Are you fed up with bland sustainability content? How to create engaging sustainability content.

Are you bored of seeing the same old, overused, generic sustainability phrases and content? If you're bored of your sustainability communications, your audience definitely is!

Climate poverty and increasing natural disasters alongside a more engaged public has seen sustainability go mainstream. Resulting in more organisations and brands investing in the area than ever before. But, poor communications reduce what could (and should) be a brand’s source of innovation and differentiation to a bad mix of business rhetoric and strings of vague, unsubstantiated, statements. This proliferation of ineffective, stock communications is holding businesses back from driving sustainability forward when we need them the most!

Having worked in sustainability communications for 15 years, I’ve seen it time and time again. Brands abandon their unique personalities in favour of cookie-cutter sustainability statements that just get the job done.

Brands succeed when they occupy a unique and differentiated position in the minds of their audience. If your sustainability communications sound like everyone else’s, you will be just that – like everyone else. Worse, you could be harming your brand and disengaging your audiences. Even with the right intentions using bad communications can give the appearance of ‘greenwashing’.

You’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it. References to ‘commitments to the future’, a better tomorrow’ and unsubstantiated statements like ‘we care’ and a sprinkling of the word ‘eco’ for good measure.

Good sustainability communications can unlock huge benefits for any size and type of business. Well-crafted communications can be a powerful tool for increasing trust, helping to drive internal change, generating positive PR and sparking stakeholder interest in your sustainability journey. Best of all they can increase your competitive advantage as your position on social and environmental issues differentiates you from your peers.

I’ve pulled together my 8 top tips to address the root cause of bad sustainability writing.

Put Transparency First

In this new information heavy age, honesty and transparency is key! Consumers have come to expect more from companies and are holding them more accountable than ever before. This new awareness brings concerns about trust, criticism of vague statements and the question of greenwashing.

Individuals, businesses – no matter who you are, it’s always hard to talk about challenges and failures. However, painting an overly optimistic picture without showing the proof will create doubt and erode trust.

I’ll say it again, talking about sustainability isn’t easy and it’s ok to admit this. Addressing the challenges you’ve faced will go a long way to boosting transparency.

Tell your audience about the journey you’ve been on, warts and all!  Transparency builds trust and trust is the foundation for strong relationships with your employees, customers and extended stakeholders.

Talk about projects that are happening now!

It’s common for companies to want to only talk about projects when they are 100% complete and can presented all wrapped up in a nice bow. In reality, that isn’t how life works and often projects will go on for years before they are at that stage with sufficient data to be the ‘jewel’ in the crown of a sustainability strategy. By this point, the world will have moved on and have simply assumed you weren’t fulfilling your commitments.

Don’t be afraid to talk about your ongoing projects. It will show your commitment, prove you have strategies in place and be another way to boost transparency, thereby inspiring your audience with your honesty and ambition.

The projects you talk about don’t have to be perfect and you will be pleasantly surprised by the conversations that are generated by talking about projects you are still working on.

The Who - Identify Your Audience

It might sound obvious, but too many brands jump into what they want to say before considering who they want to say it to and why. To craft compelling messages that resonate with your audience, you need to know who you’re trying to speak to.

Identify your audience, then find out what they want to know and how they want it delivered. Some will prefer emotive storytelling, others might prefer statistics and scientific analysis showing proof. Forming an understanding of your audience type is vital in being able to engage the right people in the right way.

Bring it closer to home

When you talk about sustainability as a general term, people find it hard to identify with what you’re talking about and they often don’t understand the complexity of everything that’s involved.

Reduce the overwhelming scale and severity of climate and societal issues and relate them to things that are tangible to your audience and that your audience cares about in their everyday lives.

Be Specific

Avoid the trap of using vague and unsubstantiated language. Lofty statements like ‘our product is better for the planet’  are ok, but why is it better – be specific!

Ditch the broad, don’t say it’s ‘sustainable’ if it’s made with recycled polyester say what it is made from and why that material is better for the planet.

Be specific in what you say about your sustainable actions!

Why?

In business, it’s all too common to forget to ask why.

Why was that decision made?

Why a strategy was adopted?

Why are we cutting emissions?

Why did we redesign a product?

If you don’t ask yourself why – you’ll be missing a piece of the puzzle and you won’t be able to communicate the whole story to your audience.

Asking why allows you to think critically about your strategies and why you want to communicate about them.

Avoid policy documents

Don’t rely on policy documents to fill the sustainability section of your website. I‘m talking about websites that are low on genuine content and rely on ‘environmental policies’, their ‘community policy’ and any other technical documents to fill their sustainability pages.

Use any technical documents in your discussions about your communications strategy, but they should only ever be a reference – not the content itself.

Make it personal – do your own thing!

One reason that generic sustainability fails is that it lacks a human touch.

The deluge of stock phrases and bland language creates distance between your brand, sustainability, and your audience. Telling the stories behind your sustainability efforts bridges that gap, making your communications more authentic.

Sustainability communications can look and sound however you want them to look. The most impactful and successful brands in this area are the ones that use their own personality no matter the topic, the audience or the content.

If you stop sounding like everyone else, sustainability communications will help you stand out from the crowd.

The key takeaway is that the best communication strategies combine creativity, useful information, authentic storytelling, and behind-the-scenes insights to display how brands are creating value and protecting the planet.

Want to talk about your sustainable actions with a little more pazzaz and a little less blah we’re here for you! Let’s Chat