Environmental concerns, including growing greenhouse gas emissions, natural catastrophes, and the emergence of socially aware investors, drive demand for ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) to measure sustainable investment.
In the next two decades, millennials, a generation set to inherit $30 trillion, will become workers, customers, and investors, and they're paying attention to companies that are committed to sustainability and rewarding them with loyalty.
According to the Center of Audit Quality, 95 percent of the S&P 500 businesses will have complete ESG information publicly accessible in 2021 due to this trend. For businesses, this means expanding the scope of how they present and sell their ESG measurements, achievements, and targets.
Companies may utilize social media to communicate ESG achievements, involve stakeholders and the public to promote a good brand reputation by using social media platforms.
A good ESG analytics only is not enough. You need a way to report or socialize it so that people know that your companies are in line with ESG mandates.
This blog article will discuss which social media platforms you should use and which techniques lead to successful ESG marketing.
Choosing the best social networking platform for ESG
More than two-thirds of American adults have a social media account. That figure is expected to rise to over 243 million by 2025, making it critical for businesses to develop social media communication strategies.
When building a social media marketing plan, the first stage is to identify the campaign objectives, the target demographic, and the social media platforms used. This guarantees that you'll get the most out of your content.
Set a Goal
First, it's vital to establish the target objective to get the best results from a marketing campaign. It's essential to keep in mind three main objectives:
Raising awareness of the brand and showcasing its successes
Capturing leads
Selling the items on social media
Know Your Audience
If you're already on social media, look at your current analytics to see what's working. Using Facebook Page Insights, for example, may help you learn more about who is interested in what you have to say.
If you're just starting with social media or looking to discover new channels, the Pew Research Center provides good demographic information.
Individuals younger than 30 are more likely than their elders (over 30) to use Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok than their elders (under 30).
Companies may use this data and information to identify the best methods for reaching their target audience.
Choose a social media channel based on your goal and audience
You need to choose the right social media for your content and goals, and there are plenty to choose from.
For both B2C and B2B marketers, Facebook is still the most popular social media site, with over 2 billion monthly users. There were 80 million small and medium-sized companies on Facebook Pages in 2018, with an additional 6 million utilizing the site to advertise their products and services.
Since its beginnings as a resume and job-search site, LinkedIn, has developed into a professional social network and the most popular platform for B2B marketers.
According to HubSpot, LinkedIn outperformed Twitter and Facebook in terms of lead generation. More than two billion people use YouTube every month, making it the second most popular social media platform, the second most popular search engine behind Google, and a significant source of user-generated content online.
YouTube videos may be used to promote business culture, lessons, and demos, among other things.
Instagram has eclipsed conventional social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn in terms of popularity, making it an ideal platform for promoting a brand's image. Because Instagram is primarily a picture and video-sharing platform, businesses must utilize stories and reels to show off the value of their products and services.
Each tweet on Twitter is limited to 280 characters, which are meant to pique users' interest who are scrolling through a fast-paced news feed. Building industry authority, providing real-time information, exchanging opinions and ideas, posing questions, and conducting surveys are all made possible by Twitter.
TikTok and Reddit are two more sites that may be utilized for the audience or content research and engagement with specific audiences, respectively, and viral trends.
Don't forget to take into account your finances and abilities at this time. Ask yourself:
How many channels can I afford to run?
Can you develop material for these platforms?
Now that you've figured out your aim, audience, channel, and money, it's time to think about how to persuade people to participate.
What Content Should I Use?
Social media success depends on your company's content marketing strategy, which includes everything from what you publish to how you distribute it. Blogs that are interesting, well-researched, and individualized are highly sought after by customers.
Use Storytelling
Narratives perform better on social media because people are programmed to like a story, and this is proven. The story behind your environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts might be entertaining to share on social media.
For the greatest results on social media, choose tales that highlight good KPIs, such as a new volunteer initiative started by one of your workers or an environmental impact your firm has had, and emphasize the human aspect.
Emphasize your purpose and value
Many investors assume that to implement a long-term ESG strategy, they must give up some of their financial gains. ESG adoption will be harmed by this erroneous reasoning, which is likewise incorrect.
One study from 2021 found that the ESG exchange-traded funds and mutual funds with assets under management of at least $250 million climbed by 27.3% to 55 percent, outpacing the S&P 500 index by 27.1 percent.
You should make a point to emphasize and highlight the advantages of ESG, whether it is an increase in investor interest and rise in profits or a better working environment for your staff.
Takeaway
The most popular content form on social media is video. Therefore it's essential to include it into your plan whenever feasible. ESG programs may be promoted via CEO interviews, spotlighting people who are making a difference in the ESG sector, or by generating short, animated movies to showcase visual data outputs and successes from ESG initiatives.