Since consumers, NGOs and employees actively use social media, the digital revolution presents a golden opportunity for any company hoping to engage with stakeholders on sustainability issues, writes Jonathan Ballantine

Since consumers, NGOs and employees actively use social media, the digital revolution presents a golden opportunity for any company hoping to engage with stakeholders on sustainability issues, writes Jonathan BallantineSocial media and sustainability share similar histories and future paths: both started out as bottom-up movements, both go against mainstream beliefs and both present the same sets of issues when integrating into a company’s core values. It is unclear with whom the responsibilities should rest, which departments will be involved, and what new position(s) should be created. The truth is that social media and sustainability can be integrated and adopted at every level.

What unites social media and sustainability is their focus on people as individuals. They also put a premium on cultivating long-term relationships based on value and trust as well as on building networks and communities. Everyone has a voice and every voice counts. Every voice is its own; every voice is unique.

Challenging ROI

The social media ROI debate rages on. Sustainability is equally challenging to measure. The fact that ROI exists, however, is not in dispute. Both social media and sustainability are still in their infancy as measurable concepts, possibly because they’re both so new and untested.

Sustainability requires doing more with less, constantly learning how to get more out of every pound of material and watt of energy. The creation and communication of this knowledge occurs in social networks of relationships, empowered by social media, which offer effective ways for businesses to demonstrate and apply their transparency, and to connect with their stakeholders.

How should your company be using social media to engage with stakeholders? As social media technologies continue to grab the share of consumers’ time spent online, companies should consider how to tap into the broad reach of these platforms in communicating their progress on sustainability and the environment. Engaging in social media is one way for companies to show transparency about their sustainability – especially for multinational corporations – to a particular stakeholder group.

Power to the people

As individuals become ever more powerful in streaming the information they want and filtering out what they don’t want, any successful green marketing strategy should place digital at its core. But how?

Firstly, businesses need to realise that social media engagement is not advertising: it is “earned”, not “paid for”.

Seth Godin (entrepreneur and agent of change) highlighted, during the American Express Open Conference, that organisations can earn the privilege by going out of their way to do something for somebody and/or by creating a “worthwhile exchange”.

Secondly, CSR communicators must create content that resonates with particular communities: crafting a credible and interesting narrative that is compelling to their audience, so that they are driven to share within their communities. Then they can create and drive advocacy. Many experts claim the key to success is to be “real” or “authentic”, which sounds like the core requisites of stakeholder engagement. Why? Social media is no different to genuinely sustainable business. It must be core to the business and not a bolt-on or marketing tool.

Companies that are committed to real, embedded stakeholder engagement have already embraced many of the elements of effective social media engagement. The major challenge to these businesses is not one of content but of resources. How does an organisation manage the process, which is time-consuming and goes against ingrained management concepts and processes?

Be everywhere

A key requirement of social media effectiveness is to be ubiquitous. Therefore, mapping internal responsibilities is crucial if your organisation is going to convince its target audience that it is what it says it is. Engaging your company’s story through social media need not be the exclusive domain of the CSR or communications department. As CSR becomes more integrated into the business, having business or functional leaders communicate on embedded initiatives will have a stronger impact, through greater transparency and authenticity – the keys to unlocking social media.

Jonathan Ballantine is a European-based communications specialist. He advises leading businesses, NGOs and professional service firms on CR and sustainability issues.