Social media can be a powerful tool to help companies better understand stakeholder interests, needs, and concerns—and thus to drive shifts in business practice which create lasting economic, environmental and social value.

Social media effectively pulls back the curtain of traditional sustainability communications to reveal not only what has been or is being accomplished, but who is involved in the process, how programs are implemented and ultimately why sustainability decisions are made in the first place.

Social media communications value chain

The powerful effects of social media stem from a few defining characteristics:

• Credibility—Social media communities are built on a common understanding that contributions are authentic, personal perspectives without veiled motivation.
• Relevance—Tools to search, sort, rank, and feed enable users and marketers to access content and follow people that are of personal interest and relevance.
• Engagement—Information is often casual in tone and manner, incorporates audio and video, and is delivered in small bits which are easy to process and share.
• Interactivity—Individuals are no longer simply message receivers.  They can add personal opinions, observations, and information to the discussion, thereby increasing their sense of ownership and value within the community.

By keeping these characteristics in mind and understanding the core tenets of social media engagement, companies can greatly increase the ROI on their sustainability strategy setting and communications efforts.