How to Do Green Marketing Right
I’ve been pondering what green marketing means in 2020 and would like to share a few thoughts on its importance for businesses today.
As a brief refresher, green marketing consists in marketing products and services by focusing on their environmental benefits, either inherent (biodegradable, re-usable, using non-polluting components and packaging) or external (sustainable manufacturing and shipping process).
Increasingly, products that don’t necessarily qualify as green have started to fall under the green marketing umbrella, as businesses realize the strategic importance of an eco-friendly image.
But as consumers become ever more conscious of the dangers facing our planet and better at seeing through ads, gimmicks like a lone social media post every Earth Day and tacking a green leaf on your logo won’t fool anyone anymore. Hypocritical greenwashing does more harm than good.
As a service or product supplier, you really need to think hard about how to build a powerful and authentic “eco-reputation” on solid foundations.
In my view, here are 4 rules that any business serious enough with its eco-image needs to follow:
Know your audience. Consumers are all over the place in their ecological transformation journey. Some are ahead of the curve, exclusively buying organic produce and groceries in bulk and avoiding mass-produced goods when possible. Others are just barely discovering the concepts of eco labels and product carbon footprint. So, know who you’re talking to and adjust your tone and content accordingly. It’s ok to take baby steps and play it safe at first, but just know where you’re going.
Come clean. Not every business or industry can truthfully claim to be green. At some point, you hit the ceiling of the current state of technology and inescapable constraints, and that’s what it is. So, admit that parts of your business (be it your product itself, its packaging, your production facilities and supply chain, etc.) are problematic but show that you are actively working on solving or at least mitigating the problem. Being authentic and recognizing improvement areas will be beneficial in the long run as it safeguards your credibility.
Support environmental causes. Not every business is equipped with the know-how or assets to actively work to protect or restore the environment but every business can support those who are. Think sponsorships, partnerships, company events, consultancy, etc. There is a lot to learn from the environment experts.
Harness the power of social media. Social networks are a perfect test bench for your green messaging strategy. This is also connected to point 1 above -knowing your audience- because you can better control who you are talking to and can craft the right message for the right people and get a multiplying effect for your green communication. Social media is also where niche propositions can find early adopters, develop a community of rabid supporters and then burst into mainstream with full momentum.
Doing all of the above is the bare minimum you should do to remain relevant. Green marketing is fast progressing and businesses that don’t jump on the bandwagon now will have a huge hill to climb later.
But if you do things right, do them truthfully, and do them fast, you may gain an edge over your competition.
At the very least, having a holistic plan and concrete actions for more sustainable products, services and activities will push your business partners and competitors to do the same, and in the end society as a whole will benefit.
