There is no doubt that the digital marketing landscape has seen some significant shifts in 2023 so far. This has been the year AI has gone mainstream with ChatGPT and Bard AI, Meta launched its new platform Threads and video content has continued to dominate.
At the same time, during the summer of 2023, extreme heat and wildfires swept across Europe. As the consequences of climate change become more and more evident, more and more sustainable businesses are popping up.
With both new and existing businesses moving to adopt environmentally conscious practices, being a sustainable business is often no longer a sufficient USP, to set your business apart. That’s not to say that running a sustainable business isn’t still a compelling choice, it absolutely is. Sustainability continues to be a key value that resonates with conscious consumers. It also provides huge opportunities for innovation and leadership within your industry, inspiring others to prioritise the planet. However, being a sustainable brand is no longer enough to make you stand out and nailing your digital marketing strategy is more important than ever before in 2023.
As a Virtual Assistant business specialising in supporting sustainable and ethical businesses to create a buzz with their digital marketing, we have compiled the top 10 most effective digital marketing strategies that your sustainable business NEEDS to adopt before the end of 2023…
Digital Marketing Strategies for Sustainable Businesses in 2023
#1 Digital marketing strategy - conversational marketing
Conversational marketing has been a huge marketing trend in 2023 so far and with AI transforming customer experience, the trend is likely to continue to grow. Conversational marketing involves utilising live chat features, across multiple platforms and channels to chat with your customers in real time. Chatbots enable businesses of all sizes to provide 24/7 support and can utilise existing data to answer commonly asked questions. As an ethical business, I completely understand that human interaction is likely to be an important part of your customer experience. However, bots do not need to replace humans. Rather, they can provide instant access to information or a human, with the potential to make your customer journey even smoother.
#2 Digital marketing strategy - sharing key credentials
With the growth of the sustainability industry leading to increased demand for environmentally-conscious businesses, greenwashing is rife in 2023. Potential clients are becoming increasingly cautious of businesses that make seemingly unsubstantiated claims surrounding sustainability. As part of your digital marketing strategy, it is therefore important to ensure that you are backing up any sustainability claims you are making within your marketing by sharing key credentials. In an ever changing world, your business might not yet be perfect when it comes to sustainability, but transparency is key here. For example, whilst one of our goals is to become a net-zero business, we aren’t there yet and I am sharing everything I learn along the way in this journal of our journey to net zero.
#3 Digital marketing strategy - short-form video content
It may come as no surprise that short-form video content is on the list of top digital marketing strategies to try before the end of 2023, but if you are yet to venture into video content for your sustainable business, this is your sign! According to Hubspot, 85% of top marketers rank this format of content as the most effective when it comes to brand communication. Short-form videos can be a particularly powerful tool for sustainable businesses because it can enable you to evoke emotions and help your audience to connect with your brand story and values.
#4 Digital marketing strategy - livestreaming
Whether it’s on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or another platform, live streaming is becoming increasingly popular in 2023 and it is an excellent way to connect with your clients in real time. Many of the social media platforms will notify your audience to let them know when you go live and enhance the impact of your livestream. Live video content is particularly effective to showcase an event you are attending, to host a Q&A or to demonstrate an aspect of your product or service. Live streaming can also provide an opportunity for collaboration and you could host a live video with a fellow small business owner, enabling you both to expand your reach and share your audiences.
#5 Digital marketing strategy - ‘edutainment’
In 2023 the digital landscape is changing and the online world has become a place of learning as well as entertaining. Getting on board with creating ‘edutainmment’ content, will add value to your audience, will be more engaging and will encourage your community to save and revisit the content at a later date. The ‘edutainment’ trend provides an opportunity for ethical businesses to use their digital marketing strategies to educate and inform their audiences about current social and environmental issues.
#6 Digital marketing strategy - user-generated content
User-generated content is a big trend in 2023, that brands have amped up in recent months. One of the most common ways to incorporate user-generated content into your digital marketing strategy is to collaborate with influencers and creators who share your sustainable values and have a significant following within your niche. Endorsement from influential creators within your niche can amplify your message and help you to reach new audiences. As SME’s, collaborating with content creators as a form of user-generated content isn’t always within our reach but promoting testimonials, reviews, and sharing happy customer posts to your stories will really help build trust between you and your audience.
#7 Digital marketing strategy - personalised email marketing
Despite 2023 bringing new social media platforms and an even greater focus on video marketing, email marketing remains relevant as part of the ever changing digital marketing landscape. Email marketing has an excellent conversion rate, with 66% of customers purchasing after receiving an email marketing message. Effective email marketing in 2023 is all about making the experience as personalised as possible for your community. Segment your audience based on customer data to deliver personalised email marketing campaigns that resonate with the interests and pain points of each segment.
#8 Digital marketing strategy - content marketing with purpose
As a sustainable business, developing a content marketing strategy around sustainability and your brand values (as well as promoting your products/ services), can be an effective way to stay relevant and build relationships with your community in 2023. Long-form content is the base of any content marketing strategy, so start by sharing valuable, informative and inspiring content through blogs, website content and videos. The long-form content can then be repurposed into shorter-form social media and email marketing content, to educate and engage with your audience across a range of platforms. Repurposing your content will also enable you to get the biggest bang for your buck and make your long-form content work as hard as possible for your sustainable business.
#9 Digital marketing strategy - optimising for SEO
Putting together a content marketing strategy which includes creating long-form content to share your sustainability initiatives and build trust among your community is great. But, to get even more from your long-form content, you need to be optimising your website and blog content for SEO. As a sustainable business, conducting keyword research, weaving relevant keywords and phrases throughout your content and making sure that your content is answering the questions that your ideal clients are asking will help to improve your organic search rankings.
#10 Digital marketing strategy - review your data
The final digital marketing strategy that your sustainable business needs to adopt in 2023 is a data driven approach. The digital landscape is continually changing, so your digital marketing strategy needs to evolve too. Once you have tried some of the above strategies, review the performance data, to see which strategies worked best for your sustainable brand and assess how you can tweak the strategies, to improve performance.
Utilising digital marketing to grow your sustainable business in 2023
If 2023 has taught us anything, it’s that the digital landscape can evolve from one day to the next. As sustainable businesses, if our digital marketing strategies stand still, the rest of the world will keep moving and we will be left behind. These ten digital marketing strategies will empower your sustainable business to thrive in 2023 and beyond. By adopting these tactics, you can effectively engage with your target audience, showcase your sustainability journey, and build meaningful connections with your ideal clients.
To chat about how we can support you to grow your sustainable business with digital marketing in 2023 and beyond, book a virtual cuppa here!