Cause marketing or often known as cause-related marketing is one of the types of corporate social responsibility where nonprofits and businesses tie up together for their mutual benefits.
It is basically a collaboration between a nonprofit organization and a for-profit business.
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Along with being transparent to the consumers, businesses realize that consumers are concerned about how a business impacts society. Just to add a couple of stats:
- About 70 percent of consumers are willing to know how a brand addresses environmental and social issues.
- More than 46 percent of consumers keep a close eye on what a brand is doing.
For a brand, cause marketing plays an important role in boosting their corporate social responsibility along with creating a great impact in society as customers pay more attention to the brand. And for nonprofits, being connected to a brand boosts the awareness of their cause.
Let’s have a quick look at some benefits of cause marketing.
Benefits Of Cause Marketing
A good-feel that cause marketing creates among the customers is not the only benefit. In the current era, customers not just only look for cheap rates or better deals. There are so many belief-driven customers, and their numbers are increasing. Cause marketing plays an important role when it comes to making a decision about purchasing from a particular brand or not.
A lot of businesses are now implementing cause-related marketing. And there is nothing to be shocked about. We may see an increase in this sort of marketing in the near future as well, as this approach brings a lot of advantages for the business brands.
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Builds authentic engagement
With cause marketing, companies can gain authentic engagement with their buyers and potential customers. As per research, nearly 72 percent of the customers in the United States believe in buying from the brands which reflect their values.
With cause marketing, every single purchase has a power to be authentic and engaging by empowering the buyers to pick a charity. Simply, the brand is providing customers with a chance to support a cause, while creating an emotional connection by making online or in-store sales.
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Attracts more customers
Apart from the fact that different people have different sets of expectations and needs, some research on behavioral patterns have concluded that the young generation is more into environmental and social issues.
About 90 percent of Generation Z believes that brands should act somehow to help a social or environmental cause. Among those 90 percent, 75 percent will go on to research if the company is being honest with its stand or not. The study shows how much this young generation is concerned with social and environmental issues.
So, if a brand is helping a nonprofit organization to raise some money with cause marketing, it is bringing them new customers, as well. According to a survey conducted by DoSomething Strategic, in order to show their support to the charities, 76 percent of people have purchased from a particular brand. In addition, 23 percent would purchase, and 53 percent would consider purchasing from that particular brand.
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Keeps customers loyal
Without any doubt, the trust of a customer towards a brand is the most important thing. And a brand will never want to lose it. According to the study conducted by IBM, almost 33 percent of the customers will stop buying from a brand they lose trust in. And almost a similar number of purchasers have already stopped buying from their long-time favorite brands.
43 percent of the consumers spend more money buying from a brand they trust and are loyal to. Customers don’t just spend money, but their word of mouth is more important than keeping other customers loyal and connected to the brand as well.
Loyalty is not only built with the quality and prices of products. It is a deeper connection between a customer and a brand based upon common beliefs. Therefore, there is nothing better than cause marketing to gain the loyalty of your customers.
Increases revenue
Cause marketing not only creates a great impact on customer loyalty and brand building it also boosts revenue. According to a study, 71 percent of millennials have clearly stated that they would purchase from a company if they knew some percentage of the sale is going to a charity for a good cause.
There is a huge rise in belief-driven purchases, which has given cause marketing a significant importance. Companies adopting this strategy are observing multiple benefits, from brand awareness to customer loyalty and business revenue growth.
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Makes a great impact
The ultimate objective a brand would take from cause marketing is to create an impact in the world and within their team. If you are contributing to a cause beyond your brand, it will not only future-proof your retail operations but also empower your team.
As per Kantar’s Purpose 2020 study, there is a positive impact growth at a two times higher rate for brands involved in cause marketing in comparison to other brands.
How To Build a Successful Cause Marketing Campaign
As discussed, an effective cause marketing campaign can bring undeniable benefits to a brand, from building new customers to boosting customer loyalty. If done correctly, it can not only boost your sales, but it can also increase your brand awareness. But the question is what it takes to build a successful cause marketing campaign.
You’ll need a strategic marketing plan before launching your campaign so that your brand and nonprofit organization both can get the most out of it.
1. Identify the cause
Firstly it is important to identify a cause that can reflect your company’s and customers’ values. We know, there are examples of brands having successful cause marketing campaigns even with an unrelated cause. But it will increase the chances of your campaign being successful if your cause is related to your brand and speaks to your customers. This is what Pampers did by collaborating with UNICEF.
Identifying the interest and behavior of your audience and creating a campaign around them will help both the brand and the nonprofit.
Furthermore, it will build brand loyalty, and more of your customers will be participating in such a campaign. In addition, it will enhance the overall outcome of your cause marketing campaign.
2. The way to contribute
Helping nonprofits financially is not the only way to show support to a cause. Sometimes, giving money is just not enough to convince your consumers, and it may seem dishonest. Fortunately, your business and marketing department can offer a lot more to a nonprofit organization, including
- Direct mail campaigns
- Copywriting for print and social media
- Email marketing campaigns
- Advertising campaign ideas
- Photography for social media
- Donations of products and services
- Video services for charity functions
- Volunteer groups from your company
- Event planning
With these services, you can create a strong connection between the nonprofit work and your products. Furthermore, it is not essential that you donate a certain amount via check to a nonprofit organization. You can also use different ways of donating money. For instance, you can create a promotion saying that on every particular sale, a certain amount will be donated for a cause.
3. Audience involvement
Another essential for cause marketing is to involve your audience with your campaign. You can simply leverage social media or create a custom-built landing page to motivate your audience for participating in your campaign. You can invite your customers to:
- Interact with the nonprofit partners
- Donate to the cause
- Ask your customers to share their social media posts
- Participate in a particular event
In this way you will spread awareness about the cause, add extra content to your marketing campaigns and present your product/services in a new light.
4. Promote along with the nonprofit organization
If you want your campaign to perform in the best way, it is really important that you and the nonprofit organization both are promoting it in collaboration. There are a couple of things you should do:
- Declare your association in a newsletter
- Tag one another on social media posts
- Write posts about your experiences and share it
- Send a joint press release to news outlets
- Use each other’s logos in the campaigns
In this way, you will be able to get the most out of your cause marketing campaign. Some successful campaigns also developed omnichannel marketing strategies which increased exposure and awareness.
Conclusion
While summing up, I can only say that cause marketing is one of the best ways to fullfill your corporate social responsibility along with providing your brand with real benefits. It has been adopted by both bigger and smaller brands. But above all, it can bring tremendous engagements, build brand awareness and boost revenue growth as well.
Claudia Jeffrey is currently working as an Editor at Crowd Writer UK. She has been associated with this organization for seven years and has been a part of their four cause marketing campaigns. Claudia loves to share her experience with the readers.