In the past few years, we have seen a dramatic shift in the way we talk about our environment. From heated debates in Congress about amending our energy policies, to the fervor generated by Al Gore’s award-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, to millions of businesses changing their company cultures, “greening” has entered into the discourse of our daily lives.
In the entrepreneurial and corporate worlds, it is becoming increasingly vital to be a green company and limit your business’s environmental impact. According to eMarketer, a study by Opinion Research showed that 60% of adults think it’s either very important or extremely important that companies be environmentally conscious. In light of this information, how can your company contribute to the worldwide effort to curb global warming while still reaching your customers in an efficient way? The answer is simple: turn to online and email marketing.
iContact’s Chairman Aaron Houghton has done extensive research on email’s environmental impact, and pointed out several key facts to me on the subject. Aaron reminded me that email marketing is inherently greener – and has a much lower carbon footprint – than direct market mailings. This is especially true when you consider email’s low impact on our natural resources, paper consumption, and the fossil fuels it takes to deliver regular mail. For example, in trying to do our part to lessen our company’s carbon impact on the environment, iContact consistently sends over 650 million emails on a monthly basis, saving literally hundreds of tons of paper. Delivery of email takes seconds and saves paper and gas, while direct mailing can take days or weeks to reach a destination as a significant amount of natural resources are used to complete the mailing.
Aaron also noted that in addition to the environmental benefits of email marketing, more people are switching to email marketing due to the rising costs of direct marketing caused by the recent economic slowdown. On the whole, email marketing is cheaper, has a much stronger ROI, can be automated and personalized easily, and is a more earth-friendly activity in comparison to direct mail.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll return in a few days to talk more about the benefits of email marketing.
Cheers,
Ryan Allis
