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CSR reporting is for companies to document their impact on the environment, economy, and community in a formal report. These reports tend to be published annually and are made publicly available to anyone interested, though the CSR reporting itself remains an ongoing process.

CSR reporting presents an ideal opportunity for organisations to become more transparent about their operations and the extent of their “corporate social responsibility” efforts. Businesses disclosing their social performance are now increasingly held accountable for their actions and tried against their commitments. This liability encourages measures taken to be considerate of and appropriately sensitive to issues existing outside the immediate business realm. As a result, the reviewing aspect of CSR reporting also encourages businesses to seek to improve their current practices and adopt more sustainable ones. 

For conscious consumers and stakeholders, CSR reporting is important to gauge whether the intentions and goals of a company are aligned to their own values and expectations, enabling them to reach informed decisions about whether to invest, purchase, or even take active steps to protest against the business. Businesses already involved in reporting and turning things around for the better will appear attractive to these individuals and reap the benefits. Others will either be forced to change to stay afloat or risk themselves going under.

In light of the growing emphasis on this trend, we have created a number of tips for best practices to relay for your CSR reporting:

1. Decide your framework

When businesses begin CSR reporting, they can soon become buried with data and overloaded by information. Establishing a clear plan of action from the outset will ensure this can be avoided and provides direction to gather and audit the information most relevant to your organisation. For example, the framework for a building company will likely need to map their resource supply chains as well as demonstrate their support in the local community.

2. Define, measure, and monitor your goals

Companies need to provide a clear outline of their goals and how these will be measured for CSR reporting. This ensures performance and progress can be tracked with ease and the process is straightforward for audiences to be able to understand. Continuing with our building company example, giving a number of hours of volunteer work over a year or perhaps donating a certain value of building materials to help with local projects are ways to showcase and quantify support in the local community. These figures can then be monitored monthly or quarterly, for instance, to hold the business to account for remaining on track with their goals at the end of the year.

3. Align CSR goals with your strategy

Beyond outlining their sustainable development goals, businesses also need to identify and explain how these relate to their mission and strategy overall. This is important to note for CSR reporting to aid readers and potential investors in gauging the overall health of a company and further understanding ambitions for growth and the future.

4. Report to your stakeholders

Given that CSR reporting is made publicly available, businesses should aim to fulfil a range of needs for the different parties interested, especially when much of the purchasing power for services and products is held by potential investors and consumers. 

If a company is inwardly focused on growing profits, rather than reducing its negative impact, CSR reporting will raise awareness of this to stakeholders. As a result, current and potential employees interested in the corporate culture, policies, practices, and response to wider environmental and social issues may soon look elsewhere. The response for stakeholders will likely be the same for any business simply not reporting – silence often speaks volumes.

Providing insight into short, medium, and long-term goals can receive positive financial outcomes from those reading the reports for investment. Consumers can actively choose to support businesses with good social intentions, while investors can weigh up the strengths and weaknesses as well as project the extent of risk a company poses to investment. This could be based on the measures taken and policies in place for managing and mitigating the consequences of global warming and climate change, for instance.

5. Consistency and transparency

Last but certainly not least, consistency and transparency for CSR reporting are essential. Consistency enables readers to easily compare previous reports and track your progress over time. Transparency, on the other hand, helps to build trust in your audience and gives your results greater validity.

Overall, the uptake of CSR reporting for businesses is on the rise and the benefits for communities and the environment are huge. By following our 5 tips for CSR reporting, your business will retain employees; attract new customers, investors, and talent as well as set the benchmark for being considerate, trustworthy, resilient, and future-focused.

At Investors In Community, we host an online platform that connects companies, individuals, community groups, not-for-profit organisations, and charities to share support for a range of causes. In exchange for every donation, volunteer work, and contributive effort that gives back to the community, a sum of credits will be received under our Community Credits initiative. Businesses can use this scheme to measure the value they are adding to the lives of community members as part of their CSR reporting. Sharing these recognised positive contributions with their social media and website audiences also enables businesses to raise awareness and boost their brand image in performing good deeds.

Request a free demo of our digital platform to choose your next charity challenge and see the difference CSR reporting makes to your business and within your local community.

In this day and age where information is so accessible, widespread, and dispensable, making a genuine connection with and giving back to the community are all the more important; it’s too easy for businesses to be forgotten amidst the changing tide of trends and fads. With companies also pressured into rewriting their standards of practice to meet the ever-rising demands of their consumers, finding a way for businesses to make their mark of social value and one that is lasting becomes difficult. Giving back to the community is a movement here to stay and will ensure companies contributing continually and consistently receive the recognition they deserve. Not only will they become a household name to locals and beyond but their positive impact will always remain in public memory.

While the concept of giving back to the community and those less fortunate has long been in existence under ‘philanthropy’, the terms ‘ESG’, ‘CSR’, and ‘sustainability’ are more recent and increasingly drawn on in the corporate landscape. This is to encourage organisations to recognise and perform their duty in making the world we live in a better place for the working lives of their employees as well as our current and future generations. It’s also now widely accepted for companies to have a positive relationship with the communities in which they operate where they promote and contribute to its development. Alongside the important benefits of bridging the social, economic and political divisions for its members, giving back to the community mutually benefits businesses and their growth prospects as well as employees, clients and customers.

Empower Your Employees

Research has indicated that giving back to the community works wonders for the physical and mental health of volunteers. People derive a huge sense of purpose and fulfillment from performing good deeds and helping to improve the lives of others. For businesses offering charity work with paid time off, employees have been shown to be their happiest when they are giving back to the community and contributing beyond the bottom line. A better community and happier workforce welcome a whole host of benefits for businesses, including:

• boosted employee morale;
• increased engagement, productivity and retention;
• reduced sick leave and absenteeism;
• strengthened coworker relations;
• greater levels of loyalty; 
• and a positive outlook on company culture.

Each of these aspects is a foundation for encouraging business growth, workplace wellbeing and improving the communities companies live and work within. The more workplace satisfaction employees receive as a direct result of giving back to the community, the better their business will perform financially in terms of driving sales and revenue.

Boast Your Brand Image

Aside from the internal benefits for businesses and their employees, giving back to the community also enhances brand image to external stakeholders. Getting hands-on involvement with community members presents a perfect opportunity for businesses to meet new people, broaden their networks, build relationships and work together on a common cause. This direct involvement also enables businesses to learn and understand more about the community and its needs in order to deliver greater value in return.

When giving back to the community, businesses can be actively involved in fundraising events. These raise awareness of local needs, garner financial support, encourage local unity, and create memorable experiences for those involved and attending. In addition, by increasing visibility and engagement when giving back to the community, companies will also raise awareness for their brand and, in turn, inspire members to spread the word about their positive impact and invaluable contribution. This will improve their reputation as one of genuinely caring, increase consumer loyalty, and even attract potential investors.

Conquest Your Competitors

For businesses who are openly and actively giving back to the community, offering up volunteer opportunities can also be a great work benefit for attracting top talent when it comes to recruiting employees. Ensuring that these initiatives are ongoing is equally important for retention as workers are inclined to resign if corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs begin to falter. 

Not only do companies giving back to the community stand out to employment prospects but also to their consumer base and competition. A significant proportion of consumers consider the CSR of companies when determining the purchases that they make. Where two companies are relatively alike in their products or services, consumers are more likely to opt for the business that has supported their local community. This means those giving back to the community are both set apart from their competitors and serve the advantage of being preferable to and recommended by consumers as a result.

Overall, it’s clear to see that giving back to the community is essential for community development, workforce engagement, workplace wellbeing and business growth. Companies will reap all the rewards from enabling a happy workforce, a positive and supported brand image, as well as a competitive advantage with the quantity of customers and quality of employees attracted. All of these cumulatively better the position of a business to grow and develop sustainably. In order for a company to receive recognition for all the right reasons, giving back to the community will secure a well-respected spot in the public eye.

At Investors In Community, we join the dots for society, connecting businesses and individuals with charities, community groups and not for profit organisations. Our online platform is the perfect place to benchmark, record, evidence and report all of your supportive contributions. Every act of giving back to the community is measured and rewarded in exchange for Community Credits. These can be used to show your business’ social value and share the contributions your business has made towards building a better and more cohesive society.

When you’re ready to take on the world and start giving back to the community in which you work, request a free demo of our digital platform and see your business grow.

Planning construction projects is both fundamental and challenging. From their design to completion, and however large or small they might be, the planning process will always involve managing and executing factors that relate to people, resources, and budget, in order for the project to be successful. As a result, it is important for construction project managers to identify any opportunities for the communities both in which the developments are based as well as the ones their workers inhabit. Aside from the initial defining of roles, responsibilities and teams involved, planning construction projects should consider the ways to engage your community and add social value. This will ensure the process can also be one that remains efficient and profitable.

In this blog, we’ll cover the benefits of planning construction projects that work for the community and the steps necessary to establish and maintain a positive working relationship between construction companies and community members.

Planning Construction Projects Step 1: Consult Your Community

While new developments are not naturally opposed by residents, companies should consider conducting a community consultation in the early stages of planning construction projects to develop long-term relationships with local stakeholders. The level of involvement for residents can vary, depending on what goals construction companies are seeking to achieve. These could simply inform and educate community members or obtain their input to better understand the community context as well as respond to and improve the needs of the area whilst they’re working there.

Planning Construction Projects Step 2: Inform and Educate Members

When planning construction projects, it’s critical to ensure members of the community are kept periodically informed about the process and progress of a project. For some companies, using newsletters, flyers and social media are effective ways to reach and update a wider audience. Others preferring more participation from residents might host in-person meetings, events, and interviews or organise surveys. These methods enable locals an opportunity to be actively involved in planning construction projects, feel heard in voicing any ideas and concerns, and contribute in discussions that decide the end result. 

If the construction project will physically impact the community, such as by increasing traffic, noise disruption or by visually imposing in its size or form, it’s important to involve local stakeholders in the design and vision to suit their needs and garner their support overall. With this favourable position in mind, companies planning construction projects are more likely to overcome initial hesitations among community members by creating social value instead, access and leverage community resources, and, as a result, complete the project successfully.

Planning Construction Projects Step 3: Understand Community Context

Understanding the community in terms of its history, culture, socio-economic background and demographics are all important factors to consider for planning construction projects. These insights will help construction companies to establish how the site area is used currently and how the development may affect the residents in a bid for them to improve the use of space and benefit from these changes. In addition, companies will discover the best means of communication with residents to ensure that the information is made as accessible to them as possible. With a diverse mix of individuals and groups to engage, the approach of community consultations should be flexible in order to appeal to varying interests, cultures, age groups, and even levels of education. This could involve, for example, translating information into different languages, ensuring the tone used is always warm and inviting, and avoiding the use of complex jargon.

In addition, this understanding helps inform construction companies of what time, location and even frequency of consultations will receive a higher turn-out rate and be more inclusive for residents to attend. It’s important to keep in mind community members who might be restricted by their hours or working outside of the area, roles as parents or carers, or reliance on public transit, for example. Receiving feedback input from a mix of local stakeholders for planning construction projects will obtain a balance of suggestions for how companies can best improve and positively impact the lives of its members. This also poses a great way for companies to test the market for development prospects and business opportunities.

Planning Construction Projects Step 4: Determine Local Needs

Companies planning construction projects can build their credibility, trust and support of the community by responding to their local needs. Often, local stakeholders are highly encouraging of any construction efforts that improve community services and facilities as well as the quality of life for its residents. Planning construction projects that also involve regeneration programmes, create jobs and skills training, enable growth, and connect community members are all welcome, particularly amidst our post-pandemic recovery. With these in mind, it’s important for construction companies to reciprocate their support in the development and sustainability of local communities, such as through contracting local tradesmen and merchants, engaging local culture and arts organisations in the design and garnering the active participation of local charities, social enterprises and services, and youth support in the development’s vision.

Overall, it is clear that there are plenty of benefits for planning construction projects that work for the community. When community members are supportive of the developments proposed and the construction companies themselves, the projects are more likely to be successful and the businesses involved can enhance their reputation, CSR impact and social value as a result.

At Investors In Community, we provide a platform for businesses to donate their time and resources to meaningful community causes and, for every effort you contribute, you’ll receive Community Credits. These tokens each quantify your company’s social responsibility and can be collected to build on your score. Community Credits enable businesses to showcase their valuable contributions to their website and social media audiences, raising brand awareness, reinforcing a positive and ethical brand image as well as advancing their position for tendering processes. To learn more about how your business can improve brand awareness and engagement as well as the world around you, request a free demo of our digital platform.

Socially responsible business is key to attracting new customers and clients, as well as top talent. As ethics and the environment become increasingly important to people everywhere, ensuring you have a socially responsible business will set you apart from your competitors, improve brand awareness, and build employee engagement. Take a read of this blog to discover how you can reap the rewards of building a more socially responsible business.

Company Culture

Growing a socially responsible business begins with company culture, and within this comes a code of ethics including the company stance on values, the environment, diversity, and customer service. It’s important to outline your company values so that people can understand what your organisation stands for, and so you can easily work towards social causes and projects which are meaningful to your values.

Socially responsible business comes from working towards causes that have real meaning for your organisation, and this comes down to your values, your community, and your company objectives. Getting behind more meaningful causes allows you as a socially responsible business to give back to your community whilst sending a clear message about the values of your brand. Address the issues that matter to your socially responsible business, your employees, and your audience and pinpoint the organisations, charities, and social enterprises you can work with to combat these causes.

Employees

When it comes to socially responsible business, getting the buy-in of your employees is essential. What’s more, you’ll need to ensure that everyone at all levels of the company are involved and passionate about giving back, and that’s why your social objectives should centre around your community and what’s important to your teams. Lead your socially responsible business by example by making sure management are heavily involved in your CSR and authentic ESG efforts.

The best way to ensure all of your employees are invested in your socially responsible business is to give them a voice. Make them a big part of the decision-making process when it comes to deciding which causes to back, and encourage them to get involved by having meetings and sending them important CSR-related information. Dedicate some time to discuss ideas with your team members as to how to have a more positive impact in the community. Contributing to those causes will give your employees a greater sense of purpose at work, all whilst improving their connection to their community and the one in which they work.

Encourage volunteering among your team members, and you can even consider rewarding those employees who do decide to get involved. Team volunteering initiatives help your employees to build strong bonds with one another whilst contributing to a good cause, which will ultimately build productivity and collaboration.

Strategy

Your strategy for becoming an even more socially responsible business should include ways you can contribute to your community all year round. Once you have established your mission and decided which organisations and causes you and your team are interested in working towards, you can then ask your employees whether they’re interested in offering donations, sponsorships, or volunteer hours. This will ensure your teams are invested in your social objectives, and will give them a greater sense of meaning and purpose.

Within your strategy, you should pinpoint which short-term and long-term goals you want to achieve, particularly focusing on immediate issues within your community. Use the resources you have to offer skilled volunteering hours and use your brand voice to highlight which causes you’re working on in your community. Contributing regularly will ensure that community causes are considered on an ongoing basis, resulting in more meaningful outcomes and a consistent sense of purpose for your employees.

Get involved with local organisations to stand out within your community. This approach allows you to start at the grassroots, engaging with local nonprofits, charities, and social enterprises to build a more sustainable society. This socially responsible business strategy will improve brand awareness within your community, building profits as you work towards meaningful causes. The next step of your strategy should include marketing to promote your efforts. Showcase your socially responsible business through your website, social media, and local campaigns to ensure your favourite causes are continually worked on, and your audiences become aware of your objectives as well as the fact that you are indeed a socially responsible business.

Reporting

Reporting on your socially responsible business goals is the next important step in your strategy. Keep documentation of your activities as well as the results of your initiatives. This will enable you to develop an ongoing strategy by confirming which activities have had the most positive impact on your community and on your socially responsible business.

At Investors In Community, not only do we showcase the most meaningful causes within your community, but our platform allows you to donate, fundraise, volunteer, and sponsor as an individual and as a wider team. When you and your team donate your valuable time and resources to a cause with Investors In Community, you’ll also receive Community Credits. These tokens of social value put a number on your socially responsible business efforts. For every cause you contribute to, you and your team will receive Community Credits, allowing you to build a score that you can showcase on your website and on social media. This will highlight your socially responsible business within your community, building brand awareness, prospects, and allowing you to continue contributing to the community causes that matter most to your organisation. Through our platform, you can also seamlessly coordinate and communicate with your teams of volunteers and fundraisers, all whilst tracking their progress and the different projects they’re working towards. What’s more, all donations from the company need to be verified by Super Admins on the platform. This means that no donation will go unnoticed by your team, building morale and a sense of purpose as you work towards great causes in your community. Simply click here for a free trial and begin your socially responsible business venture.

Authentic ESG reporting is important for all businesses to take into account these days. Consumers are increasingly looking for transparency and social responsibility from the organisations they interact with, and so being able to conduct authentic ESG reporting will allow you to showcase your organisation as both environmentally and socially responsible.

It’s not just customers you need to prove your CSR to though. Stakeholders, investors, employees, and NGOs are increasingly taking ESG into consideration to manage their investment risks, choose who they want to work with, and pinpoint which organisations they want to shout about.

Impressive ESG brings about higher returns on investments, lower risks, and can even improve the resiliency of team members. ESG reporting shows this value to your stakeholders so they can physically see the impact your organisation is having on your colleagues, consumers, and communities.

The three things to look at within ESG reporting are environmental impact, social value, and the corporate governance of the company. Your environmental impact depends on energy efficiency, carbon emissions, and waste management, among many other sustainability factors. Your social value includes your culture, your impact on the community, inclusivity, employee engagement, and customer satisfaction. Governance is all about operations, transparency, and best practices. Making all three a priority within your organisation is great, and reporting on them is even better, because it allows you to showcase your ESG rating, ultimately building business and allowing you as an organisation and individuals to have an even greater impact on your community and beyond.

Authentic ESG Reporting Tip 1: Your Team

To successfully conduct ESG reporting you need an efficient team of professionals who will create targets, consider performance metrics, and ensure the standard of accurate and effective ESG reporting. Make every one of your team members aware of your focus on CSR and ESG to adopt a mindset of environmental and social responsibility within your workplace. This means also sharing the results with team members, showing them the clear impact their ESG efforts are having on their wider community. When your team are all on board, this has a rolling effect on your clients and customers, potential investors, and other members of your supply chain.

Authentic ESG Reporting Tip 2: Stakeholders

It’s important that your ESG efforts take into account the causes which mean the most to your stakeholders, investors, employees, and customers. This means also understanding how best to report your ESG impact back to your most important people. Engaging with those who are part of your organisation is an essential part of successful ESG reporting, and by continually addressing the changing community issues that affect your organisation, you’ll keep employees engaged, investors interested, and customers converting.

Authentic ESG Reporting Tip 3: Business Strategy

Firstly, you should consider the environment, your culture, and your community in order to pinpoint which areas your organisation could improve upon, so that you can ensure your ESG reporting directly correlates with your business strategy. Use this to set targets and share those with your team, your stakeholders, and even your clients, to hold yourselves accountable, showcase your transparency, and build trust and engagement. When it comes to ESG reporting, make sure you showcase your results alongside how each metric aligns with your overall business strategy to make sure targets are being ticked off and engagement remains high.

Authentic ESG Reporting Tip 4: In The Report

ESG reporting should focus on your organisation’s environmental, social, and governance-related endeavours and impact, whilst tying these achievements back to the company’s objectives. Your ESG reporting should not only consider the outcomes, but also the journey. How did you achieve your targets? What could you do more of next time? Consider your targets, your initiatives, and your communities. By focusing your report around what would have a positive effect on your community and on your company, you’ll make sure you’re having the most impact possible.

Your ESG reporting will be scrutinised by your investors, your customers, your employees, and your prospects, and so keeping the focus around the things that mean the most to these people will see your ESG reporting having the biggest impact. Ensure you highlight the positive changes in your community so that everyone within those communities will notice the impact, benefit from your efforts, and get to know your organisation that little bit more.

ESG reporting should also highlight what you plan on doing next. This includes your short and long-term plans to further improve your ESG rating. Keep these action points super specific and transparent so your target audiences can see what you’ll be working on and how that will positively impact the company, your customers, and your community.

Authentic ESG Reporting Tip 5: Sharing Your Results

Your results should be showcased, and by ensuring that your efforts are also in line with your company objectives, you’ll become recognised as an organisation who tackles ESG effectively, improving the lives of your customers, colleagues, and communities. Shout about your achievements on social media, on your website, and let word of mouth spread the message of ethical business. 

Community Credits from Investors In Community allow you to highlight your ESG impact to all of your colleagues, clients and fellow community members. As you and your team fundraise, donate, and volunteer your skills, you’ll earn points that allow you to put an actual figure on your CSR and ESG impacts.

Showcase the great things your business is doing environmentally, socially, and culturally with Investors In Community. Start your free trial here to get your team on board with giving back.

Ethical manufacturing is part and parcel of running an environmentally and socially conscious business. As ethical manufacturers, you will be an essential link in the supply chain, allowing your partners to showcase their social value and ethical practices. Being in ethical manufacturing will allow you to win more clients and build brand awareness, ultimately allowing you to further improve your local communities, as well as build profitability.

In this blog, we’ll take a look at what exactly ethical manufacturing involves, the reasons why it’s great for business, and how you can take steps to becoming an even more ethical manufacturer.

What’s Involved In Ethical Manufacturing

Ethical manufacturing is all about giving back. Giving back to employees, to customers, and to the communities you’re part of. Consider what’s important to your staff and your clients so that you can ensure you’re giving back in the areas that mean the most to your organisation. When it comes to ethical manufacturing, it’s important to acknowledge that each member of your team comes from a community, likely the same one where your workplace is located, and so working to improve those local communities is essential to be seen as an ethical manufacturer. Working with local communities also means that your employees will be able to physically see the impact you as a company are having on charities, social enterprises, and community projects right where they live, ultimately boosting morale and motivation.

Presenting as an ethical manufacturer gives consumers the peace of mind that not only will they be purchasing safe products, but they are also buying from a company that cares. By showcasing ethical manufacturing processes, you’ll naturally build trust among your target audiences, and presenting honesty and transparency encourages your consumers to choose your products, time and time again.

Working in ethical manufacturing means you’re usually just one part of a supply chain, and to ensure that your ethical status remains intact, you need to be sure that each supplier and consumer you work with matches or exceeds your own ethical practices. This means showcasing your social value and encouraging your suppliers and customers to do the same, making it clear that your supply chain is entirely focused on ethical manufacturing and the communities you work within.

Why It’s Good For Business

Ethical manufacturers who give back to their communities welcome improved morale and motivation in their workplaces. This naturally leads to greater levels of discretionary effort from each team member, thus improving productivity as your employees work hard towards their meaningful purpose. Ethical manufacturing doesn’t go unnoticed either by those outside of the company. Giving back to charities and community projects will build brand awareness, locally and beyond, showcasing your business as ethical and sustainable. Being in ethical manufacturing also suggests a level of care for your employees. This will in turn encourage more potential new recruits to show an interest in your organisation, allowing you to choose the top talent for your teams.

Ethical manufacturing naturally gives the company an air of transparency, building that all-important trust among their consumers and potential new customers. If the supply chain can be seen to be ethical all the way along, this will also drive sales and profits through an improved brand image and greater brand awareness. More and more consumers of today are looking for sustainable and ethical products and services, and what’s more, they’re generally willing to pay even more for them too. This means that by showcasing your company as an ethical manufacturer, you’ll welcome more customers, more sales, and thus greater profits.

How To Achieve Ethical Manufacturing

Ethical manufacturing partially comes down to the supply chain and ensuring that sustainable and social standards are kept high throughout. This means sometimes having to charge a little bit more for your end products, but as we’ve previously established, consumers of today are willing to invest in ethical and sustainable products. Showcasing your sustainability and your social value are also key in ethical manufacturing, as this is what will attract new customers and potential new recruits who share your values. This is where Investors In Community comes in. Our platform allows your ethical manufacturing business and your employees to contribute to the causes that mean the most to them. Setting up a fundraiser, planning some volunteering initiatives, and simply donating to charities and social enterprises are all easy with Investors In Community. Plus, we’ll also help you to build your reputation as an ethical manufacturer. As you and your team donate your time and funds to local worthwhile causes, you will earn Community Credits. These credits should be showcased on your website, social media, and even in your workplace to visibly display your conscious efforts to improve your local community and give back to those people who need it most.

By highlighting your ethical manufacturing business through Community Credits, you’ll showcase your business as ethical, environmental, and socially-conscious, attracting more custom to your door, and building great brand awareness. Communities, charities, and social causes are becoming increasingly important to consumers and suppliers and so by showcasing your commitment to your social value, you’ll set the precedent for ethical manufacturing, towering over your competitors, and welcoming new custom and greater profits.

When you’re ready to take centre stage in your sector through ethical manufacturing, the Investors In Community platform is here to improve your brand awareness, productivity, and your social value. Take a look at our website to indulge in our free trial.