What B2B marketers can learn from NOUS anti-gaspi, Too Good To Go and Back Market about positioning, proof and conversion.

There is something quietly interesting about walking into a shop that sells products other retailers did not want to keep.

A packet may have a short date, a fruit may look less polished, a product might come from surplus stock, or a phone may have had a previous life before being refurbished and sold again.

The product may still have real value, while asking the customer for a little more trust before they choose it.

• Is this still good?
• Is it safe?
• Is the lower price hiding a weaker experience?
• Am I making a smart choice, or accepting a compromise?

That question is what makes anti-waste commerce such a strong marketing case study.

“Brands like NOUS anti-gaspi, Too Good To Go and Back Market sell products that need trust before they can be chosen. Their growth depends on making products with an initial trust gap feel understandable, credible and worth choosing.”

In B2B marketing, buyers also make decisions under uncertainty. They may be interested in a product, but still unsure about implementation, risk, quality, data, support, compliance or internal buy-in. In categories like this, conversion is not just persuasion. It is risk reduction.

The value of “imperfect” depends on how it is framed

A short-dated product is not automatically a bad product. A wonky vegetable is not less nutritious. A surplus item is not less useful. A refurbished phone is not necessarily less reliable.

The meaning attached to the product often matters as much as the product itself.

Modern commerce has spent years making quality feel synonymous with freshness, abundance and newness. A full shelf feels reassuring, a pristine product feels safer, and a new device often feels easier to trust than one with a previous life.

Positioning matters here because it shapes whether the customer sees imperfection as a risk or as part of the value.

Many B2B products also carry a perceived flaw. They can be complex, technical, regulated, expensive, hard to implement or difficult to compare. Weak marketing tries to smooth over that friction. Stronger marketing explains why the friction exists and what value it creates.

Anti-waste commerce has grown because it solves several tensions at once

Food waste is not a small problem. The European Commission states that more than 58 million tonnes of food waste are generated annually in the EU, with an associated market value estimated at €132 billion. [1]

In France, anti-waste and food destocking have become a more visible commercial category. Xerfi estimated that the turnover of food destocking and anti-waste specialists reached €520 million in France in 2024. [2]

Those figures explain the economic relevance of the category. The buying decision itself is more layered.

The best models make the buying decision feel both rational and emotionally acceptable. The customer can say: “I saved money, avoided waste, and still got something useful.”

It also connects with something I explored in From Scarcity to Stewardship: The New Psychology of Conscious Consumers. Responsible consumption is no longer only about values. It is also about proof, affordability, usefulness and trust.

Awareness does not remove hesitation

Most people already understand that food waste is a problem, and many consumers know that buying refurbished can reduce environmental impact. Awareness creates interest; confidence turns that interest into behaviour.

“At the moment of purchase, the buyer needs more than awareness. They need to feel that the product is safe, the price reflects real value and the sustainability message is not hiding a weaker experience.”

A similar pattern appears in B2B SaaS, fintech and marketplaces.

Buyers may understand the problem and agree with your category narrative, but they still need practical reassurance: will the product work, can the team deliver, is implementation manageable, is the data reliable, and can the decision be defended internally?

That is why the most interesting anti-waste brands do more than create demand. They design the buying experience around the hesitation itself.

NOUS anti-gaspi makes anti-waste feel like normal shopping

NOUS anti-gaspi is interesting because it brings anti-waste into a familiar retail format.

From the outside, the model is simple: sell everyday products that would otherwise risk being wasted, often at lower prices, through physical stores. The marketing challenge is more subtle. NOUS anti-gaspi sells discounted products, but its real marketing challenge is to normalise a different way of shopping.

For the model to work, customers need to feel that buying anti-waste products is not strange, risky or second best. It has to feel like a practical grocery choice.

The brand connects several layers of value at once: price, everyday usefulness, waste reduction, local shopping habits and a familiar retail experience.

According to Plan Bio, NOUS anti-gaspi raised €3 million in 2024 and reported 28 stores and €41 million in turnover for 2023. [3] In January 2026, Linéaires reported that the brand planned to open eight new stores in 2026, including a Paris opening on Boulevard Richard Lenoir, with further development planned in Paris, Bordeaux and Lyon. [4]

The exact figures will evolve, but the direction is clear: anti-waste is no longer only a niche activist behaviour. It is becoming a more structured retail proposition.

For B2B marketers, the useful lesson is about adoption. A new behaviour becomes easier to accept when it is embedded in a format the buyer already understands.

If your product asks buyers to change how they work, report, buy, analyse or decide, the experience cannot feel completely foreign. You need to make the new behaviour legible through familiar cues: clear categories, simple next steps, transparent pricing, recognisable workflows, proof points and onboarding that reduces uncertainty.

Too Good To Go makes waste reduction feel small enough to act on

Instead of putting anti-waste into a physical grocery format, it turns surplus food into a small, repeatable action. The customer opens the app, finds a nearby partner, reserves a discounted surprise bag and collects it during a specific time window.

The surprise element could have been a barrier. People do not always know exactly what they will get, and that uncertainty creates friction. Too Good To Go gives that uncertainty a structure.

Too Good To Go says it has grown to more than 120 million registered users and 180,000 active business partners and has helped save more than 500 million meals from being wasted. [5] As this is company-reported data, it should be treated as self-reported impact rather than independent verification. Still, it shows the scale of the behaviour the company is trying to build.

That is why the first action matters. It gives the customer a way to test the promise without needing to believe the whole story upfront.

Back Market shows why proof has to appear before conversion

Refurbished electronics carry one of the clearest trust problems in circular commerce.

“The value proposition is attractive: cheaper devices, less waste, less pressure to buy new. But the buyer may still worry about battery life, hidden defects, seller quality, warranty, support and what happens if the device fails.”

Back Market has to make refurbished feel safe enough to choose, with sustainability as part of the value rather than the whole argument.

The company does this through visible trust mechanisms. Its own site highlights refurbishment standards, up to 100-point quality inspections, free 30-day returns and a 1-year warranty. [6]

In 2024, The Guardian reported that Back Market had expanded to 18 countries, raised more than $1 billion and worked with around 1,700 traders and refurbishers. The same article quoted CEO Thibaud Hug de Larauze describing the “trust gap” between refurbished products and new devices. [7]

A trust gap closes when quality control, guarantees and seller standards become visible before the customer feels too much risk.

Many companies have strong operational proof, but they hide it too deep in the journey. The best evidence sits in sales decks, onboarding calls, legal documents, security questionnaires, help centres or customer success processes. By the time the buyer sees it, they may already have hesitated.

When operations answer a real objection, they should be part of the story. In B2B, that proof can come from onboarding processes, data governance, customer support, partner vetting, security standards or implementation frameworks.

Before the buyer says yes

Across these examples, the important work happens before the customer says yes.

The brand changes how the buyer interprets the perceived flaw, then adds enough proof to make the decision feel reasonable.

The pattern is simple: identify the hesitation, make the trade-off clear, show proof early, and make the first step feel low-risk. Anti-waste brands do this because they have to. B2B marketers should do it because buyers are already asking these questions before they convert.

A lot of marketing becomes too thin at exactly this stage. It jumps from claim to CTA without doing the confidence-building work in between.

A company may say it is more sustainable, more efficient, AI-powered, future-facing or built for growth, while the buyer is still wondering whether the claim is credible, what will actually change, how difficult adoption will be and whether the decision can be defended internally.

The experience still has to hold

This is also where the limits of anti-waste commerce become important. These models can easily become romantic stories about better consumption, but they are operationally difficult businesses.

Supply can be unpredictable, margins can be thin, quality may vary, and operations are often complex. There is also a deeper paradox: if society becomes better at preventing waste, businesses built around surplus need to keep evolving.

Poor quality, unclear impact or inflated claims can make consumers question whether the model truly reduces waste or whether it simply turns surplus into another polished commercial story.

Ethical intent may create the first reason to care, but repeat behaviour still depends on the experience. A weak product, a disappointing basket or an unreliable warranty quickly remind customers that mission alone cannot carry the relationship.

The brands that hold up over time combine mission with practical value. Price, convenience, reassurance, local access, guarantees and repeatable behaviour all matter.

What B2B marketers can take from this

Anti-waste commerce gives B2B marketers a useful logic: study the hesitation before trying to accelerate the conversion. A SaaS company does not need to behave like a grocery store, and a fintech platform does not need to imitate an anti-waste app.

Make the trade-off visible

B2B buyers need to understand what they are choosing.

A clear trade-off is easier to trust than a polished promise. Setup time, specialisation, structured workflows or higher pricing do not have to weaken the offer, as long as the buyer understands what each constraint protects, clarifies or helps avoid.

Turn abstract claims into customer jobs

A lot of B2B messaging starts too high up. Words like growth, innovation, efficiency, transformation and AI-powered performance may be relevant, but they often fail to explain what the buyer can actually do next.

Move proof closer to the first moment of doubt

If a buyer has to book a demo before they understand your methodology, security posture, onboarding process or customer results, the journey is asking for trust too early.

Move proof into the places where hesitation already appears: landing pages, comparison pages, FAQs, pricing pages, case studies, product explainers, demo follow-ups, nurture emails and onboarding content.

This is where anti-waste commerce connects with circular growth loops: the strongest models do not simply acquire users. They create repeat behaviours around value, trust and participation.

Growth is what happens when the customer has enough confidence to come back.

Look for trust leakage before adding more traffic

Trust leakage happens when a buyer understands the offer but still does not feel safe enough to move forward. More traffic will not fix that. The friction sits inside the proof, the reassurance, the onboarding story or the perceived risk.

This is where B2B marketers should look before assuming the problem is demand.

This is a more useful way to diagnose growth in trust-sensitive categories. Not every conversion problem is a CTA problem. Sometimes the buyer simply does not have enough confidence yet.

FAQ

What is anti-waste commerce?

Anti-waste commerce is the sale, redistribution or revalorisation of products that are still usable but at risk of being wasted, discarded or undervalued. This can include surplus food, short-date groceries, imperfect products, unsold meals, refurbished electronics and other circular commerce models.

Why are anti-waste brands relevant to B2B marketing?

Because they sell under imperfect conditions. Their products often carry a perceived flaw, which makes them useful examples for B2B categories where trust, risk and proof shape conversion.

What can SaaS companies learn from Too Good To Go or Back Market?

SaaS companies can learn how to reduce perceived risk before conversion. Too Good To Go turns a big problem into a simple, repeatable action. Back Market makes quality control and reassurance visible. Both show that trust should be designed into the customer journey, not added at the end.

Is anti-waste commerce only about sustainability?

Sustainability sits alongside price, convenience, quality reassurance, trust signals and repeat behaviour.

How can B2B marketers reduce perceived risk before conversion?

By making proof visible earlier: customer evidence, methodology, security information, onboarding clarity, transparent FAQs and operational credibility.

Conclusion

Anti-waste commerce is interesting because it begins with products that can raise doubts, then builds a buying experience around those doubts.

NOUS anti-gaspi does it through familiarity. Too Good To Go does it by making uncertainty feel small and actionable. Back Market does it by making proof visible before the customer has to take the risk.

For B2B marketers, the useful lesson is to notice where buyers hesitate before trying to accelerate the conversion. Sometimes the problem is not demand, positioning or traffic in isolation. Sometimes the buyer simply does not feel safe enough to move.

In anti-waste commerce and B2B growth, trust is part of the system that makes conversion possible.

💌 If you want more essays on ethical growth, trust-led marketing and practical B2B growth systems, you can join Conscious Growth Dispatch here.

Sources

[1] European Commission, Food waste, accessed May 2026. The Commission states that over 58 million tonnes of food waste are generated annually in the EU, with an associated market value estimated at €132 billion.

[2] Xerfi, Le marché du déstockage et de l’anti-gaspi alimentaire, published 27 June 2025. Xerfi estimates that the turnover of food destocking and anti-waste specialists reached €520 million in France in 2024.

[3] Plan Bio, L’enseigne NOUS anti-gaspi lève trois millions d’euros et ouvrira 3 magasins d’ici fin 2024, published 2024. The article reports NOUS anti-gaspi’s €3 million fundraising, 28 stores and €41 million turnover in 2023.

[4] Linéaires, NOUS anti-gaspi ouvrira 8 magasins en 2026, published 15 January 2026. The article reports the brand’s plan to open eight new stores in 2026, including a Paris opening on Boulevard Richard Lenoir.

[5] Too Good To Go, Too Good To Go Accelerates U.S. Expansion, published 27 August 2025. The company states that it has 120 million registered users, 180,000 active partners across 19 countries and more than 500 million meals saved from waste.

[6] Back Market, Back Market: refurbished tech that’s better for the planet, accessed May 2026. Back Market highlights refurbishment standards, up to 100-point quality inspection, 30-day returns and a 1-year warranty.

[7] The Guardian, “It should be a right to fix your phone”: the boss of booming secondhand tech firm Back Market, published 11 June 2024. The article discusses Back Market’s international growth, refurbisher network and the trust gap around refurbished electronics.

The post How Anti-Waste Brands Make Imperfect Products Easier to Trust appeared first on SAMIN GHIASI | GROWTH MARKETING CONSULTANT | FR/EN.

A 2025 guide for B2B startups

It’s scaling your business through systems that build trust, respect privacy, and create genuine value. It’s a mindset and method that prioritises:

• Respect for users and their data
• Sustainable growth loops instead of leaky funnels
• Tools and tactics that are carbon-conscious, privacy-safe, and human-focused
• Quality engagement over vanity metrics

“Instead of buying email lists, ethical brands build referral loops. They don’t use dark patterns, they rely on transparent onboarding that earns trust over time.”

In a landscape obsessed with speed, scale, and shortcuts, ethical growth asks a better question: What if growth could be sustainable, both in terms of business and impact?

How is it different?

Ethical growth doesn’t mean slow growth. It means deliberate growth, based on principles, not pressure.

Why startups need this in 2025

Startups today face:

• Privacy regulations tightening (GDPR, DMA, ePrivacy)
• Growing backlash against manipulative tactics
• Conscious consumers and B2B buyers who notice your stack, message, and values
• Talent who want to work for companies that scale responsibly

84% of U.S. consumers say they only purchase from brands that share their values (Edelman Trust Barometer 2024).

Practising ethical growth isn’t just about marketing better. It’s about building a business that earns attention, trust, and revenue without extraction.

The 5 core pillars of ethical growth marketing in B2B

1. Sustainable systems – Build growth engines that loop, retain, and regenerate
2. Signal over noise – Track metrics that reflect real engagement and value
3. Tool ethics – Use Martech with respect for privacy, energy use, and transparency
4. User trust – Communicate with honesty, clarity, and consent-first UX
5. Conscious experimentation – Test with purpose, not desperation

Where to go deeper (coming soon)

• Cold email vs. dark social: Where should early-stage startups invest?
• How to build a sustainable growth engine
• 6 Martech tools every ethical brand should be using
• Vanity metrics vs. real KPIs in 2025
• The Conscious Growth Dispatch newsletter

Final thought

Ethical growth marketing isn’t a trend. It’s the return to business that builds with its customers, teams, and tools. You don’t have to trade performance for principles. You have to commit to building systems that reflect your values.

Ready to go deeper? Subscribe to The Conscious Growth Dispatch for free monthly guides, frameworks, and tools.

FAQs about ethical growth marketing

What are examples of ethical growth tactics?

• Referral loops instead of paid lead lists for B2B
• Consent-first email onboarding
• Transparent pricing and carbon disclosures

Is ethical growth marketing slower? Not necessarily. It may take more intention upfront, but it reduces churn, builds trust faster, and increases lifetime value.

Can ethical growth work in B2B? Absolutely — especially in SaaS, climate tech, HR tools, and purpose-driven consulting. Ethical B2B growth builds relationships, not just pipelines.

How do I start building an ethical growth system? Start with your metrics, audit your stack for privacy/climate alignment, and focus on retention before scale. The newsletter goes deeper.

The post What Is Ethical Growth Marketing? appeared first on SAMIN GHIASI | GROWTH MARKETING CONSULTANT | FR/EN.

Your monthly ethical growth marketing newsletter

For B2B founders, marketers, and lean teams who refuse to choose between growth and values.

No vanity hacks. No soulless automations. Simply practical insights into how ethical and environmentally responsible brands are scaling — and how you can, too.

Every edition delivers:

• Tactical breakdowns of real growth experiments (cold email, SEO, dark social, etc.)
• Tool and stack audits with a conscious lens (privacy, carbon impact, longevity)
• Fresh commentary on sustainable marketing trends and team design
• Smart systems, Notion dashboards, and lean campaign ideas (like “Notion dashboard: Track retention without drowning in data”)

“Whether you’re leading growth at a mission-driven startup or building a solo venture that reflects your ethics, this is built for you.”

Who this is for

You’re in the right place if:

• You’re tired of the Growth culture that rewards short-term wins over long-term trust
• You want to build systems that scale ethically
• You care about real data, thoughtful tooling, and signal over noise
• You believe sustainability, transparency, and digital responsibility aren’t optional

Subscribers include B2B founders, ethical DTC operators, growth strategists, marketers in climate, impact, SaaS, and Web3.

Recent topics covered:

• “Why ethical brands are winning the retention game”
• “Why scaling fast isn’t the flex it used to be”
• “The haunted cost of AI: How much water are your tools wasting?”
• “Cold email vs. dark social: Where should early-stage startups invest?”

Who I am

I’m Samin Ghiasi, a Paris-based growth strategist helping ethical startups build smarter systems in B2B.

I’ve helped ethical and climate-conscious startups build growth systems that scale without burning out their teams or the planet. I write, test, and work hands-on with tools and strategies that respect both people and ecosystems.

This newsletter is where I share what works (and what to skip).

Subscribe for free

If you’re ready to building sustainable, values-aligned growth, join me. Subscribe to “The Conscious Growth Dispatch”

Delivered monthly to conscious marketers. No AI filler. No sponsored junk. Just clarity, context, and strategy you can actually use.

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Part 4 of the July blog series, The Growth Ethos. Subscribe to follow it.

Traditional marketing funnels were successful when the internet was still new, and attention was cheap.

Trust was passive, and growth could be bought with the right budget. In 2025, the brands that thrive go beyond conversions. They earn trust, invite participation, and create spaces where users want to stay.

“Loops don’t just retain value. They regenerate it. That’s what makes them the new engine of sustainable, purpose-led growth.”

1. Linear funnels were built for extraction

Funnels operate on a simple logic: push people through stages from awareness to conversion, then call it a success. But this mindset is short-term. Users drop off at every step, and those who convert often disappear from the system.

Today’s users expect more than a transaction. They want involvement, meaning, and a sense of shared progress. Funnels weren’t built for that. Loops are.

2. Growth loops start where funnels end

Growth loops function as self-sustaining systems. Each user action creates value that feeds the next stage, attracting more users and building momentum.

1. A user takes an action
2. That action benefits others
3. Others engage and become users themselves
4. The cycle repeats and compounds

A real-world example is Dropbox. During onboarding, consumers were offered extra storage for inviting friends. This simple, mutual reward generated a 3,900% user increase in just 15 months without relying on paid ads.

Loops in action look like this:

• A newsletter subscriber shares a case study
• A customer provides feedback that improves the product
• A community member invites peers into a Slack space

These moments aren’t accidental. They’re designed to encourage movement and contribution.

3. From acquisition to participation

“Funnels focus on conversion. Loops focus on collaboration.“

In ethical growth models, value is created with your clients, not extracted from them. You’re not pushing people through steps. You’re building systems where users want to stay and contribute.

This mindset also shifts how success is measured:

Not all loops are ethical. Endless notifications or algorithmic triggers may keep users engaged, but not in a healthy or value-driven way.

Ethical loops offer real benefit and give people a reason to participate because they feel included and respected.

4. Purpose is the engine

When your personas understand your mission and feel aligned with it, they’re more likely to contribute, invite others, and stay involved. Purpose turns a useful product into something people feel part of.

Ways to make purpose actionable:

• Let users influence the roadmap
• Highlight real contributions from your community
• Offer referral rewards that align with shared ROI
• Give people something to build or shape with you

When it’s built into the experience, people engage because they want to — not because they’re nudged.

5. How to start mapping your growth loop

A strong loop begins with three parts:

• Trigger action: The first moment a user adds worth
• Value moment: When they experience something useful or rewarding
• Loopback point: What encourages them to return or invite others

Example:
A project management tool is used weekly for sprint planning. A shared template gallery allows users to contribute and explore new workflows. As users return and share, the loop strengthens naturally.

“Forget virality. Focus on offering something people genuinely want to return to.“

6. The growth loop maturity map: where are you now?

Moving from funnels to loops often means change. New KPIs, new workflows, and sometimes new roles or structures. Here’s a simple way to assess where your team stands:

“In my work with founders making this shift, the hardest part is often unlearning funnel KPIs. But once teams start measuring contribution, everything changes.“

Start small. Improve one loop. Let the rest build from that.

7. A practical growth loop checklist to get started

You don’t need a big launch, just thoughtful steps that spark participation and lasting impact. Try these:

• Map your user’s first three steps
  Example: sign up → invite a friend → contribute content.
• Identify what brings them back
  Identify what brings users back without being prompted.
• Add a contribution point
  Create low-barrier ways to influence what comes next, such as voting, feedback, or resource swaps.
• Fix a drop-off point
  Offer a meaningful next step instead of a generic pop-up.
• Rethink one success metric
  Move beyond clicks. Track how users contribute or amplify your product or mission.

One well-designed loop is enough to shift momentum. Build where there’s natural payoff. Design around behaviors people enjoy repeating. Then connect the dots and let contribution do the rest.

WHAT’S NEXT IN THIS SERIES

This is part 4 of The Growth Ethos, a 10-post series exploring smarter, more sustainable ways to scale in 2025.

Coming next:
→ 6 Martech Tools Every Ethical Brand Should Be Using This Year

LET’S BUILD SOMETHING BETTER

If you’re building a product, service, or strategy that values long-term trust and responsible growth—this series is for you.

📬 Subscribe to the newsletter and get each new post delivered as it drops. No noise, just real thinking in motion.

The post Circular Growth Loops Are the Future of Ethical Marketing appeared first on SAMIN GHIASI | GROWTH MARKETING CONSULTANT | FR/EN.

“If your metrics look strong but your growth feels fragile, you’re probably tracking the wrong signals.”

1. Time’s up for vanity metrics

We all know them: bounce rate, impressions, total followers, and CTRs without context. They make dashboards look impressive, but they rarely tell you what’s truly working.

Vanity metrics give the illusion of progress. Behind the surface, they often hide bigger issues:

• Leads that never convert
• Followers who never engage
• Traffic that never returns

Forward-thinking growth teams, especially in B2B and purpose-driven businesses, are shifting toward metrics that reflect value, momentum, and alignment.

2. What makes a metric “vanity”

It’s not always about the metric itself; it’s about what it tells you (or doesn’t).

A metric becomes vanity when:

• It doesn’t influence decisions
• It lacks context or strategic value
• It grows while your business stalls

“10,000 pageviews may look good on paper. However, if 92% of the traffic bounces and only 0.3% converts, that traffic is essentially noise.”

3. What to track instead

Here’s what growth-conscious marketers are tracking instead in 2025:

4. Metrics with meaning (especially for purpose-driven brands)

To go deeper, here are five high-signal, value-aligned metrics you should consider building into your strategy:

a. Activation rate

How many users reach their first meaningful milestone?
Example: Downloading a carbon-saving tool or completing a product demo.

b. Referral-to-signup ratio

Are users bringing others with them?
This is one of the most powerful signals of real product affinity.

c. Time-to-impact

How quickly can someone see results or value from your offer?
Shorter time = higher retention and trust.

d. Values-aligned lead %

What portion of your leads match both your ICP and your mission?
A simple lead scoring system can help track this.

e. Community contribution rate

Who isn’t just consuming, but actively sharing, commenting, or co-creating with you?

5. The bigger picture: why this shift matters

Tracking more meaningful metrics isn’t just about efficiency but clarity and alignment.

If you’re building a mission-driven brand, surface-level performance isn’t enough. Global data from PwC shows that consumers are willing to pay an average of 9.7% more for sustainably sourced products. This reinforces that sustainability-aligned growth isn’t just ethical, it’s commercially strategic.

You need indicators that tell you:

• Are we delivering something people want?
• Are we attracting the right users?
• Are we building long-term momentum or chasing short-term peaks?

Better metrics lead to better questions, better alignment, and better growth.

WHAT’S NEXT IN THIS SERIES

This is part 2 of The Growth Ethos, a 10-part blog series on how to grow with clarity, intention, and impact in 2025.

Coming next:
→ How to Build a Sustainable Growth Engine Without Burning Budget (or the Planet)

LET’S BUILD SOMETHING BETTER

If you’re rethinking how growth should look—more intentional, more ethical, more effective—this series is for you.

📬 Subscribe to the newsletter to get each new post as it drops, directly to your inbox.

The post Why Vanity Metrics Are Dying (and What to Track Instead) appeared first on SAMIN GHIASI | GROWTH MARKETING CONSULTANT | FR/EN.

This is part of a 10‑part July series on The Growth Ethos. Subscribe to follow it.

This series explores how to grow with clarity and intention in 2025, focusing on designing systems that align performance with purpose and turn momentum into meaningful progress.

“Fast growth is easy to sell. Meaningful, resilient growth—the kind that lasts—is what actually matters now.”

1. Growth has evolved. So must we.

Let’s face it, growth marketing used to be about scale at any cost. Run ads, launch popups, push users through funnels.

But we’ve changed. Your audience has changed. And in the shadow of climate urgency, greenwashing fatigue, and digital burnout, your growth strategy must mature, too.

“Not just how fast can we grow, but how fairly, how sustainably, and how durably?”

According to Deloitte, 63% of European consumers now prefer brands with verified environmental impact over legacy leaders (Deloitte, 2025 Global Sustainability Consumer Survey).

2. Circular economy style

If we’re serious about sustainability, we need to rethink more than just our messaging. We need to reimagine the system itself.

• Instead of extract → convert → churn
• Build systems that recirculate value, minimise waste, and optimise retention

In 2025, the best growth marketers aren’t funnel-obsessed—they’re ecosystem builders.

Example: The Loop

Take a company like Phenix (France). They fight food waste by redistributing unsold goods to NGOs and consumers. Their growth isn’t just visible in dashboards—it lives in impact feedback, community loops, and storytelling that sustains trust.

Here’s how a circular growth loop can look:

1. Educate: Share content, tools, or newsletters that create awareness and build shared values.
   Example: “Decode your supply chain emissions in 30 seconds.”
   
2. Engage: Offer free trials or diagnostics. Make it easy, data-rich, and respectful.
   Example: “Estimate how much CO₂ you could offset by adjusting X input.”
   
3. Exchange: Capture insight, not just emails. Ask questions to learn what your audience cares about and create better products and content.
   Example: “What’s your biggest procurement risk today?”
   
4. Enrich: Show the user their impact. “By switching to us, you helped stabilise 3 commodity prices and saved 2.4t of CO₂.”
   
5. Extend: Close the loop with co-creation or advocacy. “Want to share your impact story with our community?”

This isn’t just a funnel, it’s a system designed to regenerate value.

3. The new KPIs of conscious growth

Legacy metrics no longer tell the full story. In 2025, high-performing teams track hybrid indicators that reflect both business and impact performance.

Tools like Scope3, Fathom, and Matomo help measure not just user behaviour, but do so in ways that respect privacy, consent, and environmental impact.

According to BCG and Ad Net Zero, carbon KPIs are expected to become standard benchmarks across major EU ad networks by late 2025 (BCG x Ad Net Zero, The Sustainable Media Report).

4. Winning tactics in 2025

Conscious B2B marketers aren’t just polishing mission statements. They’re upgrading their playbooks:

• Ghostbuster-level traffic cleanup: Filter out bot traffic, click farms, and fake engagement. Focus on high-intent, real users. Better funnels. Better data. Less digital noise.
• Impact-layered attribution: Don’t just ask which channel converts.
  Ask: “Which channel brings aligned, long-term customers who care about what we stand for?”
• Carbon-budgeted campaigns: Some teams now assign emissions limits to ad launches.
  Example: “We’ll greenlight this if we stay under 20g CO₂ per lead.”
  
  According to Scope3, programmatic ad emissions can vary by over 25x depending on format, publisher, and placement (Scope3, State of Sustainable Advertising 2025).

These are signs of where growth is headed: less waste, more resonance, and performance that earns its keep.

5. Real growth = shared growth

When you stop seeing users as data points and start treating them as collaborators, everything changes.

In a world where attention is scarce, honesty scales.

Where distrust is high, impact wins.

And where resources are limited, circular systems outperform linear ones—every time.

WHAT’S NEXT IN THIS SERIES

This post marks the beginning of The Growth Ethos, a 10-part blog series that explores how to build resilient and sustainable growth strategies for 2025 and beyond.

Coming next:
→ Why Vanity Metrics Are Dying (and What to Track Instead)

LET’S BUILD SOMETHING BETTER

If you’re rethinking how growth should look—more intentional, more ethical, more effective—this series is for you.

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The post Growth Marketing 101 (2025 Edition) appeared first on SAMIN GHIASI | GROWTH MARKETING CONSULTANT | FR/EN.