Sustainable marketing considers the environmental, social and economic impact of your business. It focuses both on what you do as a business and therefore, how you promote it too.
As businesses, sustainable is a term we should all strive to be associated with. As consumers, whether or not a company is sustainable is becoming an increasingly important part of our decision making process.
Having sustainable brand values means you care about the legacy you are creating both now and for the future. It requires you to adapt and be responsible for not just what you produce, but the methods used to promote what you do.
Ensure your business understands sustainable marketing including what it is, its importance and how to actually implement it with our following guide.
Sustainable Marketing: An Overview
If you’ve ever spent more on a product, or even switched to a different brand due to a consideration of the environmental impact, then you’ve likely come across sustainable marketing before.
A simple example is switching to a reusable water bottle rather than opting for a plastic one.
Here’s the thing. Sustainability is no longer a ‘nice to have’ – it’s now a differentiator and driver of consumer purchasing decisions.
Unlike green marketing which only focuses on strategies relating to environmental protection and awareness, sustainable marketing goes even further. That’s because it encompasses everything green marketing does, but it also considers any social and economic impact as part of any efforts to become more sustainable.
Therefore, marketing can be defined as sustainable when its environmental, social and economic impact is measurable, achievable and is also repeatable.
Having A Greater Purpose
Sustainable marketing means looking beyond what you do as a business to consider what’s going on in the wider world.
After all, it’s all too easy to only think of an entity, whether this is a digital or physical product in terms of getting that entity produced and sold. The fast fashion industry is just one such industry that springs to mind here, but we are sure there are endless others.
By failing to focus on the bigger picture, it’s easy for non-sustainable practices to slip under the radar. Instead, all of us have to think of the impact of what we do, along with thinking outside of our own causes.
Here at GoSquared, we’ve recently been accredited by the Good Business Charter. To get accredited, we had to demonstrate that we are a responsible business across multiple aspects such as the living wage, employee wellbeing, commitment to customers and ethical sourcing.
Sustainable marketing requires that all brands also think of their greater purpose. For your business, it may not be joining a particular organisation or following a certain cause. But it should mean that ultimately, your business seeks to do good and leave a legacy it can be proud of.
Technical Carbon Footprint
Do you know what the carbon footprint is of your website? Go ahead and type your URL into Website Carbon to find out.
Ours stated that GoSquared is cleaner than 84% of websites in existence, and viewing a page generates less carbon than sending an email. Given our website has been around since 2006, we’re pretty pleased with that.
As the digital faces of most businesses, websites are an important part of any marketing strategy. But to have sustainable marketing, websites need to become leaner and smarter so that they aren’t generating carbon unnecessarily.
The problem is too few website designers, developers, project managers and even clients who commission new websites simply don’t realise the impact web design itself has on the climate.
The art of sustainable marketing in a technical sense therefore calls for lean website building. Plus good SEO practices – i.e. don’t mislead people to click on your page when it offers irrelevant results, and keep the user journey as succinct as possible.
Reflect Sustainability In Every Aspect Of Your Business
You may have heard of terms such as ‘greenwashing’. This is when a company perceives it is doing its bit for the environment, but this is merely to get people to purchase its products when really, it is doing nothing of the sort.
Sustainable marketing doesn’t just consider the actual marketing of your brand, products or services. It requires you to ensure that if you are telling customers, stakeholders and even potential employees that you are a sustainable brand, you really mean it.
Therefore, don’t tell people your packaging is fully recyclable if the impact of any shipping and transportation emits tonnes of carbon, thus offsetting any benefits to the environment. Instead, consider the entire lifecycle of what it is that you do, and ensure every effort is being made to get on board with sustainability.
Regardless of the industry you’re in, we can (and should all) be doing our bit to implement sustainability wherever possible.
EcoSend By GoSquared – The Sustainable Marketing Platform
Don’t know where to start with making your business more sustainable?
Switching to a sustainable email marketing platform is something you can do today, to ensure your campaigns are cleaner than ever.
EcoSend by GoSquared offers you this solution. Best of all? You don’t have to compromise on any of the tools you need to deliver beautifully crafted campaigns, as EcoSend is packed with features that allow you to best understand your audience and market your business.
We’ve just made what we do to be much better for the planet – and we think you’ll be impressed!
So don’t be shy. In fact, be sustainable by signing up for EcoSend today. We’ll even plant a tree on your behalf just for doing so. 🌳✉️
