73% of buyers will change their purchasing habits to reduce their negative impact on the environment, according to a McKinsey survey. Organizations within the S&P 500 that actively invest in sustainable practices have been found to drive 18% more revenue.
Manufacturing companies in particular are placing an emphasis on sustainability. The Environmental Protection Agency notes that in addition to reducing costs and waste, manufacturers who embrace green practices:
- Strengthen their brand reputations
- Build public trust
- Attract new customers, building a competitive advantage
So, how do you maximize the benefits of your efforts by attracting more customers who value sustainability?
Find the Buyers that Value Sustainability
Some of your buyers will see partnering with a sustainable business as a top priority, while others will have it lower on their list. Discovering buyers that see sustainability as a top priority — or at least a topic of interest — will make it easier to target your messaging.
When buyers that care about sustainability seek providers, they will:
- Research topics related to sustainability and environmentally-friendly products
- Visit websites related to the topic and read content on those sites
- Visit sites of companies that are sustainably-built
But, those actions won’t necessarily set off any alarm bells at your company, because the person hasn’t raised their hands — they’re simply performing research.
To uncover this activity — and identify the buyers and accounts that prioritize sustainability — you need to leverage technology that will capture those signals.
6sense gives you the ability to find the accounts and buyers who are actively researching sustainable solutions. With 6sense you can track generic and branded intent keywords that relate to your business and products. You can also track keywords like “renewable,” “energy efficient,” “carbon neutral,” “waste reduction,” or “recycling.”
Not only will you now know the top keywords and their trends over time, you’ll know which critical accounts are prioritizing sustainability. Finding those buyers makes it easier to target them with personalized campaigns touting your sustainable practices and values — giving them the experience they’re looking for during their buying journey.
Reach the Right Audience in the Right Place
Once you’ve uncovered the buyers and accounts who are actively searching for information relating to sustainability, it’s time to ensure your messaging reaches those audiences.
Instead of creating a large-scale advertising campaign with an enormous budget that generates thousands of impressions but little engagement, it’s much more effective to hone your campaign to more targeted places — increasing engagement and saving money.
The best way to do this? Contextual targeting of your advertising.
6sense’s contextual advertising functionality makes it easier to ensure your ads and messaging only appears alongside content that relates to your goals.
If you manufacture solar panels, with 6sense you can create an advertising campaign that focuses only on buyers that are actively in-market and interested in solar power, while ensuring the ads only appear when they’re reading online content related to the topic.
A Spark Neuro study revealed that contextual relevant ads generate 43% more engagement and 2x better ad recall.
Conclusion
Building a sustainable business is hard but important work. Focusing on green initiatives, or only using environmentally friendly materials, requires a level of care and investment that can set you apart from competitors.
Customers want to do business with companies that they see as responsible corporate citizens. When you’ve done the work to build a sustainable business it’s critical you are able to share your message with the right audiences to help increase your brand awareness and ultimately win more business.
6sense makes it easier for manufacturers to find the buyers who prioritize sustainability and target them with the right messaging, in the right place.
