What is sustainable marketing, and how can you use it?

Sustainable marketing should be an integral part of your
marketing plan.  It is more than just
another buzzword or passing fancy that can tick a social responsibility
box.  This is a decision to fundamentally
change the way you choose to communicate with your customer.  It could be merely a decision to go paperless
or a commitment to use reusable exhibition
stands. It might be to use white hat strategies to maintain communications
with a customer, or not.

However, a genuine commitment to sustainability comes from
the heart of your business and will be a consistent story through your
brand.  It is unlikely to be the occasional
discount on sustainable products but instead woven throughout your marketing
strategy.

Successful integration of sustainability into your marketing
is essential to all good businesses.  You
communicate the ethical inclination of your brand in an increasingly volatile
and uncertain world.

What is sustainable marketing?

Ethics is central to a campaign for sustainable
marketing.  You need to prove a
commitment to working within the boundaries of good practice on the internet.
The use of cookies and blockchain, with its anonymity, could lead to unethical
practices.  Therefore, a company has to
find a balance between guiding a customer through the journey efficiently and
effectively – but in a way that does not tarnish the relationship with your
brand.

Sustainable marketing is also about considering how every
touchpoint impacts on the consumer and the environment.  If you want to build a community around your
brand, then you are going to have to appear to care sincerely.  Take the stereotypical image of the used car
salesman and look to act oppositely – and you have a sustainable marketing
strategy.

Sustainable marketing has proven to have a higher conversion
rate.  However, it is not a strategy that
will have an immediate return on your investment but will be a commitment to
consumer loyalty that secures the future of your business.  This is the difference between building a
brand and closing a sale.

Why is this so important?

People are your bottom line. 
They offer a level of social equity for your company.  Therefore, providing a policy of transparency
and reliability will improve your brand. 
Part of this will be investing in your human resources.  Your data from your HR needs to communicate
that you are kind to your people and you embrace diversity and equality –
offering fairness.

The planet is also an essential element of your brand.  You need to show a commitment to such aspects
as carbon offsetting.  You may also want
to tie into the UN Sustainable Development Goals if you are a larger
company.  You may even want to consider
Global Initiative reports to their required non-financial reporting. You need
to communicate to your market somehow that you commit to the planet.

Of course, profit is also essential to your bottom
line.  A healthy bottom line is required
in good business; this should not be done at the expense of the role of the
company in the community.  You will want
to be a driver for change in people’s lives rather than a greedy organisation
seeking only to better itself.

How can we practice sustainable marketing?

Your first step would be to engage in activities that would
demonstrate your sustainable credentials. 
For instance, you could undertake
a beach clean in your local area or a litter pick – looking to collect as
much plastic and keeping it out of the environment.  Your team will bond during the effort, and
you will be seen as doing a service to your local community.

You can choose renewable energy and marketing this as a
commitment to the effort to turn around climate change.  Exploring how to switch supplier is a simple
but effective project.

Your marketing would also be considered sustainable if you
listened to your market before talking.  For
instance, there is a considerable concern in the workforce about the impact of
stress and depression.  Therefore,
prompting your desire to honour work-life balance could be a successful way to
suggest you are ethical and desirable of a sustainable approach to business.

Once you have decided on your strategy, you need to tell
this story to your community.  Your
marketing plan should look at how you can continue the ethical approach for
showing you are ethical.  In other words,
your representation of your actions should be honest and reliable and
demonstrate your commitment to the people who buy your service or product.