December 12, 2013: A large, often overlooked sector of the digital marketing space is cause marketing, where business and non-profits work together for mutual benefit. In 2009, the cause marketing space saw $1.57 billion of sponsorship transacted. Getting involved with cause marketing can raise the profile of a business, create interest and buzz, do tangible good, and often represent minimal marketing expense. Real value can be offered to customers and other stakeholders and ultimately enhance a company’s bottom line in an ethical way that promotes values.
What follows is an interview with Dylan Nord, Director of Social Media and Outreach at We-Care.com. We-Care is a leading portal for cause-based marketing that brings together causes and companies to enable customers to shop with purpose. Dylan and I discuss cause marketing, social media and SMBs, with a focus on the unique challenges SMBs face when engaging with cause marketing.
Didit: A lot of companies are using cause marketing to raise the profiles of their brands during the holiday season. There is this perception that cause marketing is only for big brands that can afford to work with big foundations. Can you tell us whether this is true, and whether or not cause marketing can be used by SMBs to enhance their brands?
Dylan Nord: There is no question that big brands can work with the largest charities and sponsor specific projects in a way that small and medium-sized businesses cannot. More and more, Fortune 500 companies are establishing their own foundations to aggregate, collect, and distribute donations towards charity. We can’t expect a small or medium-sized business to contribute on the scale of a large business or to have the bandwidth to manage an entire charitable arm of their businesses. But just as a small or medium-size business can adapt and serve niche markets better than big business, a small or medium-sized business can serve charity in the same way. Small businesses can work closely to serve local charities or charities within their specific market. In this way, cause marketing scales, and small and medium-size businesses can create relevant, manageable cause marketing programs.
Didit: How can cause marketers engage on social media effectively with their stakeholders? What are some pitfalls to avoid?
Dylan Nord: Like social media, any cause marketing strategy must be rooted in authenticity. If a company cares about a cause and is contributing to charity because of a genuine desire to help, the rest will take care of itself. An excellent example of this can be seen in Suburu’s Share the Love sales event. In an industry dominated by a strict sales event calendar, where most competitors are figuratively screaming about savings, financing opportunities, or the newest features of their product, Suburu “whispers” about their dedication to helping 5 causes with a donation of $250 when anyone purchases one of their automobiles during the Share the Love event. An SMB should focus on helping charity in a meaningful way, and connecting its customers with causes that they care about. I’d say that a brand shouldn’t focus too much on leveraging that charitable support to raise the brand’s reputation or awareness; this almost always makes the brand look disingenuous. Oil and gas companies consistently rank among the world’s most charitable, but the public’s perception remains skeptical.
Didit: What are some good metrics to measure the success of a cause marketing campaign, aside from the traditional ones for social media (followers, engagement, etc) ?
Dylan Nord: I think you can measure the effect of cause marketing on a particular campaign or product depending on how it is integrated, but the success of cause marketing in and of itself can be difficult to measure. As a form of brand marketing, the benefits of cause marketing can be difficult to nail down. I’d personally identify these as loyalty, awareness, goodwill, employee satisfaction, and a brand’s reputation. However, these are hard to measure with metrics or tools but are the heart of a brand’s charitable efforts.
Didit: What kinds of content are most likely to get cause stakeholders engaged with a cause marketing campaign, and lead to success? What is relevant cause marketing content?
Dylan Nord: If the campaign is aimed at supporters of a cause rather than one’s existing customers or market, it’s important to create a campaign that is specific to that cause and their supporters. Just sponsoring a cause’s event or making a donation is a start, but creating a unique campaign that is relevant to your brand and the nonprofit is the best case scenario. Recently, Soma Water, an innovative manufacturer of sustainable water filters, teamed up with charity: water to create a line of water filters that contributes to water projects around the world with every water filter sold.
Didit: What role do partners generally play in holiday-based cause marketing?
Dylan Nord: Partnership opportunities abound in cause marketing. Both for profit and nonprofit companies are much more willing to work with one another if it is for a good cause. When creating a cause marketing campaign, consider which partners might stand to benefit and add to the campaign. There may be an opportunity to include other brands, publishers, or nonprofits to increase the reach of that campaign.
Didit: Finally, what elements of a cause marketing campaign are unique to specific holidays, if any?
Dylan Nord: The work and mission of many charities align with specific holidays, e.g. Military/Veterans Organizations, Veteran’s Day, Christmas/Hanukkah, Back to School, etc. If your own business has a tie in to one of these holidays, there might be an opportunity to create a campaign around that specific holiday and support a charitable campaign around it. More importantly than a specific holiday, a company needs to consider which cause(s) are going to resonate with their customers, then craft a campaign that contributes to that cause in a unique, relevant, and meaningful way. Finally, focus on telling the story of that cause and your support in a “whisper.”
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