digibird on Friday February 7, 2025

For Climate Solutions to Cross the Chasm: Start Marketing to Customers Who are Ready for Change

Originally published as a guest post on Sustainable Brands in March 2023, this article was last updated in January 2025 to ensure the information is current.

To avoid the worst climate impacts, we must prioritize the deployment of emerging climate solutions without delay. To do that, however, companies with climate solutions need smart marketing in order to achieve visibility, reach their target audiences and communicate their practical value to the Buyer Personas. This article provides advice and tips to accomplish this cost-effectively.

Keeping global warming below catastrophic levels is still possible, but it requires immediate and drastic action to decarbonize this decade.

Thankfully there is no shortage of companies offering climate technologies, nature-based and circular economy solutions, working to wean the world off fossil fuels and restore ecosystems. These companies have the potential to bring about real and lasting change, resulting in a more equitable future.

Unfortunately, their marketing budgets are often rather limited while they compete with established companies and mainstream solutions. On top of that, there is a challenging trend. For the third year in a row, venture capital investment in climate tech has fallen worldwide (Source: State of Climate Tech 2024. PWC). All the more reason companies need to be thoughtful with marketing and spend their marketing budgets wisely.

Navigating the lack of awareness

We cannot afford to waste time in the adoption of innovative climate technologies. However, a major hurdle companies can face is getting the public to understand their product and creating an initial base of customers. This is understandable given the innovative, novel and often complicated nature of their solutions.

If companies want to enhance their chances of long-term survival, it’s vital that they market themselves in an effective and efficient way.

One of the things to consider here is focusing on a specific audience rather than a broad market. Companies need to zoom in on those who benefit most from their solutions and are ready for change. By focusing on these early adopters, companies can create a solid base of customers who can help spread the word about their products to cross the chasm between the early adopters and the mainstream market.

Targeting specific audiences through online marketing channels has become increasingly straightforward and effective. And best of all, this approach is highly cost-effective.

Platforms like Google Search, Google Display Network, and LinkedIn offer businesses a range of tools and features that allow for laser-focused audience targeting.

Imagine: you represent a cleantech company (or a company with another type of climate solution), you have a limited budget or are still in the customer development phase and have different hypotheses to test before launching large-scale campaigns. For your initial campaigns or for creating a solid base of early adopters you will not want to reach all and every Head of Procurement or Head of Innovation even if your custdev efforts have proved they are the ones who decide whether to involve their CFO and go ahead with buying your solution. As we can see in the example screenshot below (click to expand) there are 7,4 million such decision makers in Europe, North America and the Middle East alone.

It may be smarter to start with those Heads of Innovation and Heads of Procurement who are familiar with and are interested in such notions as a circular economy, sustainability, cleantech. To reach such Procurement and Innovation decision makers, you can apply additional filters in LinkedIn Campaign Manager (click to expand):

Additionally, you can adjust the audience and extend or narrow it down with the filters specific for your niche to include people with other titles who take part in the purchasing decision for your product or service and/or other interests.

Likewise, when advertising via Google Ads, it is possible to zoom in on people who are ready for change and are already looking for sustainable solutions and lifestyles.

For example, the audience filters in Google Ads can help you target people with a strong interest in and actively searching for:

Creating meaningful connections with your target audience

To win the early adopters, companies must define a clear and compelling value proposition.

When marketing a sustainable solution, companies should emphasize how it meets the core needs of that specific audience. Instead of focusing on how a solution will benefit future generations, it’s crucial to highlight the immediate benefits. Companies can also incorporate sustainability as an additional bonus of their solution. This approach allows businesses to effectively communicate the value of their products to those who benefit most from it now.

This sentiment was shared by marketing experts who spoke at a panel discussion facilitated by Orange Bird Sustainability Marketing Agency in conjunction with the International Chamber of Commerce. A number of panelists agreed on the importance of highlighting that many climate solutions are “win-win” and offer practical benefits in addition to mitigating climate change, such as cost savings and improved quality of life.

Kate Barabanova from zero-emission aviation company ZeroAvia says marketers promoting sustainable practices need to “sell the benefits of mitigating climate change to people”.

“We need to make people want a sustainable product as much as a new smartphone or another pair of shoes.”

“As marketers, you know how to sell a product, right? You define the target audience, then based on that you choose marketing instruments, you promote your product, which is action against climate change.”

“[Then you] analyze, adjust, and repeat. We should get this idea to the very bottom of people’s hearts and souls.”

Communicate practical value to the people that are ready for change

To sum up the tips above: When businesses highlight the direct, real-world benefits of climate-friendly innovations, they can create messages that do more than inform: they inspire action. Communicating this clear and compelling value proposition to the audience most ready to receive it—those who recognize the need, see the benefits, and are positioned to act—makes for the most successful and impactful marketing outcomes.

If you’re looking for ways to refine your approach, zoom in on and connect more meaningfully with your audience, now is the time to explore new strategies that maximize your impact. Let’s start the conversation!