Like corporate social responsibility (CSR), cause marketing is getting increased attention in the business sphere. If you’re wondering how cause marketing can benefit your business, or how to implement a cause marketing campaign that both grows your business and accomplishes something good in the world, read on!
What is cause marketing?
Cause marketing is a subset of corporate social responsibility. While CSR encompasses the variety of ways that businesses can express socially conscious values, cause marketing refers specifically to how companies leverage these efforts to promote their own business goals. It creates a deeper connection between customers, their favorite brands, and the causes they care about.
For example, if your business does pro bono work or makes an annual donation to a charity, that’s part of your CSR strategy. If, however, you connect that giving with a promotional campaign (such as matching customers’ gifts) or use other strategies to make people aware of your giving, it becomes cause marketing.
Examples of cause marketing
Besides matching customers’ donations, there are many ways you can support your nonprofit(s) of choice, draw attention to your business, and engage customers, including:
- Inviting customers to donate when they make a purchase
- Giving a set percentage of your profits to charity
- Promoting a socially conscious, industry-relevant message
- Holding a pledge drive that rallies customers and generates buzz
- Highlighting employee volunteer events
For more, including real-world examples of cause marketing campaigns, check out these 8 effective cause marketing methods to grow your business.
Benefits of cause marketing
Because cause marketing effectively serves as the public face of corporate social responsibility, it delivers many of the benefits of CSR — like increased sales, strengthened brand awareness and loyalty, and differentiation from your competition.
More and more, people expect companies to conduct business in a socially conscious way. And it’s not just theoretical: they pay attention to and make decisions based on the values companies demonstrate over the long haul. For example:
- 87% of Americans will purchase a product because a company advocated for an issue they cared about.
- 78% believe companies must not just make money, but also positively impact society.
- 66% would switch from a product they typically buy to a new product from a purpose-driven company.
- 66% of people around the globe would pay more for sustainable goods.*
Cause marketing with World Vision
While many deserving charitable organizations exist, there are good reasons to focus your cause marketing on international development. And when you partner with World Vision, we’ll help you create promotions that align with your goals, boost your bottom line, and empower kids and families to build futures free of poverty. We’ve partnered with companies of all sizes to build successful cause marketing campaigns like these:
- For every mattress purchased during a seasonal promotion, Denver Mattress donated clean water for one person for a year.
- For the past six years, Thirty-One Gifts has partnered with us on Giving Tuesday to match financial donations with donated products that support new moms, deliver medical supplies, and keep girls in school.
- One Cup Coffee Co. built its business model to leverage donations and matching grants, so every dollar of coffee purchased creates a dollar’s worth of impact for the people we serve.
Through World Vision’s work, every 60 seconds, a family gets water, a hungry child is fed, and a family gets the tools to overcome poverty — and businesses like yours are important partners in making this possible. For more about the benefits of cause marketing or how we can help you implement it, check out our news and stories.
Ready to get started? Fill out our simple form and we’ll provide logos and resources for your promotion. If you hope to raise $25,000 or more, one of our reps can provide expert insights and personalized support to help make your campaign a success. We look forward to hearing from you!
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