Resumo

A company value and future can be affected by stakeholders, which may exert pressure in a wide array of a company activities (Abratt, 2016). Companies worldwide recognize this fact and the largest business groups in Colombia are no different. They understood the crucial importance of generating sustainable actions and promoting them effectively, as explained by Abreu (2007) as “The focus of the socio-economic vision is on how society believes that companies should behave, for this reason, it is a normative vision.” (p.59). Such promotional actions, nowadays, should be through social networks.

Research Question: What are the digital marketing practices of the main Colombian companies when communicating sustainability and social market actions? General Objective: Investigate the digital marketing communication practices and its benefits of six leading Colombian companies in terms of sustainability.

Corporate Social Responsibility is understood as Steenkamp (2017) definition: “voluntary actions — that is, actions not required by law— that attempt to further some social good, counter some social ill, or address the externalities of their operating in the world” (p.209). Rowles adds (2018) that “Transparency means that we can build powerful brands based on real promises faster than ever before. A lack of authenticity will be exposed"(p. 42). Brands must be transparent in their activities through the supply chain as it is essential in the digital age (Iannuzi, 2017, Steenkamp, 2017).

In order to obtain results consistent with the research problem, an exploratory quantitative study was carried out, which is mainly based in numerical data analysis collected throughout the investigation. Quantitative studies are very useful to make predictions, find patterns and averages as well as test causal relationships (Bhandari, 2020). This research investigates the published social network content emphasizing the sustainability issues of six Colombian companies such as Grupo Éxito, Grupo Nutresa, Grupo Bancolombia, Bavaria, Alpina and Postobon being the object of study social networks.

According to the results obtained and previously analyzed on social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, Twitter and Tik Tok among others it became clear that the companies analyzed have different approaches in the various social networks they use to communicate with stakeholders. It depicts a scenery in which there is no clear aggregated strategy identified for the presence of these groups in social networks, with promotional actions presenting various degrees of success.

Branding on social networks today is clearly not a novelty. What is a novelty is the need to create meaningful content. Many other aspects may come into play, as considering each group culture and values and the impact it generates on people. According to the collected data, each of the studied groups have chosen a social network in which they are more active, hinting that depending on the segment they want to reach, the content will be expressed. At the same time, all the social networks have their differentiating point, and that is why they are still surviving in the market.

Iannuzzi, A. (2017). Greener Products: the making and marketing of sustainable brands. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis Group. Rowles, D. (2018). Digital Branding: a complete step-by-step guide to strategy, tactics, tools and measurement (2nd ed.). Kogan Page. Steenkamp, J. (2017). Global Brand Strategy: world - wise marketing in the age of branding (1st ed.). Palgrave Macmillan. Steenkamp, J. (2020). Global Brand Building and Management in the Digital Age. Journal of International Marketing, 13- 27. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069031X19894946