With eco-friendly practices increasingly in demand, it’s important to make sure customers know about your sustainability activities. Digital channels can help you spread the word, raise your profile, and attract new business.
At Recofloor, the vinyl recycling scheme founded by Altro and Polyflor, we see first-hand how our members’ businesses benefit from generating publicity about their recycling achievements.
“Recofloor provides great advertising opportunities for us as a company,” confirms Absolute Flooring SW surveyor Ben Clarkson. “We promote the scheme a lot on social media such as Facebook and X. We also have a Recofloor page on our website and display our trophy and certificate in the showroom; it shows customers that we take the environment seriously.”
Here, we’ve pulled together a set of simple tips to help you make the most of website content and social media to boost your profile as a sustainable business.
Decide on your sustainability sales messages
The first step when planning digital marketing activity around sustainability is to identify your key sustainability sales messages. The most important of these is likely to be how your sustainability efforts can help customers reach their own sustainability goals. Recofloor members, for example, typically explain that by using Recofloor for collecting waste vinyl for recycling, they are helping customers reach net zero and waste reduction targets.
Highlight sustainability credentials on your website
It’s vital to highlight sustainability activities prominently. Customers sourcing a supplier by browsing online will often be hoping to see sustainability credentials. Even where there’s a tendering process, procurement teams will be looking at supplier websites. Mentioning the names of the eco-friendly schemes and services you use proves that you are actively involved and encourages interest in your services.
Top tips include:
Putting sustainability scheme logos on your home page, with a link to each scheme. Also include any relevant award logos here (and keep this up to date!). Ask the award giver for logo files to get the best quality image.
Adding a sustainability section alongside your key selling points. This will probably be on either your Home or About us page. Include a brief explanation of each initiative you are involved with.
Creating a separate sustainability page, if you have multiple sustainability activities. This is a great way to both highlight your efforts and help search engines bring potential customers to you. Explain your commitment and give a brief description of each activity/initiative. Make sure you include the page in your main menu – don’t hide it away.
Checking website info and links regularly – old information and broken links turn people away fast.
Publish sustainability case studies
Case studies are a powerful way to demonstrate successes and give people confidence in your services. If you already use case studies for your business, start to include details of any sustainability measures taken with the project. You can also create case studies specifically about a particular sustainability success.
As an example of what to include, a case study about using Recofloor would typically cover the project location, the main contractor and end customer, the type and quantities of vinyl collected, what worked well, and any particular challenges overcome. Customer quotes give a further credibility boost.
At Recofloor, we’re happy to collaborate with members on drafting case studies; other sustainability schemes may also be able to offer relevant help.
Create news articles
Short updates about sustainability successes are easy to write and make excellent news items. From environmental business award wins to project recycling achievements, make the most of every opportunity.
Post about sustainability activities on social media
Social media posts serve two purposes – they can drive people to your website via links or stand alone as a short update. So, whenever you publish a sustainability news article or case study, send out several social media posts to link to it. But if you don’t have time to create a website piece, post the news anyway! And remember case studies often have a long shelf life, which means you can post about them multiple times. Aim for little and often.
For added visibility, share relevant posts from other people. And always tag relevant suppliers, used services as take-back schemes and brands, so they can share your posts with their own networks.
Photos
Showing your team in action makes a big impact, so get into the habit of taking photos of projects in progress to use with articles and posts. Photos showing sustainability practices speak for thousand words.
Keep posting!
For maximum effectiveness, digital updates need to be part of your regular routine. When you talk about sustainability frequently and consistently, customers will increasingly see your business as a sustainable choice.
