What Is Cause Marketing?
What Is Cause Marketing?
It’s more important than ever for businesses to communicate where they stand and what they stand for. Consumers report that they base their decisions on issues that are important to them. They look for companies and brands that align with their priorities. They become loyal customers when they find what they’re looking for. A cause marketing campaign is a great way to show consumers what matters to you.
Cause marketing is one of the best ways for a company to do good better. It’s an opportunity to partner with a nonprofit that is making a difference. It’s a way to invite consumers to join the partnership simply by becoming a customer. For nonprofit organizations, cause marketing is a great way to amplify their message. It’s a way to build networks and put them to work in support of the mission.
Like most things in the world of marketing, the execution makes all the difference to the success of a cause marketing campaign. Consumers can be skeptical about a brand’s motives. If a cause marketing campaign doesn’t make sense to them, it can turn them cynical on everyone involved. We believe that cause marketing success rests on the strength of the story you tell to support the partnership.
What You Need To Know About Cause Related Marketing
Cause marketing has been around since the mid-1970s. It’s been done a lot of different ways by a lot of different partnerships. Successful cause marketing campaigns keep the goals in mind and find the right way to pursue those goals based on the specifics of the partnership involved and the cause it supports.
50 years ago, the novelty of cause marketing was often enough to ensure a successful campaign. When purchasing something you wanted or needed would have the additional benefit of contributing support to a good cause—was an easy choice to make compared to making a purchase with no additional benefits at all.
Cause-Related Marketing Does Best When The Partnership Makes Sense
Over time, the success of cause marketing campaigns led more and more businesses to form partnerships with non-profits to take advantage of the effective tactic. That means that contemporary campaigns have to compete for attention and support to reach the goals set by the partners involved.
Cause Marketing is Seen as a Worthwhile Strategy by over 95% of Marketers
A Brief History of Cause Marketing
People who study marketing argue about what should be considered “the first” cause marketing campaign. It’s probably easier and more useful to think of it as a process of becoming that a moment of being born.
In the early-to-mid-1970s, several marketing campaigns linked brands to causes. In 1973, 7-Eleven sold Endangered Species cups and donated a portion of the proceed to the National Wildlife Federation. In 1974, John T. Carr formed what would become the Charitable Giving Foundation as a way for charitable causes and businesses to support one another. In 1976, Marriott and March of Dimes got together to raise record-breaking donations for the latter while publicizing the opening of a new theme park.
Cause marketing gained momentum throughout the 1980s. American Express is credited with coining the term in 1983 after they launched a campaign to donate a portion of purchases made on their cards to non-profit organizations associated with the San Francisco Arts Festival.
In the early 2000s, cause marketing reached new plateaus. The campaigns that we all think of when we hear cause marketing emerged to set the standards for a new century. TOMS Shoes, Product RED, and others laid the foundations for what is now one of the most powerful marketing tools available to a brand.
Cause Marketing: What It Is, What It Isn’t, AND Why The Difference Makes A Difference
The folks at Brandwatch tell us that cause marketing can mean either a collaboration between a for-profit brand and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit OR a marketing program by a for-profit brand based around a social or charitable cause.
They go on to say that it is important to distinguish cause marketing from two other activities that are often confused with cause marketing. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the idea that a company should go beyond the minimum standards they have to comply with and pursue policies and practices that make a positive impact. Corporate giving, on the other hand, is making a tax-deductible donation.
CSR can turn into cause marketing, whenever going above and beyond makes a real difference to a social or charitable cause and gives your company a good story to tell.
Corporate giving is a different kind of support than what you get from a partnership between your brand and a non-profit. Financial support is a good thing but cause marketing does best when it shows you getting involved.
Why It Matters
The benefits of cause marketing include greater visibility for a non-profit organization or important cause and greater profitability for a brand. These benefits are the result of positive public relations, improved customer relations, and an increase in earned publicity.
At the same time, cause marketing’s benefits can evaporate before a company’s eyes when the campaign strikes the wrong chord with consumers.
Trust and transparency are paramount to cause marketing success. According to a study by Cone, 78% of Americans feel that a partnership with a company or brand they trust makes a cause stand out. The same study shows 75% of Americans want to hear about the results of corporate/nonprofit partnerships.
If your cause marketing campaign doesn’t make it over the bar on trust and transparency, audiences might see it as nothing more than an insincere attempt to get attention, loyalty, or sales.
It’s All About Balance
In the case of Corporate Social Responsibility, the focus is entirely on your business. It tells consumers that you’re doing more than you must to make the world a better place. The implicit message is that they will be supporting good things if they become a customer.
In the case of Corporate Giving, the focus is entirely on the nonprofit organization that your business supports with a donation. By cutting a check, you’re saying that you care about the work they do. The implicit message is that consumers who care about the cause can follow your lead and support that nonprofit.
Cause marketing campaigns have to strike a balance. They are a partnership between two organizations. They are forged out of a shared commitment to do good work on a cause they care about. The message you send consumers is explicit rather than implicit. By doing something to support this partnership, you’re getting directly involved in work that is making a difference.
Telling the right story, the right way, can make all of the difference in how an audience responds to a cause marketing campaign.
When Is A Cause Marketing Campaign A Good Idea?
Cause marketing is something that any business can take advantage of, regardless of the size of the company or their marketing budget. What a campaign ends up looking like depends on many factors—all of which will need to strike the right balance between the partners, the cause, and the audience.
While it’s true that getting cause marketing right means making the most of what you have, there are some fundamental elements that you should consider every time. According to the folks at Marketing-Schools.org, you should pay attention to:
· Authenticity: Because cause marketing campaigns tend to be more successful if the partnership makes sense to consumers.
· Familiarity: If both partners are known and trusted by a certain audience, the campaign will have a multiplier effect.
· Branding: When you get the branding right and share it across multiple platforms it will amplify your message and increase exposure.
· Press Coverage: A partnership that can get local or national press coverage gets added exposure without additional investments in marketing.
A Cause That Matters Cuts Through The Noise
How Can You Get Started With Cause Marketing?
The team at Small Business Trends has put together a helpful, step-by-step guide to getting started on a cause marketing campaign of your own. Their advice:
1. Pick A Cause: The cause that you choose should be something that you and your team sincerely believe in. Remember that some causes could be too polarizing for the consumers your brand is targeting. Ask yourself whether the partnership will “make sense”.
2. Set A Budget: The goal of a cause marketing campaign is to build something that benefits both partners. If you have to “give until it hurts” to see results, then something has gone wrong.
3. Plan for PR and Advertising: Part of getting the results you’re after is making sure that people know what you’re up to. Cause marketing can be a great way to get free PR and earned media. If you have the budget to do more, you can factor that into your plan.
4. Measure Your Progress: Marketing success always comes down to the numbers. You should want to know whether your campaign is driving more traffic, leading to more sales, or getting you more mentions on social media.
5. Make It A Team Effort: Sincerity means a lot to cause marketing campaigns. There are a lot of ways to get employees involved and a lot of ways to “show” consumers you’re sincere that will help them trust what you “tell” them about the partnership.
6. Look For Partnerships That Will Last: There is a new crisis at the top of the news every week (sometimes every day). It’s natural to want to do something to make a difference but your organization’s causes shouldn’t be a mile wide and only an inch deep.
7. Share The Success: The best and easiest stories to tell are the ones where you’ve hit a milestone in your plan to make a difference together. Be sure to spread the word to the customers whose support helped get you there.
Where To Turn When You Need Some Help?
We’ve talked a lot about how important it is to get the messaging right if you want to set a cause marketing campaign up for success. Sometimes the partnership and the purpose just “make sense” and the storytelling you do to support it is easy. But there are times when you will take a step back and look at a campaign from the consumer’s perspective and wonder whether you’ve got the messaging right.
If you’re looking for help pulling your partnership together into a package that consumers will understand and get excited about, bringing a Storyteller into the mix might be the way to go.
We’re Ready! Are You?
A Storyteller can help you discover the best version of the story you want to tell. They can help you design a campaign to reach the audience that needs to hear your message. They can deliver the story in ways that work best on different electronic, print, and in-person presentations.
A cause marketing campaign usually involves a partnership between two organizations. It can be hard to bring the marketing teams from each partner together and get results that achieve the balance you’re looking for. Sometimes the best way to get beyond each side’s biases is to bring in some outside help. It often turns out to be a wise investment that pays off in the long-term.
Argonaut Productions Gives You Storytelling To Support Your Cause Marketing Campaign On Social Media
When you’re ready to explore the possibilities of cause marketing, we can help you get great results without a steep learning curve. Our unique approach to discovery, design, and delivery makes us the perfect partner to help you tell a story that will amplify your message.
We would love to hear what you’ve got in mind for your cause marketing partnership. You can get started right away by scheduling a no-cost, no-obligation consultation with one of our visual storytelling experts. Let us help you Find Your Fleece.