Go Green in Digital Marketing: Why & How
Digital marketing can be a very effective way to reach your audience and is also the most cost-effective method.
However, many people don’t realize that despite being digital, the carbon footprint of digital marketing itself continues to grow. Every year, more data centres are needed to store all this content.
While that might not sound like a big deal, the numbers do add up quickly when you start adding up how much energy it takes to run these centres. In fact, according to Ryan Cochrane, COO of green AdTech company Good-Loop, advertising is responsible for an average 28% uptick in the carbon footprint of the average consumer.
Shocking? Well, the carbon footprint in digital marketing is something you should be aware of.
Why is Going Green in Marketing More Important Than Ever?
The world we live in today has become increasingly dependent on technology. The internet alone connects billions of people across the globe. This means that companies must adapt their business models to accommodate this new reality.
In order to compete with other businesses, they need to ensure that their brand is visible online. Therefore, they must create a strong presence on many platforms, including social media, search engines, and mobile apps.
Unfortunately, this creates a problem. Although there’s no doubt that going green helps the environment, it also makes things harder for marketers. It’s hard enough to get people to notice your ads.
This is why going green in digital marketing is essential. If you want to stand out from the crowd, you need to take steps to encourage green efforts in your digital marketing.
How So?
There are three main ways to go green in digital marketing:
- Have your environmental-wary consumers in mind
- Reduce the amount of computer hardware usage
- Reduce the energy spent on creating, deploying, and measuring digital campaigns
Let’s look at each one in detail.
Have Your Environmental Consumers in Mind
If you want to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers, you need to consider the impact your business has on the planet.
You can start by considering whether or not you use products or services that harm the environment. For example, does your business sell plastic bags? Does it use paper packaging? Do you have any employees who work outside of the home?
You could also consider the type of tools used to build your website. For example, is it hosted on an energy-efficient or energy-saving web host? Are you using sustainable building practices? These kinds of questions will help you define where your business stands on the issue of sustainability.
Reduce the Amount of Computer Hardware Usage
Another approach to reducing your carbon footprint in your marketing efforts is to cut down on the amount of computer hardware that you use.
For instance, if you’re running a WordPress blog, you can install plugins that automatically optimize images, so they don’t require as much bandwidth. You can also only download files once instead of downloading them multiple times.
These small changes can save you lots of money over time.
Reduce Energy Consumption When Creating Digital Campaigns
One of the most significant contributors to climate change is the energy consumed when making websites, emails, and other forms of digital content.
Fortunately, there are some quick ways to minimize the amount of electricity needed to produce these materials.
First, you should use free open-source software like GIMP or Paint.net instead of proprietary software.
Second, you should always set your browser to display pages in full-screen mode rather than windowed mode. This saves you tons of power because you won’t be wasting energy on unnecessary graphics processing.
Finally, you should make sure that all of your computers are connected to the same network. This reduces the number of connections that you need to make, which means less energy consumption.
Going green in digital marketing isn’t just good for the environment. It’s also an effective way to increase brand awareness and customer loyalty.
So, what are you waiting for? Start implementing green efforts in your marketing today!
