Supporting a good cause is the right move for your brand at several levels.
Not only will Cause Marketing ultimately help consumers connect your company to purpose, it also directly serves the cause you’re supporting in the first place.
In our experience as a cause marketing agency, we’ve found that consumer promotions featuring cause marketing strategies that are executed authentically will consistently generate a win for the brand, a win for the consumer and a win for the cause.
Let’s dive into the benefits, including how to do it right and how to get started.
The Benefits of Cause Marketing
A Cause Marketing campaign is a specific consumer promotions strategy that supports a cause, idea, or organization, rather than just a product or service. Whether you’re fighting to help the needy or improve research for a particular ailment, a purposeful Cause Marketing campaign seeks to direct attention and support to a cause that resonates with your audience and helps your local community and the world at large.
Beyond its positive effect on those it’s designed to help, Cause Marketing matters because consumers demand it. According to a study by Accenture, 63% of consumers prefer to buy from a brand that has a purpose. Likewise, 65% of the respondents stated that they base their purchasing decisions on the values and actions of the company.
Aligning with the retailer’s Cause Marketing program will generate more interest and support from your buyers. And, in the end, a cause that aligns with your target audience will provide instant relevancy and generate greater ROI.
What Does a Successful Cause Marketing Campaign Look Like?
If you’re going to engage in cause-based marketing, it’s important to do it right.
Start with a specific goal – then work out a program that will solve for it. Your goal can be anything from brand awareness and consumer engagement to website traffic. Next, a good strategy will seamlessly infuse your cause into the plan. Essentially, beyond just donating to charity (which your company can do outside of a consumer promotion) – your cause marketing campaign must engage your consumers in the movement.
Next, you want to make sure that you align yourself with the appropriate nonprofit that matches the purpose of your campaign. We see a lot more success from Cause Marketing efforts when the charity or nonprofit service is involved from the beginning.
Again, the goal behind the campaign is to engage with your customers – if there is no engagement, you’re doing it wrong! Invite them to join into the conversation through a branded hashtag or a photo contest. You should also give your customers content that they can share, with your call to action included, to support the campaign.
Having a clear call to action is always essential. Your customers must know what they’re supporting and what they have to do to participate. The most successful campaigns are clear and specifically list out what your audience can do to help.
Lastly, be transparent. When you share the impact of your campaign, it creates an authenticity that consumers appreciate. The shopper engagement that retail cause marketing promotions cultivate helps connect consumers to purpose and keeps them excited about the results.
Now, they’ll be more likely to support your next campaign and spread the word!
Getting Started with a Cause-Based Marketing Strategy
To get started, figure out what cause is relevant to your brand. You can’t support every cause, or that will dilute the message that you were sending out. The more you know about your core values and your core audience, the easier it is to identify a cause and create an online framework to support or call attention to these efforts.
We often help our clients find a retailer whose mission overlaps with their own. If they have a pre-existing cause-based program, this will create more value for both brands!
As always, be sure to measure and track your impact and expect to build your story over time – this won’t happen overnight. The cause you’re supporting must be something you’re willing to dedicate time and effort to – and when your team is connected to its purpose, this comes easy.
In the end, the best way to create a win-win-win campaign is to partner with a cause marketing agency that can help you align your cause with your brand to effectively target your audience. Cause-based marketing agencies have experts on staff who understand the industry and the best way to not only support your cause but also how to engage with your consumers.
