As B2B marketers turn their heads to 2009, there will be two macro factors they will have to address – the environment and the global economy. But with companies tightening their belts in this economic downturn, how can marketers embrace green marketing?
According to a recent Eloqua survey of 150 B2B marketing managers, marketers have the best intentions at heart and want a greener approach to marketing. In the next 12-to-18 months, 60 per cent of respondents said they will move away from traditional marketing activities such as direct mailers and brochures and look to digital activities to be more ‘green’. Sixty per cent also said that green’ marketing can provide them with a competitive advantage.
However, the major factors holding back marketers from putting their best/green plans into action is cost and lack of awareness.
But I would argue that embracing digital solutions – as so many of the respondents intend to do in the next 18 months – is the way to go. Not only has the online channel proven to be more cost-effective than offline, it also generates measurable results. So what’s good for the environment can also be great for business. As such, marketers should not let cost hold them back and need to embrace digital solutions as the first step in a green direction. That said, marketers should not stop using offline; it’s a matter of reducing offline spend by being more targeted.
With regards to the other main preventative factor – awareness – it is interesting that 90 per cent believe that the marketing industry has a responsibility to become more environmentally friendly. Perhaps marketing associations should take this on board and provide practical advice to marketers on how to achieve this? Or perhaps the marketers could provide better peer-to-peer counsel and support to ensure that the industry addresses both the environment in a cost-effective way?
