Sustainability is an integral facet of ethical business and consumerism. There is a corporate social responsibility to care for the environment associated with success in business. Now, designing brand personality around renewable strategies and eco-friendly promotional products is necessary. Marketing campaigns will be more successful and impressive for brand reputation if environmentally friendly initiatives are woven in. Consumers these days are highly aware of the impact of their purchases. Whether your brand strategies include reducing carbon emissions, conserving resources, reusing or recycling, minimizing waste, or advocating for social responsibility, you want to empower your brand with environmentalism.
Consumers want to associate with brands that value sustainability as a core value
This highlights the importance of sustainable, or environmental marketing. Let’s take a closer look at how exactly your brand can use eco-friendly promotional products to elevate marketing campaigns.
1. Do your research and clearly define sustainability goals, objectives, and strategies
When designing your environmental goals, objectives, and strategies, it’s important to know your options. Start off by researching what is out there in terms of methods for elevating organizational sustainability practices. After assessing which practices are the best for your brand, design your goals and build a strategy.
How will you accomplish your renewable goals to fulfill your corporate social responsibility? Make sure that your sustainable goals are SMART. This is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Using this method will increase your chances of standing out as a company that genuinely cares about the environment. People will love to see your evidence-based models that underscore your brand’s commitment to sustainability. Be sure that your promotional products stand up to assessment and certifications to wow your customers.
2. Measure green impact and success with sustainable promotional products
Take your SMART goals further by bragging about your progress in your marketing campaign or all over your website! By measuring your success and providing evidence that you are fulfilling your mission, you are elevating your band’s transparency and quality. When educating on your accomplishment, use visual diagrams that are easy to understand and aesthetically pleasing to drive your success home.
3. Be loud about your sustainability accomplishments and initiatives
Once you put together your beautiful and impressive diagrams, share your environmental achievement, share it with the world. Publishing your environmentalism on your websites or social media outlets is a great place to start. Integrating your environmentally friendly initiatives into the core of your marketing strategy and advertisements is the best way to powerfully convey your message. Be sure to clearly outline to your audience what was done, how it was successful, what the potential impact is, and why it’s important. Once you work out specific lingo and align your messaging with your brand, be consistent wherever the messaging is published. You want to align your conservation engagements with your overall branding message. When you are successful with this, everyone will be on board and excited to stand with your brand.
4. Know your sustainable products and suppliers to associate with your corporate branding
When it comes to brand reputation, it is critical to align your promotional products with companies that truly are doing right by the environment. Social Imprints is here to help guide you with your collaborations. When making decisions, go with a vendor with a proven track record for environmentally friendly actions. Certifications are one way to be more confident in who you are aligning your marketing campaigns with.
Some environmental certifications to look for regarding promotional products include the following: \
- The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)
- Fairtrade
- Positive Luxury
- Rainforest Alliance
- 1% for the Planet
- Forest Stewardship Council
- Certified B Corporation
- STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEXÃ’
- Leaping Bunny
- Green Seal
- LEED
- Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)
- Rainforest Alliance Certified
- USDA organic
- The Green Business Bureau
- Energy Star
The vendors and companies you buy from are your collaborators. Choose wisely!
It’s a big decision to select which company to purchase products from. Let Social Imprints help you make a wise decision.
5. Push for recycled and reused products and certifications for materials associated with corporate branding
Selecting organizations that are utilizing certifications like the ones listed above is a great way to start. Just be sure to clearly explain what those mean to your audience. Not everyone knows what those certifications are or how they relate to the products they are using. As a marketing strategy, use plain English and explain the acronyms. For example, spell out “Recycled Claim Standard†as well as using the abbreviation of RCS. Or “Global Recycled Standard†for GRS. Using trigger words like recycled, reclaimed, reused, upcycled, etc., will likely be effective to get your messaging across.
6. Always use sustainable packaging for eco-friendly promotional products
When presenting your eco-friendly promotional products, it’s not just about the product itself, but also how it is received. Any products with corporate branding should be beautifully wrapped in packaging that is as eco-friendly as the products inside. Using recycled or compostable papers, or plantable flower seed paper, is a great way to go. It’s all about the entire lifecycle of a product. Be creative with this! People love to see innovative designs like turning a packaging box into some other practical item with a purpose, like a pencil holder or coaster.
7. Coach your audience on the impact of eco-friendly products
It’s certain that you need your corporate branding to be associated with environmentalism. However, there is still a portion of the general population that doesn’t entirely understand why taking care of the earth is important. Some flat out don’t believe that it’s necessary. Without being political, it’s ok to educate your audience as to what is out there and what can be done. It’s your job to spell it out and use visuals as well as plain English to clearly explain the process and the impact of your eco-friendly promotional products. Luckily, the population of individuals who know all about the importance of preserving the environment is growing. The future is looking like your efforts will be well worth the trouble.
The key takeaway here is to lead by example and weave the success of your efforts into your marketing strategy. Spell out how your sustainable promotional products are making a positive difference in the world. Be eloquent and educated on the subject. Represent your brand as an organization that genuinely cares about the earth, and weave that into every aspect of your business. The fruits of your effort will definitely be worth the effort.
For help with integrating sustainability initiatives and eco-friendly promotional products into your marketing campaign, reach out to bizdev@socialimprints.com, and one of our product specialists will be in touch!