What are the best practices for engaging with customers on ESG issues?

Each client based on the industry, geography, business as well based on push and pull factors, regulatory requirements will have different perspectives as well priorities to achieve in short, medium, long term. This will help providing the right advice and solutions to clients.

Every country has a different outlook on ESG, and it's not at the same level of importance for each company either. So it's very important to understand who your stakeholders are (investors, team, customers being the primary ones), and what their ESG preferences are.

The foundation for effective engagement starts with understanding your customers' perspectives on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters. Listen actively, conduct surveys, and gather feedback to comprehend their values, concerns, and expectations regarding sustainability. This insight enables tailoring ESG approaches that resonate with their priorities, allowing you to align your efforts more effectively and genuinely with their needs.

How well your ESG performance is perceived is based on the individual preferences of your stakeholders, and that includes your customers. It is also unlikely that just any ESG strategy would work equally as well as another for your consumer base. In the case of your customers, you need to understand their needs, wants, priorities, traditions and culture. Customers in certain countries, certain age groups, or ethnicities, for example may care less about ESG than others. Likewise, they may have different ESG priorities. You must examine your customer base and their ESG preferences carefully so that you can determine the optimal way to balance your ESG strategy and get the most engagement.

Understanding your customers' values and concerns will allow you to align your ESG initiatives with what matters most to them. Listen to your customer's needs and work with them to address possible solutions

Once you know your stakeholders' outlook towards ESG, you need to communicate the impact you envision, centred around metrics that matter to them. If the impact you're creating is affecting obscure metrics, it won't make a difference to most people. So steer away from jargon and connect with to real-world outcomes.

Before communicating any ESG impacts or performance, a business should take a few preliminary steps. 1.) Start with a double materiality assessment of your full operation, either internally performed, or through a 3rd party (usually preferred) 2.) Using the results of this assessment, combined with input from your key stakeholders; shareholders, board, employees, customers and any others, will help you set ESG related goals that are relevant and important to your business. 3.) Once you have established and shared these goals publicly, you can begin sharing progress against them in a transparent manner.

Transparent communication about your ESG practices and achievements builds trust and credibility with customers. Present your ESG initiatives, goals, and progress in an accessible, clear, and compelling manner. Utilize various communication channels—such as websites, social media, annual reports, and product packaging—to share stories, metrics, and tangible results, showcasing the positive impact your business is making.

Be open about your company's ESG efforts, goals, and challenges. Share information on your initiatives, progress, and areas needing improvement. This will help build trust with your clients. If you're not able to consult or assist them, a quality referral will be very much appreciated.

It helps build transparency, fostering trust with stakeholders, including customers, investors, and the community. Effective communication showcases your commitment to sustainability and responsible practices, aligning with the values of socially conscious consumers.

First, inform your customer about the issue at hand, and the possible consequences — both in the near future as well as for future generations. Then, tell them how your organisation is helping to solve this problem. Lastly, define clearly how the customer's contribution is supporting the cause.

Use storytelling to illustrate the impact of your ESG initiatives. Share success stories, case studies, and testimonials to showcase tangible results. If you have the budget and time, videos are a great resource for this because they can be shared over and over.

Use websites, social media, and webinars to educate customers on ESG issues relevant to your industry, aligning insights with your products and services. Address a range of ESG topics, from climate change to diversity and inclusion, through engaging content on multiple channels. Employ webinars, events, and social media for dynamic delivery of information, tips, and resources, capturing customer interest in ESG concepts. Collaborate with experts, influencers, NGOs, and media to amplify ESG messages and broaden audience reach. Provide practical tools and resources empowering customers to actively participate in ESG initiatives.

Educating customers on ESG isn't just information; it's empowerment. Websites aren't just platforms; they're knowledge hubs. Webinars aren't just sessions; they're interactive learning experiences. Partnerships aren't just collaborations; they're amplifiers of impact. ESG topics aren't just content; they're pathways to conscious choices. Instead of one-way communication, envision a dialogue. In this perspective, customer education becomes not just a dissemination of facts but a journey of shared understanding and collective action toward a sustainable future.

Go beyond standard educational approaches; create immersive and participatory learning experiences. Develop webinars with interactive elements, allowing customers to engage directly with ESG experts. Host virtual reality (VR) experiences or simulations that immerse customers in the challenges and solutions related to ESG. Collaborate with influencers to organize live Q&A sessions or hands-on workshops. Empower customers to be part of the conversation by creating community forums where they can share insights and ideas related to ESG topics.

Engage customers as active participants in your sustainability journey. Encourage their involvement in co-creating or influencing ESG initiatives by seeking feedback, ideas, or suggestions. Initiatives like customer advisory panels, surveys, or contests that encourage innovative sustainability solutions can foster a sense of ownership and connection between customers and your sustainability efforts.

Involving customers in ESG isn't just participation; it's co-creation. Programs aren't just initiatives; they're avenues for collaboration. Rewards aren't just incentives; they're acknowledgments of shared values. Feedback isn't just input; it's a dialogue shaping sustainable practices. Instead of a transaction, envision a partnership. ESG isn't just a company effort; it's a collective journey. In this perspective, involving customers becomes not just an engagement strategy but a shared commitment to co-build a more sustainable and inclusive future.

Go beyond mere involvement; foster a sense of ownership among your customers. Establish customer-led ESG projects, allowing them to propose and lead initiatives aligned with their interests. Recognize and celebrate customer contributions regularly, creating a culture of appreciation. Develop collaborative platforms where customers can co-create solutions or initiatives, turning engagement into a collective effort. Implement gamification elements to make participation enjoyable, encouraging sustained involvement. Use customer feedback not just for improvements but as a basis for co-designing future ESG initiatives, ensuring a continuous and inclusive partnership.

Always seek fresh ideas for customer ESG and sustainability initiatives. Catering to a large demographic can be quite challenging, and just like almost everything in life, engaging in the same thing over and over again can become boring. Thus, you should continually seek out fresh ideas to keep sustainability inspiring and appealing to your customers.

The collaboration and co-creation of sustainability initiatives with customers are crucial for businesses aiming to make a genuine impact on both people and the planet. By involving customers in the design and execution of these initiatives, companies can ensure that their efforts resonate more deeply with the values and needs of their audience. This approach fosters a greater understanding of sustainability goals, leading to increased customer buy-in and engagement. Such collaboration leads to more innovative and effective sustainability strategies, as it combines the insights and expertise of diverse stakeholders.

The customer should never feel like they're buying a product. They should feel like they're supporting a revolution. Make your vision and impact clear on everything from your website to your packaging.

There are many ideas to engage customers so they can play a role in ESG efforts. One of the examples I found very useful is for a bank based in UAE, they launched an application that can be connected to their customers' wearables (e.g., Apple watch), it will track customers' footsteps and translate the same to carbon emissions reduced by such practice (in comparison to using a car). There's a leader board embedded in the application and customers will be incentivized for their efforts to save the environment. Another example is a for a bank that will give special rates for the loans given to get e-vehicles.

Sustainability no longer stops at the factory gate - it is imperative to include the entire value chain. Only then can the best possible impact be achieved.

Collaborating with customers on ESG isn't just a partnership; it's a shared mission. Platforms aren't just spaces; they're ecosystems for co-innovation. Expertise isn't just within the company; it's a distributed resource. Co-creation isn't just a concept; it's a dynamic process. Instead of a company-customer relationship, envision a community. ESG solutions aren't just initiatives; they're collective endeavors. In this perspective, collaboration becomes not just a strategy but a manifestation of a shared commitment to creating meaningful and impactful change.

Make your customer feel special — like they're an early adopter for a new norm which will help the planet. Emphasise that their better choice today will result in a chain reaction of more visibility and success for your environmentally conscious brand, helping you reach and impact significantly more people. Tie this in with metrics about your impact.

Elevate inspiration to a shared movement; transform ESG actions into a collective endeavor. Encourage customers to become ambassadors of your ESG initiatives by providing platforms for them to share their personal journeys. Foster a community where individuals inspire one another through their ESG achievements. Establish recognition programs that celebrate not only organizational successes but also highlight customer contributions. Turn your ESG journey into a shared narrative of impact, where each customer becomes an integral part of a broader sustainability story. By creating a sense of collective accomplishment, you empower customers to see themselves as champions within a larger movement, reinforcing the shared commitment to ESG.

Personally I found a way to make motivation easier, and that was to focus on one problem. We have plenty, and we should work holistically on all of them, but it's hard enough to adopt a global idea of all the responsibilities involved, all the actions we could take, the outcomes and impact on everyday life... so I chose one topic: electric mobility. A lot of ramifications will come out of it but is easier to work on a global vision if there's a central point to come back to.

Share success stories of customers who have embraced ESG actions. Real-life examples can inspire others to follow suit and showcase the positive outcomes of responsible choices.

Beware of the phrase "the customer is always right". ESG and sustainability may be gaining traction among customers and consumers, but this must not lead to a presumption that everyone will automatically get on board with it. An excellent balance must always be struck between customer satisfaction and sustainability duties or due diligence. Abandoning your ESG policies or values to please customers is a recipe for disaster, your credibility WILL be questioned. Let your business model reflect true sustainability with unwavering determination and a mission to cater SUSTAINABLY to customers' needs. Eventually, those who recognize that value WILL get on board.

Discover what resonates with your customers most and focus your content, campaigns and strategy in showcasing ESG initiatives which matter to them.