My firm, Grossman Marketing Group, put together our 100 Tips for Marketing Success earlier this year to mark our 100th anniversary.  Over the last century, we have learned a lot about what helps make our customers look good, so we thought we’d share what we’ve learned.

21 of the 100 tips involve sustainability, and over the next few months, I’ll be sharing these with you, by category.  If you’d like to download the complete set of 100 tips, please click here.  They are free! The four categories covered in the “green” section are 1) General Sustainability, 2) Green Promotional Products, 3) Green Design, 4) Green Printing.  I’ll get started with the General Sustainability tips.

Research shows that Americans want to work for, buy from, and donate to organizations that make significant and sustained efforts to address environmental issues.

1. Sustainability can help you cut costs as well as build sales. We have experienced both at GMG and are happy to help you do the same at your organization. To learn more, just contact Ben Grossman at 617.591.2919 or bgrossman [at] grossmanmarketing [dot] com.
2. Be transparent about green marketing claims—make sure they are verifiable by an independent, third party.
3. Include your colleagues in your sustainability efforts; often the best ideas come from the bottom up, rather than from the top down!
4. Spread the word about the sustainability efforts your organization is taking. Your customers, investors and colleagues care.
5. Simple changes in your office can have a huge impact: use energy efficient light bulbs and put recycling bins at every desk. We encourage our colleagues to bring in old batteries, light bulbs and other household materials to be recycled for free.
6. Employee education is key—sustainability must be part of the company culture. If so, it is much easier to implement (and less likely to be cut).
7. Make sure to back up your green marketing efforts with truly sustainable business practices throughout your organization.

I hope you find these helpful.  We’ll be back to you later this summer with more!  Many thanks for reading!