The SMI – Wizness Social Media Sustainability Index was recently published. The report emphasizes the efforts that many companies have undertaken over the past year in terms of using social media for sustainability communications.
This report’s findings are interesting to us for several reasons.
First, they show what we have known for some time: that social media has a strong role to play in the CSR field. Companies involved in CSR have lagged behind other corporations in their adoption of social media, but as executives and managers develop a better understanding of the medium, it has become clear that proper use of social media can lead to meaningful stakeholder engagement.
But putting social media aside for a second, the report also shows that these companies are starting to embrace digital technology as a whole to communicate their CSR efforts.
This is at the core of what LGMi does and what we have been pushing for some time. Social media is only one element of proper digital stakeholder engagement. It is appropriate in some cases, but may not be in others. Companies need to assess their needs and objectives, and choose the best medium (or combination of mediums) to communicate a particular effort. Video production, engaging infographics, powerful photography, mobile devices and tablet experiences, and overall inspiring and accessible interactivity should all be part of the sustainability communications arsenal.
In the end, two overarching themes emerge from this discussion. The first one is that since stakeholder engagement is so important to CSR activities and communications, a proper understanding of the various communication channels and possibilities in the digital space is crucial. And second, in addition to transparent and direct discussions with stakeholders, creative interactive storytelling should be at the forefront of CSR communications.
The SMI – Wizness Social Media Sustainability Index can be found here. It has been discussed here and here by well-known CSR consultants Elaine Cohen and David Connor.
Image: World of 7 Billion – Interactive application we created for Allianz Knowledge
