At this time it is estimated that one in every nine people on Earth is on Facebook. Twitter adds nearly 500,000 users a day and YouTube generates 92 billion page views per month! With statistics like this it’s not hard to figure out where to promote a good social campaign! One of the biggest reasons social media works is because it allows individuals, organizations and communities to develop, nurture & share relationships with other like-minded people and organizations. These relationships can be used for sharing knowledge, increasing awareness and optimizing the organization’s end goal. What better way to encourage such an important social movement than through the use of our society’s fastest growing social movement?
If you’ve been wondering how to get your “Green” message out to the world then you’ve come to the right place! By now I hope you understand why social media could be such a powerful tool for your business. Now let’s talk about the specific social tools you can use in order to promote a “Green” message.
Connect with a targeted audience
The first goal of any good Reduce, Reuse & Recyle campaign is to find the right audience. Social media offers many different ways to do this!
Communication Sites
• Social Networks – Twitter, Facebook
• Niche Networks–Wiserearth,Care2, MakemeSustainable, Freecycle
• Microblogs–Tumbler, Plurk, identi.ca
• Blogs – In house blogs, group blogs, community blogs
Collaboration Sites
• Social News Sites – Reddit, Slashdot& Digg
• Social Bookmarking Sites – StumbleUpon, Pinterest, BuzzFeed, Delicious
Multimedia Sites
• Video – YouTube
• Audio – Cinchcast
• Photos – Flickr
All of these sites allow you to meet and speak with an engaged audience. The interaction becomes a two-way conversation rather than just a one-way deposit of information. In this way, the information can be customized and truly relevant to the individuals in your market.
Create Content & Share
The second goal is to develop content that resonates with your audience and share it across a wide variety of platforms. In order to get the most out of your content, you’ll want to allow your readers into the conversation and give them the opportunity to share any of your content with their friends or on their profiles. Adding a ShareThis or AddThis button to your website allows you to accomplish this.
You will also want to take advantage of tools like, HootSuite, Seesmic,& TweetDeck that allow you to update many of your social media pages at the same time. Another option for team management is Awareness. There are also premium management tools such as SproutSocial, which allows teams to manage their social media engagement and offers analytics as well. Automating some of the social media process not only helps get your message out in a bigger way, it also allows businesses the time to interact more personally and more directly with their audience.
Track Results
The third goal is to analyze activities and track results to ensure that your efforts are working effectively to accomplish your overall goals. One of the best ways to analyze your site activity is through Google Analytics which allows organizations to record many different metrics about their sites visitors. Another great tool is Google Alerts to track specific keyword usage around the internet. In addition to Google’s tools, you can get great analytics from Bit.ly link shortener tool.
Want even more opportunities?
There are so many wonderful tools available to increase the effectiveness of your sustainability message! If you’re looking for even more, below you’ll find a few additional resources specifically for those interested in promoting the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle message through social media.
Twitter Hashtags for Sustainability–#sustainability, #activism, #composting, #conservation, #csr (corporate social responsibility), #earthtweet, #ecofriendly, #environment, #greenbiz, #reuse, #recycle, #renewable
EPA Social Media Guide - Offers descriptions of types of social media tools, and links to other pages that offer more information about the site
CDC Social Media Toolkit – Detailed descriptions of the types of social media and how best to utilize them in your campaign. Includes worksheets to help create a strategy and evaluate your ROI.
RE3.org Webinars - Two webinars featured at the top of the “For Coordinators” resources page that discuss “Using Social Media and Mobile Phones for Recycling” and “Social Media Video: A How To.”
So what do you think? Can social media impact the sustainability movement in a meaningful way? Only time will tell. The tools are there. The efforts are up to you! What questions do you have about promoting the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle message with social media? Leave us a comment and share your ideas about promoting “Green”!
