Is your company currently marketing in a wasteful, ineffective manner? Do you spend thousands of dollars on print advertisements including postcards, brochures, tri-folds, etc.? Well, the times are changing and you need to step up to the table.
Green, eco-friendly marketing takes all forms and is imperative to business growth and preservation of the environment. The world contains 50 million or more businesses and if all transform their mission to be green the environment will greatly thank us. Properly analyzing marketing efforts and distinguishing between what’s working and what’s not working is important to cut down costs and be eco-friendly.
The epitome of eco-friendly marketing is summed up in two words: Internet Marketing. Utilizing the internet to promote products and services is far greener than printing and distributing postcards, brochures and other similar materials. The internet eliminates the need for printing, which saves trees. More importantly, internet marketing is timeless. Advertisements can be created and will last much longer, and have more of an impact, as opposed to sending someone a brochure which, usually, will be tossed in the trash can after a few days.
Green online marketing can be achieved through the following mediums (to name a few):
1) Web Design — Having a clean, representative, functional website is far more important than any print ads. A website helps build online exposure, thus increasing sales generated through online marketing efforts.
2) Social Media — Posting videos and photos on various social media websites and sharing them with the world is an excellent way to gain online exposure and build a more unique, eco-friendly brand. Typically photos/videos are sent in a press kit, printed in a brochure, or on a CD, but posting such media on websites and sharing with individuals across the world is more effective and timeless. If posted properly, with varying keywords, rich media is the key to success and will last for years
3) Social Bookmarking — Bookmarking websites and blog posts on social bookmarking sites (Digg, Reddit, Technorati, etc.) is an excellent marketing strategy and creates increased brand awareness and linkbacks (links to your site). Social bookmarking is a fairly new phenomenon and is on fire.
4) Flash Banner Ads — Fully-relating one’s company mission and product/service is typically a challenge, though Flash banners allow varying information that serves as a mini video (10x better than static ad placements). Creating Flash banner advertisements and posting them on blogs, forums and other high-traffic mediums is a key strategy to build online traffic and exposure. Targeting a niche market and displaying a useful, informative banner ad will surely increase traffic and ultimately sales; I’ve seen it happen time and time again.
5) Search Engine Optimization (SEO) — Optimizing keywords on a website, blog, forum, etc. is pertinent to brand and company growth. In all reality, if you have an amazing site but nobody can find it, what good is it? Strategically targeting keywords is another important element in the brand exposure mix.
As anyone can see, the possibilities of internet marketing are endless and should definitely be explored. In the years to come the internet will continuously take over all aspects of life, from networking with friends to promoting ones business, and not keeping up with the bandwagon wil be detrimental for most, if not all, businesses.
Your resident internet marketing guru,
Aaron Schoenberger
The Brainchild Group
The Brainchild Group is an Interactive Marketing Agency that provides strategic, professional internet marketing and website design services to a variety of businesses. We specialize in Social Media Marketing, Flash Website Design and Search Engine Optimization — Corporate SEO, Restaurant SEO, Law Firm SEO, WordPress SEO, and Real Estate SEO. Please feel free to CONTACT US for a consultation.