What is Cause Marketing?

Today, perhaps more than ever, many consumers vote with their money. They choose businesses that support the causes they believe in and connect with brands that support the same things they do. Cause marketing is one key strategy many companies can use to help show their commitment to key values and issues at the heart of their brands. Furthermore, cause marketing is a great way to raise brand awareness and support a cause while promoting your business.  

The Basics of Cause Marketing 

Cause marketing is a marketing strategy that uses a business's support of a particular charity or social organization to help market the brand. Cause marketing can take a variety of forms. For example, a company might donate specific supplies or services to a needy segment of the population or provide financial support for a particular organization that reflects the organization's values. 

Cause marketing serves two key purposes. First, it helps advance important social causes and bring about societal improvement. Second, cause marketing helps increase awareness of the brand. It helps establish your brand as one that cares, improving your reputation and increasing the odds that consumers will choose your brand when looking for key things in your industry.  

Creating Your Cause Marketing Campaign 

As you prepare to embrace the benefits of cause marketing for your business, ensure you're ready for the key steps you may need to take.  

Start by choosing a cause that reflects your business's values. Sometimes, that may mean selecting a cause that fits your brand vision and statement. In other cases, it may mean supporting a local cause.  

Make sure that your cause aligns with your company's values. If your chosen cause is out of step with your brand, it can create confusion among consumers, and it may actually fail to reach members of your target audience. You may want to partner with a specific organization, including an existing charity, or you may, in some cases, even want to establish your strategies for reaching out. 

Look at your chosen cause and how you want to partner with other organizations. Make sure you lay out the expectations and boundaries of that partnership, including clearly stating who is responsible for financial contributions, time contributions, and the management of your campaign. 

Design a message that tells why your company has chosen that particular cause to support and what support you have thrown behind it. Your message may both help increase overall awareness of that specific cause and help showcase your commitment to it, so it's important to make it a compelling statement that clearly shows your support.  

Consider how you will most likely reach your target audience with your message. Where do you usually reach out to members of your target audience? How will you connect with your target audience regarding your new cause marketing campaign?  

Consider: 

• Social media 
• Print media 

• Radio 
• Email marketing 

Make sure you are prepared to spread the word about your new campaign. 

Design marketing materials that clearly state your involvement with that cause or organization. Your marketing materials should outline the cause you're supporting, why you chose that specific cause, and any other information you want to share with your target market. Make it memorable! Many of the best cause marketing campaigns have memorable taglines and connections that people will later associate with the brand.  

Get it up and running, and make sure you follow through! 

Pay attention to how the campaign performs and how others respond to it. Consider things like whether the campaign successfully reached your target audience, how it boosted sales, and how it improved overall awareness of your brand. Identify areas where you may need to improve in your future marketing efforts. Do you need a more narrow focus? Did your campaign fail to generate support or a satisfactory result for your chosen cause? If so, you may want to use that information to alter your future campaigns. 

Launch Your Cause Marketing Campaign 

Are you ready to launch a cause marketing campaign that will improve the overall awareness of your brand and make it easier for you to connect with your target market? Contact Mid-West Family South Bend for more information about how to launch a successful cause marketing campaign with a multi-media approach.