Never mind waiting for the colour of the year to be announced in 2024 - as it’s fair to say that all things ‘green’ are on everyone’s minds for the year ahead! 🗓️ 🌿
Specifically, how as a business, you can reduce your impact on the environment by putting sustainability at the forefront of what you do.
If you don’t know where to start, or even how to improve on previous efforts, how about your marketing?
As your marketing campaigns are how you attract and retain your customers, there’s no better way to make small but highly impactful changes to your entire business.
In need of some inspiration? Here are 7 eco-friendly marketing strategies to try in 2024 and beyond.
Switch To An Eco-Friendly Email Platform
2023 saw the launch of the world’s first ever climate-conscious email platform, EcoSend.
For those new to the party, EcoSend runs on renewable energy sources and plants trees on behalf of your business.
Few realise that email has a carbon footprint. But with every email we send, energy is needed to create, send and open that campaign. As much as 26g of CO2 is emitted by each message, and with 300 billion emails sent every day - that soon adds up.
With EcoSend, the aim is to give you all the tools you need to still be able to send incredible email campaigns. But, at a far reduced cost to the planet.
Prices start at just $29 per month and 14 day trials are available on all plans.
Show The Carbon Footprint Of Your Products Or Services
Full transparency about the carbon footprint of your products or services is a bold move. In some cases, it might even open your business up to scrutiny.
That said, being upfront about the carbon cost of your products and services helps you to tackle wasteful areas of your business. It also ensures that your customers understand more about their own carbon footprints.
Furthermore, for any businesses that have taken great strides to become more sustainable for 2024, showing the reduced carbon footprint of your products or services can be a great marketing asset.
One study even found that 72% of those aged between 27 and 42 would pay more for a product that was sustainable.
What marketers should take from this is that sustainability isn't something to hide - it's actually something to shout about, especially if you offer greener alternatives than your competitors!
Gamification Of Sustainability Efforts
Talk of becoming more eco-friendly as a business doesn’t have to tap into the doom and gloom narrative. As marketers, there are endless creative ways to do good for the planet in a way which also makes your customers feel good at the same time.
Take Trainline and its ultra-satisfying ‘sustainability story’ which they provide to each customer as one example. They compare miles taken by train compared with a car to show the positive environmental impact that has been achieved.
These stats are satisfying to look at as a customer, since gamification taps into the reward system of the brain. As a result, we’re more likely to keep using that product or service to continue ‘scoring’ points. Or in this case, wins for the planet!
Here at EcoSend, we also provide a similar dashboard for customers so they can understand their carbon reductions, while also being able to track their tree planting efforts.
Offer Greener Alternatives
In 2022, Statista ran a study which found that consumers were up to 80% more concerned about the sustainability of products compared with the same time the previous year.
As consumer awareness surrounding sustainability continues to grow, businesses need to be able to keep up in 2024.
One simple trick is to give the option of more sustainable alternatives, whether this is travel options with lower CO2 emissions, or greener delivery options.
Google have made this possible by giving the option to sort flights by 'emissions' showing the least polluting options first.
Granted, flying isn't great for the environment in any capacity. But the ability to see how much CO2 is produced (including depending on which option you take) at least gives the option for consumers to be informed, rather than hiding this info from them.
Maybe some users might decide to take a cleaner mode of transport instead where possible off the back of this information.
So whether your business sells socks or software - what greener options can you provide that your customers can select from?
Use your industry insights to come up with eco-friendly solutions in the tools and features provided.
While you're here: Try the EcoSend Email Campaign Carbon Calculator
Cater To Climate-Conscious Search Trends (And Demands)
We know that consumers care about sustainability, and marketers should know this extends to pretty much every industry.
Some 8.5 billion Google searches happen every day. Increasingly, users are searching for products or services with a climate-conscious edge.
For example, some of the top Google searches related to ‘eco-friendly’ as of Q4 2023 include:
Eco friendly
Eco friendly balloons
Eco friendly cleaning products
Eco friendly clothing
Eco friendly electric toothbrush
Eco friendly gifts
Eco friendly house
Eco friendly kettle
Eco friendly laundry detergent
Eco friendly packaging
Eco friendly paint
Eco friendly paint
Eco friendly party bag fillers
Eco friendly phone cases
Eco friendly products
Eco friendly shampoo
Eco friendly water bottles
Eco friendly wrapping paper
So as we head into 2024, these offer some pointers to where the search demand is.
Looking at the short-tail keywords specifically, and these are some of the terms and search volumes to watch*:
Climate - 182,000 monthly searches
Climate change - 3,200,000 monthly searches
Eco friendly - 59,000 monthly searches
Environmentally friendly - 20,000 monthly searches
Sustainable - 225,000 monthly searches
**Data from Ahrefs
Of course, it’s not enough to just use these search terms. You actually have to provide the genuine greener solution that users are looking for.
Otherwise, this could be considered as greenwashing. Irrelevant results don’t do your bounce rate any favours either.
But in short, marketers need to know that consumers are actively looking to make climate-led changes with regards to what they purchase along with how they do so as we enter 2024.
Consider Ditching Trends & Consumer-Led Holidays
On the EcoSend blog, we’ve highlighted the likes of green construction trends along with ways to make your office more sustainable.
Whatever industry happens to apply to your business - now it's your turn.
Specifically, moving away from short-lived trends and other fashion fads. Instead, highlighting products which offer longer life cycles.
Also, ditching marketing campaigns that target retail holidays. For instance, Black Friday is a consumer holiday which originated in the United States but has now swept other countries including the United Kingdom.
It is estimated that Black Friday 2023 will generate 429,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. That’s the same as taking 435 return flights between London and New York.
So, ditching Black Friday in favour of greener alternatives is yet another way to use your marketing efforts for the greater good.
Partner With Sustainable Marketing Agencies
Your marketing campaigns have a carbon footprint.
So when it comes to eco-friendly marketing strategies, who you pair up with can have just as much of an impact as what you actually do as a business.
If you use any kind of marketing agency, advertising agency, design and print agency (the list goes on!) - ask yourself: Is this company helping me to make more eco-friendly choices?
Unless you’ve partnered with an eco-friendly agency (or at least one which takes its ESG reporting seriously) the answer is probably no.
For 2024, it’s time to pair up with those who share your ethos as a company, not least when it comes to reducing your carbon emissions wherever possible.
Pssst: EcoSend has special plans available for agencies
EcoSend - Email Marketing For Climate-Conscious Businesses
If your business does any kind of email marketing, then switching to a sustainable email platform just makes sense.
EcoSend reduces the CO2 created by your email campaigns such as welcome emails, drip campaigns, milestone emails, newsletters and more!
All of which allows you to do what you need to do as a business, but in a way that’s more eco-friendly.
💡 👉 Sign up for your free trial of EcoSend to see what we’re all about.
Or want a tour first? You can also receive a free product demo with our sales team.
