What do you do if your sustainability career could benefit from social media networking?

In my experience, the first step is to identify your networking goals. What are you hoping to achieve through your online presence? Are you seeking to raise awareness about sustainability issues, find job opportunities, or establish yourself as a thought leader?

There is a rich community of sustainability and renewables-focus professionals on LinkedIn. The best places to look are "people" at companies and organizations you aspire to have exposure to. Follow, connect, engage, flatter.

The AI is right on this one, although whether your focus is on awareness, career or thought leadership, writing engaging posts about sustainability will be the common root. What will likely change is the tone of voice and topics you post about and whether you want to connect emotionally or more rationally with your audience, which will lead to step 2 - choosing the right platform.

My suggestion would be to diversify your presence across platforms - professional updates on LinkedIn here, a day-in-the-life reel on Instagram there, and some real-time personal opinions on X (formerly known as Twitter) once in a while. Maintaining a presence on several platforms at once may seem like a tedious task, but once the consistency matches our time off-work and posting on social media doesn't feel like a chore or compulsion, it comes naturally. Humans are social beings, and we tend to share the details of what we experience. The sooner we realize that social media isn't a market, but our own space to share who we are, the easier it gets to gain true and genuine connections.

In my experience, each social media platform caters to different types of engagement and audiences. LinkedIn, for example, is a powerhouse for professional networking and job hunting. It's where you connect with industry leaders, share your expertise, and explore career opportunities.

Unless you are a public figure or with a lot of time on your hands, I recommend you start small with one platform - the one best suited to your goal. If it's professional oriented, it will most likely be LinkedIn. If it's rather on the awareness side, then it could be Instagram, Facebook, Youtube or Tiktok (in most countries) depending on the format you're most comfortable with and your target audience. Obviously there are some synergies for reposting and repurposing once you start to get traction and then eventually creating different content for each platform.

Share what interests you. But be interesting! Be authentic! Be curious! Add context to your content and strive for it to be (at least occasionally) valuable to your audience.

In my experience, as a sustainability professional, creating content that educates, inspires, and engages my audience is crucial. It's about sharing my knowledge, sparking curiosity, and fostering a sense of community around sustainability.

Consistent, high-quality content positions you as a subject matter expert, attracting potential employers, clients and speaking opportunities. Here are some pointers that can be helpful : - Establish thought leadership - share analysis, opinions on industry trends and challenges. - Showcase your work - case studies, project highlights demonstrate expertise. - Engage your network - spark discussions, respond to comments to build connections. - Collaborate with influencers - co-create content, appear on podcasts/webinars. - Repurpose content - turn blog posts into videos, infographics for diverse formats. - Use relevant hashtags - increase discoverability within the sustainability community.

It's all about content. Keep it personal, make it visual if you can, and most importantly, frequent. As long as you have something unique or authentic to share, frequency beats high-quality on most platforms.

Active engagement on social media is crucial for advancing in sustainability careers. By consistently participating in discussions, sharing relevant content, and responding to comments, professionals can raise their visibility and establish their expertise in the field. For example, I regularly contribute to conversations on platforms like LinkedIn and X about sustainable practices and innovations. This active involvement has not only increased my professional network but also opened up opportunities for collaborations and speaking engagements, demonstrating the power of engagement in building a sustainable career. It’s a long term engagement

If you feel nervous about posting stuff on LinkedIn you can always start easy by commenting on other people's posts. It's a great way to start conversations. This works best if you ask questions or write 2-3 sentences rather than just saying: "agreed".

Commenting and engaging with other people's posts is important on LinkedIn in particular. Beyond the visibility, that's also how you learn from others and see what type of content works best.

Make use of messaging provisions on social media platforms, and do so respectfully. Nobody likes a spam-texter with the same message copy-pasted to "potential clients" or "potential friends". Try being genuinely yourself, I promise it does wonders to help you gain more interpersonal relationships online. Be consistent about your story, and your cause, and ensure you engage the right kind of people. Algorithms nowadays are picking up quite swiftly on what we truly prefer to engage with. Train your algorithm before it trains you, and watch how your journey goes above and beyond through the power of the internet.

All platforms offer strong analytics capabilities to understand how your posts are performing and your network is developing. The key metrics for you will depend on your goal and content. For example, if you want to make sure that the maximum number of people see your message, your key metric might be reach. Otherwise it could be engagement or average percentage viewed in case of videos. Go back to your goals to define the most important data to monitor and not get lost in analysis paralysis.