Marketing Green Products? - Send the right message

Marketing green products and services can seem like a simple quick-fix way to reach new customers and grow your business.

However many businesses damage their brands instead of building them when their marketing strategies aren't positioned properly.

A lot of money can be wasted if your marketing efforts that don't send the right message to the right customer.

The message you send to the extremely eco conscious consumer who has fully embraced a green lifestyle should be quite different from the message you want to convey to the broader market.

For the purpose of today's article we'll focus on marketing to the broader market place.

In a recent survey conducted at retail venues, thousands of shoppers were asked if they think it is important to purchase products and services that benefit or do not harm the enviroment. 95% OF THOSE CONSUMERS RESPONDED - YES.

Of those 95% only 22% of those consumers actually bought a product with eco friendly benefits.

The goal of of your marketing strategy should be to bridge this gap between consumer intentions and actions.

Developing your marketing messages around the following ideas can help position your products and services properly:

1. Offer Quality First

Unfortunately, environmental benefits alone are not enough to spark a mass movement towards eco friendly products.

No matter how environmentally beneficial your product is, if it doesn't fully solve the problem customer has, it won't pass more than a trial purchase.

Many eco friendly products carry a premium price point. This can actually be a benefit to your marketing strategy provided you can show justification for the increased cost.

2. Clearly demonstrate the environmental benefits of your product:

If you customers don't believe your eco friendly marketing claims, not only won't they buy your new green products, they might not buy anything else from you either.

Tackling the issue of "Greenwashing" is a key step to gaining consumer trust and acceptance.

Clearly demonstrating the product attributes and green business practices you implement is vital in proving you offer a legitimate green solution.

This step requires a simple and quantifiable explanation of your green initiatives.

We discussed this topic in more detail in a recent post: 3 Things you must do to make your Green Marketing believable I've outlined 3 simple steps any business can take to ensure your green marketing message is true, clear and believable.

3. Limit the idea of Sacrifice

There is a common misconception that you need to sacrifice certain attributes or features when buying eco friendly products.

This concept is closely tied to Offering Quality First. Before a consumer makes an assessment of the environmental merits of your product, they must be convinced that your offering can perform the same - if not better than their previous selection.

You need to demonstrate that your customers won't be missing anything, but in fact gaining the positive environmental or health benefits associated with your product.

4. Promote ease of implementation

While the majority of consumers agree that purchasing eco friendly products is important, many fail to make the switch because the process can sometimes seem complicated or inconsequential.

For consumer products, it may be easier to promote a switch. For more complicate business products or services, developing a simple way to integrate your product into the normal behaviour patterns your customer exhibits is key to easing the transition.

These simple concepts open up a range of marketing strategies you can use to promote the eco friendly benefits of your product or service.

To find out how the Plant Your Tree program can help your company reach eco conscious consumers in a memorable way please visit us at www.plantyourtree.ca