Marketers wondering how to implement green practices in communications and operations have a number of easy yet effective tactics at their disposal.
Replace printed collateral with electronic collateral wherever possible
This saves trees, water and electricity from paper production processes — and reduces pollution. Today most customers are comfortable with digital documents such as PDFs, and many even prefer them. This is not only a responsible practice, but it is responsive to current customer needs and preferences.
Replace paper forms with online, Web-based forms
Many marketing departments still rely on paper forms to initiate new projects, request materials, and approve marketing and sales assets. Implementing these forms as Web-based entries to database systems reduces use of paper and streamlines internal workflows.
When printing is necessary, print the minimum needed and no more
This results in less paper consumption and less waste, and also reduces the print budget. A key objective for printing and fulfillment operations should be eliminating wasted materials. Also, mass distribution of new literature (“please send 50 copies to each office”) should be replaced with electronic notification.
Use e-fulfillment
Enable your users to download and/or e-mail marketing assets directly from an online repository. This eliminates the need to transport print materials by truck from a warehouse or fulfillment center and reduces harmful emissions to the environment.
Stop creating marketing materials that are ineffective
Usage reports from your marketing intranet or sales extranet provide the intelligence marketers need about which materials are popular and which are rarely used. If you also give sales members the ability to rate marketing/sales items, you can determine what materials are most effective for customer purposes. This avoids printing and throwing out materials no one wants to use.
Eliminate overnight shipments to and from agencies and printers
Instead, send large files electronically via secure Web services designed for this purpose.
Scott Richardson ([email protected]) is CEO and president of Longwood Software.
Network
