content marketing

Jan

2022

Don’t Just Quote the King, Embody His Message: The Formula for Making an Impact

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led an entire era. What made him a powerful and effective communicator was that he educated, engaged, and motivated people into action. In fact, to this day, his words continue to ignite and spark new generations to action that continue to face oppression.

One significant difference between MLK’s era and today is that many more people are leading companies with the heart and power to drive an impact, both environmentally and socially. Inspired by impact investing, these companies higher on the social and environmental spectrum are investing in a cleaner, more equitable future. Whether that be educating on and implementing workplace diversity, helping reduce waste, proliferating renewable energy, cleaning up water supply, you name it. It’s not a winner-take-all capitalism game for future-proof businesses. Because of that, there are a lot of lessons that young environmental entrepreneurs can learn from MLK’s impactful strategies, emotional metaphors, academic writings, stories, and speeches.

Dr. King’s tactics can be effectively adopted by today’s disruptors, innovators, renewable energy knights, and organizations adopting solid social and sustainable initiatives. His approach could be used to introduce and motivate people to make better environmental choices which ultimately impact all members of our society. Dr. King understood the interconnectedness of everything – as he once said, “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Here’s how environmental companies can adopt the formula of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to improve their measurable impact on the planet.

Education

“A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit, in many instances, do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Education is a vital aspect of helping our society turn the corner on new, healthier initiatives. We cannot make an educated shift if we aren’t given the information and the tools necessary to do so. The lesson here from Dr. King is that if we are delivering a solution to one or more of the issues this world faces, we must incorporate education on the issue and the solution we’re presenting.

People are now accustomed to having answers at their fingertips. And if we aren’t providing an in-depth, relevant, and transparent explanation – our business and its offerings can be seen as mildly irrelevant – not part of the conversation. These conversations and educational efforts can be executed IRL, online, social media – perhaps the metaverse. Enlisting the power of engagement can be helpful when delivering our education. It’s what Dr. King did. Why wouldn’t we learn from what worked?

It is an especially important time for environmental companies and organizations to claim their role in society and accept a new level of social responsibility. When creating educational content, remember that your organization was created to make an impact. That means it also needs to improve how marketing is done and what it does for people – helpful, transparent, and educational is where we want to be.

Collaboration – supporting and leveraging other movements

MLK was fighting for social justice, but he also deeply understood the interrelated components of all movements and the importance of actively supporting many issues that ultimately shared the umbrella of injustice. Dr. King knew in order to achieve social justice; environmental justice must be achieved. Healthier living environments for every community and access to clean air, water, and soil all led back to racial equality and voter rights.

Dr. King leveraged and supported many movements and organizations in order to reach the overall goal of social justice. Martin Luther King, Jr. recognized how many great movements of his time were linked. Environmental organizations and companies can realize this as well. Many movements could be stronger with collaboration and recognizing how interdependent they are.

“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Did you ever stop to think that you can’t leave for your job in the morning without being dependent on most of the world? This is the way our universe is structured; this is its interrelated quality. We aren’t going to have peace on Earth until we recognize this basic fact of the interrelated structure of all reality.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.

For organizations solving environmental woes, let’s think about the movements or companies we can partner with to get more reach and grow our impact together. Without bastardizing a cause, how can we genuinely support our community on important and interrelated issues? How can we use our marketing dollars or combine our marketing dollars with others on education to shed light on significant problems we’re solving? Make an effort to collaborate and form deeper connections with our people and demonstrate our organization’s genuine desire to solve, educate, uplift, engage, inform, and create great and lasting changes in the world.

Political Engagement and Involvement

Dr. King spent much of his life meeting with politicians, leading marches, speaking, writing, and organizing political activism campaigns that were instrumental in the changes that occurred. Green companies are uniquely positioned to learn from King’s past and apply it to create a better future. Most organizations are involved to some degree in policy influencing, whether that be having a lobbying arm in the company, being part of an association that lobbies for a particular industry, or getting individuals to sign environmental petitions. We are amidst many environmental changes affecting our daily lives; while the old powers are trying to cling to their stagnant seats in the market, a shift is happening. Environmental brands are positioned to adopt with ferocity and approach political engagement tactics for the issues our green brand represents, just as Dr. King did.

Consumers are hungry for truth, transparency, and political action on the environmental issues they support. Environmental companies who wish to have long-term staying power in their industry will rally the support of community members and consumers and sway political agendas in a better direction. Dominant sectors like petrochemical, plastic, and non-renewable energy companies have used the power of lobbying for decades. Environmental companies might not have the same sizable budget necessary for a lobbying firm retainer; perhaps utilizing the same principles of lobbying firms and incorporating them into our content marketing strategy is the alternative action. Combining communication, education, and collaborations can help fuel political campaigns our community wants to support.

Storytelling and Engagement – Lead with a positive outcome

There was no doubt when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke; we knew he understood and deeply empathized with the people he spoke for. He painted a picture of the final step of success. He delivered an idea, a goal to attain – a dream. He lifted hope from a riverbed by drying it off and holding it up as a vision. In our communications, be like Dr. King – paint a picture of the promised land first and foremost. What does success look like for our people in particular? How will they know when they’ve reached the finish line? What hopes can actionable steps be drafted from?

From a world with cleaner water to communities with optimal health and excellent air quality, whatever our team and our company is solving, let’s be sure to paint the picture of success in our content.

Visibility – P.R./Advertising/Social Media Marketing

Dr. King was impressive with garnering media attention and capturing a nation, whether in print, radio or on television – the imagery and sound continue to live on. The brutality and horrors that occurred, and still do today, as everyday life for black people in the United States, he knew, had to be seen by everyone to make a difference and change minds. Dr. King made sure this was the case every chance he got. The media played a big part in the civil rights movement. Environmental companies can note Dr. King’s use of the media and press to activate imagery about the need for change.

Green public relations and content dissemination are about relationship building and content sharing around a collective effort to address environmental issues. Green PR builds an ecosystem around our social and environmental solutions. More than building a green face to maintain a positive image, Green PR seeks to align with community members and media to exponentially increase the impact and efficacy of campaigns, content, and agendas.

Takeaways from Dr. King

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. listened and genuinely connected people in a movement. Expanding our environmental impact and protecting the most vulnerable people from the worst catastrophes requires all hands on deck. In today’s world, it involves the action of environmental companies and organizations. We all can do more than quote Dr. King; we can take his strategy for real change and adapt the same formula for expanding our reach and impact on the world – people and our environment. For those that hate the idea of marketing but know it must be done, consider how our solutions in the world will benefit people the bigger our movement can be. To instill new ideas and solutions, we need more organizations on board to take action and:

Educate
Collaborate
Politically Activate
Create a vision of success
Be visibly doing it all

Don’t just quote the King, be one by working with our team to improve your measurable impact. As the first environmental content marketing company owned by women of color, A.R. Marketing House offers a unique perspective and expertise in combining environmental science and marketing tactics to drive sales and impact. Our team is dedicated to using our skills and passion for sustainability to help sustainable businesses achieve their goals. Take action and make an impact today with your content strategy.

If you need help developing content and building content marketing strategies, we can help. Contact us today.

Resources:

https://www.thesca.org/connect/blog/dr-king-civil-rights-and-environmental-justice

https://biography.yourdictionary.com/articles/martin-luther-king-progress-civil-rights-movement.html

https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/purpose-education#fn1

Nov

2021

What is Content Marketing for Sustainable Brands?

How to leverage education-based environmental marketing

For many years, brands have used storytelling and the delivery of helpful content to create value and attract customers. The ultimate goal, of course, is to create a community and promote products and services with a solution to community issues.

When we explore the question – what is content marketing? We’re exploring a history of creativity and a future of opportunities to make humans better through education. A long-standing leader in content marketing is John Deere. They developed a magazine for farmers called “The Furrow” and printed articles that resemble the Farmer’s Almanac. To this day, the John Deere brand educates and delivers incredibly helpful information to assist those that would use their farming equipment, inadvertently building a community and brand loyalty.

In this post, we will answer the following questions:

What is content marketing, and how does it work?
What are the main components to make content marketing efforts effective?
Why do you need a content strategy as an environmental company?
What are the various forms of content marketing?
What is content marketing for beginners?
What are the benefits of content marketing?
How to get started adding education to your content marketing efforts?
Top content marketing books to get you started.

What is content marketing and how does it work?

100 Renewable Energy Content Marketing Stats & Facts | how to engage with your community

Content Marketing is a type of marketing that involves creating and sharing online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services.

Oxford English Dictionary, 2019

Green content marketing is a type of content marketing that includes environmental education and awareness as an integral part of a marketing campaign aimed to raise the knowledge level of average consumers about environmental issues, not greenwashing. –Denise Anderson-Rivas

How Content Marketing Works:

Get your brand on the mission of the consumer, making your brand a powerful advocate for things your consumers believe in, want, and need for improving their lives.
Helps to start a politically motivated campaign that aligns with your consumers’ beliefs and gets them on board for a cause that aligns with everyone’s mission.
Propels your word-of-mouth factor and educational content as consumers grow to trust your transparent way of educating. Brand enthusiasts happily share and promote your content with their network – the most trusted form of information delivery, peer-to-peer.
Increases trustworthiness.
Increases reach to new and broader markets.

What are the main components to make content marketing efforts effective?

To make your content marketing effective, you have to step into the shoes of your ideal customers. Here are some main points to follow.

Know who you are – documented brand identity guidelines.
Know who you serve – target personas and their journey.
Have a solidified content mission statement – to guide your team on the purpose of creating content and who your content will serve.
Serve beyond the sale – deliver helpful, insightful content that’s not geared toward the sell but toward the tell.
Deliver and promote content where customers hang out – if you have a TikTok resistant team, but your customers are moving their time to that platform, speedily get your content on TikTok and be a part of the community. Look for relevant communities to be a part of, like #earthtok.
Be consistent– have an optimized content production process that works like clockwork and is agile.
Plan ahead – with a content calendar and a schedule.
Deliver content as a long-term strategy – not only for a few months or a year. The payoff is usually longer, but the ROI is greater.
Be transparent – admit where your company and industry lacks and where you’re making improvements. We live in the age of transparency, and your customers will appreciate your honesty. It makes you stand out and makes you authentic.
Collect data – weekly, monthly, and quarterly data collection to guide content decisions.

Having a Content Mission Statement is important for every environmental company delivering helpful information. It will tie in the most critical aspects of your team’s content creation for your brand’s community. Your team should never get off track if they read the content mission statement before creating every piece of content, no matter the format. When you add new team members, this statement will quickly help them know what to create and who to create it for. Here’s a formula you can use:

[Name of Company/Organization] is dedicated to delivering [types of content] on the topics of [list content pillars] to achieve [goals for your customers].

A.R. Environmental Content Marketing House’s content mission statement:

A.R. Environmental Content Marketing House will consistently produce content for CEOs and CMOs of environmental companies on environmental content marketing topics to help grow their business, accomplish their mission, and increase their measurable impact on the planet.

The biggest secret to content success is staying consistent and continuously improving based on new findings and relevant trends. Check out the secret to successful environmental content marketing by clicking here.

If you’re looking to get started on a content strategy or your marketing team could use support, send us a message info@armarketinghouse.com.

Why do environmental companies need a content marketing strategy?

Why do you need a content strategy as an environmental company? | A.R. Environmental Content Marketing House

You’ll want a strategy to connect with people in a meaningful way. Your team will need customers to know that you’re part of the problem but that you’re working toward solutions. Take a lesson from Patagonia. Having a content strategy prevents your team from creating content for the sake of content.

Starting with your customer’s goals (and yes, you should definitely find out what they are through engagement social surveying), your marketing team will want to find the right way to support their efforts. Whether that’s through environmental legislation, arming customers with the knowledge to be better stewards, or bringing out environmental research that often stays locked in academia. Your brand can use its marketing dollars to do the right thing and deliver the information lacking in the public sphere.

Transparency is golden – admit your company isn’t perfect but aims to be the best solution. Since most big brands are lower on the sustainability spectrum and have greenwashed messaging, you can help customers make the best decisions through re-education on important environmental issues. This means creating educational content, delivering company transparency, showing proof, referencing scientific studies, and doing all this through enticing engagement on critical issues.

Environmental Content Marketing Funnel | A.R. Marketing House

The Secret to Successful Environmental Content Marketing

What forms of content marketing fit best for your sustainable brand?

What are the various forms of content marketing?

Most companies know they need a content marketing component for their product or service to reach more consumers and get those consumers to buy and commit to their product. Sustainable brands need to incorporate education to get people to “make the switch.” Here are some examples of content marketing tactics your brand can leverage.

Environmental Educational Content. Consumers demand authentic information. People are spending more time on their smartphones communicating, researching, and people want immediate answers to the questions they have — hint: sustainable brands aren’t leveraging this need nearly enough. At the same time, there is a disconnect between scientific studies and delivering academic information to the masses in a coherent, accessible way. The breakdown from science to public knowledge is the same juncture where environmental educational content meets marketing strategies. The premise is that to connect people with the backed-by-science information they’re looking for. Environmental companies are in a unique position to use their marketing dollars to do just that — environmental content marketing. In the same vein as filling a gap in the consumer market with a green product, environmental educational content fills a market gap of knowledge.

Environmental education is a highly valuable measure that leaves your company with assets in the form of content that can look like any mix of the following:

Documentaries
Short-form videos
Podcasts
Voice/storytelling
Articles
Stats and Facts Microcontent
Email marketing
Photography
Study and science-backed articles
Infographics
Speaking events
Online presentations
Webinars
Online course creation
Magazines
User-generated content
NFTs (non-fungible tokens)

And the content format list goes as long as the imagination.

Political Involvement. Green companies are uniquely positioned to connect with consumers on an authentic level that major brands like Chevron or Coca-Cola will never be able to. You can uncover any company’s values when you a) follow the money and b) follow the politics. Most companies are involved to some degree in policy influencing, which is why environmental brands must adopt the same ferocity when approaching political engagement for the issues their brand represents. Content comes into play here by having your content team develop educational tools and messaging for political leaders and policymakers. You can contact us to learn more about this!

Advertising your content. The advertising industry isn’t going anywhere because of the increase in content marketing strategies. In 2018, advertisers spent 376 billion dollars, and that number is expected to grow 41% over the next three years. With the increase in access to analytics, ROI discernment of where advertising dollars can and should be spent, the focus will begin to shift toward creating content, new strategies, and new ways to offer experiential marketing to people. Whirlpool failed to execute education and learned this lesson the hard way. Had they taken the educational-content route, they would have seen that consumers would pay a premium for a CFC-free refrigerator but didn’t because Whirlpool failed to educate them on what CFCs were. -Abramovich, 2018.

What is content marketing for beginners?

For green businesses just getting started on content marketing, the best advice is to decide now if you will take a slow and steady approach, or if you want to dive in fully. Be cognizant of the demands of a full-scale content strategy. Because the last thing you want to do is start too big and not be prepared or start too small and realize you should have planned a much larger strategy. Either way, you want to have a team supporting your efforts and delivering to make your company part of meaningful conversations.

Let’s not forget, sustainability investors are on the rise. Consumers, especially younger consumers, are paying more attention to climate change effects. Their demands and purchasing choices are proof. Every large conglomerate, big-box chain, and many major brands are aware of the growing awareness of climate change and are adding ESGs to their business plans and marketing endeavors. Companies low on the sustainability level will eventually be forced to make major changes for the better, and environmental companies like yours can push the inevitable even faster through effective communication and content efforts.

Environmental content marketing is growing companies by delivering high-quality, reliable, well-researched content that informs and engages communities on the environmental issues their product or service solves. Everyone wants to be a part of the solution. The goal is to always support people with your marketing efforts and solutions. This is done by consistently leveraging substance to your content marketing and advertising efforts.

What are the benefits of content marketing for sustainable brands?

While ⅓ of consumers actively seek out sustainable brands, there are ⅕ waiting to connect with brands they believe are doing the things they claim on their packaging. Content marketing provides consumers the right to have truthful information, to deeply communicate, educate, and inspire them into action and a joint-effort relationship.

Content Marketing benefits include:

Offers an opportunity to educate on the environmental problem your company is trying to solve.
You can use your marketing dollars to do good by educating.
Use content marketing to educate lawmakers.
Influence policy and start a movement around solving an environmental issue.
Increase sales.
Cost savings.
Attract better customers who have more loyalty.
Content as a profit center.

13 Benefits of Educational Content A.R. Marketing House

There are benefits for sustainable brands that produce tailored, educational content:

Build brand awareness.
Build your brand as a leader, teacher, and change maker.
Teach the topics people need to understand for change and buy-in.
Grow a committed following that promotes your brand’s environmental solution.
Support sales and B2B efforts more effectively and intuitively.
Supports B2C customers along their learning and buying journeys.
Supports social media organically.
Open up PR opportunities organically.
Attract like-minded partners to join your cause.
Improved SEO.

Steps to start adding environmental education to your content marketing efforts

Here are some steps for getting started on adopting a content marketing strategy for your environmentally conscious brand.

Set a goal. Set one clear goal and small subset goals for your educational content marketing plan. The goal could be to remove x amount of plastic cutlery in the world by selling x amount of my reusable traveling cutlery and getting 10,000 people to sign my petition to ban single-use plastic cutlery in my state or country, whatever makes the most sense for your brand’s mission.

Determine what is needed for your industry to advance. Take a hard look at the last significant advancements in your industry, address where your industry currently is, and the environmental damages the status quo has caused in your industry. Then, determine how you can use your product/service to advance the industry toward a sustainable future.

Locate the biggest supporters of your brand or solution. Determine what groups of people are genuinely excited that your sustainable product or service exists.

Build a strategy around your supporter’s educational needs. Learn what needs they have and what gaps in knowledge exist to truly understand the underlying environmental issues behind the solution that is your product. Often, customers will love the idea of your product just because it’s “green.” However, it will never be enough to sell a green product by merely making unsubstantiated claims. Do good and use content marketing to increase brand integrity by uncovering the environmental education that customers require to act. Then develop the educational strategy necessary for customers to understand your solution in long-term ways. Finally, execute the educational strategy so customers can commit to the advancement of your solution and together you can make a measurable impact.

Our favorite content marketing books to get you started

Epic Content Marketing by Joe Pulizzi, founder of Content Marketing Institute

Content, Inc. by Joe Pulizzi, founder of Content Marketing Institute

Guerilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson

Using content to educate on the climate crisis

Consumerism will not stop climate change. However, we are standing at the precipice of our climate crisis, and there’s so much we humans collectively need to know to move forward. As we witness devastating effects of climate change on our homes, health, air, food, and local weather patterns, the time has come for an all-hands-on-deck approach to environmental literacy. So what is content marketing? It’s really about what content marketing can be. Content marketing for organizations and businesses that are tackling some of our biggest environmental problems is imperative. Why? Because our educational system cannot catch up to teach everyone what they need to know to make better choices. Better choices in their voting decisions, their purchasing habits, and in lawmaking.

Need help with your environmental content? For more information on how you can successfully grow your business through educational marketing, contact us or check out other articles here!

Resources:

https://www.deere.com/en/publications/the-furrow/

The Secret to Successful Environmental Content Marketing

https://armarketinghouse.com/tag/green-marketing/

Epic Content Marketing

Content, Inc.

Guerilla Marketing

https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnrampton/2016/10/02/5-key-components-to-a-successful-content-marketing-campaign/?sh=77ac337a5ebc

What is Environmental Content Marketing?

7 Powerful Reasons Why Everything Begins with Content Strategy

https://armarketinghouse.com/tag/environmental-marketing/

What Is Content Marketing?

Blog

Jan

2021

Content ROI — Calculating Success for Sustainable Brands

In this post, you will learn:

What Content ROI is for sustainable brands
The importance of calculating content ROI for sustainable brands
Why the new consumer environment requires content
10 specific areas where content shows success & positive ROIs
What to measure when calculating Sustainable Brand Content ROI
When to measure Environmental Content ROI
When Content ROI calculations fail

When leading people to more sustainable solutions, we’re quickly met with trust and credibility hurdles caused by decades of greenwashing and misleading advertising. The way our predecessors approached marketing efforts has now, thankfully, started to change, especially for companies higher on the “sustainability spectrum.”

The “No Content” approach of the past where relying solely on print and digital ads, mailers, telemarketing, PR, trade events, and in-person sales now means leaving money on the table. Especially post COVID-19, not having a pro-content marketing plan means missing the leadership boat for your brand.

The solution? High quality, reliable, well-researched, written and shared content that informs and engages your entire community — now that’s effective marketing. Here’s why. We know first hand that Sustainable Brand CMOs have their hands full. Between managing the production of quality content and getting the buy-in they need for larger content budgets, there’s just so much to juggle. Often, the big struggle is demonstrating the hard numbers and ROI to get the budget necessary to launch successful environmental content marketing efforts. Mainstream ROI calculations are measured with ads, campaigns, and punctuated efforts, yet measuring Environmental Content Marketing’s ROI is a bit different. It’s a wider net of variables that are often affected and is thus much more valuable than appears at first glance. When appropriately measured, we know that environmental content is not only effective but a highly efficient addition for long-term business and industry-leading growth. So, here are some proof-in-the-pudding ways that your team can demonstrate the benefits of and garner more effective budgets for environmental content marketing.

First stop. A better world is possible if…

Let’s take a step back for a moment and observe the opportunities around us. We all know that there is an equal and opposite reaction for every action, which is to say that silver linings can and do emerge from major crises. We often see major innovations due to punctuated events, and human viewpoints begin to advance, shift, and see personal pivots on health, politics, careers, and marketing tactics. Like when the U.K.’s National Health Service built a 4,000-bed hospital in just four days. This new pandemic is no different when it comes to rapid shifts in solutions, lifestyles, and how we choose to communicate with each other.

Post COVID, climate change, systematic racism, gender inequality, basic human and environmental rights are now on the table for transformation. Times are changing, and people are participating in that change, even if that looks a little curious and varied. What is clear is the urgency for implementing mass education and reeducation on environmental topics to make way for solutions.

Circumstances continue to change for environmental companies. People are seeking healthier, more sustainable options, and investors are looking to green their investment portfolios and put their dollars into positive action.

Times are changing swiftly, and how we communicate with our community is too. Digital courses and webinars are up, and online expos are on the rise; everything is moving to a core of online content that is supportive, educational, and mostly transformational. That includes transformation toward better solutions like renewable energy, zero waste, reforestation, sustainable food and farming, sustainable products and services that are higher on the Sustainability Spectrum. With new norms for communication also comes the rise in Environmental Content Marketing. However, organizational communication shifts require proof of concept and ROI.

So what does content marketing ROI look like for a sustainable brand? Let’s take a look.

What is content ROI for sustainable brands?

For average brands, Content Marketing ROI is a percentage that shows how much revenue you gained from content marketing in comparison to what you spent. For environmental companies, there’s a bit more to include in this equation. Your sustainable company has a bigger goal of improving the quality of life and cleaning up the planet. Usually, this means disrupting the status quo on solar energy, solar battery storage, eliminating single-use plastic, sustainable construction, and so on. Improving lives and cleaning up the planet means looking beyond single bottom line sales analytics. Quantifying your impact with content involves understanding how you minimize other assumed costs like public relations, lead generation, and yes, even lobbying, to name a few. For example, authority content helps elevate your brand as a leader, educational content can support political change, innovative webinars can spark even bigger innovations, inspirational content can catch the eye of the media, and all of these various types of content can open unexpected doors that level up your sustainable business. If that wasn’t enough, do you think you can’t create an additional revenue stream from your content? Think again. Once developed, funded, and nurtured appropriately, your content plan can not only be calculated for effective ROI but be the asset driving it.

Adding to the litany of content tracking metrics, below is a basic recipe of items to track for environmental content marketing ROI:

Engagement is key. How is your content engaging? Are you making a case for people to take action and make moves toward the goals you’ve set?
Making the Switch. How does your content guide more people to “make the switch” and adopt your solution?
Measurable Impacts. How does your content increase your measurable impact?
Partnerships. How has your content impacted the quality and outcomes of your strategic partnerships?
PR Opportunities. How often has your content attracted and improved the quality of your PR opportunities? Whether journalists reached out as a direct result of your content, used your content as a reference source, or as a source of help in telling your story, measuring your content’s impact is key for understanding the ROI or value this is bringing back to your company.

Why is it important to track content ROI for sustainable brands?

What we can measure, we can surely improve. Keeping track of profits while delivering critical education will help make careful, thoughtful measurements of your ROI. When more people adopt green brands and sustainable initiatives, it leads to bigger environmental impacts, a greater ROI for all. It’s a proportional relationship; the better your solution, the more you share and educate on it, the more people “make the switch,” and the better your impact on the planet. For this equation to play out to the best of its ability, people need the education to lead them to the answer, to lead them to your solution.

It’s essential to calculate content ROI because it’s a core driver of long-term sales conversions for sustainable brands. Therefore, tracking content ROI for the C-suite means showing proof that your marketing efforts are paying off. It’s also vital for learning where to pivot when necessary. It informs and validates the content topics, and it keeps teams in tune with the goals. Tracking content efforts will help you know if consumers, investors, vendors, supply chains, media contacts, advocates, and influencers are becoming more informed and sharing your content. It’s important to track content ROI as content is a force that strengthens many efforts in an organization.

Investing in content for the new consumer environment

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, people were beginning to take the environment and their health into consideration much more when making buying decisions. This interest in sustainability has since increased after COVID-19. Looking at a Deloitte Global Marketing Trends study of consumers and executives on how to understand better how consumers and executives are responding to these new consumer environments:

more than 25% of those who noticed brands acting in their own self-interest walked away from those brands
more than 70% agreed they valued digital solutions that deepened their connection with other people, and 63% believe they will rely on digital technologies more than they did before the pandemic, even well after it subsides
58% of respondents could recall at least one brand that quickly pivoted to better respond to their needs, and 82% said this led to them doing more business with the brand

We’re all seeking more sustainable products and services. C-suite executives are seeing significant declines in consumer confidence. People know what greenwashing is and are hesitant to trust brands claiming to be eco-friendly, eco-conscious, green, or sustainable. Environmentally-focused companies have double, maybe triple the work to prove they are viable environmental solutions worthy of trust.

If you are new to leveraging content for your environmental brand, knowing how to measure your content’s success means examining the myriad of ways content is valuable and brings successful outcomes. Here are the areas to look for content ROI success.

environmental content marketing

10 areas where environmental content marketing can yield a positive ROI

#1 Improved leads

It’s all about the quality. Quality content produces quality leads and buy-in. If you’re a B2B company, analyzing the people who are buying your products or services will mean finding out what your prospects’ pain points are and what environmental processes they need to understand better. Then your job is to create content that supports them in their buying process.

Here are some questions to ask for ensuring that you’re on the right track when developing content that improves quality lead generation.

For B2B clients, what content/education will help them get buy-in from their C-suite executives and decision-makers?
What do your solutions look like during a crisis, like a pandemic? Where can you demonstrate support in your content? How will your sustainable company be an asset to clients during this time?
What pain points are your sales team experiencing?
How does your team feel about your company? What does your staff already know, and what do they need to learn more about? What are they excited about most?
How much time do your sales leads have to consume information (minimal or do they have time to make digest longer content forms)?
What formats and platforms do your leads prefer getting information?

Every piece of content you create and disseminate will be more valuable with clear call-to-actions and engaging components. You can make your lead-generating content strategic when you know enough about your leads to educate and qualify them.

#2 Improved sales – measuring sales ROI from content can increase content budgets

Every piece of content will have a specific goal in order to measure the ROI from each content. The importance of not separating your marketing and sales team is paramount. The reason environmental content marketing is so powerful is that it is doing everything in its power to achieve your company’s goals through strategic communication efforts. A big part of those goals is sales. “There is no reason why sustainability cannot be profitable — as it is inherently valuable. Health, clean water, clean air are all quality of life necessities; therefore, sustainability must be recognized as profitable for it to be the norm and sustain its essential place in a functioning society.” Denise Anderson-Rivas Director of Environmental Education & Content at A.R. Environmental Content Marketing House.

Creating content that supports the sales process and team will involve tracking the content. Drawing out specific strategies in a diagram for each piece of content is a way to keep track of results. If a sales email is sent out, it will be beneficial to track the clicks and its many deals. Paying close attention to each page created will not only show how many leads were turned into sales, but it will also give you inside knowledge on what other types of helpful content to create to keep people engaged and repeat customers.

#3 Increased web traffic

Your website is the hub of your content. Every page has a goal and strategy to take people on the important educational journey to engage with and commit to your brand’s solution. The more helpful you are here, the bigger your ROI, the more traffic and conversions you get, the bigger content budgets you can garner. Your site is a place to keep updated with valuable content, lead people to sign-up, engage, and join the cause. Tracking how many visitors, how long people stay on your page, where they end up, where they’re clicking, where they’re signing up, where they’re commenting, where they’re referred from, and so on will allow you to know how well each piece of content on your website is performing. Your team will know what information you may want to add or alter and if you need to be more or less assertive with your call-to-action. Great website content will attract more people via stellar SEO, shared content, affiliate shares, and all of the channels your content is shared to.

#4 Improved onsite engagement

The goal is to continue building relationships and engagement leveraging your company’s website content. Measuring your customer relationship building’s success and how often people return and find value is critical to ensuring your content is keeping visitors increasingly engaged.

#5 Accelerated social media conversion

Look to your social media microcontent to see if your content is driving sales conversions. How are people engaging with your social content? Are they sharing it, commenting on it, going to your campaign pages, checking out, and converting? Getting creative with engagement on social media while delivering high-value content will create a feedback loop. The information you receive from engagement will also help develop even more valuable content that your community wants. Something as simple as creating content that answers people’s questions can add immense value and make your audience smarter.

#6 Stellar search engine optimization (SEO)

The more helpful your content, the higher you will rank on Google; it’s as simple as this fact. Yes, that means you can pay less for google ads or opt-out of paid google ads altogether and rank organically. Yes, quality content doesn’t need ads behind it; however, depending on your goals putting ad spend behind quality content will take it that much further. Making sure your content ranks well for your target keywords, appearing in answer boxes for relevant terms, making sure you have high domain authority, and getting inbound links are measures always to track. Everywhere content is housed will need SEO tracking and updating. The only way to focus on your SEO strategy, now and into the future, is always to create valuable, beneficial content.

#7 Next level exposure and topic authority

Stellar content helps build authority on a topic, making sure people view your company as a leader to source reliable information. Most often, this type of leadership content is educational. Educational content is often easily and quickly shared with friends and family, driving traffic to your website. This increase in reach provides the potential to generate leads and sales. Leadership content also paves the way to getting media coverage from respected outlets. You will quickly find that your content is adopted and mentioned in relevant radio and television shows. When tracking media mentions, note the important role your educational content played in building relationships with journalists and other media contacts. In turn, these efforts will get your brand in front of a wider audience. It’s very important not to skimp on quality content for this reason because these relationships and opportunities take time to build. Content is 20% of the battle; 80% will be the action of marketing your business and developing the relationships that come with the territory of leveraging quality content. Leveraging content for increased brand recognition and topic authority in your industry sparks countless possibilities to open.

#8 Better PR & journalist engagement

When journalists have interesting, helpful information on your brand, they more often than not write about it because, hey, you gave them a reason to! With environmental companies, you probably want more than a forced write up. You want to become eligible for awards, highlighted on new innovation lists, create new opportunities, collaborate with people in your industry. This creates new sections in publications, and new journalists need to understand what’s new, what’s the big deal, and how to talk about it.

#9 More quality partnerships for environmental companies

For environmental companies, partnerships often mean collaboration to raise awareness on a particular topic and often to highlight the breakthrough in your industry. Content plays into partnerships by acting as a magnet. The more compelling and educational the content you produce is, the more other brands will want to be a part of what your company is doing. Opening opportunities for co-branded content, co-branded products, event partnerships, partnerships for education, partnerships for environmental staff training, cost-sharing for advertising, and a host of other benefits – these partnerships for the planet are something we like to call the “supernova effect.”

People are all coming to terms with the fact that we cannot achieve sustainability or success in general without more people and companies collaborating. Brands coming together and educating on their zone of genius in a collaborative fashion pays off with:

More awareness for your respective companies
Wider distributive network
Overall cost savings
More opportunities for innovative ideas when everyone is a player at the table
Bigger opportunity to make a measurable impact on the planet and society

#10 Demonstrating your impact on the planet

Suppose you’re offering a sustainable solution for the planet. In that case, most likely, your ROI is directly tied to your impact on the planet. We live in a time of exasperated natural disasters, environmental pollution; we see the direct effects of climate change play out. While all of this is going on, it is being documented with smartphones – the people are now the environmental news beat. And they are (we are) rightfully concerned with our health and the environment and learning that the two are inextricably connected. We want to know which corporations are greenwashing and which are daring to do really great things for the planet and are acting as guardians of our health. That differentiation is usually accomplished with transparency. People want to see those receipts for your positive, measurable impact because talk is cheap. All eyes are on the sustainably innovative businesses and how they are contributing to a better future. The better information you provide, the more shareable your content will be, and the more people will engage with your organization. Hey, they may even take your educational info and make better decisions based on it. Now that’s what disrupts a stagnant market. Measuring your impact and sharing relevant content on it is one of the best plays you can make right now.

Every piece of content across various platforms will be measured differently, depending on your goals, metrics like increase in followers, conversions, how many people reacted, commented and shared your post. Whatever your goal is, you will benefit from measuring how well that content performed, then adjust and keep improving. Then you measure your impact and correlate this back to measuring the impact of your content. How many people did you help, minds did you sway, habits did you change for the better? Think of your content as an ecosystem, and measure the results by its impact on people, the planet, and profits.

What to measure when reporting ROI for sustainable brand content?

Each piece of content will have specific goals. The content will not only be helpful but create an action for the leads to take. This will all depend on your business goals. Although there are challenges to measuring content ROI, tracking all the places your content will end up, and the journey you want people to take will be where and what to report. With that, you can measure the impact actions and adapting your company’s solution will have on the planet. You will not only want to track leads and sales but all of your goals.

When do you measure environmental content ROI?

The short answer is constantly. However, the goal and the content format will be critical in knowing when to measure your environmental content ROI. If your goal is to attract leads starting with a blog article post, you will want to track after you start disseminating. Then the microcontent you create for social media, you will want to check weekly or monthly depending on your goal. As a point of comparison, ads are different to measure because they have a start date, but most importantly, they have an end date. On the other hand, content takes time to catch, be shared, and get ranked; it also does not have an end date.

Depending on your content and goals, there will be times you measure your content daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, and per decade. The older your content gets, the better metrics you will likely have. Of course, this is all dependent on the content quality, dissemination efforts, and strategy that went into it in the first place. Applying the 80/20 rule will be an essential part of your efforts, spending 80% of your time disseminating your quality content.

Where ROI for environmental content goes wrong

Measuring the ROI of content marketing takes a lot more creativity especially for sustainable companies. There are traditional tools to use like Google Analytics, email marketing metrics, social media analytics, CRMs, and full orchestra software reporting. Starting with some concrete goals and measuring your content results is a collaborative effort bringing everyone in your company to the table. How is every department seeing results from the content? What new content will support efforts for various roles in your company? Measuring your content will always result in a myriad of returns. It will keep your sales and marketing departments laser-focused on achieving your business goals, create ideas for business ideas and opportunities. Without measuring your content success, it will be hard to explain why content is important and to gain buy-in from decision-makers. It’s very exciting to measure all the opportunities from quality content; it’s encouraging and invokes creativity throughout the company.

However, there are pain points that prevent teams from measuring ROI accurately, and thus undervaluing it. Those factors include:

Lack of tools
Lake of time
Lake of training
Having vague goals/objectives

Where calculating ROI for Environmental Content goes wrong is not investing in the goal-setting, set-up, training, tracking, and evaluation of it. Each piece of content performs a duty for your business, and the outcome can be seen in many areas. It’s important not to miss the boat on analyzing these results to keep up the content momentum.

A new world means a time to teach, reach, and measure what you preach

With the acceleration of Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) and sustainable initiatives, sustainable and purpose-driven solutions are gaining more attention. Now is the time for sustainable companies, organizations solving some of our biggest environmental problems to participate and take action for the world you wish to exist in. Create the content and deliver the message that will uplift your customers, partners, vendors, and staff out of crises and into the future where we can all thrive. Environmental, education-based content marketing will be worth it, and you can count on that. Still, it’s important to measure and deliver a well-rounded view of the ROI it will bring.

ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING

Resources:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1050651919874105

https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/what-a-crisis-teaches-us-about-innovation/

https://www.semrush.com/blog/measure-content-marketing-success/

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/6963_global-marketing-trends/DI_2021-Global-Marketing-Trends_US.pdf

May

2020

Examples of Green Marketing: 7 Ways to Support Sustainability Seekers with Content

“Look for opportunity amongst adversity,” reads the 9th piece of advice from a Harvard Business Review article. In this way, we’re also looking for opportunities to help others switch gears, finish new projects, and re-pivot to meet demands. A great example of this is the social video platform Kuaishou which partnered with the Ministry of Education to launch a national online cloud classroom. These are the creative ways to support and educate those seeking sustainability.

Here are 7 digital actions an environmental business can leverage right now to build a more solid fountain for marketing and sales.

1 – Write a whitepaper on your eco product or service

Eco-focused CEOs are underrepresented when it comes to environmentally-focused white papers. Now is a great time to change this and increase the level of knowledge on various environmental solutions and why they were created and placed on the market. Blockchain startups have taken the white paper to be a standard. The Environmental Business Sector can learn more from this example. White papers are an excellent opportunity to spell out the background and functionality of your environmental solutions. Power Ledger gives an excellent example of how it’s done. See the Power Ledger Whitepaper.

2 – Build your library of eco case studies

A great educational tool can be case studies. Case studies help deliver on the proof of concept for environmental solutions. Case Studies guide B2B and B2C buyers to the successful outcomes they’re looking to achieve. A simple formula for drafting your case studies is to highlight the client via 1) the situation, 2) the impact, and 3) the outcome. Great case studies tell a story and can quickly help readers adopt the offered environmental solution. The frequent publishing of case studies also supports excellent SEO. FloWater serves as an excellent example of the use of case studies. FloWater highlights the impact made for improving wellness and quashing single-use plastic bottled water. Way to go, FloWater (and Lululemon)!

3 – Finish that book on sustainability the world has been waiting for

During significant change lies an opportunity for eco-founders to take their ideas and spread them while the world is open to new ways of living and working. Whether it be a reuse revolution or renewable energy education, environmental leaders deciding to pick up the pen is more a matter of opportunity, inspiration, and timing right now. Spending a couple of hours a day writing a book that supports the ecological movement forward could be an excellent trade for commute hours.

An example of a coupled must-read book and subsequent solution to our cradle-to-grave problem is Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by Michael Braungart and William McDonough and the Cradle to Cradle Certification Website.

4 – Develop that resources page on your website

If your team has always thought about developing resources housed in a helpful section of your website, it’s a great time to build your website resources page. Whether you offer calculators, checklists, or any collection of useful downloads or links, having one centralized place where this information is stored will vastly help your audience grab the info they need quickly. Even if your resources page is downloadable, readers can keep it with them and have quick access on their desktop; your brand will be top of mind each time a user finds its value.

An excellent example is a resource guide created by Youth and Environmental Europe for Uniting Youth for Ecotourism.

5 – Advocate and educate policymakers for a sustainable future

Think your voice doesn’t make a difference? Think again; as a sustainable business, your voice is critical because you represent the bridge for environmental policies and commerce. With more entrepreneurs taking charge of solving social and ecological issues with market solutions, the lobbying force for environmental issues supported by businesses is immense. A great example of that is the American Sustainable Business Council, which serves public policy interest for 250,000 responsible companies. As laws rapidly change, now is a great time to get involved with public policy to help guide those changes on the right course, whether through direct policy influencing or through a firm that assists with these efforts.

One shining star in the world of retail meets activism is Patagonia. From their homepage, you can see what is most important to the company in four simple menu options: Shop, Activism, Sports, and Stories.

When you dive a little deeper, you can see that Patagonia is working on issues that lead its target audience into education and action, showing its genuine interest in making the world better. Patagonia is working beyond making clothes. Highlighting Environmental justice issues like oil drilling in Los Angeles communities of color to a level of importance is not often seen in sustainable luxury brands. The environmental policy team at Patagonia understands that if we aren’t working together to protect each other and solve environmental problems together through political action, we won’t get very far.

Are you inspired to make environmental and political action a more significant part of your business? Get inspired by participating in Patagonia’s activism page. Contact our team to help strategize a plan tailored to the environmental issues your company wants to elevate, sway, and build a movement for.

6 – Develop your forward-thinking app

In light of recent circumstances, every business has had to adjust, revise, and pivot toward a new future. Undoubtedly, digital innovation for sustainable brands will be vital for future growth. The world could use more apps that help people make better choices, get easy-access education, and keep things moving for a healthier path.

A fantastic app that helps keep environmental reporting organized and up to speed is Wildnote, created by Kristen Hazard.

7 – Engage your Team with tailored training on sustainability

While your team may work a little differently these days, sustainability initiatives are forging ahead. The most important topic on the mind of sustainability directors is how to support employees in their journey toward environmental literacy.

Sustainability Executives asked, and the A.R. Marketing House Team listened. We are currently developing a helpful resource to assist employees on their sustainable journey to support the successful accomplishment of sustainability initiatives. If you’d like to stay updated on the best way to engage employees to support sustainability initiatives. Sign up here!

If your eco-business is ready to take action and flex your digital content muscle, we’re here to help. Growing your sustainable brand’s online presence through creative, helpful, environmental content is a move for solidifying a long-term hold. While there are many forms to explore, starting with a strategy and education on your website is vital. Connect with our team, and we’ll make your content journey exciting and effective.

May

2020

2020: The Future of Environmental Marketing SlideShare

2020: The Future of Environmental Marketing | A.R. Marketing House

Feb

2020

Environmental Marketing 2020: Updates for Sustainable Solutions

It’s a new decade, and that means ~3,650 days (minus leap years) of opportunities to make an impact, teach people, influence policy, collect that data you’ve always known was important, develop new research. Above all, it’s a time to make it all matter with some community engagement and marketing.

Marketing for businesses that are working to improve our environment – looks much different than a typical business. It takes commitment to bigger causes and insight beyond common knowledge and misconceptions on environmental topics. It takes environmental expertise, new marketing insights, and the right strategy to see your 2020 impact flourish.

Environmental education-based marketing strategies are rewarded continuously with every update. Here are some beneficial educational content marketing practices to follow and start the new decade off with an inspiring bang.

7 Content Marketing Changes for 2020

Content Marketing WINS as the most robust Marketing Strategy for 2020. For Environmental Companies, this means creating high-quality content to market and be ahead of the curve to keep your momentum going throughout the new decade. Here are 7 Content Marketing updates that you will want to adapt to your 2020 Content Marketing strategy.

#1 Video content will need to bring higher quality

Hands down, people love video, that’s why popular video platforms are beginning to drop organic reach in favor of increasing ad spend. This means a change-up to how you will want to publish your videos. A great solution is to multicast, release one long video, and chop it up into chapters to be published in unique snippets to each platform you share on. Another strategy is to go live at least one time per month and release the recorded video in snippets tailored to each platform that leads to the larger format video.

#2 Content that educates will always be king

Educational micro-content is continuing to rise fast as a major strategy that covers many bases at once. Research continues to prove that people want to be the smartest person in the room, and the more they know about your solutions, the more they will be engaged and share that knowledge. Educational engagement turns curious people into leads, solid customers, and, ultimately, loyalists. You want people coming to your business, not just for your market solution but also to learn the significance of your innovation(s). Educational microcontent is extremely valuable and a great long-term strategy for brands promoting environmental solutions.

What is educational micro-content?

Educational interactive microcontent and imagery in smaller formats will be the best strategy to focus on for 2020. High-quality, helpful content is what people are responding to the most on social media. This strategy is key to increasing awareness, education, and engagement on your solution; it’s also the very reason A.R. Marketing House was founded 😉. Creating and sharing content that is ultimately educational and interactive will be the marker to success for green business marketing.

#3 From mobile search to voice search traffic

Search traffic will continue to decline on mobile, 13% to 5% in fact. It’s important to make sure you optimize your website for voice search. This means creating copy that is educational and adding schema markup for your answers to be found by people searching via voice search.

Why is mobile search declining?

Alexa and Google Home products are becoming increasingly popular. This means you need to break down your solution effectively, and thus the educational content around it into bite-sized clear and helpful messaging so Google will rank your answers. This means everything for environmental solutions that want to be found. It’s important for your marketing team to always keep this in mind. You will want to hire for the perfect mix of Environmental Expert & Content Marketing Sage. Make sure your team stays well informed and properly educated on your market and your solutions AND environmental reasons the world needs your solution(s).

If your marketing teams could use some support on how to discuss complicated environmental topics in ways people can relate to and learn, we are the only agency that offers this specialty service, and we’re here to help! Remember, we want more adoption of sound environmental solutions, and it’s our mission to help you accomplish this.

#4 Google & Amazon want your traffic on their sites

Google and Amazon are competing against each other, and YOU, to get people to stay on their respective platforms. What does this mean for you? It means you’ll want to optimize your website content and blogs to generate preview snippets and, if you have an Amazon Product, increase the content and education on your Amazon page to increase your ranking.

#5 Increase influencer reach

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter have all lowered the organic reach of influencer profile pages. This significant decline in reach means that if using influencers is right for your business, it’s time to get creative by leveraging influencer marketing, as the spend in this category will decrease. You can now go after quantity as well as quality.

#6 Leverage “Close Friends” to keep up with Instagram stories’

Leveraging “Close Friends” on IG is a new social hack to communicate directly with your closest followers, influencers, and evangelists to increase reach, sharing, and engagement. This will be the year to really dive into education that will incite likes, shares, and increase your followers as you keep your most valuable players informed. There will also be more ways of enhancing virtual shopping experiences this year.

#7 Gaining authority by building trust

Google has already updated once in 2019 to rank authority over SEO tricks. The days of keyword stuffing and black hat tricks are over – things we’ve always advised against. Google and search engines make most of their profits from paid advertising. Businesses spent less money on paid advertising in 2019, and search engines and social media want to bump up educational content. Anyone else with less helpful content will be charged a “pay to play” fee if they want to increase their reach. This requires a focus on high-quality content and less on the quantity of posts. Messaging and content need to be fact-based and highly-authoritative while highlighting your expertise. Google will reward the most trusted, well-researched, educational content. HINT: This is fantastic news for environmental companies that are ready to educate through their marketing efforts.

Increased content personalization will be very important, as well. This personalization will lead to higher rankings, which is excellent because this falls in line with creating more dynamic content. Personalizing content requires finding out what various groups in your audience are asking, gaining clarity on their needs, and precisely delivering the information they’re looking for. This is how we strategize ranking – by having the most relevant, helpful website sites. Bye, Bye, SEO tricks, and hello to serving people & the planet!

Conclusion

We hope these tips for 2020 have confirmed your current strategy is off to the right start. If you don’t yet have an education-based marketing strategy in play for your environmental solution, we’re happy to help your team get on the right track. Make it a monumental decade of growth that impacts our planet for the better.

Don’t just make content. Make an impact.

The A.R. Marketing House team is sure that brands that provide products and services with a sustainable mission will bring about infinite success and provide abundance in many forms for the new decade. More than 60 countries have introduced measures to limit single-use plastic waste. This is happening through policy agendas, bans, implementing fines, levies, as refill stations and reuse services become some of the more popular solutions. This knowledge and keeping up with these quick-changing agendas help our clients stay ahead of the curve and make an impact in 2020. We’re unlocking our expertise and have officially added Environmental Marketing Consulting Services and Tailored Environmental Marketing Plans that you can now hand over to your marketing team with specialized A.R. guidance. We want everyone to have access to the marketing tactics it takes to spread the adoption of much-needed Environmental Products and Services in 2020 and beyond, and that takes expertise!

Nov

2019

It’s Eco Brands’ Time to Step up, Step out, and Educate

Eco eCommerce stores have been popping up since the early 2000s and have grown with the high demand for more environmentally conscious products. It’s easier than ever to source the items you need for a cleaner, greener lifestyle. Here are 5 of the Top Eco eCommerce stores that have created a loyal following, some of which might surprise you.

1. Tiny Yellow Bungalow

2. Wild Minimalist

3. Package Free Shop

4. Tesla

5. AltE Store

Products with harmful eco footprints that have been dominating the markets are finally seeing a dip in sales as consumers demand healthier, more sustainable products. People are starting to question if the items they buy are contributing to the harm of the planet. Product packaging is also under some well-deserved scrutiny, leaving the scientific world to examine the health and ecological footprint on our environment; see the CIEL Plastic & Health Report. However, while we wait for science, the collective sentiment on plastics in our environment is that we now assume they’re having unknown and damaging impacts on our health and ecosystems. Major brands are starting to pick up on this consumer dissatisfaction with the destruction of our planet because of wasteful packaging. This is why labeling and marketing products as green are on the rise. However, consumers are in the middle of deciphering, what is the truth and what is greenwashing.

The shift from big brand greenwashing to emerging green brand education

According to a 2017 consumer market study released by Unilever, ⅓ of consumers are taking charge to actively seek and purchase from brands based on their environmental and social impact, see more in the white paper 2020: The Future of Environmental Marketing. More governments are implementing policies to get rid of toxic products, as well as incentivizing companies, to comply with environmental standards and create healthier products. Brands that are creating and selling harmful and toxic products know they need to either (A) adjust their profit model to include externalities currently thrust on to the public (B) spend a lot of money on greenwashing. Unfortunately, many of these big brands are doing the latter. As new, genuinely sustainable solutions arise, and toxic brands see more failure in their greenwashing and toxic lobbying tactics, we will see a massive shift in people turning to green products. Emerging brands will realize the need to adopt a powerful educational green marketing strategy for their sustainable brand to become the norm, and for toxic products to disappear from our stores.

The buy less movement’s chance to leverage Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Black Friday and Cyber Monday used to be huge one-day-only sales events associated with big-box lines, crazed shoppers, with admittingly controversial beginnings. Black Friday and Cyber Monday have now become a week-long sale event where most people wait to get great deals. Like REI who encourages people to go outside for Black Friday, many eco brands know it’s time to step up the competition and grab market share from their greenwashed counterparts. A recent study by BlackFriday.com and Offers.com shows that consumers start holiday shopping as early as September. The same survey revealed that November is just as big of a shopping month, as December. This means eco-brands who are genuine about helping people switch habits, will be competing with the unsustainable brands, during the holiday months.

Since people start their holiday shopping up to three months before, nurturing your leads, as well as current and past customers, means educating them around your product and its environmental solutions. More studies are finding that consumers don’t want to be sold to, especially those who are interested in eco-products. People want to be educated and engaged in making a genuine difference. Especially for eco-brands, education is a huge opportunity to make people who follow you, the smartest people in the room. Show off your sustainability chops, and help people determine the genuine eco-claims. Providing content that educates consistently, and messages that start during the weeks leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday can set your end-of-year sales up for success, eh hem, and the planet.

Eco brands’ time to step up, step out, and educate

In a Nielson survey, 66% of people surveyed about new consumer expectations, said they would pay more for brands that commit positively to the environment. However, it doesn’t stop there; consumers are becoming more aware of the misleading claims many unsustainable brands are boasting about. Greenwashed and unsubstantiated environmental claims have led to a general sentiment of distrust in eco products. Once consumers are educated and shown proof, people quickly become loyal evangelists and promote their favorite eco-products proudly. And an excited, happy customer that believes in the same mission as you is marketing gold that most big brands can’t touch. In fact, 62% of consumers surveyed, said trust is the most significant factor for determining whether they click the ‘buy now’ button. This means that to gain trust and sales, brands will need more than just a label that says your product is “eco-friendly,” it needs facts and scientific proof.

“Consumers want greener goods from greener companies. This focus on sustainable values has superseded a focus on product, lifestyle, and many other previous marketing methods. Consumers buy green for a reason. Companies need to understand what motivates the consumers so they can align their operations and communications to emphasize these values. True success comes not just from using a green message, but from applying all of the wisdom from the marketing discipline.” – Duquesne University, 2014.

Educational content is the golden ticket, especially for eco-companies. An ongoing study at A.R. Marketing House proves that people make purchasing decisions based on if a product improves their environment or health, almost 77%.

Big brands are very aware of this and spend their marketing dollars on greenwashed content to highlight their charitable contributions and fluff stories to distract from their toxic products.

How eco eCommerce brands can execute intelligent marketing for the Holidays

Creating environmental educational content that leads up to Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the December holiday shopping season is the way eco-eCommerce sites can have a leg up this holiday season, and into 2020. It’s especially crucial for green businesses to educate all year round. If earnest environmental education isn’t currently a part of your marketing strategy, now is the time to jump ahead of the green educational content curve.

Educational, environmental content is the first step, and dissemination is step two. Where you share this informative content is vital. The 80/20 rule of creating amazing cornerstone content is spending 20% of the time creating different types of content and 80% of the time getting it to many audiences.

[su_pullquote align=”right”]”A $1 trillion market opportunity exists for companies that can successfully explain their sustainability efforts to consumers, according to a new study from Unilever.” – Baldino, 2017.[/su_pullquote]

Where to place and how to promote your educational content

There are many ways to start educating your audience. Starting with your website, you can create website content that is transparent and educates on things like our plastic crisis, solutions to climate change, and collective action your audience can take. The more you provide your audience with valuable, actionable content, the more they will trust your brand and be encouraged to share their new-found knowledge.

Creating a hierarchy of content where you develop one cornerstone piece, and multiple offshoots are helpful in the process of creating various pieces of educational content. These different types of content, i.e., videos, SlideShares, infographics, etc. can be tailored to all the platforms your audience is on.

Emails are a strong vehicle to deliver educational content that nurtures your list. It’s also a way to lead into Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Holiday sales, and your 2020 marketing strategy. As for the 2019 holiday season, it’s predicted that consumers will spend more than $12 billion, and 61% of shoppers will spend their money online. Leveraging your email list and creating content consistently will generate leads and nurture the people you have now, to shop with you.

When to start your Eco eCommerce holiday educational and sales campaign

The time to start building your holiday campaign was yesterday. The next best time to start is today. Most deadlines for a cohesive holiday campaign will need to begin by November 7th. The deadline is because Black Friday and Cyber Monday are no longer a one-day event, as most shoppers are too bombarded these days. You want lead-in and connection building content before offering up your sale.

Education done all year long creates educated consumers who are hooked on and align with your brand. The more we know about our customers, the more we can tailor education to their needs, and the more they will share that information creating brand loyalists.

Conclusion

Distinguishing between big-box greenwashing and emerging eco brands who are genuine is important to Millennials who are now the biggest and most educated of all U.S. generations. Millennials are not buying the greenwashed pitch anymore, no matter how hard companies swing an environmental angle for their campaigns. The more educational content eco-products create and disseminate, the harder it will be for the toxic brands to keep up with savvy consumers.

Email, website content, social media content, engagement campaigns, video content, and Green PR, are some of the best ways to incorporate education into a holiday strategy that you can carry into the new year. People are wary of brands with sustainable claims, tired of greenwashing and looking for real solutions. The new climate for green products and services requires brands to prove that they understand environmental issues, teach on those issues, and show that they are genuinely part of the solution. Consumers want to be taught to ensure they are making truly sustainable and healthy choices.

Knowing that consumers and their actions are changing is especially important information to take into the planning stages for holiday promotions. It’s no longer feasible to go into Black Friday and Cyber Monday with a one or two day sale if your brand wants to meet and surpass Q4 goals and sales, this is especially true for eco brands. The name of the game is building genuine relationships where your brand embodies your mission to improve the planet and help others along the way.

If you need a hand, our team can help get you started on your Holiday Strategy now. Hurry time is ticking. Contact the A.R. Team.

About A.R. Marketing House

The first and only green content marketing company to raise the integrity of “marketing”
We actively solve the challenges that environmental companies face
Offer new and different approaches to marketing as environmental companies have: different pain points in sales journey; up against greenwashing; new ways to approach Public Relations, educational approach to marketing strategies
Educational forms of content marketing strategies

Resources:

https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Plastic-and-Health-The-Hidden-Costs-of-a-Plastic-Planet-February-2019.pdf

https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/report/2015/the-sustainability-imperative-2/#

https://www.nielsen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/04/global-sustainability-report-oct-2015.pdf

https://www.outboundengine.com/blog/content-marketing-and-email-marketing/

https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/black-friday-ecommerce/#why-black-friday-is-a-big-deal-for-businesses

https://blackfriday.com/news/holiday-shopping-survey-data

https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-black-friday-3305710

https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/consumers-will-spend-41-percent-more-last-year-during-winter-holidays

https://sustainablebrands.com/read/behavior-change/the-new-black-how-new-breed-of-consumers-will-spend-money-energy-this-friday

https://www.mww.com/corpsumer

https://www.inc.com/dakota-shane/96-percent-of-consumers-dont-trust-ads-heres-how-to-sell-your-product-without-coming-off-sleazy.html

https://armarketinghouse.com/1-trillion-market-share-for-companies-who-educate-on-sustainability/

https://armarketinghouse.com/do-consumers-really-care-about-the-environment-survey-says-100-yes/

Oct

2019

Do Consumers REALLY Care about the Environment?

These 3 survey results tell us consumers genuinely care about sustainability

In 2018, we started an ongoing study to look at the sustainable purchasing habits and beliefs of average consumers. We wanted to understand if people care about their purchases in an environmental and health context, and if so, what percentage. The survey addresses the ways in which people prefer to be educated on environmental issues by the products that claim to solve them.

The survey is online and available for anyone to take. We will be releasing an extended version exploring all 30+ survey questions in the coming year.

First, however, we wanted to give a sneak peek of three questions in our survey that provide some insight into the power that people feel about their sustainable purchases. Here are three survey results that answer the question, Do consumers REALLY care about the environment?

Survey question #1 – How important is it for you to minimize your impact on the environment?

10 – Extremely Important (55.2%)
9 – Highly Important (17.2%)
8 – Very Important (13.8%)
7 – Important (6.9%)
6 – Slightly Important (6.9%)
0-5 – neutral or unimportant (0%)

Why do consumers care about their impact on the environment?

The results show that people ultimately value products and services that are safe for the environment. More than half of survey respondents shared that they care about minimizing their impact on air, land, water, food, and the overall planet.

While people care significantly about their impact on the planet, they are often unsure what to believe when a brand vaguely says they are “environmentally-friendly.” These very same people want truth and facts that are measurable, not greenwashed, because they actually care about the impact being made, not just about feeling good. The sentiment of “actually caring” means people want to see proof and participate with environmentally-focused brands who are influencing environmental policy, and not just promoting the same old greenwashed products with unsubstantiated sustainability claims. The quality of education, the amount of information, and transparency also impacts the level of involvement people will or won’t have in a brand’s mission. For businesses to actually reach and connect with this consumer group who values their environmental impact, education and transparency are required.

PATHWATER: the power of education equals motivated consumers

As a mini case study, let’s look at PATHWATER. PATHWATER created the first bottled water designed for reusability that is as affordable as plastic bottled water and made from aluminum, a highly recyclable material. PATHWATER’s mission is to disrupt the Bottled Water Industry by replacing all plastic packaging with aluminum, reusable bottled water. The company has positioned itself to continue along on the sustainability spectrum by committing to locally sourced water in every location PATHWATER expands to. Another part of their mission is to ensure clean drinking water for everyone, as they believe water is a human right.

To spread their mission, PATHWATER educates on all of the environmental issues their product addresses like plastic pollution, single-use packaging, and access to safe, clean drinking water. The PATHWATER Student Ambassador (PSA) Program was created with this mission in mind, to help students address plastic waste and clean water access issues. By providing information and transparency, students have a great desire to get involved to help push the PATHWATER mission on their campuses. Why? Because many students have the same agenda as PATHWATER – to ban single-use plastic. Students are provided with helpful instructions and support to ban single-use plastic bottled water on campus, and with these collaborative efforts, the planet, people, and PATHWATER’s business model are all succeeding. This type of environmental education creates a level of involvement most companies can only dream of, and that money can never buy. Education on a deep and genuine level, can’t happen with greenwashed companies, it’s a key indicator of an environmental company’s intentions. People, and in this case, students, find it easy to get involved in PATHWATER’s mission and voluntarily participate in taking action.

Survey question #2 – How important is it for you to minimize your exposure to chemicals deemed toxic or suspected toxic?

10 – Extremely Important (67.7.2%)
9 – Highly Important (16.7%)
8 – Very Important (10%)
7 – Important (3.3%)
6 – Slightly Important (3.3%)
0-5 – neutral or unimportant (0%)

These survey results show that people believe it’s essential to minimize their exposure to harmful chemicals

Minimizing exposure to toxic chemicals is directly linked to a concern for environmental pollution because of how pesticides, air pollution, and water pollution directly affect the quality of our health. When people care about environmental health issues, it’s essential to educate them on these topics and help them solve problems around chemical exposure as well as other environmental issues that align with your green brand’s mission and unique set of solutions.

For instance, people are concerned about health issues related to plastic and plastic waste. Plastic concerns are incredibly daunting right now, and people are keeping a close watch on matters related to plastic with genuine worry. Unfortunately, regurgitated information is being spread on every media channel and social platform; leaving people with half information and half-truths that are more damaging in the long run. Meanwhile, in-depth studies are being conducted, updated, expanded on, and some journalists are missing the basic environmental science around these studies. They seem to be cherry-picking the statistics that seem to be the most newsworthy or shocking and missing vital details that would actually inform people and give them new information. This aiming low and delivering the same news as competing media sources is diminishing the efficacy of education and missing the green solutions available to solve these environmental problems. A resurgence in intellectualism in research and writing is imperative, as this is the only way to provide meaningful, transparent information to consumers. Here’s an example of an article which busts myths around plastic being framed as truly recyclable, a solution, and a part of a circular economy – Plastic Vs. Aluminum: People Are Debating Whether Plastic Can Be Part of a Circular Economy.

Here’s another article Is it Safe to Drink from Aluminum Bottles? This article answers some of the mythical concerns around aluminum, the unfounded health scares, and the origins of widespread aluminum myths. All environmental issues are health issues at the end of the day, and when businesses deliver ecological education to people looking to buy in their market, trust is naturally built, competitors are dealt with in a fact-based manner, and profits become an automatic tertiary outcome.

Survey question #3 – Have you ever changed a purchasing habit based on an environmental or health reason?

Yes – 76.8%

Not sure – 19.2%

No – 3.9%

This survey question is significant proof that there’s a wide-open market for green businesses to help consumers who are ready to make better purchases. People care about environmental and health issues; however, they lack the knowledge to make informed decisions. So most people stand on the sidelines waiting for clear education which has created the $1 trillion missed market opportunity.

Our research is proving that people are willing to make a shift to better choices, given the right information. 61% of Millennials are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products, according to GlobalWebindex. This is additional confirmation that a growing group of consumers are open to being highly involved in green solutions; however, this requires proper education. This market is too large to miss. People are here and ready to make better choices once they are provided with the proof they need.

Conveying truth to people who demand genuine environmental solutions

There’s a need for green companies to focus on full-scope environmental efforts which include fulfilling the educational gap and lack of trust consumers are feeling. Consumers are now in the driver’s seat; therefore, brands that wish to succeed in this new market opportunity must adhere to the truth in the ways they choose to address environmental issues and environmental justice. While 30% of consumers actively seek out sustainable brands, there’s another 30% waiting on the sidelines to connect with brands transparently inform on the claims made beyond branding and messaging. It’s time for all great brands executing impactful environmental solutions to take consumers by the hand and elevate the world, together.

Conclusion

At A.R. Marketing House, we are always researching and collecting data to create focused educational content that aims to illuminate humanity on environmental issues and fuel movements. We’ve realized this education-based approach to marketing takes a perfect balance of intellect, critical thinking, creativity, and knowledge of topics like business, environmental marketing, journalism, politics, environmental science, and design. The bottom line is that people want to feel good about the products they’re putting their money behind. But feeling good isn’t enough, not for people, not for the planet. What everyone needs on this sustainable journey is help over the steep learning curve of environmental science.

Our survey proves that people care, now it’s our job to teach consumers how to sniff out feel-good greenwashing vs. real solutions so we can make some headway. We can’t just promise consumers they’re making the best choices, we ourselves have to actively create, promote, and educate on genuine environmental and health solutions that elevate how we operate.

We are an agency far ahead of the curve because we understand that the gap which needs to be bridged is an all around WIN solution. Genuine environmental solutions require mass adoption. Mass adoption requires environmental education. Environmental education must be presented in the context of marketing. Education bridges the gap between our crusade for cleaning up the planet and a massive wealth transfer. Wealth meaning health, money, clean food, clean air, clean water and a good quality of life. Wealth transfer meaning, from the planet polluting companies whom we subsidize with our money only to get in return pollution and hospital bills, TO environmentally-focused companies who help clean up the planet and thus improve our overall health and quality of life in the process. And of course, this wealth transfer requires a solid, steadfast commitment to take our fellow human by the hand and educate. Ferociously, without apology, without hesitation and with the most empathetic action-oriented plan, we all must tackle the mission to educate.

Where does this education start? It starts where people are looking for it online. Environmental education may begin with your website or any place your community finds you. This is where you have the ability to genuinely answer questions, cover all of the myths, educate, and often, reeducate. You’ve created a business that solves an environmental problem in the world, and consumers want ecological and health problems solved. The only thing keeping 80% of them from adopting your solution is education.

Unilever says there is a 1 trillion dollar market share for sustainable brands that educate, but when all factors are calculated, we presume the value for everyone is monumentally greater.

Resources

https://www.unilever.com/news/press-releases/2017/report-shows-a-third-of-consumers-prefer-sustainable-brands.html

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/01/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers/

https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/popproj/data/datasets.html

https://blog.globalwebindex.com/chart-of-the-week/green-consumerism/

Mar

2019

Why Education for Natural Products Matters Beyond the Expo West Trade Show

How every day should be a learning opportunity for natural products customers

March is an extraordinary time of year if you own, invest or work in the natural products industry. The Natural Products Expo West is the place you want to launch your hot new natural product. It’s where key decision makers can scope out and learn about new scientific discoveries, latest trends, and new processes in the natural products space. A whopping 90,000 industry insiders from around the world come together to learn about new and continuing trends.

More than 3,600 exhibitors cover the food, beverage, supplement, beauty, home, pet, and packaging industries on almost 500,000 square feet of the Anaheim Convention Center. It’s enormous, and the show keeps getting bigger. This is one of our favorite expos because this is where exhibitors are energized to deliver educational pitches on products that are paving the way toward health and sustainability – and are ready to answer any questions attendees may have. The truth is that brands who are improving health and the planet are educating transparently about it, which makes Expo West a playground for us to scope out those brands that are truly walking the natural and sustainable walk.

Part 1: Educational Content Marketing for sustainable brands at Expo West

PATHWATER

When you think NEW HYBRID you will now think SUSTAINABLE Bottled Water – PATHWATER. (spoiler: we are proud education-based content marketing partners with PATHWATER). The second attendees entered the Anaheim convention center they were greeted with a PATHWATER bottle to stay hydrated throughout the show.

This team is beyond amazing and happy to talk about the mission to stop single-use plastic water bottle pollution. PATHWATER teamed up with the New Hope Network and partnered with the Natural Products Expo to become the official sponsors. If you had a chance to talk to anyone from the team, you would’ve learned this was the first time in the history of the event that Expo West has accepted a water sponsor.

PATHWATER gave out over 50,000 bottles of water at the Expo and sponsored 13 water refill stations throughout the Anaheim convention center. We estimated that if 50,000 people received one bottle and refilled it all five days, the Expo would have kept 250,000+ single-use plastic water bottles out of landfills, incinerators, and waterways. That’s a big win for everyone and is why we work with PATHWATER – they are true to their mission and will stop at nothing to see it through. We are happy to have an educational relationship with the ONLY bottled water brand doing it right.

Erin Brockovich

Our next educational hero was Erin Brockovich. She talked about water issues affecting communities all over the United States. Erin Brockovich has been helping communities link their mysterious, localized health epidemics to polluted drinking water.

Brockovich also launched her Community Health Book – a map so people can self-report when they have issues in their communities. It is a brilliant use of content for gaining political power in numbers.

At the expo, she announced she’ll be publishing her new book Water, next fall. With a very important Q&A that followed her talk, Erin Brockovich’s theme of empowerment and togetherness inspired the audience on how we can all move to save the world, together. As a whole, in the U.S. people are disconnected from policies that surround our health, food, water, and air quality. Brockovich points out that we will need a collective force to change water issues or any issues for that matter. Her heartfelt call-to-action for everyone to SPEAK UP set a powerful tone. Her powerful stance around the importance of education, reeducation, and community building can and should be echoed by everyone in the natural products industry. This is how we will pave the way for better products that heal our bodies and planet.

Part 2: Expo West 2019 Top Product Picks

EcoTensil

They say: “EcoTensil is our award-winning, nationally distributed EcoTaster tasting utensil (Costco, Target, Whole Foods, etc.) uses 1/5th the space of other mid-sized tasters. We are the lowest cost compostable and recyclable tasting spoon on the market.”

We say: Ecotensil has reinvented the disposable spoon. In one fun fold, EcoTensil’s pleasingly smooth paperboard products transform into the most sustainable, highly space-efficient, and brandable utensils available. It’s impressive that such a simple product made from paper, folded at just the right angles can solve our single-use plastic spoon crisis. We are in dire need of a wise solution to make the plastic version of every single-use plastic product obsolete. While there is market demand, educational campaigns can help further these efforts in public opinion. Municipal and state laws are beginning to crack down on single-use plastics. EcoTensil is a brilliant, yet simple solution that we were pleased to see at select booths who were doing sustainability the right way. We would to love to see arenas, schools, universities, sports venues, concerts, and trade shows implement EcoTensil in their sustainability efforts. This should be the standard, not the exception.

Mitsubishi’s Cleansui

They say: “Mitsubishi Cleansui’s patented revolutionary Hollow Fiber Membrane technology removes fine, invisible particles up to 0.2 micrometers that are present in your water, such as 99.99% of bacteria, turbidity, and cysts.”

We say: Cleansui goes beyond the typical carbon filter and is a real solution for people who battle with water contamination issues like rusty pipes and are worried about pathogens and chlorine. With Mitsubishi’s standards of excellence and precision, we feel confident that this filtration system could be a strong competitor in the filtration market with the right education and content strategy to connect consumers with their line of home filtration systems.

It would be great to see more comparison on filtration systems and explanations of the third filtration step that other carbon-based home filters lack. It’s impressive to note that Japanese hospitals use this same filtration process for the water surgeons use to wash their hands before going into surgery. Great product, can’t wait to see more from the U.S. Cleansui team.

Patch Strips

They say: “PATCH was born when James Dutton (the founder of Nutricare) noticed that while trying to protect his son’s adventure wounds his skin was reacting badly to a common wound covering and making the wound worse. He was shocked to discover that there is an array of chemicals lurking in ordinary plasters. His research found that a staggering number of the world’s population can’t wear standard wound care coverings. Ultimately the wish for a wound care product that wouldn’t cause nasty skin reactions and serve as a way to help heal the wounds was the real reason for PATCH. Learning that an ever-growing number of the population react or are allergic to the current injury covering solutions only propelled the business to where it is today.”

We say: Going back to the idea that every product that is now commonly made from plastic requires a non-plastic solution to overtake the market— this is the non-plastic solution for band-aids. The day after leaving the show I got a paper cut and put one on; it felt more breathable than the typical plastic band-aid. We liked that there were additional healing additives, like coconut and aloe. This band aid should be the norm and not the exception. There is no reason why plastics must be in our band-aids so close to wounds, exposing them to irritants. This simple solution solves that problem for sensitive skin but also for the planet.

Neurohacker Collective, Qualia

They say: “Qualia was founded in 2015 with the mission of creating best in class well-being products by employing a unique methodology to R&D based on complex systems science. This scientific approach focuses on supporting the body’s ability to self-regulate, rather than overriding regulatory systems with chemicals designed to move a biomarker in a particular direction. We began with a focus on psycho-affective products with the launch of their Qualia nootropic line.” Qualia

Denise, A.R. Marketing House’s founder, says: WOW! As a nootropic enthusiast, I have been eyeballing Qualia and was curious to sample their focus and mind products. I’m a Genius Mushroom fan, and while I love the products, I am always open to exploring different herbal blends to optimize my brain functioning. I first tried the focus sample the day after leaving the show, and I began working on some projects. In record time I completed my morning tasks and was swiftly adding more. The rep warned me at the booth that the Focus version was for when you need to put in some overtime or extend your output that day. I was able to seamlessly and happily move from project to project into the night and had to consciously tell myself to stop working because I was still in the zone as 9 pm approached. Qualia is no joke; both products give you the clarity and focus you need to accomplish what you need to get done, but also helps with ramping up the creativity and feel-good factors.

Sambucol Black Elderberry Extract

They say: “Sambucol, the original Black Elderberry extract, provides strong immune system support to help you and your family stay healthy throughout the year. Developed by a world renowned virologist, Sambucol is the unique black elderberry extract that has been used in scientific studies.”

We say: These taste great but we didn’t have enough to test the “keeps your immune system strong all year” claim. We will keep our eyes on this product.

Smart Baking Company

They say: “This is the first high protein nutritious “snack cake” which has zero carbohydrates of sugar, zero of starch. The carbs are just from the fiber. Smartcake® has 60% fewer calories than any cake product on the market: only 38 calories per Smartcake® product. A serving size is 1 cake.” Smart Baking Company

We say: We loved the energy of the woman at the exhibitor’s booth. She was excited about the product and made us excited about it too. With diabetics both type 1 and type 2 in our families, we recognize a smart choice in these cakes. For dieters or people trying to make a healthier snack choice, SmartCakes are a great option. Plus, the taste and texture are great! Can’t wait to try the lemon.

Viteyes

They say: “Founded in 2002, Viteyes’ broad spectrum of products helps support your eyes. With superior standards, we stand for something better. We offer a unique mix of products to help you maintain your eye health. Our vision is built on four core values: EDUCATION, Transparency at the forefront; QUALITY PRODUCTS, Exceptional products researched; CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, Customer service reimagined; ADVOCACY, A brighter, healthier future for all. Viteyes products are manufactured using the highest quality ingredients, which are proven safe and effective, without risk of unnecessary additives.” Viteyes

We say: The idea that we are risking eye health every time we look at an electronic screen is troubling. This company has done the research and created a quality product to help combat eye fatigue and degeneration.

WaxWrap

They say: “Beeswax wrap is made by infusing pieces of cotton with a mixture of beeswax, pine rosin, and jojoba oil. It is a sustainable item, eco-friendly, biodegradable, reusable which makes it a perfect alternative to plastic wrap.

Wrap any food that you would typically wrap in plastic, such as, fruits, vegetables, cheese, a salad bowl, leftovers, etc.“ WaxWrap

We say: This brilliant yet simple solution to plastic wrap should be everywhere, in every home, and if people became familiarized through image and video content of how this works it very well could be. Simple ways to store and cover food at home is the next wave we need to see when replacing single-use bags and plastic wrap.

Winged CBD Gummies

They say: “Winged is the first CBD Product line formulated exclusively for women. The women of today’s world are adapting to new forms that break all molds. New age moms. Nurturing leaders. Powerful entrepreneurs. Community builders. At the end of every day, she belongs to herself and needs the tools to reel it all in. Winged is for the woman who craves the world and harnesses the power of cannabinoids so she can catch her breath, stand up tall, and take flight.” Winged CBD Gummies

We say: On day two of our journey into Natural Products Expo West we came across one of many (many, many, many) companies offering CBD products. There was an overwhelming number of pills, powders, drink mixes, and oils to soothe the endocannabinoid system, but something about Winged drew us in, and we couldn’t be happier. Here is a company by women for women, and we believe we know ourselves best. After chewing just one gummy, we felt at ease even in the midst of one of the largest, busiest expos in the world. They taste good and are made from natural organic ingredients.

GOOD PLANet Foods

They say: ”Good PLANeT Foods Premium Vegan Dairy Free Cheese is an ideal substitute for cheese in your diet. With excellent slicing and melting properties, this range is excellent for sandwiches, wraps, pasta dishes, or salads.”

We say: Hold on to your non-dairy hats, folks. It tasted like cheese! The texture is cheesy; the flavor is excellent. We haven’t had a lot of vegan cheeses to make comparisons, but we liked this one and appreciated the healthy alternative.

Maple Guild

They say: Unlock the Magic of Maple

“The syrup is just the start — discover our innovative line of maple-based products, from our award-winning maple spreads and maple vinegar to our iced teas and infused tree waters.” Maple Guild

We say: Honestly, the first thing to draw us into the booth was the man who saw our name tags and called us over by name. His energy and positive attitude were infectious and stood out from every other exhibitor. We might never have known otherwise, but boy— damn great maple! They process the fresh maple sap with a system they created to avoid masking the flavor. The usual boiling process produces a thick syrup with a heavy molasses flavor. It’s bright and light and delicious. We love their “evolutionary Steam-Crafting™ process to our Tree-to-Table™ approach.”

Waves in the Kitchen | Chef Daniela Gerson

They say: “Welcome to Waves in the Kitchen. Your destination for colorful creativity and outdoor adventure, inspired by a passion for good clean food, surfing, and travel. I’m a private chef & content creator by day and a surfer also by day.”

We say: We loved that she’s obsessed with beets and making food look like colorful art. Chef Gerson’s recipe index is excellent, and she was charming in person. And really— her beet hummus was excellent.

Expo West is over, but the education must go on!

The Natural Products Expo West never ceases to inspire and excite our team every year. At A.R. Marketing House we have the Expo spirit 365 days a year because we’re in non-stop education mode for our partners, it’s the main reason our two founders started this company.

When it comes to exhibitor education at Expo West — there are some missed opportunities after the show. Some of which include:

Taking the same concepts that were being taught at the booth and incorporating them into a bigger strategy
Injecting the same excitement from the show into fresh content
Taking that five minutes exhibitor pitch and create content from it
Take that complicated explanation of, for example, High-pressure processing (HPP), and develop a year-round educational plan to increase levels of understanding on the topic

How empowering would it be for natural products providers to rise above their inferior counterparts by offering sound education on their zone of genius? What would our store shelves, health, and lives look like with that type of brand commitment?

Connect with us

Ready to get your educational strategy off the ground? We offer DIY starter packages to enterprise level content marketing support. Schedule your educational growth plan call with us info@armarketinghouse.com.

Oct

2018

The 5 Do’s and Don’ts for Creating a Content Calendar

Before jumping into placing titles on dates, when creating a content calendar, you will want to answer some key questions to make sure your content isn’t in vain. Make your content count and deliver your messages with a strategy. Here are 5 Content Calendar Creation Do’s & Dont’s to know before creating your content calendar.

CONTENT CALENDAR DO’S:

Do set the time and/or team aside to commit to your content calendar goals.
Do research how much content you will need to create to make an impact.
Do know how often you will need to share content in order to be effective.
Do establish your best channels for sharing content.
Do measure your results and determine if your efforts produce the right ROI.

CONTENT CALENDAR DON’TS:

Don’t skimp on researching your audience. Get intrusively familiar with their needs.
Don’t use a generalized ‘free content calendar’ online – take the time to make your own, it will be well worth it.
Don’t hand off the project to anyone who isn’t going to research your audience.
Don’t generalize, be specific and include key information about content details.
Don’t give up! Well done content calendars take effort but pay off big.

Make sure your team is set up for success with the best content marketing software to track progress, complete tasks, and make publishing a no-brainer. Software options include Basecamp, Trello, Monday, Kapost, Google Docs, and Freedcamp. You can also use your own CRM if it has a content management section, like Salesforce or Zoho. Whatever you choose, keep it organized and make it mandatory for content creators to document their status and update necessary files.

What’s Included in a Content Calendar Entry?

Here’s a list of the basic things you’ll want to include in each entry of your calendar for content. These details will allow anyone to enter the calendar and have a clear idea of who the content is being created for, at what stage in a buying process they are, the time frame around the content and who to answer to or look for if questions arise, the project manager.

Details to include in the content calendar:

Working Headline of topic
Author assigned to that piece of content
Project Manager and Final Editor
Official due dates & publish date
Status of the project (completed, in progress)
Channels for sharing
Format
Category
Target Personas
Level of reader’s knowledge/stage in learning process (beginner, intermediate, expert).

Developing a content plan is rewarding when approached with diligence. The more effort you front load on your content development team and calendar, the easier it will be to execute and distribute. When you have a content calendar that you can rely on, writers and designers will be able to concentrate on the quality of their work and not the management and file sharing details that can get hectic without a system.

If you’re doing content right, you will see that there is no ‘one size fits all’ template. Honing your organization’s zone of genius and conveying that expertise that’s particular to your business and team, requires a tailored plan. If you’re a list lover like we are, this will actually be a fun process. Content is fun and when you put enthusiasm behind your content calendar, your writers and designers will also feel excited. In this case, the trickle-down effect is actually true because your readers will feel the same enthusiasm.

Have fun, be diligent, include your team, and get to planning!

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