Grab a tissue and get ready to shed a tear. Those heart-wrenching puppy commercials abused animals on screen to make you reach for your wallet. Devious… but effective. Brands have long used emotions to manipulate us into buying. But what if they could make us care authentically instead?
Enter cause-related marketing. Aligning with social causes can transform your customers into passionate brand ambassadors. But only if done right. 64% of consumers are belief-driven buyers according to Edelman’s research. So brands must make societal impact a core part of their identity.
This guide will reveal how to choose, execute, and promote cause related campaigns that resonate. You’ll discover real-world examples and proven strategies to drive sales through purpose. Become a brand that customers love by making marketing about more than just profits. A better world awaits.
TLDR; Cause-Related Marketing
- Cause marketing aligns brands with social causes to increase sales and build brand affinity
- Benefits include:
- Increased revenue
- Improved brand reputation and trust
- Greater customer loyalty and word-of-mouth
- Attracting socially conscious talent
- Positive PR and media coverage
- Choose a cause relevant to your audience and brand values
- Vet nonprofits thoroughly and commit long-term
- Integrate cause into products, co-create campaigns, make donating easy
- Promote heavily across all marketing channels
- Track impact metrics and share results
- Overcome challenges like consistency, ROI measurement, and skepticism through thoughtful design
- Notable examples: TOMS Shoes, Red Nose Day, AmazonSmile
- Done right, cause marketing transforms how customers feel about and engage with your brand
Benefits of Cause-Related Marketing
Aligning with a social cause through marketing can yield tremendous benefits for brands. The most obvious is increased sales and revenue. Research by Edelman shows that 87% of consumers would switch brands to one associated with a good cause. Additionally, cause-related campaigns produce an average revenue increase of 20% according to a Recent Cone Communications study.
Beyond direct sales bumps, cause marketing also dramatically improves overall brand reputation. According to a Havas study, meaningful brands grow twice as fast as their competitors. Consumers perceive brands that support causes as more trustworthy, socially responsible, and caring. This sentiment elevates brand image and establishes emotional connections with customers.
Moreover, cause-related efforts foster greater customer loyalty. 58% of buyers are more loyal to purpose-driven companies per Kantar research. Fostering shared values beyond profits retains existing buyers and amplifies word of mouth and referrals.
Cause partnerships also attract talent, especially Millennial and Gen Z workers concerned about corporate social responsibility. And finally, PR and media teams can promote cause campaigns to garner positive press and communications value worth ten times the initial investment.
Choosing a Cause
Selecting the right cause to align with is crucial for an impactful campaign. The cause should be highly relevant to the brand’s target audience and existing positioning. Research which social issues resonate most with your customers and employees. Prioritize accuracy over reach – a tightly defined cause will feel more authentic.
Do due diligence to verify the nonprofit’s track record and efficacy. Dig into their operations, leadership, and use of funds. Meet with them to align on shared objectives, ensuring they have the capacity to execute on the partnership properly.
Most importantly, commit to the cause long-term. Avoid one-off promotions that lack substance. Build the affiliation into your brand identity and give back year-round in diverse ways. Consistent commitment, not short bursts, proves genuine dedication to the values you champion.
Campaign Best Practices
The most effective cause campaigns fully integrate social impact into the product or service offering itself. TOMS Shoes pioneered this with their One for One model. Embedding the cause into your core business, not just marketing, makes it authentic. Your creative, messaging, and design should all tie back to the cause and its values.
Additionally, co-create the initiative alongside your nonprofit partners. Collaborate to align on objectives, strategy, and tactics. Make it a true partnership, not just a check. Work together on communication materials to make the nonprofit’s voice heard too.
Make participating and donating effortless for customers. Offer incentives, discounts, or free gifts to motivate engagement. Accept donations at point of sale, on your website, and across social channels through hashtag triggers or shoppable posts. Meeting customers where they already are removes friction.
Promote the campaign aggressively across all your marketing channels and marketing apps – social media, email, website, PPC, in-store displays and more. Share inspiring creative and stats on the impact to educate and activate your audience. A multichannel approach drives greater reach and participation.
And finally, rigorously track key metrics – donations raised, volunteer hours, items donated, social engagement and more. Report the tangible impact on lives changed to show customers their dollars and actions make a real difference.
Case Studies
TOMS Shoes is the pioneer of cause marketing. For every pair of shoes purchased, TOMS donates a pair to a child in need. This One for One model bakes social impact into their product foundation. TOMS has given over 100 million pairs of shoes to those without in over 70 countries. Their success spawned many copycats.
Red Nose Day converting a 30 year UK fundraising tradition into a campaign by Walgreens stores to tackle child poverty. Selling Red Noses and promotional items has raised over $200 million to date. Engaging employees, customers, and partners maximized exposure and donations.
Amazon partners with Feeding America, donating a meal for every order made through AmazonSmile. Shoppers can opt-in to support the cause. This provides Amazon an easy way to give back that customers can participate in through their regular purchase journey.
Overcoming Challenges
While clearly beneficial, cause marketing has some common pitfalls to avoid. First is maintaining consistency over time. Don’t just do one-off promotions. Build a committed long-term platform to demonstrate authentic dedication to the cause. This earns trust and goodwill.
Measuring ROI can also be difficult. Look beyond sales to track brand awareness, sentiment, engagement rates, media mentions and talent attraction. Though hard to quantify, these signal positive perceptions and advocacy needed to drive revenue. Compare cause promotions to non-cause baselines.
Lastly, skepticism of profit motives can arise. Some view cause marketing as self-serving. Mitigate this by making programs consumer-led and sharing business resources beyond just money. Ensure nonprofit logos and voices are prominent. Transparency into use of funds and impact helps too.
The key is not seeing these as obstacles to avoid, but challenges to overcome through careful, thoughtful program design and communication. Do your homework on partners, stay consistent, be transparent, and proactively address criticisms. The rewards outweigh the risks.
With strategic planning and commitment to doing good, cause marketing can transform how customers feel about and engage with your brand. Any potential pitfalls are surmountable. And the benefits – from sales to reputation to retention – make the effort well worth it. Uplift your consumers while making the world a little brighter.
Key Takeaways: Cause-Related Marketing
Wake up and smell the purpose. Cause marketing is more than just a fad – it’s the future of brand building. Aligning with social causes transforms how consumers feel about and engage with your company. Just ask the 87% of buyers who would switch to purpose-driven brands.
This guide illuminated the immense benefits, from revenue to retention to talent attraction. We explored best practices like baking cause into product DNA and co-creating with partners. And we provided real examples of brands doing it right.
So sharpen your purpose. Choose a relevant cause that aligns with your ethos. Commit for the long haul. Use it to supercharge marketing across channels. With authenticity and grit, you too can make customers care again. Your business will reap the rewards while driving real social impact. Now get out there and make a difference!
