7 Ways A CMO Can Go Green
Marketers are on the hook to do their part in enhancing the company's sustainability agenda, not just to do the right thing, but to act smart, relevant and worthy of market favor. Companies that are eco-conscious and socially-aware are more appealing to consumers and Wall Street. McKinsey sums it up, "Green builds brand value: Corporate citizenship is the top driver of company reputation which drives expectations of cash flows." For CMOs going green is not the end point, but instead embracing sustainable practices to enhance revenues, profits, customer loyalty and brand affinity.
As a CMO, I experienced firsthand the daily pressure to keep pace with company activity and to achieve more with less. Working for an advertising agency, I’ve had the chance to take a fresh look at new and old brands across industries. Consistently, I find that the head-down focus on execution obscures organizing behind fundamental imperatives. Here are simple steps that can lead to modern, eco-friendly, less wasteful and more successful marketing.
- Eliminate at least one printed something, then go with the trend. (Shift to email or online-based instead.) Consider each piece you print and re-evaluate. Can a 48 page catalog be reduced to 12 pages and tease prospects to go online, where inventory is more robust, pricing more flexible and promotions easier? The reduced weight and postage will lower cost and the eco-impact of shipping. Never printing is even better than recycling. Take note of the materials that quickly become obsolete and discarded and move them online. Make a conscious effort to print and copy less. Finesse the art of provoking customers to go online.
- Make email marketing work harder, reducing dependency on offline efforts. Executives want more email marketing because it is virtually free. Marketers, experimenting with creative and copy, see unpredictable and insufficient sales results and relegate email to a supporting tactic to accompany other efforts. To get more out of your email marketing, start with your data. Fight hard to build and improve the quality and usefulness of your proprietary data. Then apply the same rigorous testing, analysis, and refinement process that you already do for expensive channels, like direct mail and field sales. The objective is to make email marketing productive enough to displace less earth-friendly channels (like direct mail) and identify better-quality prospect leads (avoiding unproductive sales visits and the associated fuel costs). Also use email to uncover valuable messaging insights leveragable in other channels. This is one channel where you can get almost instant feedback on results, yet it is rarely used for free research and testing.
- Invest in a web video to close more sales online. You may have less than 45 seconds to engage a prospect who lands on your homepage. Someone who makes it into your sales funnel, may complete the sale less than 20% of the time. Improving those metrics will improve sales performance. There’s something about the arrow on a video clip inviting us to "play" that provokes the action. And, voila, you have the chance to deliver a compelling sales message to an interested and attentive audience. You can deliver a TV-quality "commercial" that convincingly explains what you do and why it works -- to your best prospects – the people who have sought out your website. What is it worth to you to improve your online conversion rate? Could you lift offline channel performance, and potentially even replace less sustainable marketing like a face-to-face sales person who travels constantly? Deliver your strongest message in a credible, succinct and memorable way -- and then put it everywhere online.
- Streamline marketing activities. The more you try to do, the thinner your resources are spread, diluting market impact and reducing your ability to champion critical new initiatives. As the person in the shortest tenure CXO job in your company, you can’t afford any nice-to-have programs. You have to orchestrate growth! So commit to less waste. Consider your major objectives and concentrate resources behind those. Change happens quickly, and it is easier to defend the predictable to stay in control, but if we fail to uncover opportunities for real growth and future investment, we’re toast. Eliminate and focus and you’ll be surprised how much paper and energy you can save.
- Make your environmental sensitivity visible by communicating your green goals. Buyers want to know they are working with a company that is making earth-friendly and socially-aware choices. (87% of consumers worry about the environmental and social impact of the products they buy.) Potential employees are attracted to organizations that embrace making a better future. By all means, let the world know that you are doing your part! Don’t be afraid of being accused of green-washing if you are making smart, environmentally-conscious decisions.
- Challenge your organization to be earth-friendly with internal communications. Your team has the requisite talent, so you need to take the lead for the company, raising sensitivity and encouraging sustainability. Employees are eager to be part of your company’s success (and eco-conscious companies are more successful) so challenge and invite your organization to get on the bandwagon. Establish a green team to generate ideas and practices. Share detailed eco-friendly policies and a strategy to implement them. Consistently communicate the mission and policies in internal publications and at company events. Sponsor a recognition programs – budget $1,000 a month to reward any initiative that saves raw materials, cuts travel costs, improves efficiency.
- Work with green vendors who are already committed to eco-conscious practices. To honor your commitment to make earth-friendly choices, your suppliers and partners must share your sense of responsibility to sustainable practices. In many cases, they execute your projects or act directly as an extension of your company, so their efforts must be in line with yours. The top reason that most business cite for sustainability initiatives is customer demand! So just by seeking eco-conscious goods and services from the providers you work with, you are having a positive impact on the planet!