ESG content is everywhere right now and it should be a part of your finance brand’s overall content strategy. According to recent research by McKinsey, ESG content has become essential to maintaining your finance brands’ “social license”. In addition, investors globally are demanding more information about asset managers’ ESG commitments and impact investing options. A study by Finder identified that the number of investment managers reporting back to investors on environmental and social outcomes has more than doubled in two years from 21% (2019) to 45%.
As global conversations around climate change and sustainable practices continue to increase, sharing your finance brand’s ESG commitments can help to build trust and loyalty amongst clients and investors. So, why is ESG content important and how can you get it right?
The benefits of sharing ESG content
According to a recent report by McKinsey, there are a number of benefits for finance brands sharing ESG content. The major one is that it can help top-line growth by helping attract both B2C and B2B customers by providing more sustainable products. 71% of consumers say they prefer to buy from companies that align with their values and 83% of consumers think companies should be actively shaping ESG best practices.
“ ESG content can help top-line growth by helping attract both B2C and B2B customers by providing more sustainable products.”
Overall, if your finance brand isn’t sharing ESG content you’re missing out on a prime opportunity to engage with keen investors and clients. Economic services business Deloitte has extensively researched this area and has concluded that “Companies that fail to embed sustainability in their corporate communications to create a strategic, investor-relevant narrative are missing an opportunity”.
Getting your content right
Sharing your ESG commitments should be part of your overall content marketing strategy, but it sometimes can be difficult to get it right. At its core, your content should be topical and provide accurate information. While many finance brands share their environmental commitments, it’s important you remember to share social and governance content.
Here are three things to consider when creating ESG content:
- Transparency – Always remember to share transparent information that offers insights into your finance brands’ core values and practices.
- Timely – Your content needs to be timely. It’s important to get ahead of recent events and share information with your clients that they can rely on.
- Get specific – It’s important you are clear with the information you are providing. Offer clarity through content that’s specific and easy to understand.
Additionally, rather than just engaging clients online and providing them with information another important component of ESG content is education. Ensuring your clients understand your ESG commitments and the macro ESG landscape is critical to helping to build trust and loyalty. Making content as easy to understand as possible is important. One finance brand that’s producing stellar infographic content is Vanguard.
At the end of the day, consumers and businesses want to see your ESG commitments and values. ESG values are becoming more and more important in an individual’s decision-making. If you haven’t yet started incorporating ESG content into your marketing, it’s time to start.
