How To Market To The Ethical Consumer: 5 Effective Marketing Strategies.

Ethical Consumerism has become an international movement, supported by a huge group of passionate, stubborn people who want to bring some real change to society. They firmly believe in the idea of ethical consumption and rightfully either boycott unethical products or purchase only ethical products and services. This has created a huge demand for ethical products in the market. For the people who are incognizant to this, ethical products are products that have been produced through ethical means, which translates to free from animal cruelty, labor exploitation, water pollution, etc. 
Now more brands and corporations, from fear of mass boycott, have converted into ethical companies. 

But conversion doesn't attract customers since the market only responds to what it sees. This is where marketing enters the frame. Brands not only have to convert to ethical corporations but also have to market themselves as one. After all, people buy what they see. If ethical consumers won't see any indication that a certain product is ethical, they simply won't consider it buying. Marketing, for brands, is a concept that can make or break their fortunes. Hence today we'll be looking at 5 ways through which brands or corporations can market their products. 

1. Develop A Good PR Strategy

How would you expect people to know that your company produces ethical products if you don't tell them? After all, marketing is a way to inform people about something; to convey information to the consumers. Hence it's of utmost importance that you spread the word about your ethics through a strong PR game. If you pull it off, this can do wonders for your brand. But remember that media doesn't spare anyone, so before you set out for a press release or plan a marketing strategy, clean your act. Be sure of your company's ethical standards and keep an eye on them. You only need to go wrong once to see your brand image crumble in front of you. 

2. Packaging

Packaging plays a huge role in marketing and it goes the same for ethical products. We live in a fast age where everything is moving at 2x speed. So it's given that people won't stop in a supermarket or grocery store to investigate a brand's ethical standards. They mostly rely on the packaging of a product to know whether it is an ethical one or not. So if you are an ethical brand, put it out on the packaging of your products. Get your products certified from various organizations and put all the necessary information on the package. Most ethical consumers go through the information on the back just to be sure. 

3. Support The Cause Publicly

People often forget things when they aren't reminded of them, time and again. Hence your brand needs to associate itself with certain organizations that are working to bring real change to society. In this day and age of social media, you also need to support the cause more vehemently through solidarity tweets or posts. These things can boost your brand image, therefore attracting more ethical consumers. Ethical Consumers are always on the lookout for brands that are ethical and hence being vocal about animal rights, human rights, pollution, global warming, etc. can bring new customers in large numbers. 

4. Educate Your Consumers

If you present yourself as an ethical brand, you must educate your consumers about ethical consumerism. If your brand isn't simply doing lip service and believes in the cause, you must teach your customers about ethical Consumerism. Customers mostly look for a macro perspective or a broad idea rather than specific details so you don't have to bore them with showing certificates. A simple product launch or advertisement would be enough. This will not only work wonders for your brand image and PR, but it'll also increase your sales by a huge margin. 

5. Go With The Flow

Going ethical suddenly won't bring huge business to your brand. So don't convert thinking that it'll bring huge sales. If you Google, most highly successful brands are not ethical and yet their revenue is highest. Most brands don't go ethical because they expect huge sales, rather they believe that going with the culture. The existing moral compass of society is something that will bring great results in the future. It'll develop a group of loyal consumers who come to you because they are so attached to your brand's ethics. This is how a lot of ethical brands become bigger. It's a slow process that bores great fruit in the future. 

Marketing plays a huge part in deciding a company's fate and if you play your cards well, your brand can benefit hugely from it. Being an ethical brand is important but if you fail to convey this properly to your consumer, you would never be able to reach people. So hopefully these tips will help your company to attract more ethical consumers.