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Using Cause-Marketing to Boost your Visibility
Many business owners are not aware of what cause-marketing is, let alone how to use it appropriately. Those who do, however, have been cashing in on every opportunity they can.
Cause marketing involves partnering with a charity, non-profit organization or crisis situation to draw increased attention to both parties. The primary purpose of cause marketing is, of course, to benefit the charity, although the business will also benefit in multiple ways from these efforts.
First, any money spent that benefits a charity or cause is tax-deductible. Second, the business gains more visibility if the charity or crisis is prominent in the news media. Free publicity is often possible because newspapers and radio stations are likely to run public service announcements and press releases that involve charity work.
Your business will also gain credibility among the public, because the community will see your organization as one that gives back. Customers and clients love to spend their money with organizations that they feel will benefit the greater good.
Take the current wildfire crisis in California. The good folks at Tide have truly taken advantage of an opportunity to help those affected by the wildfires, by offering free laundry services to families affected by the disaster. Doesn't that make you feel better about buying Tide laundry detergent? Even if the brand would happen to be a bit more expensive than competitors (I have no idea if that is the case or not!), customers would be likely to view the price as a non-issue in their buying decision because they would feel as though they were contributing to helping in this crisis by buying Tide detergent. This is a very clever marketing scheme that manages to help people in need and boost sales of Tide at the same time. Sure, it's costing Tide a great deal of money to do peoples' laundry for free, but the additional sales they will gain from this marketing campaign will more than make up for these costs.
A tried and true way to get involved in cause marketing is to simply donate a portion of your sales to your favorite charity. Simply advertise the fact that a certain percentage of all proceeds will be donated directly to the charity. It helps if the charity can be tied into your business somehow, because then your customers are also likely to be interested in helping that charity.
Think about it and be creative. There are tons of ways to make cause-related marketing work for any business model and it always pays off in the end. If you're stuck on how to make it work for you, drop me an email for a free consultation and some possible ideas!
Angela Stringfellow is a professional copywriter, designer and marketing communications consultant. Visit her website at www.stringfellowcreative.com for fresh marketing information and ideas, free articles, resources for aspiring writers, or to inquire about services. Initial consultations are always free.
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