Has your company caught on yet? Caught on to what? Sustainability. The purchasing behaviors of consumers have been shifting toward companies that demonstrate environmental and social responsibility over the years. So, how does sustainability play into digital marketing? Such a strategy has the potential to differentiate your company from its competitors and make you more attractive in their eyes. Additionally, although your competition may provide similar products and services to yours, promoting them in sustainable ways can have a major impact. Throughout our blog, we will cover current trends, benefits, and best practices of sustainability in digital marketing.
What is Sustainability in Digital Marketing?
According to Solene Rauturier’s article, “What Is Sustainable Digital Marketing?,” this involves “all the ways to sustainably and ethically promote an eco-conscious business online.” If we pick this definition apart even further, it essentially tells us that the promotion of a company’s environmentally friendly products and services are not only advantageous for the company in the long term, but also for the Earth and humanity. An effective sustainability digital marketing strategy involves thinking of ways to generate revenue and build a supportive community while upholding ethical and moral standards. As your company slowly starts to implement and prioritize sustainability, your digital marketing efforts can better align with your consumers’ increasing demand for responsible business practices.
Current Trends of Sustainability in Digital Marketing
Now that we have a clear understanding of what sustainability in digital marketing is, what are some of the latest and greatest trends your company should be paying attention to? Some of them include:
- The Emergence of Green Technologies: This trend showcases a brand’s dedication to environmentally friendly practices. As of late, green technology innovations have consisted of renewable energy sources in addition to sustainable materials, both of which are key components in sustainable digital marketing strategies. The catch with this trend? Your brand has the opportunity to be perceived as a sustainable digital marketing leader by those who are environmentally conscious.
- Openness In Your Brand’s Sustainability Efforts: In today’s state of affairs, your customers want to see that your brand is practicing sustainability that can be backed by credible data. Such practices in your brand’s openness with its sustainability efforts may include third-party certifications and providing comprehensive sustainability reports. By engaging in this trend, you are nurturing trustworthiness and loyalty with your audience, which is vital for brands in today’s world.
- The Promotion of Sustainability on Digital Platforms: Digital platforms continue to play a vital role in sustainability promotion. Brands can take advantage of each unique platform’s tools to deliver tailored messages and engage with a large demographic. This approach is cost-effective and productive, with the added bonus of real-time audience engagement. Examples of digital platform promotional tools include webinars, virtual events, social media, and blogs. By engaging in this approach, your brand can be deemed as transparent while also receiving valuable feedback almost instantaneously. Both of these can enhance your target demographic’s trust in your brand and their engagement in your sustainability efforts.
- Limiting AI Usage and Energy Consumption: It’s no secret that AI use is leaving a significant carbon footprint on our planet. As David Berreby highlights in his article, AI is “directly responsible for carbon emissions from non-renewable electricity and for the consumption of millions of gallons of fresh water.” In fact, a single session of using GPT-3, where the user receives between 10 to 50 responses, has led to half a liter of fresh water consumption. Now, imagine the total impact of an AI tool like ChatGPT, which reportedly has 400 million weekly users. For brands that are committed to sustainability, it is more important than ever to evaluate when AI is absolutely necessary–and when it’s not–to help reduce its growing environmental footprint.
Benefits of Sustainable Digital Marketing
Now that we have a sneak peek of what some of the latest trends are in sustainable digital marketing, what value can it bring to your company? By utilizing a sustainable digital marketing strategy, your brand can benefit by:
- Setting Yourself Apart From the Competition: Your company has a leg up on the competition selling similar products and services as you, who are quite possibly still using traditional marketing tactics, thanks to your new sustainable digital marketing practices.
- Improves Public Perception: With the increase in sustainable brands, it is crucial that your brand keeps up its reputation. Sustainable digital marketing can help make your messaging and marketing efforts match your company’s values and goals. This ultimately assists your brand in upholding a strong reputation.
- Boosts Revenue: As a sustainable digital marketing strategy can aid in keeping your brand in balance with its values, making you stand out from the competition, and preserving your brand’s positive public perception, it can also spark and elevate interest in your brand.
Best Practices for Sustainable Digital Marketing
What are some of the best practices your brand can start focusing on today regarding sustainability in digital marketing? As highlighted in Distribute Digital’s article, some beneficial strategies entail:
- Eco-Conscious Website Design: Companies can now opt-in for web hosting services that use renewable energy sources, which can help mitigate their website’s climate impact.
- Green SEO: Believe it or not, traditional clickbait is harmful to the environment. This is because every irrelevant page a user clicks on contributes to carbon emissions. Ensure that your brand improves its website by finding methods to get quicker load times and making your website user-friendly. This will help decrease the usage of energy on user devices and the server.
- Sustainable Email Marketing: Reduce your environmental impact with email marketing by using a sustainable email platform, ensuring a clean mailing list, and refining your campaigns.
Conclusion
By now, you have a better grasp of what the emerging trends, benefits, and best practices are of sustainability in digital marketing. The sustainability movement appears not to be going anywhere anytime soon, so we hope that these tips can help influence your company’s continued success in our ever-changing world of digital marketing and sustainability.
Were there any trends, benefits, or best practices that surprised you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Author: Sam Cuellar
Digital Marketing graduate from DePaul University, Part-time Marketing & Sales Coordinator at the National Institute for Social Media, and professional bass player with a passion for music, weightlifting, and music.