported a 61% increase in weekly sales following the first video, with sales remaining around 20% higher afterwards.

Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean every additional sale was directly attributable to the campaign, but it’s a compelling example of how local influence can translate into commercial results.

It also demonstrates that influencer marketing isn’t necessarily about paying celebrities or national personalities to promote your brand.

For a regional ISP, someone who is well known and trusted in the local community may be far more valuable than a national influencer with millions of followers but little relevance to the provider’s footprint.

And there’s an obvious connection here with customer advocacy and referrals.

If an enthusiastic local influencer can generate that kind of response, imagine the potential of making it easier for hundreds or thousands of satisfied subscribers to recommend the service to their friends, families and neighbors.

Using Data to Combat Churn

Another major theme was how providers can use the data they already collect to identify customers who are becoming dissatisfied and intervene before they leave.

The challenge, as one speaker pointed out, isn’t necessarily a lack of data. Most providers have plenty of it, spread across network monitoring systems, customer support platforms, billing, CRM and marketing tools.

The difficulty is knowing which information matters and how to turn it into action.

Some of the warning signals discussed included:

• Network downtime and unusually high repair rates.

• The age of devices in the customer’s home, which may affect their experience even when the network itself is performing well.

• Repeated service issues, particularly where the same customer experiences several outages or needs multiple repairs.

That last point was particularly interesting.

According to one speaker, the strongest indicator of churn isn’t necessarily a single outage or complaint, but repeated negative experiences.

A customer may forgive an occasional service interruption, particularly if the provider communicates well and resolves it quickly.

But if the same problem keeps happening, confidence in the provider begins to disappear.

And once that trust has gone, a competing offer can become much more attractive.

Don’t Just Compensate Customers. Fix the Problem.

There was a useful reminder that retention isn’t simply about giving dissatisfied customers discounts, vouchers or gift cards.

One speaker stressed that sending a customer a voucher doesn’t make everything right if the provider hasn’t demonstrated empathy or actually solved the underlying problem.

Instead, the recommendation was to provide a more personalized, white-glove experience, particularly for customers who have suffered repeated issues.

That means understanding their history, acknowledging what has gone wrong and making sure someone takes responsibility for resolving it.

It sounds obvious, but how often have we all had to explain the same problem to three different customer service representatives?

The other important point was that providers should aim to identify problems before they become retention events.

For example, network telemetry can identify unusual patterns in downtime or repair rates, allowing providers to intervene proactively rather than waiting for customers to complain.

There are already tools available that can trigger automated actions based on this type of information.

However, the advice was not to get overwhelmed by trying to analyze everything at once.

Start with one problem, identify the data that could help solve it, put an intervention in place and measure whether it works.

As one speaker put it, don’t try to boil the ocean.

Customer Feedback, NPS and Online Reviews

Closely connected to retention was the importance of gathering customer feedback at different stages of the relationship and, crucially, acting on it.

Several providers described using automated surveys following installation and at regular intervals thereafter.

One sends an NPS survey around a week after installation, with low scores triggering individual follow-up, and then surveys customers again every six months.

Another surveys customers at multiple touchpoints, automatically escalating negative responses to the retention team.

It also sends Trustpilot review requests after 45 days and conducts monthly NPS surveys among its more established customer base.

What struck me was the emphasis on closing the loop.

Collecting NPS scores is relatively easy. The value comes from understanding why someone is unhappy and doing something about it.

IQ Fiber reported an NPS of 75 and around 5,500 five-star reviews, which it attributed to investing in the technology, systems and processes needed to deliver on its customer promises.

But even providers with excellent customer satisfaction scores receive negative reviews and what matters is how you acknowledge and fix these.

Responding to Reviews, Good and Bad

Several speakers stressed the importance of responding personally to every online review, whether positive or negative.

One provider aims to respond within 24 hours, while another said that many negative reviews relate to construction disruption rather than the broadband service itself.

Even when reviews are anonymous, the team tries to identify the underlying problem and resolve it.

There was also a recognition that the response isn’t just for the person who left the review.

It’s for everyone else who might read it.

A negative review accompanied by a thoughtful, empathetic response can demonstrate that the provider takes customer service seriously.

Conversely, a defensive or generic response may do more harm than good.

Interestingly, one speaker noted that loyal customers sometimes respond to negative comments before the provider has had an opportunity to do so.

That’s a powerful demonstration of customer advocacy, although obviously it depends on having built genuine trust and goodwill.

And there was a reminder to look for patterns rather than treating every complaint as an isolated incident.

If multiple customers are making the same criticism, whether about pricing, installation, reliability or customer support, it may indicate a problem with the product or service that needs to be addressed.

After all, there’s little point investing heavily in acquiring new subscribers if the experience you’re delivering is encouraging existing customers to leave.

AI in Marketing: Efficiency Without Losing Creativity

Inevitably, AI was a major topic of discussion, although I found the approach refreshingly pragmatic.

There was plenty of enthusiasm for the efficiencies AI can deliver, particularly for smaller marketing teams where one person may be responsible for everything from strategy and research to content creation, campaign execution and reporting.

One marketer explained that, as the only person in the department, using AI wasn’t really optional if she wanted to get everything done.

Others highlighted how useful AI can be for market research, customer segmentation, analyzing data and pulling together information that would otherwise require searching across multiple systems.

These are precisely the kinds of repetitive tasks where AI can save considerable time.

But there was also concern about relying too heavily on AI for strategy and creativity.

One speaker described having a love-hate relationship with AI because, while it can make teams more efficient, it can also make everyone’s marketing look and sound the same.

If every provider uses similar tools, prompts and templates, there’s a risk that campaigns become increasingly generic.

And that’s particularly problematic for regional providers whose main competitive advantage is often their distinctive local identity.

The general consensus seemed to be that AI should help marketers do their jobs, not make all their decisions for them.

Some Practical AI Advice

A few useful suggestions included:

• Start with a business problem. Don’t introduce AI simply because everyone else is doing it. Identify something that takes too much time or could be done better.

• Use AI for research and analysis. Market segmentation, competitor research, organizing information and finding patterns in data were all identified as valuable applications.

• Train AI on your brand. Give it examples of your tone of voice, visual identity, fonts, colors and previous marketing materials rather than relying on generic outputs.

• Challenge the results. One speaker suggested asking two or three different AI tools the same question, then comparing the answers or feeding one tool’s response into another.

• Keep humans responsible for strategy. AI can help develop and refine ideas, but marketers still need to decide which ideas are worth pursuing.

• Establish clear rules. Teams need guidance on how to use AI safely, what information they can share and where human review is required.

I particularly liked the point about creativity.

AI can be very good at helping you develop an idea, but if you let it do all the thinking, you risk losing the originality that makes your brand different.

For smaller providers competing against national operators, that’s not something they can afford to lose.

Beyond Speeds: What Really Builds Customer Loyalty?

Another recurring theme was the need to move away from marketing broadband purely on speed.

Obviously, fast and reliable connectivity remains essential, but when multiple providers offer gigabit services, speed alone becomes a difficult way to differentiate.

Instead, speakers emphasized trust, transparency, reliability and ease of doing business.

Some providers deliberately avoid promotional pricing, preferring simple, transparent offers where customers pay what they were promised.

This can be an attractive alternative to the complicated introductory offers and subsequent price increases that consumers often associate with larger telecommunications companies.

Others stressed the importance of being visible in the community and demonstrating that they’re committed to serving it for the long term.

One speaker compared the importance of focus to Chick-fil-A, which has built a successful business around doing a relatively limited number of things exceptionally well.

The point was that ISPs shouldn’t necessarily try to become everything to everyone.

If your customers value reliable broadband, straightforward pricing and excellent support, concentrating on delivering those things consistently may be more valuable than launching a range of additional products that nobody particularly wants.

And, of course, the more consistently a provider delivers on its promises, the more likely customers are to stay and recommend it.

That brings us back to one of the themes that stood out throughout the conference: customer acquisition and retention aren’t separate activities.

The experiences that encourage subscribers to remain loyal are often the same experiences that encourage them to tell friends and neighbors about the service.

For regional and rural providers, where personal recommendations and community reputation can carry considerable weight, that’s a particularly important advantage.

Summary

I came away from Savannah with a greater appreciation of both the opportunities and challenges facing fiber providers in the USA.

The industry is clearly optimistic about the long-term demand for fiber, particularly as AI and other technologies place increasing demands on connectivity.

But building the infrastructure is only part of the challenge.

With more competition, rising customer acquisition costs and increasingly demanding subscribers, providers need to be just as good at marketing, customer experience and retention as they are at building and operating networks.

A few things particularly stood out to me.

Firstly, the importance of local trust. For smaller and rural providers, being genuinely involved in their communities can be a competitive advantage that larger national operators find difficult to replicate.

Secondly, the value of coordinating marketing across multiple channels and touchpoints. If it takes 13 touches to convert a customer, providers need to think carefully about how their marketing activities work together rather than judging each one in isolation.

Thirdly, the opportunity to use customer data more effectively to identify dissatisfaction and prevent churn, particularly by recognizing repeated service problems before customers decide to leave.

And finally, the importance of turning happy subscribers into advocates.

The local influencer example demonstrated just how effective a trusted recommendation can be. But providers don’t necessarily need to find someone with 200,000 followers to benefit from word of mouth.

They already have customers who know their service, understand its benefits and have relationships with other people in their communities.

Making it easier and more rewarding for those customers to recommend their provider seems an obvious opportunity, particularly when acquiring subscribers through traditional channels can cost hundreds of dollars.

As I’ve heard at several industry conferences this year, the providers that succeed won’t necessarily be those offering the highest speeds or the biggest discounts, but those that deliver on their promises, earn their customers’ trust and give them reasons to stay.

I hope this summary is useful if you attended the event, or gives you a flavor of the discussions if you didn’t.

And, as always, if you’d like to discuss how customer referrals and rewards can help fiber providers acquire more subscribers and reduce churn, I’d be happy to chat.