I read on LinkedIn the other day that for every hour you spend creating content, you should set aside the same amount of time to distribute it.
With that in mind, how long did it take to produce your last impact report?
For some, impact/sustainability reporting is a legal requirement; for others, a B Corp obligation, and for many, a venture to hold their business accountable as they commit to being better and reducing negative impact. Whatever your motivation, getting eyes on your report should be a priority.
The bottom line is that a tonne of studies point to the fact that there’s a huge and engaged audience for this stuff.
B2B and B2C decision-makers increasingly focus their purchasing power on sustainable and ethical businesses. Nielsen reports that 66% of global consumers are willing to pay a premium for products that are gentle on the planet. Read more of the why in this article.
So, if you don’t amplify the work once the ink is dry on your report, let’s call it a waste of time, energy, and budget.
Practical considerationsfor distributing your impact report
- Website Actions: Don’t hide your impact report behind a CSR page in your footer. Create a banner or teaser and link to it from pertinent pages. Remember how important sustainability and ethics are to B2B buyers? If they’re in the information-gathering stage of their supplier search and land on your service pages, they should be able to access your impact report easily, very few people are going to bother digging deep to find it.
- Current Customers: Don't overlook your current customer base when it comes to sharing your impact report. Just because you've already won their business doesn't mean they don't need to see the good you're doing. In fact, as businesses spend more time scrutinising their supply chains, highlighting your positive impact could be a huge key to retaining their partnership. Your existing customers may well be your most engaged audience, cheering you on and excited to see the steps you're taking to be a more sustainable and responsible company. So keeping them informed and aligned with your values can only strengthen your business relationship.
- Existing Database - Lost/Lapsed: Your impact report is an excellent excuse for re-engaging lost and lapsed clients. It sets your stall out, shares your mission and can prompt warmer prospects to pick up the phone.
- Social Platforms: Sharing your report once does not constitute a distribution strategy. Create graphics, peekaboo visuals and pull-outs that serve your audience across your chosen platforms. Look ahead to relevant days in the calendar to schedule reshares. From a community management standpoint, be ready with your impact report to share it in conversations when appropriate.
- Pitch Decks & Proposals: Back to the decision makers seeking this information, a summary slide won’t hurt in your deck to link to the full report.
- Podcast: You’ve likely put deep work into understanding your impact that others can learn from. Put your feelers out to industry podcasts to offer your insight and grow your audience in that way.
- IRL Events & Keynotes: In the same way that you can seek out podcasts, there are panel discussions on sustainable business up and down the country looking for contributors. Even if you’re at the start of your sustainability mission, you still have the experience to offer, which will also unlock new networking opportunities.
The end goal is to get your hard work out there and demonstrate your commitment to sustainable, responsible business. And like we said, there’s a huge audience hungry for this kind of information; we personally love checking out other businesses reports.
If you find the above overwhelming, or you just want to discuss impact reporting in general – from storytelling to design and distribution – you can book a no-obligation meeting here.
Want an editable checklist?
Give your report the time it deserves & really think through a thoughtful distribution strategy – strengthening customer relationships, attracting new business, and boosting your brand’s authority, are all pretty amazing payoffs for that bit of extra effort. Trust us, your impact report is too good not to share far and wide (we might not have seen it, but we believe in you!)
If you’re ready to get started, we’ve dropped the list into a Google Sheet for you to manipulate (just create a copy) to help focus your impact report distribution:
