Cutting Through the Noise

Introduction

In a world where environmental consciousness is at an all-time high, the rise of eco-friendly products and brands has been exponential. However, with this surge in green marketing, the concept of greenwashing has also become increasingly prevalent.

In this blog post, we will delve into the overwhelming landscape of brands in the environmentally considerate market, explore the deceptive practices of greenwashing, and discuss the importance of verifying sustainability claims. Furthermore, we will introduce a strategic solution - leveraging impact-led landing pages to drive customer acquisition while authentically showcasing a brand's green and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) credentials.

The Rise of Greenwashing

Greenwashing is the practice of deceiving consumers into believing products and services are “greener” than they actually are, something we’ve talked about at length here on our blog. Since pre-covid, consumers have become more and more acutely aware of brand values with consumer behaviour shifting towards support of sustainable, impact-driven companies.

One implication of the popularity of the trend has led to many brands making claims they think their audience wants to hear, without the necessary truth or substance to back it up accordingly.

Perhaps one of the most prominent examples of greenwashing in recent years has been the Volkswagen emission scandal where Nitrogen Oxide pollutants were 40 times over the allowed limit despite touting it’s 'eco friendly' emission levels [Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-34324772]

H&M was also caught out by the Norwegian Consumer Authority over it’s ambiguous use of the words “Sustainable”, “Green” and “Environmentally Friendly” - since there was no clear definition of these terms for consumers or supporting information this was ultimately construed as “misleading consumers”.

Verifying Sustainability Claims

Now more than ever, it’s crucial to ensure your brand remains transparent and authentic in its approach to making and marketing sustainability claims to ensure you don’t fall on the wrong side of sentiment. Reputations are slow to gain and fast to lose.

Before you jump to making a claim and stake your brand's name on the line, consider whether you can whole-heartedly preach your sustainability claim without blurring the lines, ensuring you have adequate information to back it up if scrutinised.

ethy gives you the tools to do just that, allowing you to cut through the noise and stay top of mind with your audience using our range of sustainability verifications.

Impact-Led Landing Pages: The Solution

But what more can be done? It’s one thing to have the badges and credentials to back up your claims, but too often we see them underutilised throughout the customer journey. If your prospective audience doesn’t see these verifications at key points, their overall impact is diminished greatly.

One way of combating this is the use of an “Impact-Led Landing Page” (a term coined by our friends over at Būshy) to convey your positive credentials while guiding the user towards conversion.

Landing pages have been used for a long time to deliver personalised user experiences to specific customer segments but the uptake for responsible brands has been slow.

For merchants in the impact-driven space, the opportunity to amplify marketing effort by fusing principles of direct-response marketing with sustainability and branding, is a large one many are yet to capitalise on.

Not only is it a great way to drive higher awareness of your brand principles to appeal to conscious consumers, landing pages can also greatly aid conversion efforts. Through the use of targeted offers and personalised journeys, many brands experience increased overall marketing efficiency as a result of increased conversion rates and bumped average order values. Even small compounding improvements in these metrics can have an exponential impact on bottom lines.

When facing the rising costs of advertisement, focusing on optimising post-click experiences is a high-leverage action any brand can take to gain a competitive advantage and fuel their impact-led mission.

So how can you create your own Impact-Led Landing Page?

Designing an Impact-Led Landing Page

For impact-led brands wanting to take the first steps towards better communicating their impact here’s some key elements to include in your landing pages:

High Impact Headline + Subheadline: Feature a compelling value proposition that can easily be understood by your target audience within 3-5 seconds to maximise engagement. Avoid platitudes and vague language that could be construed under “Greenwashing”.
Compelling, Irresistible offer: aim to drive higher first transaction value through the use of strategic product bundles that add value to the user experience or help deliver superior results when used in conjunction together. Consider the inclusion of “impact” offers to add to your offering, for instance a one-time donation with each bundle purchased could be a great way to support your cause while engaging customers with the mission.
Transformation: Many brands feature the end transformation their product creates in the user’s life to help envision their new life. Take it a step further and incorporate any positive impact your product / brand creates so it’s woven into the fabric of the customer journey from the beginning. This helps create a connection between the customer’s purchase and the part they play in the greater mission of your brand.
Social Proof: No one likes to be the first to try something new. Create desirability and trust for your brand by displaying user generated content, reviews, testimonials or 3rd party brand credibility logos of any publications your brand may have been featured in to reassure users they’re not alone and in good company.
Impact Proof: It’s one thing to tell your customers about your positive impact, but showing them is another step towards building real trust and transparency with your audience. Prominently featuring your certifications and credentials that demonstrate a commitment to your mission is a great way to win over new prospective clients. One way of achieving this is through the incorporation of ethy's ecolabels within your landing page design or through the use of storytelling. Alternatively any awards, charitable work or NGO partnerships can be highlighted.
Us vs. Them: Are you challenging a conventional brand with a better alternative? Illustrate your differences with a scannable graphic so that it’s instantly clear how your brand challenges the norm. Doing this can help quickly convey your unique strengths and solutions in relation to your customers end goals or desires.
Call to Action: All landing pages should have one clear call to action aligned with the business objective with multiple entry points throughout the page. By removing distractions and focusing solely on the core objective you can increase the amount of users that take action through your landing page.
FAQ’s: It’s natural your visitors will have questions lingering. Poll your audience, sift through support tickets and analyse reviews to help find common blockages to purchasing or repeating sentiment. Utilise your frequently asked questions section to overcome these objections while the user is actively engaged on your page to increase overall conversions and reduce support burden.

Showcasing Green and ESG Credentials

The above tips should provide a foundational understanding of the key elements needed to deploy your own impact-led landing pages for your marketing campaigns. Since this article focuses on the “Impact-Led” element let’s dive deeper into ways you can showcase your green & ESG credentials in your brand narrative.

Certifications: If your brand has particular certifications such as B Corp, 1% for the planet or any one of ethy’s many ecolabels, you should ensure these are more than just visible in the footer of your main site. By strategically highlighting these certifications on your landing page and throughout the user journey, you can demonstrate your commitment to positive business practices. If you’re looking for a way to verify your efforts, ethy offers a wide range of certifications aligned with a mix of different impact goals.

Partnerships: Many companies choose to form partnerships with aligned non-profit organisations. Your landing page is a great opportunity to showcase any collaborations and past work together. Using strategic partnerships like this can help lend credibility to your own cause while you promote their mission, a win-win for all involved. By highlighting an impact-aligned incentive, your business can be a force for good that your customers are happy to get behind.

Measurable Impact: The above methods are great beginnings, however you can take your impact-messaging even further by showing tangible results from your impact-based initiatives within your landing page experience. For example, if you’ve helped remove 10,000 tons of ocean plastic, then demonstrating this to your audience is a great way to foster further positive engagement with your mission. Showing photos of your efforts and the physical results achieved follows the age old adage of “Show, don’t tell”. For incomprehensible numbers or amounts, converting these into an alternative more digestible format is a great way to help the impact hit home.

Driving Customer Acquisition

Impact-led landing pages serve as a powerful tool to showcase your brand's sustainability efforts and values, resonating with consumers who prioritise environmentally friendly products and ethical practices. By highlighting your commitment to sustainability, you can create a compelling narrative that captures the attention and trust of conscious consumers. These landing pages not only attract environmentally conscious consumers but also play a crucial role in converting them into loyal customers.

Strategies for Maximising Reach and Impact

To maximise the reach and impact of sustainability-focused marketing campaigns through impact-led landing pages, consider the following strategies:

Targeted Messaging: Tailor your messaging on the landing pages to directly address the values and concerns of environmentally conscious consumers. Highlight how your brand's sustainable practices align with their beliefs and contribute to a better world. Different customer segments may resonate with different practices so knowing your audience is key.
Visual Storytelling: Use engaging visuals, such as images or videos, to tell the story of your brand's sustainability journey. Showcasing real-life examples of your impact can resonate deeply with consumers and reinforce their trust in your brand. Timelines showing progress of an impactful project is a great way to combine your past impact and future goals in one handy visual.
Interactive Content: Incorporate interactive elements on your landing pages, such as quizzes or calculators, to engage visitors and educate them about the environmental benefits of your products or services. This interactive approach can enhance user experience and drive conversion rates.
Collaborations and Partnerships: Collaborate with like-minded organisations or influencers in the sustainability space to expand the reach of your marketing campaigns. Partnering with reputable entities can lend credibility to your brand and attract a wider audience of environmentally conscious consumers.

By implementing these strategies effectively, you can not only drive customer acquisition but also build a community of loyal advocates who are passionate about supporting brands that prioritise sustainability and social responsibility.

What’s Next?

So you’re on-board and want to test these strategies for your own brand. How do you go about it?

There’s two options. Dive in and see what sticks using the strategies and tactics from this post, think of it as the “DIY” route - perfectly acceptable.

or…

Get a helping hand to speed deployment up so you can avoid common pitfalls along the way and reap the benefits much faster.

If you’re in the latter category, we’ve got good news. Our partner Būshy specialises in e-commerce growth strategies for impact-led brands. They’ve put together a special offer for ethy readers looking to launch their own impact-led landing page.

For a limited time only, they’re offering done-for-you impact-led landing pages for one ridiculously low price. Which means you get:

1x Custom Impact-Led Landing Page
2x Design Revisions Included
Personalised Video walkthrough of your design

Usually this level of custom work would set you back a few thousand. However, since Bushy is looking to develop their impact-led landing page methodology and add some new case studies to the mix you can get yours built and launched for just £750.

If you’d like to reserve your slot, go ahead and book your free landing page consult with Finn at Būshy by clicking here.

Due to the intensive nature of the work, the offer is strictly limited to a max of 3 projects at any given time so don’t wait around.

Conclusion

In a landscape where greenwashing poses a threat to consumer trust and brand authenticity, the use of impact-led landing pages emerges as a strategic solution for brands aiming to showcase their sustainability efforts transparently.

By implementing key elements like high-impact headlines, compelling offers, social proof, and certifications, brands can effectively communicate their green and ESG credentials while engaging environmentally conscious consumers.

These landing pages not only drive customer acquisition but also cultivate a community of loyal advocates who align with the brand's values. By maximising reach through targeted messaging, visual storytelling, interactive content, and collaborations, brands can establish themselves as leaders in sustainable practices and ethical business, resonating with a growing segment of consumers prioritising environmental responsibility.

The journey towards authentic branding and impactful marketing continues as brands navigate the complexities of today's environmentally conscious market, striving to make a positive difference in the world while building lasting relationships with conscious consumers.