The Business ROI in Social and Green

You are a B2B company or professional. You firmly believe in outstanding quality and customer intimacy. Thereby staying ahead of the pack. Your glass tends to be half full. At least.

Yet you are apprehensive about your commercial or recruitment pipeline, your ability to innovate or the unconnectedness between marketing & sales or marketing & HR. Equally, you realize that for long term success, profit alone does not suffice. Your customers, employees and other partners are increasingly selective about who they want to connect to. And through their (online) networks will tell the world what companies they admire and befriend (or unfriend). Also, they won’t let you get away with greenwashing – you need to build green credibility too.

At the same time, deep down inside of you ‘going social and green’ to you still resonates very much like non-profit, incompetence and grey-woollen socks. As research by Wharton University’ professor of marketing Cassie Mogilner et al shows, customers typically stereotype Non-Profit and For-Profit firms. They generally see For-Profit organisations as competent and business-savvy and on-Profits as warm and caring. The Wharton research shows that decisions in the end are primarily made based on perceived competence. The researchers conclude there is room for For-Profit organisations to build their social and sustainable reputation, just as much as Non-Profit organisations would greatly benefit from adding more ‘Biz’ to their repertoire.  Time therefore to see the value and connectedness of Social | Green | Biz  in your market too.

Social?
I know. You don’t vote social. Or perhaps you do. Either way, do spend 30 seconds to read on. Tomorrow’s corporate survival, success and impact increasingly depend on today’s insights, ideas, inspiration and innovation. Companies need a social strategy for social innovation as these enablers are all driven by people. People who more and more live and work in their communities of choice. Virtually, these communities are developing as web 2.0, social media networks. In order to connect, organisations therefore need to engage not just offline but in these social media hubs as well. Building better social businesses starts small, within and between teams and between people. Social media can also be leveraged to better listen to customers and prospects out there and (re)connect. Besides a clear social media strategy, you and other executives want to get the best possible insight in the business case & ROI of Social Media Marketing.

Green?
The green revolution is all around. Customer advocacy is more and more dependent on a business’ ability to deliver sustainable products and services. Legislation and public sector appetite also propel the market to go green. Also, as a matter of speech, taking a fresh, ‘greenfield’ approach to business is imperative to guard off new entrants into your marketplace. Green therefore applies just as much to sustainability of products, processes and services as it does to fresh ideas, market innovation and staying ahead of the grey pack. For ‘going green’ to succeed, a better insight in ROI of going Green to the business is imperative. Green marketing needs both tried-and-tested business practices to effectively shape and deliver a market proposition, just as much as the benefits ‘2.0’ brings. The power of social media marketing can help better and more rapidly connect a business to a global (niche) audience.

Biz!
Going social and green therefore increasingly equals doing good to your workforce, the environment and your reputation just as much as it benefits your P&L. Social | Green | Biz more and more are inextricably linked.