What is Cause Marketing?

Are you looking for a way to improve the world while increasing your bottom line? A cause marketing campaign is key to both! 

On the one hand, you can support a cause near and dear to you (ideally to your customers as well), raising awareness and donations that make a difference for many people. On the other hand, you enjoy the most significant cause marketing benefits: attracting more people to your brand/business and increasing profits.

In other words, helping others will help you.  

More than 87% of consumers admit that they'd purchase a product simply because the brand supports a cause important to them. Keep reading for more reasons why. 

Cause Marketing: What Is It and Why do I Need It? 

Cause marketing is a partnership between a non-profit and a for-profit business that increases the for-profit's sales while bringing more support to the non-profit's cause (through donations, awareness, etc.).  

This can be done in a couple of ways: 

• Pledging to donate a portion of your sales: you could promote that the business will pay a certain percentage of each sale (likely on a given item) to the specified cause. An example would be a clothing company donating 5% of all proceeds on pink women's shirts to breast cancer research.  
• Sponsorships with an event: non-profits put on cause-related events all of the time. Find one relevant to your brand and sponsor the event with a donation. An example would be a grocery store sponsoring a food drive or a clothing company sponsoring an event to support the homeless in the community.  
• Asking customers for donations: you also have the option to ask for donations at a customer's time of purchase. You see many examples in grocery stores where cashiers ask customers if they want to add $1 to their total to support a cause. According to the University of Dayton Magazine, U.S. checkout charity campaigns have raised nearly $605 million for various causes in 2020 alone.  

The benefits of the cause marketing role include increased profits, better brand reputation, enhanced consumer trust, and the promotion of social good (which, in turn, promotes your brand more positively). 

Cause Marketing Campaign Tips 

To get the most out of your cause marketing benefits, here are our top tips for optimizing your campaign:  

• Choose a cause that aligns with your company values & resonates with your target audience. To motivate your target audience to purchase and build a relationship with your brand, you must support causes they care about.  
• Communicate results as often as possible. Consumers want to know where their donations are going and how much they've impacted the cause. Give regular updates about where you're reaching the goal and what it'll take. This will get more people excited to help your business get there. They'll also be proud to be a part of it.  
• Always contribute to the cause you're supporting. Many consumers (56%) believe that brands are only 'pretending to do good' for the sake of earning another dollar. You risk giving this impression by expecting customers to contribute without donating yourself.  
• Leverage multiple marketing channels in your campaign. Most people interact with brands across 20 or more channels at a time. The more channels you can reach your target audience with information about the cause, the more successful you will be at reaching your (and your non-profit's) goals.  

Steps to Finding the Right Cause Marketing Campaign Partner  

When implementing cause marketing into your marketing, your partner makes all the difference. Ensure you're looking for one that matches your values, makes sense for you to support, and means something to your target audience. 

It can be a non-profit, a shelter, a cause to assist, etc. Either way, these steps should follow: 

1. Before anything else—establish clear expectations and responsibilities for each party. You've chosen your partner, but now clear roles must be set to help both parties achieve their goals and reduce miscommunication.  
2. Build and maintain a strong relationship. Like any partnership, there must be trust, respect, honesty, and open communication. Not only does it reduce potential conflict, but it also opens up more future partnering opportunities.  
3. Launch the campaign. When it comes time to launch, use a variety of marketing channels and platforms to get people excited about supporting your cause.  
4. Track and measure success throughout your campaign. Use a combination of KPIs — dollars raised, sales, number of participants, impressions generated, etc. — to inform real-time and future decisions.  
5. Identifying areas for improvement. If you notice areas that need improving, adjust as you see fit. Otherwise, build off your successes.  
6. Evaluate and refine for next time. Every marketing effort offers a unique opportunity to learn and refine. Never stop making improvements. 

Excited to get started? Contact Mid-West Family Springfield for more insight and resources into cause marketing.