Creating Climate-Conscious Communities: The Power of Social in the Green Transition
As the green transition gathers momentum, community action possesses a growing and unignorable power. In particular, social platforms and digital communities can influence behaviour change, advocacy – and business outcomes. For the players in this space, creating real change needs the support and engagement of the public.
Introduction
In today’s climate-conscious economy, green energy companies are not just powering the transition, they’re expected to lead it. We are living in a hyperconnected, socially driven world, and here leadership isn’t defined by infrastructure or innovation; it’s defined by engagement.
That engagement is increasingly happening in digital spaces – on social platforms, in online communities, and through peer-to-peer influence. The opportunity for green energy brands is clear: move beyond broadcasting and into active community-building that drives behaviour change, advocacy and tangible environmental impact.
Social strategy, social management and community-building can unlock real value in the green transition – and the most forward-thinking companies are partnering with specialist creative agencies to do it well.
The new landscape: social influence meets sustainability imperative
“The green transition is both a technological challenge and a human one.”
The green transition is both a technological challenge and a human one. Public support, customer behaviour, policy change and investor trust are all shaped in part by how companies communicate and engage.
Social platforms are now the frontline of influence. According to McKinsey, over 70% of consumers say social media influences their environmental beliefs and purchasing decisions. And with 4.9 billion global users, platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube are shaping the sustainability narrative in real time.
Yet many green energy firms underutilise these channels, treating them as communication tools rather than strategic levers for education, mobilisation and loyalty.
From messaging to mobilising: what community can do
When used strategically, social media becomes more than a broadcast channel: it becomes a catalyst for community. This shift delivers real, measurable benefits:
Behaviour change: Community-driven initiatives outperform traditional campaigns. Research by Rare and the Behavioural Insights Team shows that social norms and peer influence can increase sustainable behaviour adoption by up to 24%.
Brand trust: According to Edelman, 63% of people trust what a company’s employees and community say about sustainability – compared to just 48% who trust official corporate communications.
Cost-efficient advocacy: User-generated content and peer sharing reduce the cost of reach and improve conversion, with some brands seeing 3-5x return on social advocacy campaigns versus paid media alone (Sprout Social, 2023).
For green energy providers, this presents a unique opportunity: build climate-conscious communities that not only support your mission, but amplify it.
Designing a community-centric social strategy
Effective community building begins with clarity of purpose and a structured, insight-led approach, a topic we substantiated in our recent white paper that explores the business growth that emerges from brand communities, Finding Your Tribe.
1. Purposeful positioning
Shared values, clearly articulated, form the bedrock. By defining the community’s role in your sustainability narrative (is it to educate, co-create, mobilise, amplify?), you will be able to secure a sense of purpose and belonging. Your community strategy should map to your wider ESG and business objectives – from accelerating adoption of clean technologies to recruiting the next generation of green talent.
2. Audience intelligence
As we outlined in our paper, creating the conditions for a community to form and flourish will rely on having a nuanced, in-depth understanding of the target audience. And not all ‘green’ audiences are the same. Some are technical and policy-savvy, others are emotionally driven or locally focused. A strong strategy segments your audience – understanding their values, behaviours and barriers to engagement – then tailors content, tone and platforms accordingly.
3. Platform strategy and governance
Each platform offers unique formats, user expectations, and algorithms. Whether it’s short-form explainers on TikTok, employee-led storytelling on LinkedIn, or grassroots conversations on Reddit, your approach must be both native and integrated. Strong governance ensures consistency and resilience across teams and touchpoints. Whichever platform is chosen, it must allow for a free exchange of ideas – only then can the community members feel a sense of ownership, which fosters deeper emotional investment, and stronger support of the cause.
What high-performing green communities look like
High-performing digital communities don’t happen by accident. They are designed, nurtured and continuously optimised. Leading examples share common traits:
Interactive, not just informative: They invite questions, debates and feedback (not just likes).
Multi-stakeholder: Employees, customers, policy influencers and partners all play active roles.
Data-informed: They use real-time insights to refine content, timing and engagement tactics.
Purpose-driven: Every conversation ladders back to a shared goal, whether that’s decarbonisation, electrification or equity in access.
Ørsted’s transformation from a fossil fuel based utility to a global renewable energy leader has become a case study in brand reinvention – powered by clear purpose, strategic storytelling and digital engagement. Recognised as the world’s most sustainable energy company by Corporate Knights, Ørsted has reshaped public perception of offshore wind from a technical necessity to a social and environmental movement.
Partnering for impact
Building and sustaining digital communities requires more than content creation. It calls for specialist skills across social listening, narrative design, audience targeting, moderation, analytics and platform innovation. This is where creative agencies add exponential value – not just executing social posts, but architecting ecosystems that engage and evolve over time.
A strategic partner can help green energy companies:
Audit and refine existing social presence
Design a purpose-driven community roadmap
Manage multi-platform engagement and content creation
Monitor impact and continuously optimise strategy
Work with internal teams to sustain engagement authentically.
The return is stronger brand trust, more efficient audience reach, greater employee and stakeholder alignment, and – most importantly – faster progress on green transition goals.
“By investing in thoughtful, data-led social and community strategies, you can turn your mission into a movement, build advocacy that scales, and embed your leadership role in the energy transition.”
Final thought: leading through connection
Green energy companies are solving one of the most important challenges of our time. But it is connection, not solutions alone, that inspires real change.
By investing in thoughtful, data-led social and community strategies, you can turn your mission into a movement, build advocacy that scales, and embed your leadership role in the energy transition – not just through what you do, but through how you engage.
The future of energy is not just clean. It’s connected.
Future Strategy Club (FSC) is an independent creative agency that uses a unique partnership model to deliver exceptional work for corporates and startups. With a global network of 500+ members covering the full creative spectrum, we deliver a full-service experience without the unnecessary costs of large group agencies.
FSC has direct experience of working in green energy with World Hydrogen Leaders (now part of S&P Global), Green Power Global, SAF and World Power Grid Leaders; and our members have worked across some of the biggest energy companies in the world, including Shell, BP, Exxon Mobile, Ovo and British Gas.
Get in touch to find out why our values, approach and commitment to our clients makes us the creative partner you are looking for in a constantly changing world: hello@futurestrategy.club.
