The digital sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions than the aeronautical sector. A major part of this carbon footprint comes from our digital communication strategies. Videos, podcasts and other mailing campaigns have invaded the web and our daily lives. However, the environment and sustainable development are now among the main societal concerns. Consumers are becoming “consummators” sensitive to the ecological commitments of brands, blogs and companies. In this context, adopting sustainable digital marketing is not only necessary, but also an asset for the image and the reputation. So, what does eco-responsible digital communication actually represent and how do you apply it?
What is eco-responsible digital communication?
A brake on digital pollution
Eco-responsible digital communication is the basis of sustainable digital marketing. It takes up the basics of “classic” marketing strategies, emphasizing a precise analysis of needs and the implementation of eco-designed solutions. It consists of using online media to:
- lead communities (community management) by paying attention to the carbon footprint of the various media and distribution channels used;
- write content that is optimized both in terms of content and form (use of ecological fonts, concise texts that promote natural referencing);
- disseminate information (newsletters, videos, etc.) that is more targeted and informative;
- create a “sustainable” image and promote “eco-responsible” behavior around a product, a blog or a brand (storytelling, branding).
Indeed, all digital marketing actions represent significant digital pollution. Every day, a French person receives an average of 80 emails. Every minute, 500 hours of videos are uploaded and nearly 150,000 messages are posted on Facebook (source: Domo company infographic, “Data never sleeps”). But behind all this hides a rampant consumption of data, electricity and servers. Data centers and the various terminals (computers, smartphones, etc.) are overused and must be more and more numerous and efficient to disseminate this information on the web.
Eco-responsible digital communication therefore aims to maintain the impact and effectiveness of marketing strategies while minimizing the use of resources. For this, it is based on the creation of more ecological media and content. But how to eco-design your communication tools?
How to create sustainable digital marketing?
Bet on ecological supports
Less polluting videos
Video is one of the media that works best in marketing, but it’s also one of the most energy-intensive. To produce eco-responsible visual content, offer several quality formats. In fact, more than half of site visits are made from a smartphone (source: ARCEP’s “Digital Barometer”), filming only in high definition is therefore both superfluous and polluting. Also remember to systematically provide subtitles and a transcript file of audiovisual elements. This represents a more ecological and accessible alternative for people who are hard of hearing or who cannot activate the sound on their terminals.
If possible, allow videos to be downloaded. Less resource-intensive than streaming, downloading also allows your visitors to watch your films on demand or offline.
Finally, if the image does not represent a major source of information, favor podcasts which are excellent digital communication tools with a lower carbon footprint.
Greener emails
Mailing campaigns are also part of the essential levers of any digital marketing strategy. To reduce the environmental impact, make sure to:
- limit and compress illustrations;
- systematically offer an unsubscribe link;
- remove duplicate mailing lists;
- Wikipedia Consultant copywriter will write your titles and clearly identify the sender.
This last point will also ensure a better rate of opening of emails and prevent them from piling up in the baskets of inboxes.
Social networks used in an “eco-responsible” way
Regarding the networks, the basis of an eco-responsible social media strategy consists, here too, in clearly defining your audience. To do this, create one or more “personas”, that is to say typical profiles that you want to address. Then use only the networks that will allow you to reach that audience. For example, Facebook is ideal for generating a community for a blog while LinkedIn is more for professional exchanges. Instagram is perfect for building branding and visual identity around a brand or product.
By precisely targeting your audience, you avoid generating unnecessary environmental impacts. Indeed, content that is not adapted and therefore little read or shared is a dormant source of digital pollution. Articles that end up at the bottom of search results, badly optimized blogs, videos drowned in the mass or emails that have never been opened continue to occupy space in datacenters and on bandwidths.
Eco-responsible digital communication: between ecology and performance
Opting for sustainable digital marketing means prioritizing digital sobriety. But that doesn’t mean that this type of communication is more limited or less effective than other marketing strategies.
On the contrary, eco-responsible digital communication makes it possible to respond in a useful and relevant way to the requests of prospects and readers. Indeed, the eco-design of any online product or service first goes through an in-depth needs study phase. This first step consists of precisely defining the expectations of Internet users. For example, in:
- monitoring social networks and forums to respond only to clearly identified expectations;
- analyzing the most searched key queries with SEO tools and answering them with “green” media and content;
- questioning its audience to define its needs more precisely (through surveys or question-and-answer sessions, for example).
Better targeted, sustainable digital marketing strategies thus contribute to developing a positive digital identity among Internet users.
Then, communicating in an ecological way implies meeting these needs by respecting standards in terms of energy impact and accessibility. Several labels make it possible to measure the efficiency of digital media, such as:
- the W3C which guarantees standardization and provides methodologies for website accessibility;
- Eco Prod which provides a charter as well as training on audiovisual eco-production;
- the Green Code Label which is obtained by following a reference system of good eco-design practices.
These resources and labels help to create ecological, sustainable and successful content and blogs. In addition to reducing its carbon footprint, eco-responsible digital communication can be better disseminated and thus reach audiences who experience accessibility problems or who have aging equipment.
Become an eco-communicator by optimizing responsible marketing
When you want to develop eco-responsible digital communication, the content of the messages counts as much as the medium.
Regularly distributing optimized web content is essential to attract and retain readers. But it is also a tremendous benefit from an ecological point of view.
Indeed, by adopting a qualitative editorial line focused on key requests and queries, you won’t need to write hundreds of articles for Internet users (and Google!) to consider you as a reference on the subject. Thus, you reduce your digital pollution while developing an expert image.
In addition, texts and videos that convey information and create value for your readers limit the bounce rate (percentage of visitors who load the site and then leave it without taking any action).
Finally, SEO optimization ensures good natural visibility of the content and makes searches more relevant and faster. This drastically reduces network usage and round trips to servers.
And why not go further by becoming a real eco-communicator? In your publications, you can share your commitments and promote your approach. This raises the awareness of your customers, but also your teams, other service providers, and your entire ecosystem. In the long term, you will be able to drive changes in behavior in favor of sustainable development and develop relationships of trust with your readers.
Eco-responsible digital communication is therefore more ethical and concerned about ecological issues. Based on an even more in-depth analysis of the needs of Internet users and on optimized responses, it is a real asset for setting up sustainable and effective digital marketing. However, it is still necessary to define a good content strategy. If you need professional support or talented writers to set up your eco-responsible communication, contact us!
