Kai Lytton
July 10, 2024
The Importance of Green Branding
Understanding the true importance of a strong, cohesive brand approach is no longer an optional series of tasks. In the increasingly competitive landscape you must stand out to win the hearts and minds of potential customers. To do this, you must promote your green values and make yourself visible to the masses. As environmental consciousness grows, consumers increasingly seek businesses that align with their values. A recent IBM study found that nearly 6 in 10 consumers are willing to change their shopping habits to reduce environmental impact (IBM, 2020). Understanding and capitalising on this shift in consumer behaviour presents a unique opportunity for eco-friendly brands to stand out and increase sales.
Understanding Green Branding
Creating an eco-friendly brand goes beyond slapping recycling symbols to your website or using earth tones in your logo. It's about real substance and authenticity. It's a foundational philosophy that should be in every aspect of your brand, from your website and social media presence to customer service interactions and product packaging - your true authenticity must be at the front of every touchpoint with your audience. It is the only way to grow and thrive in this competitive digital age. The normalisation of the “get rich quick” style of business has overshadowed the importance of long-term, authentic branding in business management in recent years. The solution is simple, adopting a holistic approach to your brand will enhance your digital presence, no hacks, no quick ways around it - like a tree, it takes time and energy to grow.
The customers agree and are speaking through their actions. It's crucial to listen as research shows that 71% of consumers prefer buying from companies aligned with their values (5WPR, 2020). By consistently nurturing your brand and authentically presenting it to the public, you'll begin to win over customers. Staying true to your values in your branding, marketing, and service offering will help you capture the hearts and minds of your audience, ultimately creating business growth. Remember, it's not just about exposure, but about genuine, sustainable practices that resonate with eco-conscious consumers.
Key Elements to Creating a Holistic Sustainable Online Presence
Like stated above, here are some actionable foundational advice to start growing your brand in the competitive digital landscape. These topics were reviewed by the Bilō team and we have recommended the best practices to start your branding off on the right foot. We hope these provide new insights and help you fight the good fight.
To summarize your sustainable brand should have:
eco-friendly web hosting 💻
eco-focused content strategy 🌿
Green E-commerce Practices 📦
As far as we know, there is not yet a sustainable tailored web design building tool, so the next best thing is choosing a sustainable web hosting company. After crafting a killer website with the best colours, fonts, and copy, choosing a sustainable web hosting company is an excellent first step in a long marathon. Here at Bilō Marketing, we use Green Geeks, which is a similarly local Canadian company and offsets the carbon produced from hosting. They provide Wordpress and WooCommerce hosting which is ideal for most new starting ventures.
Understanding that web hosting is a small part of the bigger picture is important, the data shows that the average website produces 1.76 grams of CO2 per page view (Wholegrain Digital, 2019). With (hopefully) thousands of views per month, that adds up. Choosing to partner with a sustainable web hosting company is crucial when looking to build your sustainable brand.
Now that you have a kickass website, hosted sustainably, now it's time to focus on your organic content strategy. A planned, refined, and consistent content strategy is essential to thrive in the growing eco-friendly industry. Focusing on blogs and social media is a good starting point, which are essential for developing top of funnel awareness (general peripheral awareness) for your brand's reputation in your niche. Remember, 85% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company with a strong reputation in sustainability (Capgemini, 2020).
As we are doing here, writing blogs that share actual valuable information is a powerful component of your branding strategy. Sharing helpful content on your blogs about your niche for others to learn is both a good business strategy and a proper moral decision, to help others who may need your advice for free. If you are not rocking with the giving out for free, just know that it does have a return. Blogs not only establish your brand as an authority in the eco-friendly space but also drives organic traffic to your website. A Hubspot report shows that businesses that have a blog receive 55% more website visitors than those who don't (Hubspot, 2021). Besides the increased traffic to your website, it also serves as a strong way to increase your authority in the eco-friendly niche.
Blogs should be utilized, and are significantly less costly than other content marketing channels. A whopping 62% less in cost than traditional marketing channels and generates around three times as many leads (DemandMetric, 2022). Sharing your industry knowledge for free through blogs is an excellent return on investment. We advise you to write them from your own mind and use AI to refine and edit, not the other way around. If you're aiming for authenticity, then you should be just that: authentic. Your audience can tell when you're not, and that's not great for your brand reputation.
Don't be afraid to write how you talk and feel; you wouldn't speak to interested customers from a strict script, so why do that in your blogs? Embrace your own voice and style. Your audience can sniff out inauthenticity which is against the purpose of blogging. Don't feel compelled to write in a generic, formal style; you wouldn't respond to interested customers using a rigid script, so why would you do that in your blogs? Let your personality shine through, and don't feel pressured by all the LinkedIn lunatics telling you how to present yourself. Write in your own voice and style - it's what makes your brand uniquely you.
Strong Social Media Presence
Now that you've mastered the art of blogging, you should be allocating time into social media too. It's a vital asset in your content strategy. Choosing up to three social media channels is ideal. You can be on more, but it's recommended that anything past three will require a third-party social media management tool like Hootsuite. Yet it's up to your discretion. Pick social media channels that best suit the way your demographic interacts on a regular basis. Once you've selected these platforms, engage with your potential clients and the communities they're a part of. This is essential, and it's important that your CEO/owner is also engaging on these platforms. A study by Sprout Social found that 70% of consumers feel more connected to brands with CEOs who are active on social media (Sprout Social, 2019). So don't be a ghost of an owner/CEO - interact with those you're selling to. Get some skin in the game.
If you opt not to use social media management software like Hootsuite, we recommend using a homemade content calendar. This can be an Excel file or Google Sheet that lists all your post ideas, dates, and content you want to share on specific days, usually corresponding to major national events or holidays. Here is a good content calendar to use for free on google sheets from Socially Powered. This will help you stay organised and avoid falling into the "create, post, repeat" cycle. Planning content in advance will give you breathing space between making content, posting, and engaging with your audience. Allocating set times to work on your content calendar and develop content together is best for your business and your work-life balance.
The bow on top of a strong social media presence is creating compelling visual branding and a sound paid social advertising strategy. Now that you've done all the heavy lifting of finding your voice in the crowded online landscape, you should back it with proper design elements, colours, and images. Creating a consistent brand identity will reinforce recognition and, ultimately, trust. Using design tools like Figma, Canva, or the Adobe Creative Cloud (Illustrator) are all worthwhile options to learn if you decide not to outsource your content/graphic work. Here at Bilō Marketing, we're big fans of paid social ads because they're a great way to amplify your organic efforts and connect with new audiences. With paid social ads, you can start small, experiment with different ad formats, and find the right segment to show your content to potential clients. In paid ads, you still shouldn't waver from your holistic authentic approach; continue to showcase your products and services that align with your brand values. Incorporating these two elements into your content strategy will elevate your brand and allow you to stand the test of time.
Green E-Commerce Practices
For eco-e-commerce companies, sustainable packaging is not something you should overlook, its a critical component of your brand identity. Properly communicating about your sustainable packaging practices through blogs, social media, and product pages can significantly increase your value proposition to environmentally aware customers
Consider companies like EcoEnclose for eco-friendly packaging solutions or Sendle for carbon-neutral shipping. The data supports this approach, with 43% of consumers likely to choose retailers offering sustainable delivery options (Retail TouchPoints, 2020).
Before running Bilō, my partner Andrew and I ran an e-commerce business selling reclaimed cutting boards across North America. Through our experience shipping these boards, we came across two excellent options for packaging and shipping products sustainably. Consider working with companies like EcoEnclose, which provides eco-friendly packaging options, or Sendle, which offers 100% carbon-neutral shipping. These choices not only reduce your environmental impact but also resonate with consumers.
Although it may cost more upfront, like other topics discussed in this article, the data supports a strong return on investment. A compelling 43% - almost half of all consumers- are more likely to choose a retailer that offers sustainable delivery options (Retail TouchPoints, 2020). Besides choosing a sustainable option as the right moral choice, the data indicates that it will also increase your bottom line.
Remember, sustainable packaging is more than just a selling point - it's a tangible demonstration of your commitment to environmental responsibility. By integrating these practices into your e-commerce strategy, you're not just selling products; you're inviting customers to join you in making a positive impact on the planet.
Final Words
Its truly imperative to be engaging across multiple channels of marketing to create a strong brand identity. The core of a strong brand is no longer just an appealing design and a nice website, it takes far more to stand out. A holistic approach encompassing all those features with the core of it all being your values will allow your brand to stand the test of time. Authenticity should not be an undervalued part of your content strategy, it should be the centre, hand in hand with how you help fix a problem. Combining these across all your messaging will make you an authoritative hub of potential customers interested and wanting to engage with your brand. In this day and age, attention is the most valuable currency there is. Continue the hard work in these areas, and you will continue to grow your “attention” bank account, as well as your actual bank account. Lastly to remember, authenticity and consistency in your sustainable branding efforts will set you apart in the digital age. Keep creating, keep fighting the good fight.
Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post, we hope you find something of value.
