Marketing and Advertising Sustainability

Introduction

Digital marketing and advertising has been the subject of much debate in recent years. On one side, you have those who believe that digital marketing is inherently unsustainable because it relies on heavy data collection and tracking. On the other side, there are those who believe that digital is a new frontier for sustainable marketing and advertising opportunities. In reality, both sides are right—and wrong! Digital marketing can be sustainable so long as you put people at the center of your strategy by thinking about what drives your business to succeed in the first place: people.

Just because a platform is new doesn’t mean it’s sustainable.

The internet is a wonderful place, but it’s also full of new platforms that aren’t sustainable.

Take Instagram for example. It may have been around for a while now, but the app still has some serious sustainability issues–namely, its lack of transparency around advertising and influencer marketing. This makes it difficult for brands to understand what exactly their money is buying them when they advertise on the platform and how effective their campaigns are going to be (or if they even work).

There are other platforms where this isn’t an issue: Vine was shut down in 2016 because it wasn’t making enough money; Twitter’s stock price has tanked since its IPO in 2013; Tumblr announced last year that they were laying off staff members because their user base had declined by more than half over five years; Snapchat lost $500 million last quarter due largely from poor performance from Spectacles sales; Facebook has had privacy scandals galore over recent years which resulted in users leaving en masse…the list goes on!

The most sustainable marketing and advertising is earned.

Earned media is the most valuable and sustainable form of marketing and advertising.

• Earned media is more powerful than paid media. It’s more authentic, because it comes from real people who are passionate about your product or service. This leads to better results for your brand than you would get from paid advertising alone.
• Earned media helps build a relationship with your audience, which makes them more likely to engage with future content from you–and buy from/recommend you in the future as well!

Sustainability is a mindset.

Sustainability is a mindset. It’s about making decisions that are good for the planet, our communities and future generations. Sustainability isn’t just about protecting the environment–it also means being socially responsible and ethically sound.

Sustainable marketing focuses on creating value for its customers while reducing waste, energy consumption and other negative environmental impacts throughout its supply chain (the entire process from raw materials to disposal). Sustainable advertising promotes positive social change by encouraging people to take action on important issues such as climate change or poverty reduction through education campaigns rather than solely focusing on selling products or services.[1]

Digital marketing can be sustainable if you think about it as an investment.

• Think about the long-term.
• Invest in digital marketing and advertising to build a strong foundation for future growth.
• Invest in digital marketing and advertising to build trust with your audience.
• Invest in digital marketing and advertising that helps you grow your audience

Marketing and advertising to millennials is more than just millennial-focused content and channels.

Millennials are the largest generation in history, with about 83 million people born between 1980 and 2000. They are also the most diverse generation in history, with more than half of millennials identifying as a minority race or ethnicity. And finally, millennials have been described as “the most educated generation in U.S. history”–with over 50{b863a6bd8bb7bf417a957882dff2e3099fc2d2367da3e445e0ec93769bd9401c} possessing at least some college education (compared to only 30{b863a6bd8bb7bf417a957882dff2e3099fc2d2367da3e445e0ec93769bd9401c} for baby boomers).

Millennials’ purchasing power is expected to reach $2 trillion annually by 2020–so marketers must adjust their strategies if they want their brands to thrive among this influential group of consumers.

Digital marketing and advertising can be sustainable so long as you put the people at the center of your strategy

Digital marketing and advertising can be sustainable so long as you put the people at the center of your strategy. In fact, this is true for any form of marketing or advertising.

To ensure that your digital marketing and advertising is sustainable, you need to ask yourself: Who are our end users? What do they want from us? How can we deliver on those needs in a way that also benefits society as a whole?

For example, if I’m selling a product like soda or alcohol (both very common products), then I need to understand who my customers are–in particular, whether they’re young people aged 18-25 years old–and how best to reach them through social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook where they spend most of their time nowadays. If I want them on board with my company’s mission statement regarding sustainability but don’t know where exactly these future customers hang out online today — well then maybe this isn’t something worth pursuing until further notice!

Conclusion

The future of marketing and advertising is a bright one. We’re living in an age where the possibilities are endless, and if we can learn to harness the power of digital media in a way that’s sustainable and beneficial for all parties involved–from brands to consumers–then we’ll be able to create something truly special.