Currently, everyone is concerned about one or another social cause. Often you will hear your potential clients or consumers ask what you are doing for society or how society is benefiting from your work. So a cause-related marketing strategy is simply a marketing strategy bonded by a cause or a profession like doctors and lawyers. This cause can be anything which benefits a whole segment of individuals and tackles the most common problems of society. Cause marketing is mostly done with a non-profit organization. There are several benefits of cause marketing.
- Awareness about the non-profit organization which otherwise would not have been possible
- Fulfilling the social responsibility for a profit organization
- Helps in building an organic and healthy relationship with the community
- Brand loyalty and visibility are increased
- At times, these campaigns boost the employee’s morale
- Helps in standing out for the profit and non-profit organization
As non-profit organizations have a very small budget, working with small or large cooperation can help them get to the targeted audience, get the required information and function smoothly as compared to previous times. Cause-related is something every business is trying to implement as this can increase brand loyalty and help society at the same time. So the question is how are you going to launch your cause-related marketing strategy? To answer this we are introducing a few steps to create a successful cause-related marketing strategy.
5 steps for a successful implementation of cause-related marketing strategy
- Always choose a related cause
Always choose to support a cause which is related to your business, as it would make more sense and make your consumers or users more appreciative of you. For example, an alcohol company supporting designated driver campaigns. This will send a positive message and help the users to invest with light consciousness.
Another example can be Starbucks supporting free education for its eligible employees, this again can help in boosting the morale of the employees as well as improving the education barriers. There are several other cause-related campaigns which have been launched and are successful. Hence, whenever you decide to start cause-related marketing always try to go for a related cause for maximum outcome, and is when services from agencybacklinks.com can really help you a lot with this.
- Be passionate about your cause-related marketing
Nothing is more boring and sad than seeing a half-hearted attempt at your marketing strategy. And the most important factor of this half-hearted attempt would be that it would be extremely visible. So to avoid such mishaps, always choose a cause which you and your employees are passionate about and is related to your business. In most cases, because marketing needs some extra time and effort, if you are not passionate about your cause then it becomes immensely difficult.
For example, if your company is providing free education to underprivileged children, but you as an employee are not very passionate about this cause then you would not put the extra effort to make this campaign successful and which will be visible to the general public and result in a bad review and bad publicity for your business. So to avoid such happenings always choose a cause which you are passionate about and eager to contribute towards that cause.
- Have a memorable way to talk about your campaign
As per research, it is found that approximately 70% of consumers remember a cause-related campaign if it provides a fact in an interesting way or straightforward. While the other 20 % admitted to liking a cause-related campaign which made them laugh and the other 10% remembered those campaigns which scared them the most. So with these statics, we can safely say that having a unique and memorable campaign slogan is important and is in the best interest of your marketing strategy.
We should always add facts to our campaigns so we can get more public visibility which is also long-lasting. For example surf excel’s slogan “Daag acche hai” is quite catchy and popular, another slogan by “ITouchMyselfProject ” for breast cancer awareness also got a lot of popularity. Apart from these, there are many other catchy slogans which have been used for cause awareness campaigns that stuck around. Hence opting for a memorable catchy slogan and talking about your campaign is a good strategy.
- Use social media
For advertising and creating awareness, it is almost always advisable to use social media. You can do so much with social media these days. You can create a hashtag for your cause and ask everyone to contribute to it. You can then post these photos and videos of your efforts and hard work toward helping your cause. You can create social media events to gain more visibility through various channels. You can send out digital business cards to reach more people.
For example, recently Akshay Kumar started promoting pink toilets and the use of sanitary napkins and many celebrities helped him in this campaign which created a general awareness of women’s hygiene. Social media is a powerful tool and can help you with just about anything if used correctly. So be a friend of social media and utilize its powers to gain maximum support for your cause-related marketing strategy. Advertise your hard work and cause as much as possible so you can help a lot of people.
- It is not just about money
Writing a check in the name of a non-profit organization is easy but it does not show genuine interest and effort. This can be a turn off for your clients and consumers and after term as a costly venture. For small scale companies donating a check might not even be a feasible option. Hence you should always donate services and hard work along with money if possible. Your efforts would tell a lot about your genuineness and your passion for contributing to a cause. So always give effort and attention to your cause instead of giving just money.
For example, Some companies pay their employees for doing volunteer work or give them paid days off if they are doing volunteer work on that day. One can always adopt such strategies to show effort and passion for your cause. Your efforts would allure your customers and give a positive impact on your brand. Hence always show your effort and genuineness and not just write a check.
Always be involved in your cause-related marketing as when you are involved then only you can achieve maximum results. There is not much instant recognition or value in cause-related marketing strategy unless you can go viral, but there is a slow and genuine recognition of this marketing strategy. So to have a loyal customer base which appreciates your attention and efforts to improve society and living conditions, it is important to invest in cause-related campaigns.
If you are interested in joining any social cause and helping others, then please look at our story of Preeti Kansal who is the founder of an NGO by the name Aagaz Charitable Foundation that is all about helping others.