Digital Marketing with a Focus on Sustainability

Digital Marketing best practices including influencer marketing, content creators, and omnichannel marketing for Sustainable Brands at the Sustainable Cosmetics Summit 2024 in New York

1. DIGITALDIGITAL
MARKETINGMARKETING
with a focus on
sustainability
SOURABH SHARMA

2. KEY TAKEAWAYS
Communicate your brand and benefits clearly1.
Understand your audience2.
Meet your customers where they are3.
Build a community4.
Invest in edu-tainment5.
Grow with a maturing influencer market6.
Tell a consistent brand story at every touchpoint7.
Understand the long-term impact of brand loyalty8.

3. How are you defining sustainability?
Practice Environmental Responsibility
Minimize environmental harm, reduced carbon footprint,
lowering emissions, conserve resources, reduce wastes
Engage in Social Responsibility
Fair trade practices, diversity and inclusion, community support
Invest in Product Lifecycle and Innovation
Biodegradability in mind, developing eco-friendly products,
utilizing green technology, managing post-consumer waste
Communicate Supply Chain Transparency across the
Product Lifecycle
From ingredient sourcing to end-of-life for the packaging.

4. How are you defining sustainability?
Encourage a Circular Economy
Prioritize reuse, refurbishment, and recycling
Comply with Certifications and Standards
Adhering to third-party sustainability
certifications, exceeding regulatory
guidelines
Demonstrate Stakeholder Engagement
Engage with various stakeholders:
customers, employees, suppliers,
communities, and investors, long-term
growth and ethical investment for
sustainable financial health
Source: THE SUSTAINABLE AGENCY

5. How are you defining sustainability?
Developing a zero waste model
Refilling and recycling
Taking post-consumption control
Reducing ingredient waste
Rethinking production with a made-to-order model
Introducing less waste, better transport initiatives

6. Communicate
your brand
and benefits
clearly
KEY TAKEAWAY 1
Identify a core brand
identity and educate
audiences around it

7. Greatest Generation (before 1928)
Silent generation (1928 - 1945)
Baby Boomers (1946 - 1964)
Gen X (1965 - 1980)
Millennials (1981 - 1996)
Gen Z (1997 - 2012)
Gen Alpha (2013 - present)
Who are you marketing to?
5.5%
0.26%
20.6%
19.6%
21.7%
20.9%
11.6%

8. Interested in sustainable products
Will pay more for sustinable products
Baby Boomers (1946 - 1964)
Gen X (1965 - 1980)
Millennials (1981 - 1996)
Gen Z (1997 - 2012)
Younger generations are interested
and will pay for sustainable products
44%
33%
60%
76%
30%
40%
66%
68%

9. Eco - Anxiety
The heightened concern about the
climate emergency we are
experiencing, leading to psychological
disorders, especially in younger people
For many in Gen Z, actively engaging in sustainable practices
contributes positively to the environment and provides
psychological benefits.

10. Understand both your core customers
and your future potential customers
Market to all of them
without alienating any one of them

11. Customer identification and
personas help marketing effectively
Source: Glossier

12. KEY TAKEAWAY 2
You have current
customers and future,
potential customers
They are, and always will
be, multigenerational
Understand
your audience

13. Gen Z has broken the
classical marketing funnel

14. Social media is a marketplace,
not a social network
consumption
exploration
education
community
loyalty
co-creation
inspiration

15. exploration
education
community
loyalty
co-creation
inspiration

16. Gen Z Millennials
YouTube
TikTok
Instagram
Google Search / Ads
Word of Mouth
Amazon
TV
In-store
Snapchat
57%
50%
53%
44%
19%
14%
22%
21%
18% 18%
34%
29%
44%
24%
34%
35%
24%
11%
Where do you learn about new brands and products?
inspiration
exploration

17. YouTube
Google Search
/ Ads
TV and Amazon
Youtube
TikTok
Instagram
Gen Z
Millennials
feel they are exposed to way too many brands
80% 73%
inspiration
exploration

18. 66%
Gen Z
Millennials
prefer real life experiences while shopping
74%
shop in store versus on social media
use social media like
a search engine for research
73% 70%
67% 66%
inspiration
exploration

19. “TikTok search volume has
increased “dramatically”
over the last two years”
“Young people are increasingly using
social media as a search engine, to
research products they’ve seen online
or IRL and hear from others about the
item’s fit, quality, packaging and more.”
“Gen Zs said “brands often lie about
their products/services. Comments
sections are a key area of the
research phase.”
“Influencers with engaged audiences often
say they get asked questions almost as if
they were a prescriber or dermatologist.”
inspiration
exploration

20. The challenge for brands is
giving the inspiration to
explore in the right ways at
the right times
Brands need to become educators in
the research phase, meeting the
audiences where they are researching
inspiration
exploration

21. KEY TAKEAWAY 3
Meet your
customers
where they
are

22. say that their favorite
brands make them feel like
they’re part of a community
54% of Gen Z
education
community
co-creation

23. The connection with brands
helps young consumers
feel a sense of belonging,
which is why communities
thrive so well
Gen Z is the loneliest
generation ever
education
community
co-creation

24. displaying and promoting
products
promotions, blogs, lists
certification lists
online customer support
forms, chatbot
shoppers
online tutorials and lifestyle
content
bite-sized educational
content, expert interviews
tutorials, UGC, influencer and
expert opinions
live social media Q&A,
testimonials as content
community (give it a name!)
PRODUCT CONTENT
BENEFITS
SUSTAINABLE BENEFITS
CUSTOMER BENEFITS
AUDIENCE
education
community
co-creation
Getting started with community building

25. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Behind the Scenes, Tutorials
Hosting an event (e.g. in store or at a location)
Collaborating with other brands
Limited edition products
Active comments section on social media
Challenging norms (inclusivity, disability, non conforming ads)
Things that brand communities enjoy
education
community
co-creation
55%
55%
52%
52%
51%
45%

26. + employees, founders and stakeholders
education
community
co-creation

27. education
community
co-creation
Communities go beyond the product

28. KEY TAKEAWAY 4
Build a
community
A community reinforces
trust in your brand that
drives loyalty and
purchases

29. Let’s talk content
Educational: explain facts clearly
Emotional: strike a chord or resonate with people
Entertaining: people should want to watch it

30. UGC (User Generated Content)
Reviews, testimonials, any
videos, pictures, reviews, etc.
about your products that are
created by customers
Content that is 100%
authentic rather than content
made by your brand builds
trust among as its genuine
education
community
co-creation

31. Educate and entertain
education
community
co-creation

32. Testimonials and press
education
community
co-creation

33. education
community
co-creation

34. education
community
co-creation
Pop culture
conversation and
content drives
awareness and SEO

35. KEY TAKEAWAY 5
Invest in
edu-tainment
Content should educate,
strike an emotional
chord, and entertain

36. education
community
co-creation
Don’t be debating influencer marketing
beauty influencers on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok
10,000+
32%
49%
400k-700k
of followers of beauty influencers come from the US
of all followers of beauty influencers on Instagram are aged 25-34
followers per beauty influencer on Instagram vs TikTok, respectively

37. education
community
co-creation
Top of Funnel
Audience Size
MEGA
MACRO
MICRO
Brand
Ambassador
UGC
Creator
AI
Influencer
Influencers by reach / scope

38. education
community
co-creation
Influencers by type
Influencers with a
reach targeting an
engaged audience
Traditional
E.g. dermatologists,
makeup artists,
trained
professionals
Professional
E.g. beauty editors,
business owners,
founders
Thought Leader
E.g. affiliates, store
associates, brand
ambassadors
Brand Advocate
E.g. PR professionals,
journalists
Connector
Famous people who
might be in other
professions (e.g.
movies, sports)
Celebrity

39. “Social media influencers that are liked by
people help increase loyalty towards the
brand they are representing, often
becoming ambassadors over time.”
“More than 60% of
consumers interact with
an influencer at least once
a day, and 35% several
times a day.”
“41% of social media users use
influencers as a source of information
about new brands and products.”
“Influencers partner with
brands with the ability to
not just advocate, but co-
create with them.”
education
community
co-creation

40. Working with Influencers
Repeat / Reuse
Measure
Collaborate
Scouting
Objective
Re-use content, affiliates,
etc.
Measure ROI on all fronts.
Ensure the content resonates with the influencer
audience, current trends, and the brand.
Measure as per Relevance, Resonance and Reach
Identify which part of the marketing process fits the best with
influencer marketing at this stage.
education
community
co-creation

41. education
community
co-creation

42. KEY TAKEAWAY 6
Grow with a
maturing
influencer
market

43. what it looks like to a business
E-commerce site
In-store pop up
Social media networks
Email newsletter and SMS messages
Press articles and mentions
Advertisements and digital promotions
Blog articles
A brand or a product, no matter what the touchpoint
Create a seamless omnichannel experience
education
community
loyalty
what it looks like to a customer

44. Store finder + social channel
+ website links + CTA
Physical / Digital Ads
Contact instructions +
connecting on social media
+ accessing the website
Products + Packaging
Ability to connect online via
in-store prompts
Store Locations
Consistent messaging + links
to website
Social Channels
Links to website + social
channel links
Email Marketing + Blog
Prompts to sign up to newsletter +
social links + store locations
Website
Website
Email
Marketing +
Blog
Social
Channels
Physical /
Digital
Ads
Products +
Packaging
Store
Locations
education
community
loyalty
Create a seamless omnichannel experience

45. education
community
loyalty
Learn from larger brands like Sephora that
pioneer and master omnichannel marketing

46. KEY TAKEAWAY 7
Tell a
consistent
brand story
at every
touchpoint
Adapt to the touchpoint
for a seamless
omnichannel experience

47. Loyalty is a
relationship
not just a repeat purchase

48. Gen Z Millennials
Buying often
Telling others about brand
Loving a brand (without buying from it)
Visiting a brand's store
Visiting a brand's website or app daily
Following on social media Never trying a competitor
Posting about a brand on social media
56%
51%
What are the most important ways to show brand loyalty?
loyalty
54%
41% 40%
38%
21%
29% 28%
20%
37%
45%
26%
30%
27%
24%

49. Brands need to be where the
people are, as people are at the
center of the consumer journey
exploration
education
community
loyalty
co-creation
inspiration

50. KEY TAKEAWAY 8
Understand
the long
term impact
of brand
loyalty

51. KEY TAKEAWAYS
Communicate your brand and benefits clearly1.
Understand your audience2.
Meet your customers where they are3.
Build a community4.
Invest in edu-tainment5.
Grow with a maturing influencer market6.
Tell a consistent brand story at every touchpoint7.
Understand the long-term impact of brand loyalty8.

52. DIGITALDIGITAL
MARKETINGMARKETING
with a focus on
sustainability
SOURABH SHARMA
[email protected]