100 Green Marketing Ideas

The one thing you can’t afford to cut during economic downturns is marketing. This is the time when you must reach out to pick up new customers, cement relationships with old customers and brand your company. But if you have a green business conventional marketing may make you think twice. Can you really send out flyers? (even if it is on recycled paper) Does promoting your business in newspapers sound a little like sponsoring the destruction of millions of trees?

Here are some very cool gentle green marketing ideas that will help bring in customers and secure your brand as truly eco-friendly while saving you a bundle in marketing costs. The first few are exclusively using the power of the internet for free marketing strategies, the rest are ways to pull in customers without using conventional, wasteful marketing tactics.

One of the great things about social networks on the web is that you can find your niche customer base easily; pet owners, parents of small children, seniors, all have networks on these social sites. Join groups and you know that everyone in that group fits your customer profile.  A word of caution….you need to learn the difference between blatant advertising and information sharing. Spamming is definitely out. Information sharing and education is in. Be a person first and a business owner second. People will buy from people they know and trust. It may take time; but a strong presence on social sites can reap HUGE benefits!

You can hire one person to do all your networking part-time, about 4 hours a week is all you need. College students will love to do this and you can easily find those willing to do green marketing internships from your local community college or university. (maybe even non paid internships)

1. Twitter…its free, you can nurture a local following, are you a business to business company Twitter to Exectweets reach the decision makers in major companies. Twitter often at least daily, send the same tweet several different days and times because not everyone reads your tweets daily. You can also pay to have your tweets sent out by others, set a budget and watch closely to your referrals on your website

2. Facebook page… its free, set up a fan page, offer specials, link to your website.

3. Co-market with other businesses on social networks …its free and you can expand your market tremendously by sharing info on other business Facebook, MySpace, blog, website and twitter pages.

4. Produce a youtube.com channel its free , post interesting, funny, informational and educational videos with links to your website. You don’t need a film crew just a good video camera 12x pixel or higher. Be natural in front of the camera or if you are too stiff or your voice is not the best for videos, get employees to make them. Show off your business, give diy lessons, film events or jobs you have done, do before and after films, be funny creative, informative. Watch a 1000 most popular Youtube videos notice think about what makes them good videos. Twitter and write about your Youtube channel on Facebook. The more friends you have on social networks the more often you videos will be watched. If your videos are getting bad ratings though, pull them, keep the ones that are popular and you can even put the most popular ones on your website. 

5. Blog..its free 1 hour a week invested can bring you thousands of customers.

6. Offer classes (customers pay just enough to cover your costs)….its free educate your customers sometimes this also helps to make people comfortable with higher prices if they understand the complexity of your business. Or if you are a retail business and have enough space available hold product promotion classes. For instance if you have a beauty products store offer classes on eye make up or how to use certain hair products. It’s a good way to move products and build relationships with your customers. Offer the classes on a regular basis and have them at different times (evenings, weekends, and mornings) If you don’t have space make videos and post them to your website.

7. Throw a party in the park….it almost free….in the midst of natural green, invite customers to hang out on a regular basis; give out samples, hold little mini workshops, and games. Get other businesses to donate prizes as a way for them to co-market or get several businesses that are related but non competitive to co-sponsor the park parties maybe one every 3 months or what ever makes sense for your business if it’s a seasonal business.

8. Press Releases have you ever noticed how many of the news stories on local television channels are actually advertisements for local businesses? Make it exciting and newsworthy you may get free marketing! Be persistent but not annoying. You never know what is on the editor’s desk or who is paying for their own promotions on TV. But there will come a day when the news editor is short one story and will pick up the phone and call you. The key here is ALWAYS be prepared to respond immediately if they call and don’t fade away. Send them fresh stories or articles on a regular basis (minimum once a month) keep it short,250 words max, they don’t have time to read 3 or 4 page press releases. Check out PR newswire on the internet for press release design and distribution.

9. Market on Community websites; for example, if you sell running shoes, market through Active.com. Don’t forget Ebay and Amazon. It costs nothing up front!

10.  Reusable marketing tools.  Never put dates on your promotional items. Signs and posters should always be designed to be reused.  If you need to include dates make them removable from the poster and sign and ideally have months days and years printed separately so that they can be reused as well. If you must do flyers or paper distribution make it postcard or business card size and of course use only recycled paper (print the recycle logo on the paper so people know its recycled.) and try to find printers who use soy based ink.  The money you save by using less paper can pay for the higher priced soy inks.

11. Review your packaging. If you make products or have services less is more. Having a plastic toy packaged in plastic and then covered by a box is overkill. A bar of soap doesn’t need a box to keep it clean. T-shirts don’t need to be individually wrapped. If you purchase your products from other suppliers request less packaging on all your purchases. It may enable you to negotiate the price as they will be saving money too.

12. Offer reusable shopping bags only or charge for plastic bags, if Target can do it; you can too. It is a trend that people understand and are getting used to. The reusable bags with your logo on it will not go straight into the trash like plastic bags. Make sure the design is one people will want to keep. Trader Joes bags are really popular because the have great designs and are well made. Some people use their bags almost daily, just because they have a great design. If you just like the convenience of plastic bags and since you are charging for it anyway use bio bags made from corn. The feel of these bags is actually nicer than plastic.

13. Green promotional items.  Be careful with this one. Although recycled is a good thing; anything that is designed as a throw away is not good. Instead of non refillable stick pens, ones that can be refilled not only save space in landfills, but insure that the pen will be used longer and will carry your message to more people. Also cheap is not always smart! How many promotional pens have you picked up at conventions that don’t write at all and find their way into the trash within minutes. Don’t let that happen to your promotional items or to mother earth.

14. Information packets, in folders, with 5 pieces of paper, a couple of brochures, and pages of small print are seldom read by anyone. Putting this expensive packet on a mini disk or a reusable flash drive is far more impressive. The disk and flash drives can be reused by the customer and adds much less to the land fill. Better yet keep it simple.

15.  Offer discounts for customers that recycle, encourage them to bring in plastic bags, cell phones, ink cartridges, etc. Become a drop off point for a local charity that accepts used items.

16. Donate a portion of your profits to a green charity and let your customers know that their purchase supports green endeavors.

17. Partner with other local businesses to create a buy local program.  Create a shopping district organization and allow non-competing businesses to have their business cards at your register. Buy local is a great way to reduce car pollution, reduce traffic, and create community.

18. Place a bike rack in front of your store make it convenient for locals to bike to your store.

19. If you own a coffee house, beauty salon, doctors office or restaurant encourage people to drop off used (but in good condition) books and magazines. It enhances your business and recycles books and magazines. (If you currently subscribe to magazines to make available to your customers it might save you a lot of money.) If you own a toy store or clothing store, jewelry store or book store, have a shelf or rack for used products, buy back gently used items and resell them.

20. Make your green efforts visible. Toot your own horn! If you use recycled paper, you offer reusable bags, you have changed your lighting, and lowered your thermostat, let people know! Post it at your register and/or wherever you have made the change. This saves you from any accusations of green washing.  People will feel they are truly getting a greener experience, and without a doubt you will be saving money.

21. on-line 1 page newsletter by subscription or allow readers to subscribe to your blog. If some customer request mailed newsletters use recycled paper always!

22. If at all possible carry your green product with you at all times. Keep it in your pocket or in your car. Promote it! “Hey wanna see something neat? I carry this in my store………..” When you go to chamber of commerce meetings take samples with you! Pass them out or put them on your table and let others see it, show them how it works. But also carry it anytime you well be with people concerts, restaurants, parties etc. Don’t overdo it so that people run when they see you…but you never know when opportunity will present itself. Be prepared to share!

23. Wear T-shirts that promote your business. Be sure that the design is cool, if you design them yourself make several designs and survey your customers as to which ..........................or the rest of this article click here