Marketing

If you need some help getting started with your ESG policy, check out this article, 24 Ideas For Your ESG Policy. Once you have your ESG policy in place, it’s time to shout about it.

What Should You Shout About?

Everything! No matter how big or small the policy you have in place, you should let all your stakeholders know about it. These can be things such as:

• Do you have a flexible working policy?
• Do you use renewable energy?
• Or use a member of your supply chain who does?
• What do you do to be compliant?
• Do you have risk assessments in place?
• Do you have health and well-being policies, such as period leave?

These are just some of the many things you should be shouting about; anything you do within the three areas: social, governance, and environment, you should be telling people about it through your marketing! People want to hear about it, with consumers across all generations now saying they are willing to pay more for sustainable products and with 85% of investors thinking that ESG investments will help not just to build resistance but also see an increase within their final return, it is worth investing within your policy and making people aware it exists! However, there are some things that you should be mindful of when sharing your policy.

What Should You Be Careful Of?

There are, however, three main things you need to be cautious of when shouting about your ESG policy:

• Greenwashing – When a company has made out that they are doing certain behaviours or activities that make people believe they are doing more to protect the environment than what they are doing, which is misleading.
• Greenhushing – When a company withholds information about its environmental performance on purpose, this is known as greenhushing. This is due to their fear of criticism, as they are worried they could be branded as ‘greenwashing’ or face backlash from investors.
• Greenwishing – When a company expresses its goal/ desire to increase its sustainability or eco-friendliness, yet it is too ambitious and unrealistic. It’s characterised by wishful thinking rather than concrete, achievable plans.

How Should You Shout About It?

There are many different ways in which you can communicate your ESG efforts to your stakeholders; we’ve listed four things which you should keep in mind about how you should tell your ESG story.

1. Through storytelling

The power of storytelling: Storytelling transforms marketing by creating an emotional resonance with audiences. This tool builds trust, influences customer behaviour, and differentiates brands. By telling your unique ESG story, you can stand out in the market, talk about how it’s come about and why, make it personal, and talk about your journey and where you are currently. Make your audience feel they are a part of this journey with you.

2. Remember to be as honest as you can.

Honesty is the best policy, which you’ve probably heard a lot, and when it comes to telling your ESG story, it’s something you should follow. Findings from a recent consumer study highlight the growing importance of brand trust, showing that 70% of consumers, regardless of gender, income, or age, prioritise it more today than in the past. Linking back to earlier in the article, ensuring you are not greenwashing but not greenhushing is essential. If you have an ESG goal for your business, which was meant to be completed at a specific time but wasn’t made, tell people and explain:

• Why it wasn’t met
• But how far did you get with the goal
• The new adjusted goal with a different deadline in place, and what will be done to reach it.

Again, make them feel they are part of your journey and understand exactly why or why not something has happened, just be honest!