Brilliant Strategies & Sustainable Way of Doing Business With Green Marketing.
Brilliant Strategies & Sustainable Way of Doing Business With Green Marketing.
It is a well-established fact that the world needs to act on environmental protection now. The awareness about sustainability and environment friendly products is on the rise.
Both governments and common consumers are moving towards eco-friendly behaviour. Businesses also need to pull up their socks and enter the green marketing arena.
This is essential not just to do their parts towards sustainability but also to stay relevant in the ever changing market.
The consumer demands are leaning towards green products and services and there is no way businesses can thrive while ignoring social and environmental responsibilities.
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What Is Green Marketing?
By definition – green marketing is promoting a product or service by highlighting its eco-friendly features and attributes.
The green element may be in the actual product or the raw materials used in producing the product or the packaging materials or even the way the business is operating.
For instance – if you are an e-commerce business then you can use recycled materials while packaging the products for shipment or delivery to customers. If you are a restaurant owner then you can promote your water usage efficiency and the selection of organic vegetables and groceries used in your recipes.
Even if your product or service does not directly contribute to environmental sustainability – you can still leverage the green marketing strategy by bringing small changes in the way you run your business.
You can email invoices to your customers instead of sending a hard copy thereby saving paper usage. You can also avoid using elevators and air-conditioners in your office to bring a small change on the impact of environmental sustainability.
The scope of making a business eco-friendly is so vast and huge that we could create a whole quiz book and that would be an interesting exercise in itself.
5 Effective Green Marketing Strategies
As consumers become more environmentally conscious there is an increase in demand for brands to also convert to being eco-conscious.
The consequences of global warming have become more obvious and the result of this is the increasing demand for eco friendly products, influencing businesses to implement green strategies in an attempt to meet consumer demands.
As companies try to rebrand themselves as green or environmentally friendly – they risk potential accusations of greenwashing.
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What Is Greenwashing?
Greenwashing is the practice of using marketing tactics to create a false impression or misleading claims about being environmentally responsible.
When it comes to green marketing – you need to be more careful. Businesses need to develop permissible and effectual green marketing tactics that circumvent the risk of greenwashing.
Here are some of the most effective green marketing strategies. They are in no order of importance since all of them are equally important in their own merits:
- Green Positioning
Green positioning intends to build brand associations by delivering information on environmentally sound product attributes.
Eco-friendly products will not be commercially successful if green branding attributes are not effectively communicated.
Just like brand positioning – there are two types of green positioning – functional and emotional related to the impact on consumer perceptions of a brand.
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- Green Packaging
Another effective strategy for green marketing is – green packaging. Businesses can leverage eco-friendly packaging to help draw in new eco-conscious customers.
Green packaging is the use of materials and manufacturing methods for the packaging of goods that has a low impact on both energy consumption and the environment.
Biodegradable packaging provides customers with a visible symbol of the company’s commitment to going green. Unsustainable packaging has the potential to stop clients from buying sustainable products.
- Green Design
In most cases – businesses end up greenwashing because their products and services cannot be classified as green to start with.
One of the most important green marketing strategies is to design green products and services from the beginning.
This means implementing green strategies during the planning and designing stages of your products so they become more eco-friendly.
Green designing is the creation of products that are energy-efficient, flexible to use, comfortable and designed for a long life or to reuse.
Green designing is usually associated with construction since it offers a powerful alternative to the conventional building – by using fewer precious natural resources and it increases the health and safety of occupants.
- Green Pricing
In the case of renewable energy – green pricing is a service through which customers can support a greater level of investment by their electric utility in renewable energy technologies.
Green pricing allows electricity customers to express their willingness to pay for renewable energy development.
It allows consumers to actively participate in sustainability as they become aware of their choice to invest in something that will allow them to save money and resources in the future.
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- Green Disposal
Green disposal takes into consideration every aspect of a product’s life cycle – from production to disposal and everything must be sustainable.
Green disposal is the recycling of old products or used materials as unsustainable disposal practices can be hazardous to the environment and human health.
Green disposal has influenced the creation of food recycling programs and machines that break food waste down.
Authentic and legitimate green marketing is the way forward. As much as greenwashing might seem inexpensive and convenient – it can cost a company its hard-earned reputation and potentially its value and profits.
In the long run – green companies enjoy more profits and can establish a reputation for being trustworthy and eco-friendly.
Examples Of Green Marketing
We have researched and prepared a few examples of socially responsible brands that protect the environment, produce recyclable goods, oppose animal testing and advocate sustainable ways of production.
Boden
Universal brands like Boden have to pay attention to the sourcing and supply chain since they significantly influence our environment.
That is why the company follows through when it comes to sustainability and uses sustainable and organic cotton to manufacture clothes.
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Timberland
One of the world’s most recognisable apparel brands – Timberland uses stories about the environment to promote its products.
Timberland says that if they put two comparable products side-by-side – one from Timberland and one from a competitor – most customers will choose Timberland as if it is made with some sort of green element.
By launching its Timberloop product take-back program – Timberland joins an increasing number of clothing manufacturers that are prolonging the life of their products.
Used Timberland footwear, apparel and accessories can now be returned for a second chance at life. When returned – they will either be disassembled and the pieces recycled or repurposed into new products or they will be repaired and sold on a special website.
Timberland is expanding and testing new materials in order to create and implement a green marketing strategy.
All product categories will be subject to environmental regulations – TEPS in the near future and the company plans to use only organic and renewable materials.
TOMS
TOMS – a brand famous and popular for its comfortable shoes – uses its business to improve lives and not harm the environment.
If you visit the business website – you can see that TOMS has been trying to expand sustainable practices in key areas of their business by using Earth-friendly materials like sustainable cotton, reducing waste and energy use over the past five years.
Moreover the brand’s team provides their customers with packaging made from recycled materials.
The Body Shop
The famous cosmetics brand – The Body Shop fights cruelty by campaigning against animal testing and selling 100% vegetarian products.
This brand is considered the first international cosmetics company to champion a cruelty-free policy.
World Wildlife Fund – WWF
The World Wildlife Fund – WWF is one of the most prominent instances of businesses that have gone green.
The reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and the promotion of efficient recycling practices are the primary focuses of this initiative. An innovative rainwater collection system is one of the company’s many eco-friendly initiatives which have been quite successful.
The decrease in staff flights is another example of an environmentally responsible business practice that has been included in WWF’s sustainable strategy.
The business recognises that encouraging customers to travel by means other than automobiles such as trains and ships is an effective form of environmentally conscious marketing.
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Avocado Mattress
Avocado – a brand of eco-friendly mattresses is committed to using organic materials to produce pillows, mattresses and bedding.
The team maintains such practices to safeguard their customers’ health and protect our planet from adverse impacts.
Green Toys
Green Toys assumes that to raise a happy and healthy child – you should provide a healthy environment.
This makes everybody think about our Earth and how we take care of it.
Green Toys are safe for kids and the environment as they are made from 100% recyclable materials.
Love Beauty and Planet
Unilever is a multinational consumer goods company that has many brands and Love Beauty and Planet is one of them.
The brand was created to make customers and the planet more beautiful. The company assumes that the beauty industry and its impact on the environment are inseparable and design their bottles for shampoos, hand creams and other products from recycled plastic.
Green marketing includes progressive ideas that are necessary for our planet due to air and water pollution, animal cruelty and other environmental problems.
By going green – your brand enables people to live better, conscious and responsible lives.
Benefits Of Green Marketing
Green marketing – environmentally friendly products can be a win-win for any business.
The benefits of green products include helping your business stand out in a competitive market and also reduce the pressure humanity places on the environment.
There are numerous advantages of green marketing for every business irrespective of the industry and audience.
☑ World-wide consumers are becoming aware and awaken. Green marketing will help you attract those consumers who want to contribute to a good cause.
☑ It will help you in positioning your product as a superior brand compared to other competitors. Even if your services are very similar to that of your competitors – you can differentiate yourself through your sustainability initiatives.
☑ Your products are manufactured in ways that save energy, reduce your carbon footprint or trim your use of natural resources. This is often cost-effective so it is a win aside from the marketing.
☑ Sustainability – your products will require fewer resources to work, such as a washing machine or toilet that uses minimal water.
☑ Products made from recycled materials referred to as post-consumer or post-industrial. For instances – construction companies can make gypsum board from a by-product of coal power plants.
☑ Your products are recyclable.
☑ Your products are low-toxicity – cleaners, lubricants or solvents that pose a reduced threat if customers get them on their hands or breathe the fumes.
☑ The products are biodegradable – breaking down rather than enduring for decades or centuries.
☑ Consumers tend to be more loyal to brands that fulfil a functional need and bring a mental satisfaction. Eco-friendliness is a definite recipe for giving consumers a sense of pride and gratification while they spend on their daily needs.
☑ More and more consumers are ready to pay a premium price for green products irrespective of the cost of production increases due to eco-friendly practices – you can charge your consumers more and tap the enthusiasm in the market to your advantage.
☑ Initiatives such as collecting the packaging materials back, cutting down on energy consumption, reusing or recycling it, emailing invoices and much more can actually save you money.
☑ If you are a business start-up looking for funding for your business then green marketing can definitely make a difference in the way your company is perceived by potential investors. In fact – it is difficult for companies who do not have a sustainability quotient in their business – to get any investment at all.
Tips To Get Green Marketing Right
While green marketing sounds so simple – it is important to get it right the first time.
Remember – consumer memory is strong and if you get caught in a bad PR stance then it will be very difficult to set it straight again.
Here are a few tips to help you sail through the waves of green marketing.
1. While eco-friendliness of a business builds consumer loyalty then lack of it destroys your brand image.
If you are doing green marketing without actually following sustainable practices in your business then the damage will be even more devastating.
The act of falsely promoting a product or service as green is called green-washing. It is wise to stay away from this malpractice if you do not want to risk your reputation.
2. Along with sharing information about why your product is green – you can also inspire consumers to go green in other ways.
While you can educate your customer that the act of buying your product itself is a contribution to sustainability – you can also share knowledge about other ways of protecting the environment.
For example – while telling the users that your product is manufactured with minimum amount of water – you can also share with them some tips to save water in their daily activities. The Turn Off the Faucet campaign by Colgate is a good example of building a deep relationship with consumers through green marketing.
3. One efficient way of doing green marketing is to show how much carbon emission the consumer has reduced by choosing to buy your product rather than your competitor’s.
For example – say you are running an online platform that connects people who commute daily by cars and encourage them to car-pool. Every time a user shares a ride with another user – you can congratulate him/her by calculating the number of carbon emissions he/she just saved.
4. You can also ask the consumer to explicitly donate to an environmental cause that your business is working on.
This comes under corporate social responsibility which is mandatory for businesses in most of the countries.
Once you decide the issue that you want to work on then create an awareness among your consumers about it and every time they buy a product from you – you can give them an option of donating a meagre amount as little as one pound towards that cause.
5. In green marketing – it is crucial to get the numbers right. Quantify the impact of your green initiatives and trumpet it on your website and social media pages and make sure to add some lush green images to your mix.
Best-Digital Marketing – Your Partner In Green Marketing.
Best-Digital Marketing provides you ample green marketing solutions that will pull the right kind of target audience to your platform.
By hosting your website with our web hosting service – you can leverage the power of cloud computing and reduce the carbon footprint since we use 100% renewable electricity from natural reliable sources like the sun, wind and sea.
When it comes to website design – Best-Digital Marketing offers you a host of services suitable for green marketing with nature and scenery themes – you can give your website the eco-look.
Through online payment integrations, digital billing and e-newsletters – we have and are cutting down more on paper consumption therefore reducing deforestation.
We hope you have received some inspiration from the green marketing examples and ideas that we discussed here so do not delay – Launch your website today and make your business truly green with Best-Digital Marketing.
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