Earth Day is just around the corner. And for businesses, the holiday offers some unique promotional opportunities. Whether you sell eco-friendly products in a retail setting or run a service-based business online, there are things you can do to promote your business and celebrate Earth Day. Here are 20 unique ideas.
Earth Day Promotions
Give Away Reusable Mugs or Bottles
Plastic water bottles and styrofoam coffee cups are the scourge of the environment. But there are plenty of reusable options out there. And those products also offer you some unique promotional opportunities. Get your logo printed on some reusable bottles and thermoses and give them to your employees or even hand them out to customers with purchases over a certain amount during the week leading up to Earth Day.
Host an Outdoor Photo Contest
Earth Day can also be a great opportunity for you to host a contest on social media. Ask your followers to submit their favorite photo of themselves enjoying the great outdoor (bonus if your products can be featured in those photos). Then offer a prize to your favorites or even have other followers vote on the top photos.
Clean a Local Park
You can also take a more local approach to celebrating Earth Day. Gather your team and head to a local park or outdoor space to pick up trash and clean up the area. You can wear t-shirts or other gear with your company name on it. And you can even invite some of your top clients or customers to join in the cleanup effort.
Sponsor a Park or Highway Cleanup
Or you can simply sponsor the cleanup of a park or highway if there are any of those opportunities in your area. You can provide financial support and then receive some signage or other visibility in exchange.
Start a Community Garden
To greenify your immediate surroundings, you could start a community garden or plant some greenery at your office building or a rooftop garden. You can even make an event out of it and invite some of your clients or customers to take part in the festivities.
Host an Educational Event
If your business caters to families or parents, you could host an educational event for kids at your location to offer some information about Earth Day. Or you could even host a seminar or similar event for B2B customers interested in adding some sustainable practices.
Collect Recyclables at Your Location
You could also try to get more people to visit your location by hosting a recycling collection event. Advertise and post online that you’ll collect various recyclables from people who bring them to your store or office during the week leading up to Earth Day. This can be especially appealing if you offer to collect things like batteries and electronics that can be difficult for people to recycle on their own.
Change Your Online Branding for a Day
For businesses that operate mostly online, you can still call attention to your support of environmentalism on Earth Day. Add some festive elements to your logo or online branding on your website and social media profiles for the day or days leading up to Earth Day. To do this, you could go all-green or add some leaves, trees, an earth or similar elements.
Host an Earth Day Sidewalk Sale
Retail stores can celebrate Earth Day by offering some holiday sales and encouraging people to enjoy the great outdoors while they shop. Especially if your shop is in a downtown area or business district, you can partner with other stores and restaurants to organize a large-scale Earth Day event.
Offer Sales on Sustainable Products
You could also call attention specifically to any products you offer that are made with recycled or sustainable ingredients or materials. This can appeal to shoppers on Earth Day and also call attention to your eco-friendly offerings for the consumers who like to buy sustainable items throughout the rest of the year as well.
Offer Limited Edition Sustainable Products or Menu Items
Or you could even create special edition products specifically for Earth Day. This could be especially possible for restaurants that want to offer daily menu specials. Just come up with a special dish or dishes that use organic or sustainable ingredients.
Give Seeds or Green Gifts With Purchases
Instead of discounting the products you already sell, you could add some value for Earth Day customers by offering gifts with purchases. Seeds for flowers, herbs or other plants can be a great festive and cost effective option.
Partner With Other Businesses to Create Green Gift Bags
You might also partner with other businesses to put together gift bags or baskets full of green products that customers can buy or get as a gift with certain purchases. This lets you sell some extra products on Earth Day and increase your reach by offering the bag at your store and other shops in the area.
Create a Green Shopping Guide
Or you could create a shopping guide that’s specific to your area. Put a special emphasis on businesses that sell sustainable products or use eco-friendly practices. Then make those guides or maps available at businesses throughout your community.
Give Away Reusable Shopping Bags
Stores can also add some value and encourage sustainable practices by offering reusable shopping bags for free or a discounted rate with purchase. You can add your business’s name or logo to the bags for some extra promotional opportunities as well.
Offer BYO Discounts
Or you could simply offer discounts to consumers who bring their own reusable shopping bags, rather than requiring you to give them wasteful plastic bags. Alternatively, if your business is a restaurant or coffee shop, you could offer a discount to customers who bring in their own reusable mugs or bottles so you don’t have to provide disposable cups.
Share Green Tips on Social Media
Online businesses can simply share some tips for green living on social media as a way of celebrating Earth Day. If you can, find a way to integrate some of your products or services into those tips as well. But make sure they’re actually valuable.
Produce a Short Film
You could also create a short film about Earth Day and share it online. This can be especially effective if you and your team take part in any cleanup or community greening efforts. You can film throughout the day and then edit the clips together to share your team’s experience.
Make a Donation
Or you could simply donate to an environmental cause in honor of Earth Day. Open up the opportunity for your employees to contribute or even put out a collection jar where customers can contribute as well.
Sponsor Earth Day Events in Your Community
Many communities also have their own special events in honor of Earth Day, like races, parades or similar functions. If those events accept business sponsors, you can contribute in order to get your business in front of more local consumers.
Earth Day Photo via Shutterstock
This article, “20 Ideas for Earth Day Promotions” was first published on Small Business Trends