How to create an ESG marketing strategy
What is ESG Marketing?
ESG stands for environmental, social, and governance. It’s a framework for defining an organization’s values in each of those areas and when applied to your marketing, it’s a way to show your audience what your business does to better each of them.
According to Nasdaq, “Investments in ESG strategies grew 42% from 2018 to 2020,” and they’ve only increased since then. This rise in investment tells us it’s prime time to integrate ESG values into your marketing. Not only do investors care about ESG strategies, but your customers want to know your brand does too.
Communicate Your ESG Values With Integrity
The key to effective ESG content marketing is being outspoken about your values without going “overboard.” You don’t want your values to be a mystery, but you also don’t want to come off as spammy or fake. It’s a fine line that looks different for every business and industry.
For example, suppose you’re a sustainable clothing brand. In that case, consumers will probably expect more in-your-face messaging about the environmental threats of waste than they would for, say, a website design team. That is unless that website design team specializes in environmentally conscious brands, perhaps. Think critically about how prominently your ESG values come through in your strategy. Do they align with your brand DNA?
This blog will help you get started.
Here are 5 steps to design an ESG marketing strategy for your small business that speaks to your customers and supports your reputation.
1) Audit Your Business Practices
You may be upholding some fabulous ESG values without realizing it! Take stock of the types of clients you work with, the people you hire, or the initiatives your team takes part in. Do you prioritize purchasing from small local businesses or people from marginalized populations? Does your business invest in sustainable energy, follow a thorough waste reduction process, or take a human-centric approach to leadership? Get it all on paper.
2) Determine Which ESG Issues Are The Most Relevant To Your Customers
The best ESG-centered marketing is clear and simple.
You don’t have to cram E, S, and G into your messaging if it’s irrelevant. For instance, at Drio, most of our value-based messaging falls under a couple of core values within the Social umbrella: uplifting minority-owned and women-run small businesses. Of course, we care about environmental issues and equal governance structures, but these messages aren’t as relevant to our work.
Before crafting an ESG-fuelled marketing strategy, you can also listen to your people to see what they care about most. Depending on your industry, common sense may be enough to guide you here. But you can also conduct interviews, create polls on social media, or send out a survey to your email list. From there, you can define a few pillars to support your messaging.
3) Integrate These Values Into Your Marketing Strategy
Next, figure out how and when you’ll talk about these values in your marketing strategy. Start by crafting key talking points for each value or initiative. Why is that ESG value important to your brand, and why does it matter to your customers?
From there, you can set parameters for how often you’ll bring up each value, rules to help you stay authentically on-brand, and how your messaging might vary by platform.
4) Be Transparent About Your Impact
Voicing your values is one thing. Showing the proven impact takes it to the next level.
Consider running surveys or measuring the effects of your business’s efforts, whether it’s through qualitative or quantitative data. You can then create marketing content or even press releases to spread the word about your impact.
5) Uplift Other Businesses
Supporting other businesses with similar beliefs is a powerful way to amplify your ESG values.
Seek out businesses in your industry or shoulder industries to support. You can do so by working with them, giving them shout-outs on social media, leaving reviews, or recommending them to friends. Get creative with it! Maybe you can help plan volunteering events, social gatherings, or webinars to spark conversations and drive business to like-minded brands.
These kinds of connections create a powerful sense of community while spreading your positive impact even further.
Need Help Weaving ESG Values Into Your Marketing?
Our digital marketing strategy sessions could be just the ticket. During this half-day strategy intensive, we’ll peek under the hood of your business and give you the space to lay out all of your goals and challenges. Following your session, we’ll build a 90-day action plan to move your biggest goals forward.
Share This Post
About the Author: Rachel McFadden
