Green-Conscious
Customers Are Changing the Face of Marketing
-By Pat Charla

The climate isn’t the only thing that is heating up. And whether or not you buy into global-warming predictions, the greening of America seems to be gaining momentum and mainstream acceptance. The option of going green is becoming less and less, well, optional. And frankly, greening your operation is not an act of sentimentality; it is simply good business. The political landscape is now catching up to consumer sentiment, and environmental experts and politicians alike believe that legislation is on the horizon and that the new administration, regardless of party affiliation, will mandate change.

• In mid-April, the governors from 18 states—representing the majority of the U.S. population—signed an agreement and committed their states to take action on global warming. To date, 36 states have or are drafting plans to reduce greenhouse gases. In August 2008, 10 Northeastern states will begin a “cap and trade” program that will enforce tough new standards on air pollution from energy companies.

• The Senate is expected to begin debating on the bi-partisan Lieberman-Warner carbon trading bill (S2191) in June, which some senators consider to be an important piece of the emission reduction puzzle; Sen. Joe Lieberman recently announced he has almost 60 veto-proof votes.

• In the public sector, sustainability, emission reductions, and change continue to be a corporate priority. Every major financial house in New York and London has set up carbon-trading operations. According to a Conference Board report issued in March 2008, socially responsible investing now exceeds $2 trillion in the U.S. and accounts for $1 of every $10 of managed portfolio investments.

For ground transportation companies, this means that the window of opportunity to gain a competitive advantage by being an innovator and a leader in sustainability business practices may be closing. Companies that wait for state or federal intervention or corporate supply-chain mandates to force them to make changes will likely have to play catch-up to comply with new mandates while simultaneously convincing customers of their green credentials. By then, you may be facing skeptical customers who wonder if your motivations are genuine or you have simply been forced to comply.

Green marketing isn’t just a catchphrase; it is a marketing strategy that, when used effectively, will get you more customers and drive growth and profit. The first rule of effective green marketing is the same as it is in traditional marketing: focus on the benefit to the customer. While environmental benefits are increasingly important to your customers, they are not the primary reason that customers will buy from you. Environmental sustainability is a secondary benefit. Customers will still expect certain needs to be met, even if you’re the greenest company on the block. In other words, when all else is equal—quality, price, performance, and availability—your ability to provide an environmental benefit will tip the booking in your favor.

Create the Plan
So, how can we efficiently reach customers and effectively impact their attitudes and behaviors? First, start by identifying the customers most likely to buy a green/greener product. Your target customer should be concerned about the environmental issues that you address AND believe that your commitment to sustainability will make a difference. The list of “good things” ground transportation companies can do is significant and includes: reducing the country’s dependence on fossil fuel, adopting alternative fuels (ethanol, compressed natural gas, bio-diesel or bio-diesel blends), creating specialized policies to reduce emission levels, minimizing waste by recycling the plastic water bottles supplied in cars, saving forests with electronic billing to reduce paper, and on and on.

Next, deliver a believable and credible message. Trust matters, so it is imperative that the entire company—from your managers to your mechanics—understands and is able to speak about the value of your program, as well as the benefits it provides to your customers. At a time of extreme noise in the marketplace (messages, labels, services), customers are demanding transparency, accountability, and authenticity more than ever. The company that aligns its values with its actions and crafts an easily understandable, substantiated message will develop a loyal environmentally conscious customer and reap the rewards of accelerated growth and higher profits.

Finally, while the green message is important, it should be delivered as a secondary, value-added aspect of your service. Even though your conscious customers care deeply about the world around them, they prioritize purchases based on price, quality, and convenience. Your customer has to know that your service is as good, if not better, than what your “dirty” competitors provide, and that it’s not going to cost them more than your counterparts. Don’t expect any customer to pay a premium for doing the right thing.

Getting the Word Out
One of the challenges operators will face is reaching those green customers. Every conscious customer has a preferred way of receiving information and it must be integrated into your marketing communications program to ensure that you are reaching them. We are operating in a not-too-friendly economic climate, and your number one priority should be finding an audience as quickly and as inexpensively as possible. This would suggest that the Internet is the best first step that you can take to turn green into gold.

Companies (including small companies with one or two car fleets) have begun to successfully use Internet and online marketing to reach green customers. But the vast majority of businesses that serve such customers still don’t know how to effectively use the Internet to reach their target markets. The following are some tips to help you reach conscious customers by Internet and e-mail.

Don’t go it alone. There are numerous green Web portals that provide resources and services to green consumers and green businesses. Many of them offer advertising on their sites or in their e-mail newsletters, which often reach many thousands of people, for a fraction of the cost of comparable offline media. Do your research on each—the larger portals can be costly. Look for local and/or smaller sites to reach your targets whenever possible.

Sites to try:
thedailygreen.com, ecoworld.com, ecogeek.org, greenbiz.com, environmental-expert.com, sustainablelifemedia.com

Build a good e-mail list. E-mail is a very effective way to build relationships when done right. Green consumers, like most other consumers, want to have established relationships with the companies that they buy things from. Invest the resources into building your list. Make it completely permission based. Try starting your own e-mail newsletter or blog, or try offering free information, such as “green driving tips” or “maintaining your car for peak gas mileage,” in exchange for contact information. Of course, focus on providing the best content possible and limit the self-promotion. If you go the e-mail newsletter route, make sure you promote the newsletter as vigorously as you would any new service you offered.

Put a “green” page on your website. Whatever Internet or other marketing tactics you use, be sure that the page you direct your visitors to on your website is designed specifically with the green consumer in mind. Make it easy to read, easy for the visitor to understand what your commitment is, and how you are delivering a sustainable service. Build trust with a link to your privacy policy and make sure that your contact information is well positioned and provides several different ways for the buyer to contact you or make a booking.

Blow your own horn. Typical PR, which focuses on sending press releases to and eliciting media coverage from mainstream media, established newspapers, magazines, and broadcast stations (radio and TV) should always be incorporated into your marketing communications strategy. Almost all business publications have reporters partly or fully dedicated to the green beat—Fortune, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, BusinessWeek, to name a few—and they are always looking for new sources and ideas, especially if you have something unique to offer with potential to really impact your market.

Online PR also works well. It, like any other PR tactic, takes work and an understanding of the process and the media, but if you are diligent about building relationships and providing substantive, useful information, it is a very good way to build a name for yourself and engage new customers. The easiest way to get your releases distributed are the online newswires and distribution services that are targeted specifically to green consumers, as well as green business. You might want to try distributing your press releases through either ewire.com or csrwire.com. But, be warned: these services can be very expensive and, for most small companies, may actually be unaffordable.

Some Cost-Friendly Options to Try:
• Join your local and national green business groups such as Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability (lohas.com) or others that are appropriate for your local area. Include them on press releases.

• Send your press releases to green sites such as Green Options Media (greenoptions.com), sustainablelifemedia.com, treehugger.com, and thegreenguide.com, but never “blast” e-mail pitches and press releases to them. Blasting news goes against everything networks and blogs are trying to do. Make sure the press releases are site specific and target the readership.

• Submit your blog posts, which are published on your company’s website, to popular social bookmarking sites with a green slant. Sites to try: mindbodygreen.com, hugg.com, and care2.com.

• Read the top green blogs. Comment on them and refer to posts you’ve made on your company blog. There are top green blog lists on the Internet, or visit the resource page on www.leapcars.org for some suggestions.

• Write for a green publication. Many green blogs welcome guest contributors. Many are looking for writers with specific green expertise. If you are not comfortable with the written word, there are quite a few “ghost writers” available to you at freelance sites such as elance.com.

The bottom line? Ground transportation companies, regardless of size can use green to level the playing field. The green concept is not going to last forever, but the door is wide open RIGHT NOW. Understand, the green idea is not anything new and it is not going anywhere. It is corporate social responsibility with a fancy new title. While “greenwashing” is in overdrive right now and there is a tremendous need for standards and authentication in ground transportation specifically, the fact is that the potential profits to be driven by “green” are huge. Get involved in marketing your sustainability program, report frequently on your success and take every opportunity to educate consumers on why your commitment is important and why using your service will make a difference. LD