Getting To Grips With Green Marketing

The environment has become kind of a big deal. Obviously, it always has been, but as concerns over climate change and the human impact on the planet have escalated, consumers have become far more discerning about what they buy and who they buy it from. They’re no longer happy with giving $5 to Greenpeace every month and pretending they’re saving the world. No, the modern consumer wants to know that their money is going to ethical, responsible organisations that are actually taking green issues seriously. Enter the practice of green marketing.

How do businesses remain competitive and relevant when their customers demand they take environmental problems seriously? Well by taking environmental problems seriously by adjusting the way they operate to do more to protect the planet. Sustainability, recycling, and ethical sourcing are just some of the ways businesses are able to improve their operations. But, sadly, if a company wants to save the planet to have a positive impact on their image (and sales) they have to shout about it. Enter green marketing, where you promote your business eco-friendliness to the world.

Read on to learn more about what green marketing is, how it can benefit your business, and to get some tips on doing it effectively.

What Is Green Marketing?

Green marketing — also known as ‘environmental marketing’ — involves the active promotion of environmentally-friendly products, services, and green initiatives through conventional marketing and brand awareness channels. It can mean a pretty broad range of activities, depending on the nature of your business and the services or products you’re selling.

Here are a few examples of the things that businesses promote through green marketing:

• Eco-friendly products
• Eco-friendly product packaging
• The use of recycled materials
• Greenhouse gas emission reduction, either from changing the production process or supply chain and delivery practices
• Sustainable business practices, like going paperless or implementing recycling programs in the office
• Investing in renewable energy or carbon offset efforts

Using green marketing is a great way to attract customers with sustainability concerns. It shows off your company’s commitment to improving its impact on the environment and builds your reputation as an ethical product or service provider.

Marketing eco-friendly products can do wonders for your organic search results too (no pun intended). According to a report from WWF, 2021 saw online searches for sustainable goods increase 71% since 2016. Seemingly anything can be turned eco-friendly, with the right adjustments, from the classic canvas bag or bamboo toothbrush to recycled bin liners and hemp undies.

It isn’t just green products that make for good sustainable marketing, though. Organisations that provide services or work ‘behind the scenes’ can increase their eco-warrior rep by promoting their commitment to sustainable business activities. Businesses like this promote their other activities aimed at offsetting the environmental damage they do, such as research, development, and green energy creation.

The most important thing about any green marketing is that you aren’t saying anything that isn’t absolutely true. The scrutiny placed on businesses that make claims about environmental schemes and practices is exceptionally high. The possible repercussions of getting caught out on a lie just don’t bear thinking about. But more on this later…

The Benefits of Green Marketing

Seeing as a brand’s ethics can hugely impact its growth and success, it’s certainly not something to dismiss as a great way to grow your business. Consider that, according to Statista research, the value of the ethical fashion industry has increased from 6.35 billion U.S. dollars in 2020 to 7.65 billion in 2022 — and it’s only projected to continue upwards. With the ethical consumer market expanding, this is an opportunity businesses can’t afford to miss out on.

But using green marketing to attract customers does more than just broaden your immediate customer base. Governments across the globe are changing policies to accommodate ethical consumer demands. The UN’s COP26 in November 2021 saw 120 world leaders agree to accelerate net zero emissions targets. So even if it hasn’t happened yet, it’s very likely that regulations and restrictions will require businesses to change how they operate. With that in mind, it seems sensible to get ahead of the game and get cracking on going green now, doesn’t it?

Incorporating sustainability into your marketing strategy doesn’t actually mean having to completely reset your business overnight. At its earliest stage, it can mean simply making promises and commitments about how you’re going to change things. (You will actually have to change in time too, but this can be incremental and plotted out over a realistic timeframe.) 

How Does Green Marketing Work?

Green marketing works toward building your brand image with sustainability at the core of your messaging. By incorporating sustainability into your marketing strategy, you’re telling the world that you care about the environment and want to reduce your impact. This, in turn, endears consumers with a similar perspective on the environment, encouraging them to think of you when they’re after eco-friendly products or considering a service provider based on their climate-driven concerns.

A strong example of effective green marketing can be seen in the public perception of global furniture giant, IKEA. As a major brand that claims to be focused on renewable energy and sustainable sourcing, IKEA has developed and published a sustainability strategy that reflects its ethos across various mediums — whether it’s the products they sell, how they produce them, or the way they operate as a business. This strategy comprehensively promotes eco-friendly practices, solar energy, and regenerative environmental efforts. Not only does IKEA preach for sustainability (as they should — where would they be without trees!) but they’re leading by example too — working towards 100% renewable energy in stores and reducing its percentage of waste to less than the current 15%.

Good green marketing requires you to understand what consumers are concerned about and then demonstrate how your business is making a difference by addressing those particular areas. Here are some starting points, based on what consumers consider most important for companies to address:

• Renewable energy contracts or initiatives, such as partnering with eco-friendly companies or using solar energy to supplement power taken from the grid.
• Dedication to making green products and packaging, so they’re recycled and/or recyclable.
• Green marketing practices, including cutting down on or eradicating printed materials and only creating sustainable products for merchandise — this does everyone a favour; the world doesn’t need more branded plastic junk!
• Sustainability-focused operating practices, which could include reducing supply chains through localised parts and material resourcing, implementing working-from-home policies (to reduce commuter emissions and necessary office space), or partnering with emission-offsetting organisations to counteract the company’s carbon footprint.

The truth is that the ways a business can go greener are as varied as the businesses themselves. Where you are, what you do, and how you do it all influence what you can change. But we’re not here to tell you how to save the world, we’re here to show you how to let people know you’re doing it!

Engaging In Green Marketing: Things to Keep In Mind

Incorporating sustainability into your marketing strategy requires careful planning. The environmentally conscious consumers you’re targeting are cynical and discerning. Because historically, companies were able to say they take social responsibility seriously without really having to do much to back it up. This has made green consumers mistrustful of unfounded environmental marketing claims. So, not only do they tend to do a lot more research into the brands they buy from and the service they use, they often project their doubts on any business claiming green consciousness. Not to mention how quickly companies can be vilified online for trying to pull the wool over people’s eyes.

To counter this, organisations like Ethical Consumer have popped up, which diligently assess and score businesses based on a broad range of criteria. This is great if you really are eco-friendly, but not so much if you’re just talking trash. In its most extreme form, this is labelled as ‘greenwashing’: claiming to engage in sustainable practices without actually doing the work for the sake of gaining sales. While these types of accusations can roll off the oil-slicked backs of enormous corporations, any small business that took such liberties wouldn’t survive the week.

So, with that in mind, before you start to publicly address the environmental issues that concern consumers, you should approach your green marketing strategy like you would any new marketing campaign: plan and research, then plan some more. These steps provide a solid foundation for your green marketing campaign:

Audit Your Operations

Before you call yourself environmentally friendly, be absolutely sure that you are. For instance, if your products are ethically made, are you sure you know where all the materials are sourced from? If it’s handmade by the honest, hardworking people of wherever… are you sure that’s not a sweatshop?

Additionally, if you want to make changes, you need to get a clear idea of what needs to change. It can be difficult to know where to start when diving into the subject of sustainability in your business, but thorough diligence is key to success here. Leave no stone unturned.

Set Realistic Targets

It can be tempting to shoot for the moon with your corporate social responsibility ambitions and say you’re going to save all the puffins or penguins or pigeons but don’t get carried away. Plan out long-term, progressive changes which are realistically achievable. Like week one: stop using post-it notes. That way, you won’t fall behind. You might just be able to accelerate ahead of the plan, instead. Plus, you can use each of the cornerstones to promote your eco-efforts online and across social media.

Create a Sustainable Practices Statement

Whether you’re already doing everything you want to or if you’re planning to make changes, create and publish a statement about your dedication to reducing your environmental impact. Not only will this serve as your organisational blueprint, but it provides careful consumers with all the information they might want about your business’s green positioning.

Promote Your Green Business

Start using keywords like ‘eco-friendly,’ ‘sustainable,’ and ‘green’ to promote your business, products, or services online. This doesn’t have to be the focus of your brand, but if you don’t say it, no one will know. Then get ready for the influx of green consumers (not literally green- oh, you know what we mean)! 

Don’t Forget… Fact-check Everything!

We’ve already said it a bunch of times, but once more for the cheap seats: be 100 percent sure that any environmental benefit your company alludes to is above board. Don’t make any claims that you can’t confidently back up with solid evidence. If you stick to this, you’re golden.

With your winning approach to environmental sustainability, why not set up a new domain to reflect your eco-friendly ways? Use our domain search tool to find the perfect green domain name for your website today.