These brands have relied heavily on their sustainable practices to position and promote themselves, and it has paid off. In fact, research published in First Insight showed that over 60% of consumers across all generations, and nearly 90% of Gen X consumers, are willing to spend more on sustainable products.
As the environmental crisis worsens, more consumers are likely to switch to sustainable brands.
Does this mean unsustainable brands will soon meet their end?
Well, essentially you don’t need a sustainable product to be sustainable. By adopting eco-friendly marketing practices, you can play your part in helping the environment. In fact, new research shows that a whopping 81% of consumers prefer brands that are environmentally conscious in their marketing and advertising communications.
So even if you don't have a sustainable product, you can go green by implementing eco-friendly practices in your marketing and advertising.
Here are some useful ideas for green marketing.
The best green marketing strategies
Let’s look at the four best sustainable marketing strategies you can implement in your business right now.
Embrace digital marketing
One of the easiest ways to make your marketing communications green is to embrace digital marketing.
In traditional marketing, brands use a lot of paper, electricity and other materials, which contributes to their carbon footprint.
If you put up digital signage, it will likely be on all day and night. For example, if you have a 2m" x 1m" signage panel, your electricity usage will be 7000 kilowatts per year . That's the same as a small house in the United States.
Similarly, if you use flyers, brochures, posters, etc., you will be using a lot of paper. That will also have a negative impact on the environment.
But when you opt for digital-only marketing, you can drastically reduce your carbon footprint. There’s no paper or large amounts of electricity required to make your marketing and advertising sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Use eco-friendly product packaging
Eco-friendly product packaging is another useful way to implement sustainable marketing. It involves using eco-friendly packaging materials that reduce the ecological footprint and environmental impact.
Some eco-friendly materials you can use in your packaging are:
Plant-based materials such as corn, bamboo, sugar cane and biopolyester sachets
Recycled plastic
Corrugated cardboard containers (with trees)
glass line
Cellulose
Cornstarch
Kraft paper made from wood pulp
Green cell foam
Use eco-friendly product packaging
If you're using product packaging just to protect your products from damage, you're missing out. Product packaging is so much more than just a protective layer.
When used strategically, packaging can be a powerful branding tool that can help you attract buyers and increase sales.
And if you want to take your product packaging to the next south korea business email list level and turn it into a brand powerhouse, use QR codes. You can put QR codes on your product packaging to send users to various online channels and engage them even more.
Using digital business cards
Networking is vital in all industries, especially where employees need to meet prospects in person. Distributing business cards is the most common way to share contact details and make connections.
However, paper business cards have a high carbon footprint. Why not switch to a digital business card and bring that carbon footprint to zero? And if you must use a physical business card, you can print your digital business card QR code on it.
QR code on digital business card
Therefore, your business card will act as a bridge to your digital business card. Since you can edit your digital business card at any time, you will not need to reprint your business card frequently. As a result, you will significantly reduce your environmental impact.
Some other eco-friendly ways to share your digital business card are:
Include your digital business card QR code in your email signature.
Place the QR code in your physical store.
Show the QR code to your potential connections right on their phone.
Include the QR code or URL of the digital business card on your website.
Share the QR code or URL on social media.
Use the color green in your design and marketing
Green is associated with nature, health, and wellness. You can communicate your eco-friendly goals by incorporating the color green into your marketing materials.
For example, if you include the color green in your logo, users will associate your brand with eco-friendliness. Similarly, you can have green in your emails, ads, packaging, and other marketing and branding materials.
Green packaging
Benefits of green marketing
As consumers become increasingly conscious of sustainability and eco-friendliness, green marketing can be a powerful asset for all brands.
Here are some ways green marketing can help you.
Stand out from your competition
Sustainable marketing practices will set you apart from your competition.
Today’s marketing landscape is cutthroat, with many brands thriving to attract the attention of their consumers. With sustainable marketing, you can stand out from your competitors and gain a substantial advantage over them.
Reduce marketing costs
Since green marketing doesn't incur much expense, you can reduce your marketing expenses and achieve a higher return on investment (ROI).
Traditional advertising on TV, billboards, and signs is more expensive, while digital advertising is relatively cheaper. Since green marketing focuses primarily on digital channels and technologies like QR codes, your marketing expenses won't hurt your pocket.
QR code for restaurant menu
Expand your marketing effortlessly
Green marketing is easy to scale, mainly for two reasons.
One, and the most important, is the reliance on digital channels. There is no limitation of scale in digital advertising. You can buy as many ads as you want, as many blog posts as you want to publish, and as many social media posts as you want to share.
On the other hand, scaling can be a problem with traditional advertising.
Acquire loyal customers
Loyalty is a valuable asset in today’s business landscape. With so many choices for consumers, building brand loyalty is a challenge.
Green marketing is a proven strategy for building loyalty, as consumers today prefer brands with a purpose.
Grow your business
More consumers than ever are switching to brands that follow sustainable practices. Adopting green marketing allows you to reach a wider, more loyal customer base and grow your business manifold.
If you want to see rapid business growth, sustainable marketing can help you achieve it.
Final thoughts
Marketing competition snowballs, with brands continually fighting for consumer attention and engagement. By adopting green marketing strategies, you will gain a significant competitive advantage and be able to achieve a positive ROI on your marketing campaigns.
The crux of sustainable advertising is reducing the carbon footprint caused by advertising. You can do this by using digital marketing and technologies like QR codes.
If you want to create QR codes for your marketing campaigns, QRCodeChimp will help.
