Sustainable Marketing: Building Brands with Purpose and Eco-Conscious Values   

Customers expect more from brands. Alongside delivering high-value products, audiences want brands that contribute positively to society. Here’s how building brands with purpose can elevate business performance and growth. 

The case for sustainable marketing 

As climate change and social inequality become increasingly present in the public consciousness, the case for sustainable marketing becomes ever clearer. Even back in 2020, IBM’s study made this abundantly clear. Their research showed that nearly 60% of people would change their shopping habits to reduce their environmental impact. Nearly 80% of people indicated that sustainability is important to them. IBM’s conclusion? That sustainability had reached a tipping point. 

And in case you’re thinking that this is all being driven by the younger demographics, Hubspot’s research shows otherwise. Their 2022 study found that 50% of people believe companies should take a stance on climate change, with Baby Boomers and Gen-X generations having the strongest response. All age groups had a high consideration for sustainable practices showing that this has a cross-generational focus. 

In response, more and more businesses are adopting sustainable marketing strategies to attract environmentally conscious shoppers.  

Key principles of a sustainable marketing strategy 

Think long-term 

All too often, marketers are after short-term wins to score immediate returns. This focus often leads marketers to prioritize new customers and lead generation without much thought after that first sale. Sustainable marketing is all about the long-term and treats that first purchase as the start of a beautiful friendship. It seeks to align the company with your audience’s key concerns and values. 

To build brand loyalty and advocacy, companies need to nurture relationships with customers. Not only deliver outstanding products and services but also show that they share their audience’s concerns about bigger issues – and are taking steps to solve them. This alignment creates the foundation for an emotional connection and increases the likelihood of brand loyalty. 

Redefine success 

To shift marketers’ focus from short-term wins, companies need to redefine what constitutes success. This can be more challenging for long-term initiatives but is far from impossible. Create metrics and performance indicators that evaluate brand impact on society and the environment, not just profit and revenue. Putting accountability on wider issues and topics encourages marketers to prioritize socially responsible products and marketing initiatives that contribute positively to society. 

Approaching performance evaluation can have benefits that only some marketers anticipate. Aside from the reputational benefits, research shows that considered sustainability programs can lead to streamlined operations, better risk management, and more efficient budget allocation. Sustainability can actually lead to better financial performance. 

Marketing can’t work alone 

It could be argued that sustainable marketing is a misleading term. Putting all the emphasis on sustainability in the marketing department is a quick route to ‘greenwashing.’ This is the practice of using misleading information to claim a company is more environmentally active than in truth. Sustainable marketing will only work if it’s authentic and genuine, which means the whole company has to be in on it too. 

Sustainable practices need to be present across a business’s entire operation. More than that, they need to be baked into your company mission. From the social credentials of your suppliers to the external charities you support, every area of the company must be sustainably driven. Nobody is perfect, but transparency on where a brand is succeeding and where it isn’t (and what you’re doing to remedy that) is essential.  

The benefits of sustainable marketing 

Encourages customer listening 

Adopting sustainable marketing is a step away from traditional marketing practices, where the company chooses the product it wants to sell and seeks to persuade people to buy it. Instead, brands must listen to the customer to discover their values and the social issues they care about and look at ways to align the brand with them. A greater understanding of your customers will also allow marketers to better serve them with products or services they actually want. 

Increases brand loyalty 

Increasing education and awareness around the sustainable practices that your brand is making can translate into higher brand loyalty. Customers can see authentic and transparent efforts towards sustainability as a differentiator and give the brand a competitive advantage. In essence, highlighting a genuine brand mission can keep your customers coming back for more. 

Improves business performance 

There is a general perception that sustainable practices are more expensive to implement; however, growing research suggests the opposite. On one side, brands making steps towards sustainability have seen sales growth as customers show greater brand loyalty and advocacy. On the other side, analyzing supplier chains and operational processes often highlights areas that can be streamlined or made more efficient. Put together, these can represent a strong financial return for brands. 

Understand what motivates your audience with Allant Group 

To build an effective, sustainable marketing strategy, brands must understand what motivates and concerns their audience. What matters to them most, and how can the company align with these societal goals? Allant’s powerful audience orchestration engine can delve into your audience insights to find out what really makes your customers tick. 

Allant Group leverages data, analytics, customer experience management, martech integration, and strategic consulting services to give organizations a competitive advantage. Contact US to discuss how.