In a virtual world where one comment can mobilise millions, it is no surprise that some organisations have realised the potential for social media to amplify and influence. From crowdsourcing through Twitter to YouTube videos that inspire debate, at Salterbaxter we’ve seen social media play an increasing role in shaping attitudes, discovering solutions and telling stories around sustainability.
Inspired by its almost limitless potential, we are lifting-the-lid on how, where and why brands are talking sustainability, on social media creating...
...SB{influencers}100 the first data-driven index of the top 100 companies shaping the sustainability agenda through social media.
The resulting index is a unique ranking of the most influential corporate voices on social media for sustainability. This is the first study of its kind to combine sustainability expertise, quantitative data and a complex proprietary scoring system; proving the value and impact of sustainability communications.
High-profile individuals that can tweet on behalf of their company contribute significantly to the overall influence of the sustainability strategy.
Nestlé’s investment in social media, firstly with consumers and more recently with opinion leaders appears to be paying off as results indicate a turnaround in brand reputation amongst this audience.
Most leading brands have a dedicated social channel to focus their sustainability communications through, but a few seed content through corporate and/or consumer-facing channels.
Posts that emphasise collaborations with recognised major NGOs are among the most widely shared.
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We see through reputation research, that as we increase our share of voice on sustainability issues, it has a positive impact on our key metrics we measure against – such as favourability, or willingness to invest.
"As we extend the reach of our voice, there’s a brand and reputation halo effect from being active and vocal about … what we’re doing to find solutions [to] really tough sustainability issues through innovative, technology-based system solutions… Digital channels – both owned and social – are the most effective means for this."
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Our social communications have helped us to bring [our purpose] to life and shine a light on our efforts right across the Group, building reputation and awareness, as well as other individuals and organisations leading the way. It also shows our Virgin people that their sustainability achievements are valued and inspires them to do more.
"We started our social channels more than five years ago and have been constantly learning more, evolving our strategy and developing more content to support our social activity. We began by focusing on Twitter and Facebook and are now also very active on LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram and more emerging platforms – with all social activity driving people back to more in-depth content on Virgin.com"
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Consistency is key... In the past two years our marketing team has really joined us on this journey, we’ve seen a huge increase in followers and engagement on channels like our @intelinvolved Twitter handle.
"The benefit we see in using these channels is the ability to connect and build relationships with stakeholders that our Corporate Responsibility Office hasn’t traditionally focused on, in terms of stakeholder engagement."
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By the nature of the speed in which the tech industry operates… it can be difficult to reach and engage with the right people – even when they want to engage with us. Interestingly enough, it’s typically our pithy graphics that do the best on our social handles
"The real-time nature of social media can be distracting and pull teams away from the overall communications objectives. To stay on course, we have a strategic communications plan that aligns to our Global Marketing and Corporate Communications’ (GMCC) strategy. Whether it’s a news article, video or tweet, we align every piece of content to one of the four Communications Agenda 'buckets' or topics.
We allow flexibility into the plan to maintain timely, relevant content and participate in important trending conversations."
We created a means of measuring influence. We do this by creating a score for the amount of activity a business posts about sustainability topics, the reach of these communications and the number of interactions and engagement the content generates. The last part is key, as content is only ‘influencing’ people if we can prove that it is being discussed, shared and passed on.
What is unique about our ranking is that it analyses the impact of only the social media content about sustainability topics across Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram.
For more detail on our approach and calculations, see the detailed methodology
Can social media create real change?
What does social media influence on sustainability mean for B2B brands?
What’s the potential of LinkedIn?
Aren’t Twitter chats just the same people talking to each other?
Visit our blog for more interpretation around the value of social media for sustainability
Or, contact us for a chat or join the discussion on #SBi100.
We'd be only too happy to talk with you.
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