Sustainability and social media have more in common than may be readily apparent. In fact, social media tools, including blogs, are ideal for socially responsible businesses that want to empower their brand communities to jointly work toward the greater good.
Sustainable marketing, that is, marketing toward the triple bottom line of Prosperity, Planet, and People, blurs the opposition between us-businesses and them-customers. It’s us and us now. We care and share responsibility for the same planet. We live in the same community. We all prosper if we all prosper.
Social media lends itself beautifully to sustainable marketing. We listen, participate and engage, voluntarily and as individuals. We connect with other people, forming or joining networks and communities. We share and exchange valuable, useful content and resources. We give and we are given.
Sustainable marketers use social media to engage with people in authentic conversations and meaningful experiences. Providing a product or service solution to customers’ problems no longer cuts it. We must connect with people to cultivate relationships based on affinity and trust. Sustainable marketing thinks of relationships first and sales transactions last. We link and we become links.
Sustainable marketers use social media to cultivate communities around their brands. A sense of community is “a feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together.” A sense of community goes beyond self, it reaches others like us; it goes beyond minds, it captures hearts. Creating emotional connections beats enticing rational decisions. We are united when we unite.
Companies tend to tack sustainability or social media onto their existing business models and marketing efforts. Yet both represent a shift in how we do business and both belong in the strategic heart of business to work. And when used in concert, the two can reinforce each other.
Note: An extended version of this post appears in the upcoming collaborative book, edited by Jeff Casswell, “Connect! Marketing in the social media era”. Out on Blurb.com soon.
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