This is the day we steal vegan & vegetarian marketers’ hearts!
In that blog, we’ll be specializing in sustainability & green digital marketing within the digital world and share the most effective practices from famous brands. Let’s start.
What is Sustainable Digital Marketing?
In essentially the most basic terms, sustainable digital marketing is an approach that goals to reduce the environmental impact of selling activities while still achieving marketing goals & promoting social responsibility.
Actually, sustainable marketing is all about reducing the footprint – it means integrating sustainable practices into digital marketing strategies is an act of green marketing. For example, a study by The Green Web Foundation found that optimizing website images can reduce an internet site’s carbon footprint by as much as 87%, highlighting the potential for even small changes to create significant environmental advantages.
By optimizing web site design, employing energy-efficient servers, and reducing reliance on unnecessary email marketing blasts, green marketing lowers energy consumption related to digital activities. And yes, using social media platforms to lift awareness about environmental issues usually, is a sustainable digital marketing example.
However, what’s the most effective option to make green marketing real? The answer still looks as if having a very vegan brand. That’s because vegan brands contribute to a smaller environmental footprint in comparison with dairy.
Why Green & Sustainable Digital Marketing is Important?
Let’s start with the results of a comprehensive study; IBM’s survey with 16,000 global consumers found that greater than half (51%) of respondents say environmental sustainability is more vital to them today. Another statistic: Mintel found that 16% of U.S. consumers avoid animal products for environmental reasons – and that’s way more common with 18 to 34-year-olds.
It translates into consumers now discerning and prioritizing brands aligning with their values. Demonstrating a commitment to sustainability through green marketing practices fosters a positive brand image and attracts environmentally conscious customers.
And, the most effective part, sustainable practices encourage responsible use of resources like water and energy throughout the digital marketing lifecycle. This can involve utilizing efficient data centers, adopting cloud-based solutions, and minimizing unnecessary server usage. And all of those efforts may have a helping hand – seasoned digital marketing agencies.
Best Digital Marketing Practices Concerning Sustainability
As we mentioned before, though an amazing variety of corporations attempt to integrate sustainable practices into their digital marketing strategy, actual work is completed by plant-based brands (again). So, we will probably be specializing in their digital marketing efforts; from social media posts to sharing messages – every thing about digital marketing.
Before discovering your favorite brands’ approaches, it’s possible you’ll want to envision the most effective sustainability ad campaigns of all time.
Oatly
Oatly, the Swedish oat milk brand has grow to be a digital marketing darling in a quite short period, because of its sustainable digital marketing efforts. As an amazing green marketing act, the brand readily shares the environmental impact of its products through Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and other data-driven methods.
Even though we cannot name it a green digital marketing effort, we also know that the brand turns leftover oat waste into renewable electricity.
“The excellent news is that at our plant in Millville, New Jersey, we’ve uncovered one such use: turning oat residue into renewable electricity. With the assistance of our friendly neighbors at Trenton Renewables, we are able to transform a few of our residues while also sourcing one hundred pc renewable electricity to power our factory and charge our fleet of electrical trucks.”
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When it involves promoting their vegan products, they mainly challenge the perception that plant-based milk is unfamiliar or area of interest – as an alternative showing how easily it might integrate into our on a regular basis lives.
If we’re playing a game of “Odd One Out,” possibly you’ll immediately say it’s the pink hair rollers that ought to be taken away because they don’t belong on a table stuffed with crystal glass objects and a nicely prepared iced tea with oats. Or possibly you’re pondering it’s the Oatly Barista Edition carton because its contents have already been poured into the beautiful crystal goblet so it has no function on this setting anymore. Or possibly it’s the sport itself that doesn’t belong because if you happen to familiarize yourself with an odd thing as an alternative of taking it out, it might grow to be your recent normal, and then you definately determine that each day is pink hair rollers within the dining room day.
On its social media platforms, Oatly goes beyond simply promoting its product. They showcase the flexibility of oat milk through recipes, suggestions, and user-generated content, demonstrating how it might seamlessly fit into existing routines and culinary preferences.
In addition to normalizing plant-based products, the marketing team of Oatly also infuses with a healthy dose of humor and self-awareness. They don’t shrink back from poking fun at the present diary industry. Remember the brand’s print and its related social media posts?
Beyond Meat
First thing first: A less complex website with fewer visual elements and animations generally consumes less energy to operate and maintain. This aligns with Beyond Meat’s commitment to minimizing their environmental footprint across all features of their business.
What’s more, as Oatly does too, Beyond Meat, one in all the most-known vegan brands, shares life cycle assessments (LCAs) on their social media platforms, highlighting the environmental advantages of their products in comparison with traditional ones.
As an amazing example for ecologic brands, Beyond Meat also could be very open-hearted about sharing the energy sources they use in digital & in-person facilities:
We source most of our energy for our directly-operated manufacturing facilities and headquarters within the U.S. from the local grid. To reduce our energy usage, we now have shifted most of our lighting to LED bulbs, installed occupancy sensors, and seek ways to enhance the efficiency of our processes. For example, in 2022, at our COMO facilities, we carried out a kaizen event that identified machinery adjustments that reduced downtime and increased throughput.
We also know that, as an alternative of face-to-face internal education, the corporate promotes learning opportunities through a custom learning path developed with LinkedIn Learning.
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Beyond Meat has established itself as a frontrunner in social media engagement – regarding sustainability. Their social media posts strike a balance between informative and interesting. In other words, they don’t shrink back from sharing “daring truths” concerning the environmental impact of animal agriculture.
However, the Beyond Meat marketing team does so in a way that’s digestible and sparks conversation, using relatable design and language.
While eating animal meat may feel like essentially the most natural thing on the earth, the newest @bcg Global report* shows otherwise 🌱
This approach has garnered them a loyal following and positioned them as a brand synonymous with each delicious plant-based alternatives and environmental consciousness.
Alternative Apparel
In addition to reducing the environmental impact of their supply chain, Alternative Apparel gets actions concerning the last a part of online shopping; they’ve been working on more sustainable alternatives for packaging. Together with brands like Bonds, Berlei, and Sheridan, the vegan fashion brand has made the switch to shipping bags comprised of 90% recycled.
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Sharing practical recommendations on vegan products empowers followers to make more sustainable selections of their on a regular basis lives. It also potentially results in brand loyalty and advocacy. And Alternative Apparel knows methods to do this.
At that time, we should always remind you that sharing solely informational content can get repetitive or overwhelming. However, Alternative Apparel can balance informative suggestions with engaging content, like user-generated content showcasing how their products are used sustainably or collaborations with sustainability influencers.
Impossible Foods
Impossible Foods’ primary statement on its website actually explains why we decide vegan & plant-based brands to provide green marketing examples:
What’s essentially the most effective option to reduce your environmental footprint? We’ll provide you with a touch: It starts together with your plate. That’s right — adjusting your weight loss plan might be higher than getting solar panels, driving an electrical automobile, or avoiding plastic straws. That’s where Impossible Foods is available in. We make delicious meat products, from plants, so you possibly can eat what you’re keen on, and save the planet that you just love.
Impossible Foods’ website is one other great green marketing example. As we mentioned before, a streamlined website with clear navigation allows users to search out information quickly and efficiently. Better, this reduces unnecessary page loads and server requests, potentially resulting in lower energy consumption.
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Impossible Foods’ success on social media is multifaceted, nonetheless, their collaboration with traditional brands is a giant move for a vegan brand.
As it’s possible you’ll know, vegan communities are sometimes strict about brands abusing animals – especially fast food chain brands – and that may be a very ingenuous response.
On the opposite hand, one of the known plant-based brands, Impossible Foods teams up with KFC, Mcdonald’s, and Burger King. Even though these brands are the primary destination in relation to animal cruelty, Impossible Foods seems to try this to achieve a wider audience and promote their plant-based options in a positive light.
Through these collaborations, Impossible Foods focuses on features just like the taste and overall experience of their products, moderately than solely positioning themselves as an alternative choice to meat. This approach is more more likely to attract recent consumers who’re interested by plant-based options moderately than feeling pressured to change.
However, whether that type of digital marketing approach for a vegan brand is fair or not is completely as much as the buyer.
MATT & NAT
MATT & NAT, one other vegan fashion brand, takes a distinct but equally effective green marketing approach on social media. We also can state that the style brand contributes to green marketing via its search engine optimisation works. By spreading sustainability-related keywords through its blogs and content on its website, MATT & NAT is one in all the pioneers.
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They share the stories behind their products, highlighting their use of recycled materials. This type of transparency builds trust and resonates with the primary idea of being a vegan brand. The better part? It educates consumers concerning the potential of sustainable practices throughout the fashion industry.
Let’s take a better take a look at how we turn plastic bottles into our fabulous bags.
Wrapping Up: Walking the Green Line with Green Digital Marketing
Green digital marketing (or sustainable marketing), as we already mentioned, offers a robust tool for brands to strike a balance between promoting their products and protecting the environment. By utilizing some strategies like content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, search engine optimisation, and PPC, brands can amplify their green marketing messages. Beyond a one-time effort, green marketing is an ongoing commitment to environmental responsibility.
Regarding that topic, it’s crucial to recollect the excellence between green marketing and greenwashing. While green marketing authentically integrates sustainability into your brand identity and practices, greenwashing involves making misleading or unsubstantiated claims about your environmental efforts. Building real trust and transparency together with your audience is paramount for long-term success in green digital marketing.
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