Five Tips for Marketing a Green Business

Many green businesses have been established in the past few years as consumer awareness of environmental issues has increased. It's important to market a new green business effectively, especially during these economic times. In this article, I give five tips for anyone wishing to market a green business.

Green Business Marketing Tip #1 - Use Technology To Your Advantage

A green business should do more marketing online than it does through newspapers, fliers, and posters. This saves paper, is less expensive, and allows interested clients come to you. As a green business, it would be hypocritical to coat telephone poles and bulletin boards in fliers. Many websites and blogs can be set up for little to no cost - take advantage of this fact when marketing a green business, especially if it is not already well-established. Consider a free website, a Twitter account, a Craigslist posting, and a professional, easy-to-remember email address strictly for your green business.

Green Business Marketing Tip #2 - Localize Your Content

If your green business provides a service, you should optimize your online advertising by localizing it, or making sure that people know where you are. For example, by saying "we are a green flooring business located in downtown Los Angeles" as opposed to saying "we are a green flooring business." Try to have your business' website and email address listed in online directories of local green businesses. If you sell a green product, give out some free samples to potential clients in places like independent coffee shops or any eco-friendly organizations. See if your local friends can help you at all by using or wearing your green product.

Green Business Marketing Tip #3 - Provide Great Customer Service

One of the best ways to market a green business is to provide superior customer service. People are willing to pay slightly more for a product if they know that they are going to be treated well and respected. If a person is buying a green product or service from you, it's likely that they know others interested in green businesses and services. Word of mouth is a marketing tool that cannot be underestimated, so make sure that people will speak highly of your green business by providing great customer service.

Green Business Marketing Tip #4 - Do The Math For Your Clients

Potential clients like numbers. As a green business, you need to crunch the numbers and calculate how much money your clients will save doing business through you, how much doing business through you will help the environment, how much longer your product will last than a non-green product would, or, ideally, all of the above. Consider how Brita advertises its products. They give figures for how many water bottles aren't used and how much money is saved when a consumer uses their filters. Memorize relevant figures for your business, post them on your website, and have them on hand if a potential client asks why they should consider your green business. Numbers are a great marketing tool. In most cases, a green product or service costs more than its non-green counterpart up front, so you need to explain why it's worth the extra cost to your customer, whether it is durability, sustainability, or long-term savings. This is especially true in volatile economic times.

Green Business Marketing Tip #5 - Keep Your Customer In Mind

If you have taken the initiative to start a green business, it's likely that you are passionate about the environment. Remember that your customers want to know what's in it for them if they do business with you. A potential customer that comes to you may be interested in green issues, but they are also concerned with cost, customer service, and quality of your green product or service. You need to be able to explain to your customers not only how the environment benefits from them doing business with you, but also how your customers benefit from doing business with you.

Marketing a green business can be difficult, but it is worth the work if the business succeeds and one feels as if he or she has made a difference. I hope that these tips can be of use to you in marketing your green business. Have any suggestions of your own for how an individual can market a green business? Feel free to share your marketing tips in the form of a comment. Thank you for reading!