As the world continues to change & evolve at an ever-increasing pace, businesses in all industries have been pressured to adapt their strategies quickly in response. One of the most significant changes that have occurred over the last decade has been the new focus on protecting and preserving the world’s environments. With climate change and environmental destruction now being in the global spotlight; new norms, opinions & expectations around the subject of environmental sustainability have been increasingly growing and spreading within society.
These relatively new consumer preferences have completely changed how many businesses segment and target consumers. Considering that over half of the world's population prioritizes climate change as something that needs to be immediately resolved, it is not a surprise that many businesses have started to shift their marketing strategies to prioritize the subject of sustainability as one of their primary focuses. Whether you are trying to market a company like Wavess that makes wireless headphones out of recycled ocean plastic or market in any industry; your marketing strategies must align/fit with your business's mission and goals. With this being said, in order to become more applicable to a new realm of marketing, new strategies have been created and adopted by firms.
This new advertising strategy has been coined as ‘’Green Marketing’’. Green Marketing refers to the process of selling products and/or services based on their environmental benefits(1). Some common Green Marketing practices include promoting the usage of renewable/recyclable materials, eliminating the utilization of toxic ozone harming pollutants during manufacturing, and avoiding the usage of any excess materials when packaging products.
While these eco-friendly practices are beneficial to the environment and help to promote a circular economy, they are only efficient trust & customer relationship building tactics if communicated properly. The following 3 strategies will help all eco-friendly businesses win over the consumer and stakeholders during any of their green marketing and advertising campaigns (2).
1. Walk Your Talk
The most successful businesses are those that are able to follow through with the promises they make to their current and potential customers. It is imperative that companies “walk it like they talk it” when promoting the environmental sustainability practices that they intend to use. A company that doesn’t follow through on the guarantees they make risk facing negative backlash and decreased brand image in the eyes of the public. A useful way to follow through on your company’s Green marketing promises is to align all employees and stakeholders to the same mission and sustainability initiatives. Having a business composed of individuals who share the same goal and company vision is a sure-fire way of ensuring that the promises your company makes are put into fruition.
2. Be Transparent
Throughout history, big businesses have been notorious for not caring about the ecological footprint that they leave on the environment. Considering that the concept of businesses prioritizing environmental sustainability while operating is relatively new, it is not uncommon for consumers to assume that the company isn’t being as honest as they appear to be. An effective way to avoid this assumption is to be as open and translucent as possible. Making information such as emission and waste reports accessible to the public and having a system to respond to questions or concerns are both useful practices to ensure that consumers are confident that your business is running the way it is perceived as. Another important tip when managing your green marketing efforts is to keep all company updates, including the bad, available to the public. Loyal customers enjoy being informed of all updates that a company has. Sweeping the negative headlines under the rug is an easy way to lose a significant portion of your market share within the industry.
3. Focus on the Benefits
While attempting to win the customer over through Green marketing tactics, it is imperative that the consumer is constantly being reminded of the benefits that your company provides to the environment while selling the product. One of the main priorities of any successful marketer is to keep the company’s benefits in the minds of the consumer as long and as often as possible. Considering that environmental sustainability practices are a choice and not a requirement (yet) for businesses in today’s economy, it is important that marketing deliverables focus on the positive impact that your business is attempting to have on the world. The logic is simple; the more people that know your business sustainability goals equal the more customers that will show support and purchase your services or products.
The world is moving in the right direction when it comes to environmental sustainability and promoting a circular economy. The fact that the term Green marketing didn’t exist very long ago and is now increasingly growing in popularity among businesses leads many to believe that society is on the verge of seeing real and significant ecological change on a global scale. Green marketing is the way of the future, the sooner businesses realize that the sooner they will reap the social and financial rewards that come with doing their part to save the planet.
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Jack Hache
November 18, 2019
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