Sustainable Marketing: What Is It? Why It’s Important? How To Use It?

When you hear the word “sustainable,” what usually comes to mind?

Etymologically, the word sustainable means to sustain, to keep up, to bear, to hold, or to give support to. Anything sustainable means it can be continued at a certain level.

In the bigger picture, being sustainable means meeting people’s needs without limiting or taking away the future generations’ ability to meet their own needs.

Because of the environmental and social problems the world is facing nowadays, calls for sustainability have been increasing. Nowadays, communities are calling for more sustainable means that will not deplete the natural resources to keep the ecological balance and improve the quality of life. This means that the term “sustainability” is broadly applied to improving crucial areas, like the preservation of natural resources, using eco-friendly manufacturing operations, improving consumer purchasing behaviors, enhancing technological developments or business, or improving lifestyles.

Being sustainable means causing little to no harm to the surroundings to ensure that ecosystems will ensure for generations to come.

Sustainable marketing – what is it?

Based on the description of the word “sustainable,” sustainable marketing is the environmentally enlightened approach to marketing. In the 1970s, it was referred to as “ecological” or “environmental” marketing. In the 1990s, it was coined “green” marketing. Nowadays, the focus has shifted to the importance of sustainable marketing, which is to ensure that all marketing efforts are sustainable over an extended period. In other words, sustainable marketing should have a positive impact on the environment and be sensitive to the needs of future generations.

Also referred to as “green marketing,” sustainable marketing is when a business uses social and environmental investments as a marketing strategy. It is using and promoting environmental preservation through sustainable and socially responsible brand values, practices, and products. It’s a way of building relationships with consumers by showing to them that you value their welfare and that of future generations. While it is still in its early stages, sustainable marketing is an extremely important strategy that can help mold the future of marketing, making more companies conscious of their practices.

These are five of the most important sustainable marketing principles for small businesses.

·      CONSUMER-ORIENTED MARKETING

Businesses need to organize their marketing activities from their audience’s perspective. By looking at the world through the eyes of consumers, you will be able to create strategies that help create permanent and sustainable relationships with your customers.

·      INNOVATIVE MARKETING

This principle ensures that all organizations never stop looking for methods to develop products and services that have a lesser impact on the environment.

·      CUSTOMER VALUE MARKETING

Companies need to devise online marketing strategies that capture profit from customers and at the same time creating value for them. Businesses should direct their resources into marketing investments that add customer value.

·      SOCIETAL MARKETING

Companies need to balance decisions based on what their audience wants, business requirements, and society’s long-term interests.

·      SENSE OF MISSION MARKETING

Businesses need to define their mission in broad social terms to better serve customers, as well as employees. On top of that, companies should also be socially responsible while being profitable at the same time.

Sustainable marketing – why is it important?

Virtually all businesses source their raw materials from nature. To meet the increase in demand, businesses continue to utilize all kinds of natural resources to the point of depletion. This has caused the environment to immensely suffer the consequences.

In 2019, new data showed the impact of mankind’s depletion of the ecosystem. The International Resource Panel prepared the UN Environment’s Global Resources Outlook 2019, examining the trends in the consumption of natural resources since the 1970s. Their main findings include the following:

• The extraction of natural resources has more than tripled since the 1970s, including a 500% increase in the use of non-metallic minerals, as well as a 45% increase in the use of fossil fuels.
• Half of the total global greenhouse gas emissions are through the extraction and processing of fuels and food.
• More than 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress.
• The use of natural resources around the world could increase to 190 billion tonnes and greenhouse gas emissions by 43% by 2060.

These statistics may be insignificant, but if you think about it, it only means one thing – the environment is suffering badly because of the unethical, unsafe, environmentally unfriendly practices of thousands of companies around the world since the 1960s. This applies to both offline marketing and digital marketing as well.

Fortunately, the concept of sustainability in business was developed in 1983 by the Brundtland Commission, the world commission on environment and development, to encourage industries and governments to practice environmental sustainability. The fact that the little damages in the environment could become larger, more catastrophic if left unattended gives more emphasis in the importance of focusing more on saving the environment, giving back to the community, and more importantly, giving back a significant percentage of the natural resources that have been used up by small- and large-scale businesses.

Sustainable marketing – how to integrate it

Integrating sustainable marketing into your marketing strategy isn’t just all about adding a few terminologies into your sales pitch and then operating business as usual. You need to consider the how and why sustainable marketing fits your brand. You need to make sure that sustainability fits in the solutions you can offer to your customers. Moreover, you need to have well-defined goals to ensure that you can measure your progress.

1. INCORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY INTO THE WHOLE BUSINESS.

Integrating sustainable marketing into your business goes beyond adding relevant words to your mission statement or “About Us” page. You need to incorporate sustainability into your whole brand. There has to be a purpose-driven mission ingrained in your company’s culture and identity to make customers believe that your brand is genuinely about eco-friendly business practices. Bring sustainability and eco-friendliness to the forefront to be viewed as a brand that’s truthfully concerned about preserving the environment.

2. MAKE YOUR PLAN CONSISTENT AND LONG-TERM.

Environmental concerns are global. The effects of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming are emphasized more in several countries than in other places. This is why it’s important to tackle such issues on a larger timeframe rather than as a seasonal promotion.

While change cannot be done overnight, little conscious efforts here and there from a lot of industries and governments will make a world of difference. This means that you need to make your sustainability marketing plan target high-scale change for the long term. Make sustainable marketing strategies a part of everything you do.

When developing your sustainable marketing strategy, it’s important to keep the factors that will make your plan consistent for a long time. Think of the different aspects that will be affected by the changes you are going to integrate into your overall marketing plan, such as your SEO and SEM campaigns. For example, a food business that announces they will only be using locally sourced ingredients should also think about switching to recyclable or other eco-friendly containers, labels, modes of delivery, etc. This means that every aspect of your business should be sustainable and is supported by other elements to be taken seriously for your sustainability marketing campaign.

3. EDUCATE THE PEOPLE.

It’s one thing to exert effort in making your products and services more environment-friendly. But if you truly want to make this planet a better place for future generations, you need to educate your audience and teach them lessons from what you are trying to do. You need to exert the same amount of effort or more to make people understand why you’re doing what you’re doing – what impact will sustainability have on the environment and the people.

In recent years, many businesses use storytelling to connect with their target audience in a unique way. Whether it be via blog articles or bite-sized posts on social media, you can take advantage of this to educate your customers in a way by playing with content marketing trends that resonates with your audience.

4. BUILD AND LEVERAGE A COMMUNITY.

While it’s a wrong marketing move to greenwash, which is the practice of boasting about being sustainable when you’re only actually doing the bare minimum just for the sake, this doesn’t mean though that you shouldn’t put your brand out where your audience is.

To get the word out about the environmentally conscious efforts that you’re making, you need to build a community. Associate your brand with social events, communities, or initiatives with the common goal of making this planet a better place for generations to come. Make sure to talk about the causes you support on your social networks or podcasts. Show people that you are taking the necessary steps to save the only planet we have. By doing so, you’ll soon build a sizable audience that you can leverage to spread awareness about your brand being all for sustainability.

It won’t be easy, but it will be all worth it

If you’re actually in it for the long haul – and that you really, truly care about the planet – you have to keep in mind that shifting your marketing ethos to being environmentally friendly won’t be easy. You will encounter a lot of challenges along the way, but at the end of the day, all your hard work will be worth it. You get to build a brand that you can be proud of and that’s making baby steps in making a positive impact on the planet and humankind.