It’s easy to see why Why Smart Marketers Use Social Media for Green Business Branding. Social media engagement enables:
- Building better relationships with partners, prospects and customers.
- Attracting prospective customers and compressing sales cycles.
- Monitoring competitive positioning and ensuring you’re ahead.
- Establishing thought leadership in your industry.
- Building brand awareness and preference among decision makers.
However, many new to the space oftentimes fall into the traps of traditional advertising techniques without a recognition that Communicating Sustainability on Social Media - there is a Right and Wrong Way.
At its core, social media is about engagement, discussion, inclusion and within our sustainable business programs, I have found it to embrace the very basic human expressions of respect and acknowledgment. Many ask what are best practices of social media engagement. Others question if social media relationships are real. And others want to know what to talk about. Lots of questions and in our social media consulting with clients, we answer them all.
However, without fail, I consistently share one of the golden rules as it relates to social media engagement. What is it? Reciprocity. Otherwise known as win/win, shared value, or even good karma! You see, sustainable business practices are creating a shift as to how we do business. The drivers for this shift are from business itself, resource constraints, policy and consumers. Sustainability is like two sides of a coin with everyone being responsible and accountable. Not just one side. So is the case with social media engagement. Many newcomers to social media falsely believe that reaching out to those with large followings or high influence should do something, as in a shout out, or a retweet, or pledge funding, for their business or campaign. While that is fine and dandy, what is not fine and dandy is the expectation that the share is one way. Community building and engagement that centers around reciprocal and win -win communications offers the following gains:
- Contribution to Shared interest.
- Creates a win/win outcome.
- Builds trust.
- Embraces authentic and transparent communications.
- Improves stakeholder relations.
- Promotes the sustainability space as a whole - elevating it and forwarding the conversation.
So, the next time you want someone or some company to do something for you or your business, the question to ask is, how can I do something for them too? We’re all in this together!
