Cause, the reason for doing something. We do everything for a cause like we study so that we could earn money. We earn money so that we could live a happy and prosperous life. We love someone so that we don’t feel alone. I would say in everything we do there’s a hidden cause.
Using the cause in marketing is called cause marketing. Well, I don’t think it should be enough for you to understand what the cause marketing is. So, let’s elaborate furthermore!
What is Cause Marketing?
Well, let me take you back to 1983 when the term “cause marketing” was coined. In 1983 American Express launched a marketing program, they mentioned that on each use of their credit card use a penny will go to the Statue of Liberty Renovation Program, and 1 dollar for each newly issued card.
By using these tactics they saw a 28% increase in card use, and it also helped the project come to reality. That was the same year American Express coined the phrase “cause-related marketing” or “cause marketing”. Since then many big brands have started using cause marketing.
As you’ve seen what American Express did and what happened after using this tactic. There were two effects first it increased the use of cards means sales, and second, it also helped in completing a social project, the renovation of the Statue of Liberty. So, both the company as well as society got benefitted from this.
I hope you know understand what cause marketing is, it is a collaboration between a for-profit company and a non-profit organization for the benefit of both by incorporating a social cause along with the products or services.
Why should we develop a cause marketing strategy?
Well, do you remember who the popular sibling in your family is, the monitor in the class or the leader in the project of the company? What are the qualities that differ from that person?
Hmm…You also must be thinking, keep your horses down, and let me make it clear to you, there are many qualities that a person should possess, and one of them is responsibility. And don’t let me tell you, who hates responsibility? We, being human are attracted to the entities that show and take responsibility, so as with the brands.
Users also expect that the brands they are using should be socially responsible. That’s where the cause marketing takes place.
Some research was performed and it came to know that
- 80 % of the users believe that brands should address and work on social or environmental issues.
- 46% of the users pay close attention to the action of the brands.
- 70% of the users want to know how brands are supporting social or environmental issues.
- 91% of the users want to switch to a brand that is supporting a social or environmental cause at the same price and quality.
- 92% said that they would buy a product from the brand that is supporting a social or environmental issue
- 67% of the people say that they have bought products from a brand that is supporting a social or environmental issue in the past 1 year.
Now, that you have seen the statistics & how people are fascinated with this marketing strategy, you can yourself see how much beneficial it can be for your brands. Have your mind also started to cook a cause-related marketing campaign for your business.
Cause-related marketing will not only boost the brand’s corporate social responsibility but helps in getting more sales for the brand and creating more awareness for the non-profit organization along with ethical contributions(donations). It’s a win-win strategy for both for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations.
Corporate social responsibility is the sum of all the actions a company takes to satisfy social needs. Definitely, it requires investment and yields measurable outcomes. While on the other hand, cause-related marketing is a communication tool for that brands to increase customer loyalty and brand reputation along with fulfilling corporate social responsibility (CSR).
Cause-related marketing isn’t just an opportunity to make the world a better place for future generations but it serves genuine business goals also.
What type of Brands should develop a Cause Related Marketing Strategy?
Having a cause along with your business makes your brand more lively, vibrant and meaningful.
Well, any kind of brand can develop a cause-related marketing strategy, and it’s the best way to show the world that they’re not just taking from society but also giving back by playing a role in helping social or environmental causes.
If you want to make a statement in the world then it’s the path you can walk on. It’s beyond selling just only products and services. You can always leverage this marketing strategy. Whether you’re a service-based business or a brick-and-mortar store, you can always follow a cause-related marketing strategy.
If you are a service-based company then by donating a portion of your profits, you can help social causes with money. If you are a brick-and-mortar business or product-based company then you can adopt a one-for-one strategy by donating one product for each sale to the people who need the product but can’t afford to buy. You can also donate a part of your profits by selling the products.
Along with helping the money, products, and time, we also help organizations bring awareness to social causes. The helps in getting people aware of environmental, social, educational, and health-related issues that should be dealt with. So, people also start playing their roles working with the organization for the betterment of human society and the world.
With the help of cause marketing, you just don’t sell your products and services but make a real difference in the world.
So, you can see whether it is product-based or service-based, there’s always room for you to implement a Cause Marketing strategy in your marketing strategies.
So far, we’ve gone through a lot in this article, let’s move further and learn how to build a cause marketing campaign for our business.
How to build a successful cause marketing campaign for your business?
You’ll find plenty of blogs, and videos all over the internet about this, but we’re providing here a step-by-step and simple approach to achieve what we all yearn for:
Choose something your company stands for and you believe in:
It’s a must to determine your corporation’s mission, vision and values. They’re the most important factor and milestone of your brand. Determine what your company stand for and what you believe in. If you believe in something, then the employees of your corporation will believe in that Cause. If the staff of your company buys it then they’ll work hard for helping society. The collective energy of all will reflect in the work and you’ll see this reflected in the growth of your business.
Identify Your Related Cause
You must know that relevancy matters the most. If the cause your brand is supporting is relevant to what your company stands for then it’ll be easier for you to scale. There are many examples of companies who got successful with the help of cause marketing assisting uncommon causes. But it doesn’t seem genuine, it looks like only a strategy for selling the product, but cause marketing isn’t just about selling the products. It is increasing sales while working for the betterment of society.
If the cause your business is addressing is relevant to your brand then it’ll look genuine. We know our audience and we’ll build a cause marketing campaign around the values of our target audience. It’ll not only help in spreading awareness but also help in increasing Loyalty to the Brand because it’ll be something that people value.
Determine what you want to contribute: Not just money
You need to determine what you want to contribute to society through the Cause Marketing Campaign: money, time, product, or services.
One thing I would suggest is not to contribute only money. Donating money isn’t the only way you can help with societal or environmental issues.
We’ve already discussed that people want to see the company’s responsibility toward social causes, and donating money isn’t the right way to show the responsibility. It was found in a survey that 64% of the users think that donating money alone isn’t enough.
Integrate social welfare directly into your business working on social causes along with non-profit organizations. It will establish a company as a socially responsible brand.
Determine how you want to contribute & set your goal
It’s your decision how you want to contribute to society, but always remember it’s not all about donating money, but spreading awareness too. Set up a goal, it is the key to achieving your goals. You can also choose your way of contribution from the following:
- Marketing Services for the Organization
- Donations for the products
- Donating equipment
- Making volunteer groups from the company
Collaborate and co-promote with a Non-profit
Collaborate with a non-profit organization having somewhat similar values your company stands for, and co-promote each other. You can use the following methods of promoting each other:
- Announcing affiliation on social media, newsletter, website, and newspapers
- Sending Joint press releases to the news outlets
- Tagging each other on social media platforms
- Having each other’s logos in the marketing material
- Telling about the experiences on different platforms
Get involved with your audience
Involving your audience is an excellent idea for spreading awareness while building brand loyalty along with brand advocates. When you involve your audience it’ll make them feel responsible also for what you believe. Once they start feeling responsible they’ll start promoting and advocating your products, services, and brand.
Focus on Social and Earned Media & Keep Call to Action Clear and Easy to Follow
This is the last step you should implement in 7 step framework of building a cause marketing campaign. We all know that people engage on social media so much, and they spend quite a long time on these platforms. You can post all about everything from announcing your involvement with the non-profit organization to achieving the goal you become a partner.
With the earned media you can mention each other in the advertising copies, videos, and creatives. It’s the best way you can do it in earned media. Earned media or paid promotions are the best way in reaching to millions of people in no time. Go for it and use it wisely as you need to spend money on paid promotions.
You should not confuse your audience by giving different calls to action, keep a single call to action in one type of marketing material and easy to follow.
Take a deep breath for a moment, so far we’ve seen a 7 step framework for building a powerful and successful cause marketing campaign. Start building your own campaign for the success of your business.
Now, let’s take a look at the benefits you’ll get by implementing the 7-step framework of a cause marketing campaign.
Benefits of Cause Marketing for small businesses
There are lots of benefits of a successful cause marketing campaign for small businesses in which some are the following:
- Gives Vibrancy and Meaning to Your Brand
- Establishes Your Brand Socially Responsible with fulfilling the demand for Corporate Social Responsibility
- Improves Corporate Image
- Increases Brand Loyalty and Create Brand Advocate
- Boost Staff’s Will and Morale
- Building Trustworthy Relationships with the Businesses and Audience (Community)
- Standing Your Business Out from the Competition
We’ve discussed the benefits of having cause marketing a place in your marketing tactics, now let’s discuss some examples of the company having Cause Marketing in their Marketing Eco-system.
Examples of Cause Marketing of Indian Companies
We’re going to brief some famous Indian companies who’re using Cause Marketing for promoting their products and services. Some of them are the following:
- Nihar Naturals’ “Small Steps towards Progress” Campaign: – I think every Indian has seen this campaign on television. It was launched in 2012 by Nihar Naturals in association with Child Rights and You (CRY) foundation working on child rights for over 3 decades. In this, it was committed to donate 2% of all sale proceeds from “Nihar Shanti Amla” to CRY. Marico the owner of Nihar Naturals launched this campaign having Vidhya Balan as brand ambassador. Vidhya Balan is an Indian film actor, and this campaign was run as a television commercial featuring her. Nihar Shanti Amla has changed the lives of more than 3 lakh children with its program “Chhote Kadam Pragati Ki Aur.”
- Mahindra’s #SeedTheRise Campaign: – It is a digitally driven crowdfunding campaign run by Mahindra and Mahindra to improve the lives of the farmers of India. This initiative was co-powered by a digital agency named Flying Cursor Interactive. In this initiative total risen donation was 1 crore which was matched by Mahindra with another 1 crore. These 2 crores were donated for the welfare of the farmer of India.
- Clinic Plus’ “M for Mother, Mother for Strength” Campaign: – Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) launched this television commercial on the occasion of Mother’s Day. Clinic Plus is a shampoo and this campaign was launched under the title ‘M se Maa, Maa se Ma Mazbooti’ (‘M for Mother, Mother for Strength). It was launched to support the girls of India in Education. It is basically focused on reducing girl dropouts from schools. This tells a story of a mother playing the important role in a girl’s life by helping her in pursuing her education every time when the family thinks of the dropout. If you’re an Indian you also must’ve seen this commercial on television.
- Lenovo and Yuwa’s #PitchToHer Campaign: – I was run by Lenovo in association with Yuwa, a non-profit organization that teaches girls to play football for the betterment of their lives. In this social campaign, the brightest minds were invited to pitch smart ideas to impact the life of the girls from the organization through technology. The winning heart ideas were provided with a month-long sponsored internship.
- Nivea India’s “Mom’s Touch” Campaign: – It was a cause marketing campaign run by Nivea India for the better of the children from marginalized communities by providing them quality education. It was run by Nivea and partnered with Aseema Charitable Trust which also brought forth stories of extraordinary mothers.
You’ve seen that in this world of competition, somewhat every company in every industry is using cause marketing to promote their products incorporating Storytelling in their Marketing Materials.
Again take a deep breath, I know it’s been a lot but sit tight for some time more and read carefully because half knowledge is always dangerous. It’s time to get acquainted with some tips in Cause Marketing.
Tips for Cause Marketing
Well, tips are the ways of remembering everything we learn so far. Without wasting time, let’s see, what tips you should keep in mind while performing Cause Marketing for Your Business:
- Choose a related cause to support and you feel passionate about
- Create a Simple, But Memorable Message incorporating Storytelling
- Give More than Just Money, It can be time, services, and anything that keeps you integrated directly with the cause
- Create a Strong Advertising Campaign
- Set Up a Goal and Keep Your Launching Timing perfect According to The Audience
- Have a single and clear CTA
Until now you must have started dreaming about your own cause marketing campaign. Well, that’s good everything that comes in reality first comes to mind. Thoughts are responsible for every creation we see.
Let’s conclude it in some words
Conclusion
I would say this can be the best marketing strategy if you do it the right way. Don’t perform this if you just want to sell your products, believe in the cause you’re associating with, and the cause should also reflect in your brand. Follow the strategy told in this article and boom, you’ll definitely get what you deserve. For performing this strategy you need to be aligned with the cause. Follow the 7-step framework, and keep in mind the tips, you’ll definitely reach where you want to.
You shouldn’t have any questions, as we’ve tried to cover everything for you. But if you still have Team DigiAvtar is here for you. You can place your queries related to this article in the comment section blog. If you want to read a similar blog on marketing then visit our blog.