How Do Green Tech Companies Earn Consumer Trust?

Human activity has had a major impact on the environment. Pollution, deforestation, and burning of fossil fuels have led to climate change, poor air quality, and undrinkable water.

And while it’s up to every individual to contribute towards stopping these disastrous events, companies can have a greater influence on both making a change and leading by example.

Green tech companies, in particular, have led the battle with climate change, which has brought them a lot of benefits.

“We need innovation that gives us the tools to make fossil fuels obsolete. It’s not enough to just cut emissions slightly. Green technology companies are critical in driving forward new solutions that can scale globally and drastically reduce our carbon footprint.”
– Bill Gates, How to Avoid a Climate Disaster (2021)

What Is a Green Tech Company?

Green tech companies are businesses that develop and/or use technologies, which encourage environmental sustainability. The goals of these companies are to address global issues, such as waste management, air pollution, climate change, etc.

They focus on innovation, energy efficiency, waste reduction, renewable resources, and emission reduction. Essentially, the key characteristics of green technology companies are to:

1. Focus on the Environment. At the core of it, is creating products/services that reduce environmental harm and promote sustainability.
2. Emphasize Innovation. Another key principle of green technology is innovation. You can’t achieve progress without thinking of new, cutting-edge technologies that lead to cleaner energy solutions, and more sustainable approaches to manufacturing.
3. Be Efficient. Efficiency is also quite important. Green tech is always looking for ways to optimize energy, water, and material usage.
4. Have a Long-Term Vision. Change cannot happen overnight. These companies are looking for ways to save and preserve our planet.

How to Build Trust Using Green Tech?

Be Transparent in Your Operations

Transparency has a key role in building trust with consumers. Even more so, when it comes to developing a green brand. Be honest about the environmental impact of your product/services and business practices.

Nowadays, companies that claim to be green need to prove it to both customers and stakeholders. This is mainly due to the fact that many companies practice greenwashing, where they mislead consumers about the sustainability of their products and business practices.

Make sure to regularly share sustainability metrics and other relevant data that demonstrate the impact of your business. To ensure absolute transparency, you can include independent, third-party audits.

Obtain Certifications and Comply With Standards

Getting recognized certifications, like ISO 14001, or Cradle to Cradle, can greatly boost your trustworthiness, and legitimize your business. 

Additionally, you should strive to comply with both the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement for reducing carbon emissions. 

Again, this is another great way to support the authenticity of your green practices and gain the trustworthiness of your consumers.

Use a Sustainable Supply Chain

Speaking of trust, what better way to build it than to make sure your entire supply chain, not just the end product, complies with environmentally friendly practices, right?

Use raw materials and components, and go for eco-friendly energy sources. You should also think about partnering with suppliers and other businesses that share your values, and use cleaner technologies.

Innovate and Educate

Innovation is not just about demonstrating your creativity. It’s also about showing a genuine commitment to making a positive impact. Your company is not green simply because it’s trendy, you should truly want to raise awareness about important environmental concerns.

For instance, Climeworks, a green tech company, tackles carbon removal directly. This gives them tons of credibility and a very high level of consumer trust.

In addition to innovation, educating both customers and investors is vital. This allows you to explain the benefits of your product/service to people who are not familiar with these concepts.

Try to make your educational content engaging, and use different channels, such as social media and videos, to capture the attention of potential customers and investors.

Demonstrate Long-Term Commitment

Like Benjamin Franklin said, “Energy and persistence conquer all things.” This is especially valid for environmental technologies.

Your commitment should be clear for all to see. Regularly show your achievements, set long-term targets, explain how you plan to achieve them, and lastly, often update on your progress.

All these steps will leave no doubt that sustainability is embedded in the values and vision of your company, and is not just a marketing tactic.

“The companies that will succeed in the future are those that embrace green technology and sustainable practices. Consumers and investors are demanding more from businesses—they want ethical, environmentally-friendly products that make a real difference.”
– Paul Polman, Business Leader

Target Audience: Who, Where, How?

Naturally, your business cannot target everyone successfully, so it is best to focus on the people who are most likely to be interested in your offerings.

Environmentally Conscious Customers

Who are they?

These are mainly younger generations (Gen Z, Millennials). They are the most concerned about environmental issues and are even ready to pay more for sustainable products. These groups highly appreciate authentic and transparent brands that share their values.

Where to target them?

Your best chance of successfully reaching them is online. Be it on social media (Instagram, X, LinkedIn), through guest posting on popular sustainability blogs, or sustainability-focused forums and online communities.

How to best reach out to them?

Be completely transparent and honest about green practices. Demonstrate your commitment, and explain your values. These are very loyal customers if you manage to earn their trust.

Early Adopters

Who are they?

Early adopters are always actively on the lookout for the latest innovations. These people are usually very influential within their social group and can become powerful advocates for green companies who win their approval.

Where to target them?

Attending special events and conferences about green technology is a great place to start. Early adopters might typically go to such events so that they don’t miss out on industry trends. What’s more, they generally like to network with industry professionals and see product demonstrations.

How to best reach out to them?

Focus on the cutting-edge aspect of your technology, the innovations you are trying to bring about, and the overall performance of everything. Share how you envision the future of sustainable living.

B2B Companies Looking for Green Solutions

Who are they?

Nowadays, many B2B companies are looking to reduce their carbon footprint, improve energy efficiency, and appeal to eco-conscious consumers. Of course, these businesses are also worried about complying with regulations as well as adopting and maintaining sustainable practices.

Where to target them?

You should attend sustainability-focused events that effectively target such B2B firms (for example, GreenBuild for building, Sustainable Brands for consumer goods, etc.) You can also utilize LinkedIn as well as direct email marketing to reach out directly to decision-makers.

How to best reach out to them?

Emphasize the ROI and business aspects. Explain the financial benefits of adopting green technologies, including cost savings, and long-term profitability. Offer comprehensive support or even provide a free trial, so they can test your sustainability solutions with minimal risks.

Government Agencies and Public Institutions

Who are they?

You may not know this, but government agencies and public institutions often have goals to increase sustainability and environmental protection. Hence, they are frequently looking for green tech solutions to improve public infrastructure, buildings, services, and so on.

Where to target them?

One option is to look over government-focused publications and websites, like Federal Times or Government Technology. Alternatively, you can try to develop relationships with key decision-makers through networking events, industry associations, and direct communications. Also, you can join government innovation programs, focusing on sustainability and green tech.

How to best reach out to them?

Concentrate on the long-term benefits, cost savings, and alignment with public policy goals. Be patient and persistent, and prepare yourself for lengthy and complex bidding processes.

How to Measure Consumer Trust?

As we mentioned a few times already, trust is one of the most important factors for the success of green brands. But how do you measure it? Here are some key points to remember.

1. Net Promoter Score (NPS). You’ve probably had to answer the question, “How likely are you to recommend our product/service to a friend or colleague?” at least once. This is the NPS metric, which indicates how satisfied customers are with your company. It is a good way for green tech companies to understand how reliable their claims and products are.
2. Trust Barometer Score. Similar to NPS, the Trust Barometer Score focuses on measuring various aspects of consumer confidence. Using such a survey, green tech businesses can evaluate environmental claims, company transparency, ethical practices, and so forth.
3. Social Media Sentiment Analysis. Use social listening tools to analyze social media conversations and understand public opinions and levels of trust in your brand.
4. Customer Retention Rate. A high percentage of retained customers can indicate the level of trust in the products/services of your company. Look to compare your retention rates with industry standards and figure out factors contributing to customer loyalty or churn.
5. Green Trust Index. You can develop a green tech-specific index that combines the data from the previous metrics. Use it to obtain a comprehensive view of your trust levels, and track your progress over time.

How Does Trust Increase Business Performance?

Keep in mind that all the trust you earn is not just for self-esteem or internal company evaluation. Gaining the loyalty of your audience can actually help your business grow and perform better. Here are some of the main aspects:

1. Sales Growth. Using the data you’ve gathered from trust metrics, you can determine whether periods with higher sales coincide with higher user trust. Chances are, the more faith consumers have in you, the more your sales will increase.
2. Bigger Market Share. The green tech market is very competitive, and trust can be a differentiating factor, contributing to an increase in market share. 
3. Include Premium Prices. High levels of consumer trust could allow you to add premium pricing to your products/services. Customers will often pay more for solutions that they believe in. Make sure to analyze trust metrics before you decide to increase prices.
4. Lower Acquisition Costs. Trustworthy companies can benefit from a significantly lower customer acquisition cost. Always calculate and monitor customer acquisition costs by channel to find out the exact correlation between trust and customer acquisition costs.
5. Higher Brand Value. You can greatly enhance your overall brand value if you earn the confidence of consumers. Reputation is very important for every business, and even more so for green tech companies. So, ensuring high levels of trust can increase your brand value over time.

DevriX Can Help You Earn Consumer Trust