Monday, April 22 is 2019’s Earth Day celebration. That means it’s the perfect time to discuss the importance of having an eco-friendly brand and communicating that commitment to consumers. How important is it to be eco-friendly? In a recent survey, 90 percent of CEOs who were asked said that sustainable practices are essential for success. What is driving this demand for eco-friendly marketing, and what can your business do about it? Here’s what you need to know.
Understanding the Rise of Eco-Friendly Branding
There are a few factors that can explain why consumers are going green and why they expect businesses to do the same. Although multiple considerations come into play, these shifts are critical:
- Media coverage of environmental issues is increasing. Climate change is in the news on a continual basis. As a result, more people are thinking about their own daily habits and how they can change them.
- Consumers can more easily research companies. Brands are no longer mysterious monoliths. The internet means that consumers can learn more about the businesses behind the products they buy. This motivates consumers to find companies that not only have satisfactory products, but also have values that align with their own.
Millennial consumers are driving this shift towards valuing eco-friendly brands. Just over 60 percent of people in that age group said that they would pay more for an eco-friendly product. Millennials respond best to brands that have a social cause; as a result, they are drawn to eco-friendly brands.
Determining If Your Brand Is Eco-Friendly
Before you decide if you can use your business’ sustainability in your marketing, you first have to determine if your products or services are truly eco-friendly. Make sure your products and services can meet some of these guidelines:
- Free of toxic materials or damaging off-gases.
- Reusable or zero waste.
- Made from recycled materials and can be recycled, when possible.
- Manufactured using green methods and technologies.
- Packaged in eco-friendly packaging, or not packaged at all.
- Use of resources is as minimal as possible; for instance, nothing is printed that could be replaced by a digital item.
If you can’t meet any of these criteria, you may need to consider some changes before you try to leverage eco-friendly practices as a business strategy.
Implementing Eco-Friendly Marketing Campaigns
If your company has embraced green practices, making that commitment central to your brand identity can help you connect with socially conscious consumers. As you do so, be mindful of transparency and authenticity. Consumers who suspect you are not being authentic about your commitments are not likely to embrace your brand.
Consider these ideas as part of your marketing campaign:
- Highlight your corporate engagement in eco-friendly activities. If you take part in a community trash pick-up, post pictures on your social media. Devote a section of your website to the green practices you have in your workplace, such as a workplace recycling program. Your efforts should resonate with your company’s culture, so that they don’t seem like marketing ploys.
- Invest in digital advertising, and talk about it. Consumers will appreciate your efforts to move away from print advertising to digital ads, thus saving paper, ink, and the energy used for printing and delivering these ads. If possible, detail the amount of resources you are saving by comparing past print advertising campaigns to your current digital efforts.
- Reward customers for their own eco-friendly activities. Hold a campaign on a social media account in which customers can submit their own photos of themselves doing something good for the environment. Then, pick someone from the entries to win your products or services.
At Pennington Creative, our digital marketing strategies can be part of your brand’s broader efforts to connect with eco-friendly consumers, and our team can help you get your message about sustainable practices across to consumers. To see how our digital marketing experts in Tucson can help you tap into the green marketplace, call us today at (520) 344-4672.
