How To Communicate Social Responsibility As A Brand

Sixty percent of American consumers say they believe it is important to make purchases from responsible brands. But when asked to name responsible brands, a tenth of respondents couldn’t name one.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Toms was a brand repeatedly mentioned as a responsible brand, but Facebook and Target were also named. If you’re scratching your head a little bit, you can see why it may be a good time to consider how your brand is perceived and whether your commitment to sustainability or social responsibility is being communicated.

If you haven’t previously embraced a responsible philosophy in your business culture, it’s time to think about it. A survey of 60,000 consumers across 60 countries found that 66% of participants said they would spend more money to do business with a brand that had a commitment to corporate social responsibility.

It can be an overwhelming undertaking to try and revamp your business to be more sustainable or to support social responsibility causes. But there’s a lot you can do with a little. For instance, partnering with a local cause to spend a day volunteering as a team is a fantastic start. Is sustainability important to your employees? Begin by creating a plan to reach your goals, rather than trying to replace every category of materials with more sustainable options right away.

There may be things you are already doing that can be included in your brand messaging. Consider these examples:

• Does your delivery fleet optimize routes for fuel efficiency? This is a great sustainability measure.
• Think about the ways in which your business pours back into the local economy.
• You’ve always used recycled materials and embraced small measures, like employees using insulated water bottles and coffee cups, rather than single-use materials.
• Your company has embraced a permanently hybrid or remote environment, keeping cars off the streets.

There are endless ways in which you might be a socially responsible company, but it simply hadn’t occurred to you to be any other way. These are messages that should come through in your branding. Here are a few ideas for including social responsibility in your strategy:

• Do a behind-the-scenes video that showcases the many ways your company has always been sustainable.
• Highlight a cause that your company partners with by adding their logo and a link to your website.
• Use social posts to amplify the messages of your favorite local charity.
• Organize an annual event to support a local cause and publicize it well.

Consumers care about far more than just pricing and quality. They care about building a relationship with brands. And as with any relationship, people want to be connected to those that share their values. Make sure your customers know what you are doing to support what they care about.