Online green marketing: Best strategies for business sustainable future

What is online green marketing?

Green marketing refers to marketing products and services that are environmentally friendly. It’s a method of communication that allows sustainable companies to convey the message that they are concerned about the environment.

The main goal? To make individuals opt for environment-friendly products, create consciousness on why it is important to go green, and also minimize the adverse effects online business has on the environment. 

Why bother? Here are some numbers to consider:

• Climate change remains a top three concern for Millennials and Gen Z. (Deloitte, 2024)
• Brands with more sustainable products in their lineup enjoy more loyalty from customers (with 34% coming back for more) than brands with few sustainable offerings (27%). (McKinsey, 2023)
• Products marketed as sustainable have grown two times faster than those not marketed as sustainable. (NYU Stern, 2023)

Green marketing is the way your business can show it not only focuses on increasing sales. It’s a win-win: The customers are in a better place to make a wise decision on the environmental impact, and the businesses can portray themselves as conscious market players.

The most effective green marketing campaigns

It won’t be enough to say that you have the best intentions you need a strategy. This section presents the most efficient strategies for boosting your green products and services online. 

Green marketing SEO

Green marketing SEO ensures your website is well-optimized to rank high on the SERPs relevant to users interested in green products. It is like holding a green flag before tourists who are on the lookout for an eco-friendly destination.

Optimize your site for the right keywords – they should reflect your brand’s commitment to the environment but also be interesting to your target audience. 

First of all, make a list of keywords, see what keywords your competitors use, and try using special tools such as SE Ranking’s SEO keyword generator. It will prompt you with new keyword ideas on green marketing content creation. Also, you will understand how competitive and popular those terms are, which will help you identify the ones you should be targeting.

Evergreen content creation

Evergreen content is the type of content that remains relevant and helpful to the readers for a long period. It answers the basic questions or concerns that are always timely and does not need frequent changes. For example, it may be an article about ‘How to Write a Book’. 

The same concept can be applied to green marketing; any content related to tips on how to live an environmentally friendly lifestyle or the advantages of adopting green practices will remain useful in the future. Moreover, it cuts down on the frequency of content creation, thus cutting down on the resources used in digital marketing. 

Promote green aspects of your company

Green marketing aspects of your company should be communicated in every interaction with your customers. Whether you are sending emails, displaying ads, posting on social media, engaging in mobile marketing, or even using retargeting, you should point out how you make a difference with your green strategy.

For instance, more and more brands are leveraging Instagram to post images and videos on how they are cutting down on the use of plastics in packaging or implementing cleaner energy sources in their production processes. 

In 2023, Allbirds, which is famous for selling eco-conscious shoes, continued with its efforts of reducing the carbon footprint through adverts and social media platforms, making sustainability part of its core branding. They developed a calculator in partnership with SCS Global Services so that consumers could see how they assess the carbon footprint of their products.

One more example. Patagonia, which regularly publishes information about its environmental impact on its website, newsletter, and social networks. They promoted the reuse of second-hand clothes and their repair to reduce the need to buy new ones.

It is also possible to share the green marketing initiatives in your mobile marketing strategy, for instance by using environmentally friendly offers or vouchers. Word-of-mouth and cold call are both more personal, but you can still tell customers that your company is cutting down on the damaging effects of the environment, and this will give customers more reasons to patronize your company.

Support eco-friendly programs and community initiatives

When you contribute to charity or support local causes, ensure those are environmentally related causes. This helps in keeping the branding message on point. When you support green causes, you are actually sending a strong message to the consumers that you are not just talking the green talk.

Whether you are planting trees, contributing toward clean water campaigns, or getting involved in supporting renewable energy initiatives, it means a lot. Furthermore, it provides more good news to communicate to your audience through content, social media, and other platforms.

Involve customers in a sustainable initiative

This is wonderful for your company to give back to the environment. But it’s even better when your customers can see the results of their own actions. 

For green digital marketing strategies to be more effective, the customer should be incorporated into the process. They can engage in providing recycled products, creating content about sustainability, or even coming up with their own ideas. 

Then, provide your audience with positive feelings while emphasizing the outcomes of your environmental campaigns. It makes people feel as if they are contributing towards a noble cause, creating a feeling of belonging, which leads to brand loyalty.

A perfect example of this digital marketing strategy is Timberland’s Timberloop program. It was launched in the year 2023, and it encouraged customers to bring back their used clothes and shoes, which were then refurbished and sold again. 

Conclusion

Green marketing strategy is a ‘win-win’ solution for both companies and consumers as it increases sales while encouraging people to preserve the environment. We discussed green marketing strategies and the ways to implement them in practice. With these marketing strategies, your business will not only expand but also be beneficial to the environment.