6 effective green marketing strategies

What is the definition of green marketing?

Green marketing refers to the marketing and promotion of environmentally friendly products and business practices. It may include sustainable packaging, environment-focused advertising, or commitments to helping the planet. 

Not to be confused with greenwashing, green marketing takes a completely genuine approach to sustainable marketing prices. In contrast, greenwashing is misleading and aims to attract customers by making false claims or commitments about their products and practices. For example, they may claim that they produce fewer greenhouse gases during production than they actually do, in order to appear more environmentally responsible.

6 green marketing strategies you can implement

Now that you know the definition of green marketing, how can you implement this in your own business? Read on for six fantastic green marketing strategies that are ideal for environmentally conscious businesses.

1. Create a responsible brand image

If you are known as a brand who produces lots of harmful waste and materials that damage the environment, then green marketing isn’t likely to work for you at first. Whether you are turning your image around, or just trying to advertise your green efforts, it’s important to incorporate this into your brand image. Your values should be highlighted in all marketing practices to build the image and reputation that you desire. 

If you are dedicated to helping the environment, then be sure to shout about your commitments and achievements in doing this. Over time, consumers and the media will begin to associate you with eco-friendly efforts, which helps to build your brand identity as one that is concerned with helping the planet. 

Building a reputable brand can be difficult, no matter how you wish your business to be perceived. Our how to build a reputable brand guide includes more insight into tailoring your brand identity.

2. Support green initiatives

Environmentally conscious customers will want to support a brand that invests money into other green initiatives. Your brand could support a number of green projects, from protecting parts of the rainforest to encouraging beach clean ups at your nearest coastline. Collaboration with other green brands is also a great way to raise publicity and make a positive change at the same time. For example, organisations including P&G and Unilever have recently agreed to collaborate on a project called Flue2Chem. This huge initiative is set to transform the UK’s consumer products industry in regards to its environmental impact.

3. Create eco-friendly products and packaging

A product that’s extremely bad for the environment is pretty difficult to market from a green perspective. One of the most effective green marketing strategies is to create products that speak for themselves. By creating products and packaging that don’t mass produce greenhouse gases or are easily decomposable, you’ll make green marketing your products much easier. Invest in green materials such as compostable shipping boxes, or renewable materials when designing your products. 

4. Adopt sustainable business practices

Choosing sustainable materials for products and packaging is an important step towards becoming a green business. But there are more sustainable business practices that can be implemented in your everyday work activities. Educating employees is one such way that you can ensure a more sustainable business; encourage thoughtful use of water and electricity to minimise waste. More small changes you can make are going paperless in the office, or making sure to recycle whenever possible.

5. Donation incentives

You’ve probably seen products online or in local shops that promise to donate a portion of the price to charity initiatives. When supporting an environmental charity, this is a fantastic green marketing strategy that will help to draw in consumers who want to do their bit for the earth. This also helps with green pricing, which refers to the increased price of most green products due to the ethical way they’ve been produced. By explaining and displaying where consumers’ money is going, you will boost their confidence in your brand and products. 

6. Achieve B Corp certification

B Corp certification means that you reach a number of requirements set out by the non-profit organisation B Lab. Large businesses such as Ben & Jerry’s and Tony’s Chocolonely are B Corp certified, cementing them within the world of green marketing. Earning B Corp certification is a good way to show your commitment through a third-party authentication of effective green marketing strategies. To reach B Corp status, you must:

• Demonstrate high social and environmental performance by achieving a B Impact Assessment score of 80 or above and passing our risk review. Multinational corporations must also meet baseline requirement standards. 
• Make a legal commitment by changing their corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, and achieve benefit corporation status if available in their jurisdiction. 
• Exhibit transparency by allowing information about their performance measured against B Lab’s standards to be publicly available on their B Corp profile on B Lab’s website. 

(Taken from B Corp Certification)

Looking to get stuck in with green marketing and make a positive difference to the world? We can help; get in touch to discuss how our digital marketing agency can help you out.

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