Why sustainable copywriting matters

Sustainability is front and centre of everybody’s agenda, but with this, there is a lot of noise, and those truly eco-conscious brands and companies need to cut through this with authentic copy and content that depicts their values and ambitions. 

Sustainable copywriting is a way of delivering engaging and transparent content that garners trust from eco-conscious customers.  

The Importance of a Sustainable Message 

Consumers and businesses across the board are embracing sustainability and increasingly making choices with the environment in mind. According to Deloitte, 40% of consumers have chosen brands that have environmentally sustainable practices and 34% have even stopped purchasing from those that do not fit those values. And it’s not only consumers either, 67% of businesses have started using more sustainable materials and 57% are also providing employee training on climate change/action.   

With this in mind, it’s integral that ethical businesses and those delivering green products and services are harnessing this growing and engaged audience who value eco-friendly practices.  

Demand from customers is not the only reason to build out your sustainability messaging and a portfolio of content. This is an expanding market and therefore more eco-entrants are saturating the market promoting their ethical products and services, meaning competition is only growing in the space. Whilst your technology, product or service may be unique, is your messaging?  

If not, it should be.  

People are bombarded with a myriad of sustainable agendas and messaging every day, and are becoming more attuned to those that are authentic and those that are, dare we say it, greenwashing. Vague messaging that proclaims statements like ‘protect the planet’ isn’t going to cut it.   

How you can create sustainable copy  

Developing genuine sustainable messaging isn’t a one size fits all and has to be intertwined with who you are as a business. This will be the key to differentiation.  

However, there are a few key elements that any business can apply to their sustainable copywriting.  

Be Honest

First and foremost, the messaging you deliver must be honest. Therefore, you need to have a higher eco purpose and a ‘why’ behind your sustainable copywriting. 

Build a Hierarchy of Messaging

Messaging hierarchy refers to creating a framework that prioritises and conveys messaging in a way that derives the most value. For example, if you take a website, your tagline that is front and centre should be the most essential information surrounding what you stand for, then as you move down the page, it continues to follow your chosen hierarchy. Take our whitepaper collaborators, CeraPhi Energy as an example. They make it instantly clear in that initial tagline that they focus on geothermal energy. 

Be Holistic

To help ingrain trust with your audience, it’s important that the messaging you choose is replicated on every channel and relays the key sustainable messaging you have chosen. This sentiment also includes your tone of voice, which must be consistent to establish that much-needed trust.  

Be Strategic

Where the messaging is seen is just as important as the messaging itself. Be careful where your messaging is placed, and this comes into play with external messaging such as PR or sponsorship. Make sure any external comms placements match your ethos.   

Think Sustainable SEO

The goal of your sustainable copywriting is to grab your target audience’s attention, and with most interactions taking place digitally, you need to ensure possible customers/clients find your website. So, every piece of eco-content must be optimised for search.  

Be Transparent

As mentioned earlier in the piece, vague sustainability phrases aren’t going to resonate with your audience, they want to see transparency. Consider including your exact sustainable objectives or what you have achieved so far on your net-zero journey. They want the action behind the words.  

Getting Sustainable Copywriting Right   

To gain the true value from your sustainability copywriting, it must demonstrate expertise when speaking about sustainable subject matters, whether that be ground-breaking technology that desalinates water with the power of the sun or IoT that drastically improves energy efficiency in facilities.  

Businesses require expert sustainable copywriters that specialise in this field and have a vast knowledge of the market. 

For example, companies often use phrases like carbon neutral and net-zero interchangeably, but actually ‘net-zero emissions’ considers all greenhouse gases, not just carbon. When using ‘net-zero carbon’ it indicates that no carbon emissions were released from the get-go, rather than balancing out the carbon footprint which ‘carbon neutral’ refers to.  

It is this level of granularity and accuracy that will set you apart from those that are including these terms purely as a tick-box exercise.  

Halston’s Sustainable Content Expertise  

Here at Halston B2B, and our wider brands Halston Group and Sustainability Partnerships, sustainability is a passion that we have ingrained into all sides of our business. At Halston Group, we have developed a GreenTech Whitepaper investigating the market in collaboration with experts in the field. At Sustainability Partnerships, we are helping the NHS along its net-zero journey.  

Because of this, we have attracted a portfolio of clients that all share our passion for the environment and make sustainability a central element of their company.  

Take for example, our client Imageco. With Eco in its name, sustainability couldn’t be more entrenched. We helped Imageco build out their sustainability copywriting and built on from this to build the ImagEco sub-brand. With our support, they have a range of content that promotes their eco-based range of materials, thought-leadership articles that place them as the authority in the field, and even sustainability reports to supply to their own eco-conscious customers. The eco-warrior has since won awards for their sustainable contribution to the sector and become externally Gold certified by the likes of EcoVardis.  

If you’re a GreenTech, a sustainable brand, or a company working towards carbon neutrality, and need sustainable copywriting to demonstrate your eco ethos to the world, then speak to our team.