Miraval we volunteered for roadside cleanup — post photos of your team participating on Facebook and Instagram . I ’ d recommend sharing any photos posted by your employees of their own green volunteer work , too .
In fact , charity and community partnerships are a great way to market your sustainability efforts . Partnering with other companies to go green can often get your brand valuable exposure on your partners ’ websites , be it through press releases , photos or a simple partner list .
Another great way to market your sustainability efforts ? Do it indirectly . Position yourself as an educator and a leader by creating green-centric educational content , then marketing it alongside your own initiatives . If your spa has recently reduced its water use by switching to low-flow fixtures , put together a quick blog post featuring five quick tips for customers to reduce water use in their own homes . Then , push that blog post out via Facebook and Instagram . When you provide content that has intrinsic value to a customer , they will value your brand more highly and your sustainability efforts will be seen as more authentic . Furthermore , this type of content marketing will keep your brand front-and-center without giving your customers “ message fatigue ,” which sets in quickly with other , more promotional forms of marketing .
Promotions and discounts are another great way that sustainability can boost your marketing exposure . I ’ ve worked with several spas that offer discounts on treatments or retail when customers bring in goods to be recycled , or who offer 5 percent off a purchase when a guest brings
Content Marketing for Sustainability
In essence , content marketing is promoting your brand by providing useful , non-promotional content to customers , rather than marketing your spa and its services directly . It is also something that many spas know they should be doing , but often struggle to get off the ground . Here are a few ideas for meaningful , sustainability-centric blog and social media content .
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n quick tiPs Share tips with your customers on going green , especially if they are ideas that your business has implemented . Listicles ( like those popularized by Buzzfeed ) are a great , easy way to start : “ 8 Cheap Ways to Reduce Energy Use ” or “ Save Water with These 3 Tricks .”
Hold a coNtEst Hold a photo contest on social media . Ask your customers to submit photos of their own sustainability efforts and offer a discount to the person whose photo has the most likes . Make sure you comply with any rules that the social media platform has for contests , though .
n MakE a PHoto JourNal A picture is worth a thousand words , right ? Instagram is an incredible platform for sharing photos of your spa ’ s greening practices . Include a tip for going green or a quote from spa leadership on the importance of sustainability with every photo you post .
n docuMENt your story If your spa is beginning a sustainability initiative , blog about your progress . Tell the story candidly and without promoting your own services — if it is promotional it will seem inauthentic . n sPotligHt your EMPloyEEs Do a short question-and-answer with an employee who takes sustainability seriously , documenting what they do at work and at home to help conserve natural resources .
in a reusable bag . This kind of promotion is a win all-around : you get your idea across , your customer is impressed by your commitment , you increase your sales and you ’ ve helped the planet .
Ultimately , there ’ s no sustainability success that ’ s too small to promote . With companies ’ environmental philosophies becoming greater and greater influencers of purchasing decisions , failure to promote your greening efforts is a missed opportunity to grow your business . Thankfully , with such a bevy of platforms and multitude of ways to market going green , it ’ s never been easier — or more beneficial — to do so . n
carol stratford is a partner at Hutchinson Consulting . Her career in strategic marketing has allowed her to develop a widely-recognized expertise in hospitality and wellness . Known for analyzing trends to develop long-term strategies , she has developed and deployed innovative marketing plans for some of the most successful brands in the industry .
58 PULSE ■ October 2018