Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

By Henry Brown

As the world changes and the general public becomes more aware of the fact that they have to take better care of the planet, any business that can show it is working hard in terms of sustainability and is as eco-friendly as possible will get more business than those that don’t or can’t.

This means that the more you can show your sustainable qualifications in your marketing, the more business you will gain. But how can you do this? What are the best ways to go about it? Read on to find out – you can update your digital marketing strategy to incorporate some or all of these ideas as you see fit.

Pitch to the right buyer 

One of the best things you can do when it comes to your marketing strategy is to pitch to the right buyer. This means that you need to work out who is going to benefit most from what you sell, and who will be most interested.

Market research is the first part of this task to undertake. You can do this yourself or find a third party to do it for you, but no matter who does the work, you will need to think carefully about the results – what are they telling you? Ideally, they will tell you who your ideal buyer is. This could be in terms of their age, their job, their gender, their relationship status, their living arrangements, their hobbies, and where they live as well as much more. Knowing this information and knowing where you can find them (such as which social media channel they are most likely to use) means you can create a marketing campaign that speaks to them and that they will see.

In terms of sustainability, one of the most important questions to ask through your market research is whether this is something that is important to your specific customer base. If it is, then this can easily become part of your marketing campaign. If it’s not, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t include it – it just means it won’t be a big focus on the ad.

Be specific 

Let’s assume that your target market is one that is very interested in sustainability. In this case, you need to be highly specific when you talk about what you do to be green within your business. Being vague and walking in circles won’t help you – the customer will be savvy enough to want to know exactly what it is you’re doing and how it will help the planet and, on a smaller scale, themselves.

Remember, there are a lot of different businesses all competing for the same green customers, and if you can’t give details about what you’re doing to protect the planet, you will lose out to someone who can. So if you are using old shipping containers that have been insulated by www.insofast.com because it means you can be more eco-friendly, take up less space, not have to build new, and save something from going to landfill, that’s what you should talk about.

If you use specific shipping practices that mean less fuel or water (or both) is used, or if you are cutting your carbon emissions, or if you are reducing your waste, talk about it, and talk about it in detail.

Be as specific as possible, give all the information you can, and you’ll impress your potential customers.

Tell your sustainability story 

Giving information about what you are doing to be more eco-friendly to the right people is a great start, but it’s not the most inspiring of ideas when it comes to your digital marketing; you need to be careful that you’re not just giving out facts and figures that you hope will entice people to spend their money with you.

What can often be better in terms of your content is telling your story. What was it that made you realize sustainability was so important? Where was the turning point? Who are your idols and your role models? What in particular do you want to save?

By giving a more personal slant to the sustainability practices you carry out within your business, they will be more understandable; your target market will see themselves in you a lot more. They will have had the same experiences and done and felt the same things. This connection with the customer is hugely important in terms of building your loyal customers and making sales not just now but in the future too.

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Henry Brown is an online marketing executive. When he isn’t talking shop, he’s roaming the streets of London, uncovering the extra-ordinary in the ordinary.