An enjoyable few days on the Gold Coast last week for the Association for Sustainability in Business conference “Taking Care of Business: sustainable transformation”. The event brought together a diverse group of people representing organisations working towards a better way of doing things.
Expanding on recent blog entries related to social media and sustainability, here’s a further snippet of what I spoke about in my presentation, “The Evolving Landscape: sustainability and trends in social and legal influences on Australian business”.
With improving internet infrastructures (broadband, cloud computing), increasing access (cheaper and lighter computers, smartphones, tablets) and innovative platform development (blogs, apps, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest) we can expect this online landscape to continue its rapid evolution and become more common place.
Businesses, at the very least, need to assess whether or not engaging online is right for them. If it’s a fit, they need to learn how to utilise and adapt to this changing environment. Here’s some suggestions from the four leaders in the ASX200 that are actively using social media to promote their sustainability initiatives:
1. Listen and monitor
Get an understanding of what’s going on and what’s being said about you, locally and globally. Can you learn from others? What are your competitors and colleagues doing in this space? What’s happening in your industry?
2. Set communications goals – trial and test channels
A no-brainer for any form of communications, but it’s vital that the goals you set for sustainability comms link with your business objectives and brand. Facebook? Twitter? Pinterest? Not every social media channel is relevant, so trial and test to determine what is suitable for your needs and what’s best to reach your stakeholders.
3. Understand your stakeholder audiences
Comms platforms are not one-size-fits-all propositions. From customers to shareholders to employees to the local community, the information needs and expectations of audiences vary. Develop a profile of each stakeholder group, what’s important to them and why they are important to you.
4. Develop a content strategy and tie into existing communications
Amongst all the online noise and clutter, how is your offering going to be unique? Plan ahead and identify themes to explore throughout the year, such as water or energy efficiency opportunities or staff engagement and volunteer programs. Map the themes to your stakeholders, identifying where and how their interests intersect with, or are at odds with, your company’s objectives and activities.
While social media channels are the current buzz, it’s also important to maintain existing platforms for publishing content (plus, not everybody is online) – e-newsletters, zines, lunchbox talks, email, media releases, posters behind toilet doors – all can be effective at spreading the sustainability message and highlight the good work you’re doing, internally and externally.
5. Resource it effectively
Gathering, writing, editing and updating content is easier said than done. But it’s essential to keep the pipeline full of interesting content. You need to resource it with the necessary capabilities. Quite a few companies have social media channels, yet nobody is maintaining them and this creates an unfavourable impression.
6. ROI is valid, but only once you mature in your use of social media
Develop capabilities and understanding of social media channels to begin with, then worry about developing the metrics to track performance. Tools and analytics are getting more sophisticated and it’s becoming progressively easier to track the ROI.
7. Embrace dialogue, learn from your stakeholders and feed this back into your business for continual improvement
There’s an incredible amount of free intelligence available to help you improve your business – harness it!! Engage, listen and learn. In this turbulent, hyper-connected world, companies have to grapple with complex issues that extend well beyond their walls and people. Bringing others into the mix is an acknowledgment that your actions have a ripple effect and that you alone don’t have all the answers and that you’re willing to listen. Open dialogue, particularly with those who may be critical of your company, represents a higher level of transparency and strengthens your credibility.
Online engagement presents a great opportunity for companies looking to communicate sustainability. Indeed, social media and sustainability should be a particularly powerful combination given that both are rooted in the principles of authenticity, transparency, collaboration and learning from your stakeholders and wider community to help build a more resilient business. Businesses that are credibly walking the walk can significantly amplify their positive impacts by talking the talk.
Shane Gladigau
To receive a free copy of the report “Sustainability, Social Media and the ASX200: how they engage” please email shane@eqlomg.com
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