Impact storytelling is elevated in the new B Corp standards released in April 2025. Transparent and public statements and thought leadership are critical to businesses truly having an impact and contributing to a systemic transformation of how we do business. This guide highlights the public components within the new B Corp standards. It also provides examples of how your content and storytelling strategy can build upon the standards to maximize their and your company’s impact.
We also provide guidance on the ethical marketing policies and practices embedded within two areas of the new standards. As shared in this B Lab Global blog post:
“One of the biggest growth areas for companies is in responsible marketing and communication practices. While many companies may already incorporate some level of responsible marketing, meeting the new standards will likely require revisiting and refining these practices to ensure transparency and credibility. Companies should ensure their marketing and public relations efforts accurately reflect their social and environmental impact, and consider the broader effects these practices have on society and the environment.”
Review several components of the new standards related to your public communications and storytelling below. We’ve also provided examples of ways your company could build these practices into your impact storytelling strategy and recommendations to bring these standards into a broader content marketing strategy.
We’d love to work with you to build your impactful work into your current or new content marketing efforts. Many opportunities are not represented below to integrate leading by example, from the standards and your initiatives, into your impact storytelling. Don’t hesitate to ask questions or discuss how we can help!
Note: The guidance below does not cover all the standards requirements comprehensively. Please refer directly to the standards and B Impact Assessment for your company’s specific requirements. This article references the B Lab Standards V2.0 as of July 2025. While some updates may change the specific sections referenced, the core goals and communications requirements remain. See the Additional Notes section below for guidance on size categories and Years 0, 3, and 5 references.
Impact Storytelling in the B Corp Standards
What the Standards Say:
Impact storytelling and content marketing are primary focus areas within two Impact Topics — Government Affairs & Collective Action and Purpose & Stakeholder Governance. Let’s take a closer look:
GACA2. The company works collaboratively to advance collective social or environmental impacts. (All sizes, Year 0, with differing types of actions required based on company size)
GACA2.1e. The company uses thought leadership to drive systemic change toward an equitable, inclusive, and regenerative economy.
- Examples of thought leadership include:
- speaking at public forums, e.g., teaching or giving guest lectures at educational institutions
- creating blog posts or articles on an external webpage, in collaboration with stakeholders
- publishing research papers on a social or environmental topic
- enabling open-source access to technical knowledge for others to use
Build It Into Your Impact Storytelling Strategy:
As for what to cover, consider these examples:
- If your company works with a sustainable financial institution, you can share what led you to that decision, how you made the switch, and the impact it is having on the world and your bottom line.
- If your business is partnering with a nonprofit biodiversity organization, you can highlight a research project that will help protect a wildlife preserve and provide local workforce opportunities.
- If your company’s leader speaks at an impact leadership summit, you can share the session video and highlight key points from the discussion.
Thought leadership is not one-and-done. After the article, paper, or presentation is shared, it’s important to stay connected. Follow-up articles, emails, and other communications create the opportunity for further engagement and support collective action for systemic change. Ongoing engagement can deepen relationships, advance your mission, and build powerful communities of impact.
What the Standards Say:
PSG4. The company engages in responsible marketing and public relations.
PSG4.1. The company has principles for responsible marketing and public relations practices. (Small and micro companies; Year 0)
PSG4.1.1. The principles include the following specific references to the company’s marketing and public relations practices for environmental and social claims:
- It makes precise, verifiable, and substantiated claims based on reliable or scientific data.
- It is truthful, transparent, and accountable about the social and environmental impacts of the company’s operations, both positive and negative.
- It follows ethical guidelines when using sensitive marketing and public relations channels and practices.
PSG4.1.2. The principles are communicated to company workers and are available for them to access.
PSG4.2. The company has a responsible marketing and public relations policy overseen by the executive team or the highest governing body.
PSG 4.2.1. The company develops a responsible marketing and public relations policy. (Medium and larger companies; Year 0)
- The policy:
- describes its scope
- applies to all audiences
- outlines requirements for anyone preparing marketing and public relations activities for the company
- is approved by the executive team or highest governing body.
Build It Into Your Impact Storytelling Strategy:
Develop and publish your principles or policy. Review these ethical marketing policies as examples, and develop your company’s policy or principles to align with your mission and goals, with the components outlined in the new standards :
Share your reasoning and the policy. Publish an article, send an email, and publish a social series about the policy, introducing your audience to your “why” and “how” for this policy. (And be sure your team is familiar and knows how to follow the policy in practice!)
More Ways to Align Your Content Marketing Strategy with the B Corp Standards
What the Standards Say:
For nearly all of the Impact Topics, companies are required to publicly make statements, commitments, and share progress against the standards. Here are examples of how this looks across the standards, with ways to build upon these requirements for greater impact through your content marketing strategy:
Publicly publish statements, commitments, or known impacts.
Government Affairs and Collective Action
- GACA 1.1.4d. The company’s public policy on responsible lobbying must be published on the company’s webpage and accessible to all stakeholders. (All sizes; Year 0)
- GACA 1.2.-.3. The company publicly shares its lobbying positions and political contributions each fiscal year. (All companies, Year 3)
Purpose & Stakeholder Governance
- PSG 1.1.1. The company establishes a purpose statement, which is publicly available on the company’s webpage. (All sizes; Year 0)
Climate Action
- CA2.1. The company has a publicly available climate action plan (Medium and smaller companies; Year 0)
Environmental Stewardship & Circularity
- ESC1.8.1. The company publicly shares its material environmental issues. (Medium and larger companies in wholesale/retail, services with significant environmental footprint, manufacturing, or agriculture; Year 3)
Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
- JEDI2.2-2.6. The company chooses its JEDI actions using data and stakeholder feedback, records them in a plan, and implements them. (All Sizes; Years 0,3,5)
- Actions that apply and directly relate to your communications:
- The company commits publicly to JEDI principles. [Foundation]
- The company develops and implements an inclusive language guide for internal communications. [Within the Workplace]
- The company’s website meets accessibility standards. [Beyond the Workplace]
- The company communicates its JEDI action plan and progress publicly. [Beyond the Workplace]
- Actions that apply and directly relate to your communications:
Human Rights
- HR1.1. The company commits publicly to respecting human rights. (Small and micro companies, and medium companies with a minor environmental footprint; Year 0)
- HR1.2. The company has a public human rights policy. (Medium and larger companies in wholesale/retail, services with significant environmental footprint, manufacturing, or agriculture; Year 0)
- HR2.2. The company publicly shares its salient human rights issues. (Medium and larger companies in wholesale/retail, services with significant environmental footprint, manufacturing, or agriculture; Year 3)
Build It Into Your Impact Storytelling Strategy:
Publish a comprehensive impact report: Your company’s impact report can publish and publicly share many of the required statements and known, measured impacts. Build this into your strategy by promoting the publication of your impact report and sharing relevant statistics, goals, and case studies. This could include carousels on social media, short videos from team members, graphic-oriented emails, and more.
Seek input on your statements and policies: When creating your public statements, ensure your stakeholders and the company’s mission and values are consulted and represented. Having topical experts can help your company build a statement with impact to match your intention. At Bark, we worked with our team and a third-party facilitator to help us write our public JEDI statement. For lobbying and advocacy, review the resources at the Corporate Political Responsibility Hub as you develop your policy.
Tell the stories behind the policies and statements: For example, publish features on the suppliers in your supply chain with a focus on understanding the impact on human rights.
Publicly share an action plan, and/or share progress against their impact plan over time.
Climate Action
- CA2.1.1. The company publishes its climate action plan on its webpage or has another way for stakeholders to easily access it. (Medium and smaller companies; Year 0)
- The company’s climate action plan is publicly available in one of the following:
- Its annual report
- An annual sustainability report
- An integrated annual report and sustainability report
- Another public report available on its webpage
- Digital or printed brochures publicly and freely available (if no website)
- The company’s climate action plan is publicly available in one of the following:
- CA3.6. The company publicly discloses its progress on its climate action plan. (Medium and smaller companies in wholesale/retail, services with significant environmental footprint, manufacturing, or agriculture; Year 3)
Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
- JEDI2.2-2.6. The company chooses its JEDI actions using data and stakeholder feedback, records them in a plan, and implements them. (All Sizes; Years 0,3,5)
- Actions that apply and directly relate to your communications:
- The company communicates its JEDI action plan and progress publicly. [Beyond the Workplace]
- Actions that apply and directly relate to your communications:
Fair Work
- FW2.8.c.4. The company meets two of a list of criteria at minimum; two of the criteria are:
- d. It leads one collective action at minimum to increase wages or benefits, examples include:
- commissioning or funding research on wages or benefits, and sharing the results publicly
- leading a multi-stakeholder initiative that enables learning or action
- leading an industry, sector, or professional association that enables learning or action
- implementing a local or national campaign
- campaigning on public policy improvements
- lobbying the government on public policy improvements.
- e. It shares publicly:
- how it determines wages for its lowest- and highest-paid employees
- the lowest wage and highest wage in the company, or its high-to-low wage gap
- d. It leads one collective action at minimum to increase wages or benefits, examples include:
Build It Into Your Impact Storytelling Strategy:
Publish stories that dive in deeper: Develop stories that showcase the process and stakeholders behind your statements and action plans, such as:
- Behind-the-scenes updates on how your team is contributing to progress
- Stakeholder interviews from a program or process you’ve implemented, such as mentees and mentors in a mentorship program.
Create focused, topical impact reports: For example, develop and share a focused climate impact report that looks more closely at your action plan, goals, and progress to date, such as this one by B Corp Amalgamated Bank.
Reveal how you did it: Create process-oriented articles that detail how your company achieved a certain milestone. For example, if you adopt inclusive hiring practices, share about the practices and let the hirees provide their experience. If you fund research or lead an initiative, share thought-leadership articles based on the findings.
Supporting Info on the B Lab Standards 2.0
What Size Is Your Company?
What Is Year 0, Year 3, Year 5?
From B Lab’s Knowledge Base on the new standards: To achieve initial certification, companies must comply with the Year 0 sub-requirements. Subsequently, they will progressively adopt and comply with the Year 3 and Year 5 sub-requirements. To maintain B Corp Certification, companies must continually comply with all applicable sub-requirements from the time they become effective. Thus, in Year 3, a company must continue to comply with the Year 0 sub-requirements while meeting the Year 3 sub-requirements; and in Year 5, it must continue to comply with the Year 0 and Year 3 sub-requirements while meeting the Year 5 sub-requirements.