Melbourne-based search engine optimisation (SEO) agency Optimising provides customised digital marketing solutions to a range of household names and small businesses. The experts in SEO and paid media combine 15 years of experience with a passionate and innovative approach to optimising companies' digital presence. "You won’t find any sneaky techniques, unethical practices or smoke and mirrors at Optimising," the team says. "Instead, we offer a transparent process and deliver real results."
To celebrate their B Corp certification, we spoke with the team about their journey including what inspired them, and the importance of getting the whole team involved.
Why did you want to become a Certified B Corporation?
We’ve always strived to make a positive impact as a company. Since our humble beginnings, Optimising has made an effort to be environmentally conscious, transparent and customer centric. As we had been continually inspired by the B Corp movement, becoming certified seemed like the next logical step.
We wanted our values and mission to be clear to our team and clients. Becoming a B Corp meant we were solidifying our commitment to do better.
What makes Optimising unique as a business? Tell us some of the areas where you have the biggest impact, or some of the little changes you've made to make a difference.
The digital marketing landscape evolves around making money. Generating a tasty profit can be extremely motivating for a lot of agencies, but for Optimising, we needed something else to strive for. Championing ethical practices, striving to make a difference and putting our purpose before profit has attracted like minded employees and clients. We now have a team who are excited to grow and evolve, and are working on projects they feel proud of.
The B Corp certification process offered us an opportunity to evaluate our business model and make the required changes. Working with B Lab, we were able to identify what we were doing right and what needed some work. As transparency had been a foundational value of Optimising, we made significant changes to reflect this within our governance.
We formalised our policies and processes then shared the resulting changes with our employees.
We’ve also continued to expand our environmental efforts. Being a member of 1% for the Planet has been an excellent step towards taking responsibility for our environmental impact.
B Corps want to help transform our economy to one that is inclusive, sustainable, and regenerative. What business practice do you want to see become the norm?
As we work towards a better global economy, we’d love to see more companies place greater emphasis on their purpose. It’s no longer enough to donate a few dollars or write an inspiring blog post, companies need to take their social and environmental responsibilities seriously.
Having a strong set of values which specify a company’s commitment to sustainability, transparency and accountability should become the norm.
Was there a B Corp that inspired you to certify, or one that you look to for inspiration?
The impressive cohort of B Corps is one of the reasons we were so excited to become certified. Along with the global brands of Patagonia and Ben & Jerry’s, we were aware that Aussie companies like 4 Pines Brewing, Bank Australia, KeepCup, and August were B Corps. This was a great indication that you don’t have to be a huge global company to become a B Corp, every business regardless of size can make a difference if they are willing.
Do you have any tips for aspiring B Corps about the certification process?
We’d tell any aspiring B Corps to keep persevering. It can be tricky to get all your ducks in a row, but ultimately it’s worth the effort. We’d also recommend not shying away from out of the box ideas. When it comes to making sustainable and productive changes within your organisation, take an innovative approach.
Taking your team and employees along for the ride is also important. We made sure that every staff member at every level felt a part of the process - becoming certified was a group effort.
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