Wikipedia defines cause marketing as being marketing done by a for-profit business that seeks to both increase profits and to better society in accordance with corporate social responsibility, such as by including activist messages in advertising. So, it truly is a win-win situation where an important message is gotten out in conjunction with your business thriving.
It has been proven that if done correctly, cause marketing can make over 90% of your current customers or your future ones see to see you in a positive light, making it more likely for those who are not already working with you, to make the change to becoming your clients, leaving your competition behind. Studies have revealed that consumers are more likely to go from one brand to another if the brand they have switched to are seen as being helpful with their community both online and off.
A common strategy for big businesses is that for every one of their products sold, a certain percentage number is given to an organization with a good cause. But of course, this isn’t always possible for a small business, that in these challenging times may just be holding on by a thread. But for businesses like this, there is another strategy: having employees volunteering for things like feeding the homeless. Of course, these days, with being in a pandemic, make it difficult to do such things without being at risk.
So, another strategy is for your business to spread the word about good causes through your marketing. In this scenario your advertising, publicity and promotions, all include a look at a relevant issue that you want to bring to attention with the general public. That way you get across insight into an important issue while also promoting what you do.
Or another approach is to have employees engaging with assistance to the donation arm of a nonprofit. Such as doing a gesture of some kind for which they are sponsored by their friends and family with the raised amount given to the charity. The key in situations like this is to make visual your employee’s activities and include photos of the event in future promotions.
So, as you can see, due to the looting, destruction of property as well as the virus, most activities currently for safety reasons need to be done digitally. This means featuring your activities in some of the marketing means we have covered already that includes email marketing in which a newsletter not only presents to your subscribers with information that was their incentive to join in the first place, but also documentation of how you and company has been helpful to society.
But what if you are a solopreneur or very small business? You can become a resource for newsletter subscribers of stories that possibly include a volunteer component but can also just be about positive things that are happening in the community both offline and online. As we have covered, if your business is able to operate in part or in its entirety through a digital means, all the better.
