Go Green with Email!

Lately, everyone seems to be jumping on the “green” bandwagon. Initially, discussions on going green used to be concentrated in the energy industry. But the rapidly rising prices for oil and other traditional energy sources, in combination with heightened media attention, have catapulted green issues into the spotlight and given way to the latest hot business trend. If you’re interested in helping your business become more environmentally friendly, you can start by going paperless with your marketing efforts.

Now, many companies are scrambling to find their green message and communicate it to their market. For example, SunChips are advertised being made with solar energy and PepsiCo is supposedly launching a chip bag that people can throw into their compost pile. There is a lot of hype out there and we all need to keep a watchful eye out for “greenwashing”. It’s important to be genuine in your efforts because consumers are becoming very scrutinizing about brands that claim to be green. One of the most simple ways is to reduce your waste by replacing much of your paper-based communication with email!

Historically, paper has been used in a wasteful manner for mass marketing and direct marketing efforts. Switching to email can help reduce the use of paper in order to conserve our depleting forests. Email can replace a variety of traditional print communication pieces. Here are some examples:

• Replace billing and account statements with email. Send printed copies only to customers that request to keep their paper statements.
• Utilize email for sending announcements, newsletters and other marketing communications that are normally sent through physical mail.
• When using print for customer acquisition purposes, utilize more targeting and personalization techniques to reduce initial waste and transition the audience to sign up for email-based communications.
• Add a statement in your email that states, “Think before you print this email.” or something similar to convey the message that printing can be wasteful.
• Consider replacing a traditional print campaign, or at least a portion of it, with an email campaign. In many cases, reducing the budget of traditional efforts by a small amount can pay for a comprehensive email marketing program for an entire  year.

By implementing some of the ideas above, you are making a genuine effort to become more green conscious. Obviously, there are many things a business can do to reduce their carbon footprint, but email is a simple and great place to start. So do something real and watch out for overhyped initiatives. Small, sincere efforts can add up very fast and have a positive impact.