Resolve to Help Make a (Charitable) Difference in 2014

For small and medium size businesses looking to shine a positive light on their endeavors in the new year, cause-related marketing is an important way to help build long-lasting and profitable connections with customers while also making a difference in their communities.

Cone Echo’s 2013 Corporate Social Responsibility study revealed that 94% of consumers prefer to do business with companies that give back in some way but only 16% believe that businesses have actually made a positive impact.  Moreover, over half of all consumers (55%) have switched brands in favor of ones that they believed to be more socially responsible. The impact is even greater when one considers that when people switch brands, they tend to bring some friends and family along with them.

This data underscores the opportunity that effective cause marketing presents as well as the risks of doing nothing.  Businesses can either be the beneficiaries – or the victims – of these shifts in loyalty.  Developing an ongoing cause marketing program is essential for businesses that want to appeal to the growing ranks of ‘conscientious consumers,’ but finding the right way to do so isn’t always clear.

Common cause marketing approaches include sales-dependent donations in which businesses donate a portion of sales proceeds,as well as donation drives which involve the solicitation of customer donations at the checkout counter.   However, both bring with them a host of legal and administrative obstacles and have the potential to backfire in terms of consumer sentiment.

Regardless of the approach, success will depend greatly on the degree to which a program reverberates with the public.  There are many factors that have been found to increase consumer interest and participation.  To help better understand ways to maximize your cause marketing efforts and ROI, consider the following tips.

Choose the Right Causes

Very simply, it’s important to identify the right causes to support in order to also capture your customer’s attention… and dollars. Research shows that the more the business and charities seem to fit together, the more the public perceives that the company has the expertise to effectively help the charity.  This increases consumer interest in getting involved while clarifying the company’s market positioning.   Examples of this include Green Mountain Coffee Roasters with Fair Trade charities, as well as HGTV with Rebuilding Together. Their combinations simply make sense. As a business manager, you should take the time to look for non-profits that align well with your company’s ethos and mission.

Another consideration to think about is consumer choice.  When people are afforded the opportunity to direct funds to a charity of their choice, their perceived control over the donation process is increased which results in higher participation rates.  For this reason, it’s a good idea to select a short list of properly aligned charities and then allow customers to make their own decisions.  A great example of this approach is Subaru’s annual “Share The Love” event, which enables car buyers to select from five charities.

Use Social Media to Share Your Story

Doing something good like supporting a worth wild charity deserves attention… but how you gain this and how you market it matters. Advertising, newsletters and in-store signage can all help, as can social media channels. Encourage the non-profits you’re working with to also generate a buzz via social media to maximize consumer awareness, but remember to refrain from overt shameless self-promotion.  A great way to accomplish this is to use social media to show your appreciation for your customers that participate.  A simple ‘thank you’ goes a long way and in the social media age, a huge customer segment prefers to get kudos in full view of friends and family.   By publicly thanking every participant – rather than bragging that you are doing something good – can get an exponentially better uptick in consumer sentiment. And while we’re on the subject of social media… aka online marketing… don’t forget to market your efforts on your website, as well.

Reward Participating Customers

Genuine “thank yous” go a long way, but if you’re asking your customers to make a donation, the true way to their hearts are by going beyond mere words.  There are many ways to reward your customers that reflect well on your company.  Here are a few ideas:

• Donation Matching: People respond better when the business offers to match donations because it creates the sense that ‘we’re all in this together,’ which is highly motivating.
• Redeemable Rewards: Instead of forcing people to purchase a product to unlock a donation, how about focusing on the cause first and reward donors after they give?  Businesses can promote a cause by offering their product or service (or a discount on it) as a reward for doing the right thing.   As an example, Shake Shack offers a free shake to customers who make donations.  At Charitable Checkout, we have found that nearly 13% of donors redeem their coupon rewards, a great example of measurable ROI.
• Unlock Exclusive Content: A digital download of exclusive content for donors is a great tool to positively reinforce your business’s brand and the overall campaign, at a low marginal cost.  Examples include music downloads, videos, images, documents, apps, etc.

With these three tips, resolve to make a real difference in 2014. One way to do this is to check out Charitable Checkout’s ‘Rewarded Giving’ cause-marketing platform, which embodies these principles and enables businesses to measurably and profitably connect with consumers around shared values.