Jennifer Woofter, SSC President, recently wrote this article for 2Degrees.
It's not enough to just have a great sustainability story to
tell. You also need to know where to tell it. Choosing the right channel for
your sustainability communications is a critical element of your sustainability
strategy, so think carefully about which options are right for your
organization.
Parsing your message
The first step in the process is to identify all the pieces of
your sustainability story. In most cases, it's helpful to start with the big
picture and work your way down to each granular detail.
For example, you may start with a stand-alone sustainability
report. Within that report are discrete sections like the CEO's overview about
what sustainability means to your company, tables that summarize your key
sustainability goals and targets, case studies, and graphs showing
sustainability performance trends over time.
Within your organization, you may organize sustainability
information differently. You may have internal policies and guidelines, events
and competitions, and visual reminders around your facility that encourage
employees to go green.
Now put all of these discrete items and initiatives into a list.
Next to each item, identify three things:
Audiences that might be interested. For example, a sustainability report is ideal for communicating
to internal and external stakeholders. Policy documents about green employee
benefits, however, may be suitable primarily for internal audiences. Likewise
case studies of community outreach initiatives and charitable giving may be of
interest at the local level, but not particularly compelling at the corporate
level--or perhaps only in smaller doses.
Reason you are sharing. For each item on the list, it's important to clearly specify
what you hope to achieve by sharing the information contained within. Are you
trying to demonstrate leadership in a particular sustainability area? Are you
trying to explain why something went wrong? Are you trying to solicit input
from a particular stakeholder group? Getting clear on your purpose is key here.
Level of engagement you seek. For some items, your goal may simply be to disclose some information
to the public. In others, a core consideration may be to engage and have a dialogue
with the audience. At this stage of the process, it's important to identify how
much back-and-forth you'd like to have with the people receiving your material.
Choosing a Platform
Once you have a good handle on your sustainability communication
materials, it's time to choose your channels. For better or for worse, you have
a lot of options to consider. It's smart to choose several platforms in order
to engage different audiences, at the same time, don't spread yourself too
thin. You want to be able to engage appropriately, and sometimes that means
devoting significant resources to the conversations and dialogue that takes
place after you share the initial information.
Here are some of the most popular channels for sustainability
communications:
Your company website. Your organization's website is the first place your audience
will check when seeking out sustainability information about your product, your
people, and your operations. It is the hub through which all other
sustainability communication should flow. So make sure that in addition to
having a dedicated sustainability hub within your website, you also have it set
up to connect with other platforms – – particularly related to social media. In
general your website serves primarily to push out information, and is not
usually a place in which robust discussion takes place between you and your
audience. It is important however to make sure that readers have an opportunity
to contact you with questions and concerns, as well as compliments. Make sure
it's easy for them to reach you.
Your company Facebook page. Facebook is
definitely a place where conversations happen, so make sure you're ready and
willing to engage with your audience when you post things. Facebook is best for
sharing quick stories, photos, and results. It's also a great place to ask
questions, solicit feedback, and learn more about your stakeholders. However, it's
not a great place for selling stuff (so don't push your green products unless
you have a really clever pitch) or for diving deeply into a complex topic. So
keep it simple, frank, and personable.
Your Twitter feed. With only 140 characters in which to share your message, Twitter
is not the place to communicate long and detailed stories. It is, however, a
great place to "hook" audiences and drive them back to your website
(or other long-form platform). It's also a place to engage in one-on-one
conversations with fans. But beware! Once you start to use twitter, you're
obligated to respond when people reach out to you on that platform. Make sure
you have enough resources to keep up with the flow, and smart social media
policies and training so that staff can respond appropriately to both positive
and negative feedback.
External publications. While focusing your sustainability communications on company-run
platforms, don't neglect outside channels. Trade magazines, industry
publications, issue-focused journals, and sustainability blogs and websites are
often hungry for real-life case studies, op-eds, and press releases. Identify a
handful of these channels that suit your communications goals, internal
resources, and target audiences. Whether it's a one-off article, or a monthly
column in your local industry magazine, using external publications is a great
way to broaden your reach.
Live events. While most sustainability communications happens in written
format, it's a mistake to ignore the opportunity to share your message with
live audiences. Networking breakfasts, conference keynotes, industry
roundtables, online webinars, Chamber of Commerce events, trade shows, and
sustainability fairs are all places to get in front of real-life people. This
kind of interaction builds a different level of credibility and trust, and
gives your audience a real sense of the people behind the message. Live events,
however, can occasionally lead to heated interactions, so make sure that your
people are armed with the information, tools, and resources to respond
appropriately. Sometimes that means having fact sheets or talking points at
hand. Other times it means having a set of pre-rehearsed statements to defuse or
redirect the speaker. For example, "that is a great question, but a
complex one. Because of our limited time I'd prefer to follow up with you
directly after the event. Please make sure to catch me before I leave and
provide your email address so that I can get back to you with a more complete
answer."
Broaden Your Options
Of course, there are dozens more
options to choose from and it is impossible to cover them all in a single
article. Podcasts, LinkedIn, Google+, location-based services like Foursquare, blogging,
and roadshows are other popular options. The key is to make sure you match your
communication channel with your communication goals. And the most important
piece of advice: don't begin a conversation unless you have the resources to
carry it through. In inviting people to a dialogue and then disappearing
(because you lack the time, or are not prepared to answer tough questions) is a
sure recipe for disappointment. So think through not just the communication
itself, but the entire lifecycle of the message.
