3 strategies for your sustainable social media advertising
Sustainability and social media are shaping the debates of our time. When companies combine the two, they can take off with their social media advertising – or crash and burn. Find out here what makes the difference!
What is social media advertising?
Let’s take a quick look at the basics: social media advertising refers to paid ads that are placed in the feeds of social network users. Companies can use these ads to increase reach, interactions or conversions. The form of the ads depends primarily on the platforms themselves – on Instagram, for example, you should focus on high-quality (moving) images. So far, so clear.
When it comes to content, you can be creative and send out a specific message with every social media ad. Most companies use ads for advertising campaigns. However, this is where the issue of sustainability comes into play. Because social media advertising is also ideal for sustainability communication.
How to create a sustainable presence on social media
Sustainability now plays a very important role in consumers’ everyday lives. This is reflected in corporate activities on popular social media platforms – both on the positive side, when a company celebrates and communicates successes in its sustainability strategy, and on the negative side, for example if it is merely green washing and there is no real commitment behind the green message.
Your company can use social media in different ways to communicate a sustainable character and act in a future-oriented manner. Here are three clever strategies:
#1 Spread sustainability communication via social media ads
It’s not just when you’re working on a new product or have an exciting launch coming up that you should increase your social media reach with ads. There are plenty of messages that are worth spreading beyond the boundaries of your followers. These include, in particular, sustainability measures that your company is launching or has successfully integrated.
With a limited budget, it may not make sense to spend your money on messages that do not lead directly to sales. But if you position your company as sustainable with a wide reach, sooner or later this should have an impact on your sales figures. After all, sustainability is a key factor in purchasing decisions for more and more people: According to YouGov, for example, it plays a role for 60% of consumers in Germany.
60 % of German consumers pay attention to sustainability.
#2 Participate in the discourse on sustainability via hashtags
With the abundance of content on social media, hashtags are a welcome solution for your company to reach your target group precisely. Of course, this mechanism also works in the other direction. If your company has taken the initiative for more sustainability, nothing prevents you from actively participating in relevant social media conversations. Search for suitable hashtags and interact with content dedicated to the topic. Company accounts can also take part in discussions – you’ll see that this can really pay off.
Ben & Jerry’s is a good example of this. The ice cream manufacturer is not only known for its sweet flavors and creative product names, but also repeatedly positions itself publicly on social issues. As long as it fits in with the corporate identity and is convincing, a similar commitment can also be the right path for your company. Take a look at which accounts are interacting with the hashtags and use this information to target your ads even more precisely.
#3 Repost content on the topic of sustainability
Although company accounts are of course mainly about your company with its employees and products, this doesn’t have to be the only content on your social media profile. The discussion about sustainable business and living is being held across society as a whole. If you or your social media team discover relevant posts on these topics, sometimes a repost is enough to spread a message. In other cases, a short, categorizing comment is appropriate. Last but not least, you can put posts up for discussion and ask your community for feedback on certain topics. Your social media marketing strategy should not be limited to one-sided content and one-way communication. After all, social media is all about communication and interaction.
Important: The content on your profile should always appear authentic. Only then will users trust the messages you send out via your channels. You should approach changes towards a stronger focus on sustainability topics strategically and introduce content gradually instead of posting with a completely new focus from one day to the next. This quickly comes across as deliberate and untrustworthy. But if the transition is well planned and smooth, green marketing can give your social media activities a real boost.
A strong community for strong sustainability communication
For strong sustainability communication on social networks, it is important that your company has a strong community that is active and keen to interact. This is the only way you can profitably participate in discussions and effectively convey your messages.