Invest to Impress: Why it’s Wise to Promote Green Credentials on Your Website
The following article was written by Guest contributor Dakota Murphey. Dakota is an established freelance writer who regularly contributes to a number of authoritative resources online. She covers topics ranging from travel, photography and sustainability to company growth, business trends and branding. She can be found on:
Website: https://dakota@dakotamurphey.co.uk - Twitter: @Dakota_Murphey - LinkedIn: /dakota-murphey
Start-ups and growing businesses who can successfully showcase their green credentials have a greater chance of attracting new investors, clients and customers as well as impressing existing ones.
In order to promote and demonstrate a commitment to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards, your business needs consistent communications and a marketing strategy. You’ll need to create a buzz on your website and also have the funds to invest in your ethical messaging.
Here are some tips advising how businesses can use their website to market their sustainability efforts and values.
Reflect The Attitudes Of The Market
The whole world is looking to be greener, but it’s easy to assume that everyone shares the same beliefs when it comes to climate change. Attitudes can vary considerably depending on your target demographic. A younger audience, for example, may be more aware of the impact of their actions and shopping habits on the environment, compared to an older generation.
When companies drill down into the data, they may find that responses towards sustainability vary based on age or location, which impacts how the business should market their own efforts. Your website analytics can be a great place to start, as it will show you the type of content that your visitors are engaging with and that resonates with them.
Showcase Awards, Pledges And Expertise
Google values expertise and if you’ve made an effort to make your business greener, you should share that with your audience. As part of Google’s EEAT quality rating guidelines, the more your business can show that it’s an authority and expert on a certain topic, the better it will be for your rankings. Highlighting sustainability awards or a charitable pledge your business has made is a testament to your dedication to worthy causes, such as being greener or giving back to the local community.
Being an expert on a valued eco-friendly topic is another effective way to engage a community and build trust by demonstrating your commitment to sustainability. In turn, this helps your website rank higher on Google which broadens your reach to new visitors. By showcasing your credentials and expertise through authoritative features, awards and certifications on your homepage, you can instill confidence in your investors, clients and customers. This will also provide evidence that you’re qualified to speak in these areas and on important topics.
Share Your Sustainability Initiatives And Partnerships
In order to win over new clients and grow your reach, businesses can benefit from sharing information about the steps they are taking to reduce their environmental impact. Whether it’s updating customers on the recycling programmes they’re a part of, or the ways the business is being water efficient or the steps the company is taking to make their supply chain more sustainable.
Your website is a valuable place to highlight when your business has partnered up with national or global environmental initiatives or supporting a special campaign or event during the year. In fact, a dedicated page on your website where you keep interested readers up to date on your eco initiatives can be a useful way to encourage knowledge sharing and give you a place to direct visitors to when they have questions.
Show Involvement In Local Networks
Green business networks are popping up all over the globe, bringing sustainable businesses together. If you can join in, these networks can serve as support for energy efficient improvements, renewable technologies and staff engagement. Not only can you promote your involvement on your own website, which confirms to site visitors that you’re actively taking positive steps towards a greener way of working, but your brand will also be featured on the social feeds and website of the network which broadens your reach.
Create Messaging and Content Around Eco Topics
There are various forms of messages and content you can create to showcase your environmental efforts and your commitment to the UN’s net zero targets. The right content will set out your ambitions in the form of social media posts to videos, blogs and mailshots. The more consistent content your business can create, the more your website will become a resource for consumers. But it’s important to be authentic — posting on Earth Day may be expected, for example, but if it’s the only time during the year your business makes a concerted effort to be sustainably-minded, it can come across as greenwashing.
Similarly, infographics and videography are brilliant ways to make your eco content engaging and shareable, from processes that have made your business more environmentally friendly to motion graphics that communicate important information in a digestible way.
Key Touchpoints For Messaging
Consider the touchpoints your customers will have with your brand before they choose your services or buy your products. Often, brands will have a single environmental impact page on their site or a few subtle logos in the footer of their site and that will be all. But these messages are important for your business and your customers, so they need to be spread throughout your content strategy rather than hidden away in an unassuming location.
For example, product pages can be put to better use to spread eco messaging such as highlighting the materials used in items or to convey the eco benefits of the product. Social media feeds can also be an important touchpoint in the user journey, so they should be utilised to highlight the sustainable aspects of a business’ product line or how the brand is taking steps to be greener.
Promote Your USPs
Being clear on the USPs of your business and how your products or services are different to your competitors is a great way to promote your messaging strategy. Maybe your products are made locally, perhaps you only use natural or recyclable materials, or your supply chain is carefully considered to minimise pollution.
These are important pillars of your sustainability content. Being clear on what your key selling points are will not only enable you to share them with your audience, but it also gives you the opportunity to see where your eco credentials can permeate those which aren’t explicitly environmentally focused.
For example, you might not yet be completely carbon-neutral, but if you have a date in mind when you want to achieve that goal, that’s a positive USP that should be promoted. In other words, don’t try to sell your brand as something it’s not. It’s ok not to be completely perfect — just show what you’re achieving right now, where you hope to be and how you’re going to get there.
If you’re keen to make a more conscious effort when it comes to making your business sustainable, it’s worthwhile sharing it with any potential investors, existing clients and customers (current and prospective ones). Your website is a valuable platform to promote what sets your business apart. With an increasing number of people interested in mitigating their own role in the climate crisis, eco credentials can go a long way to improving your brand reputation.