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Welcome back!

We hope everyone’s enjoying the last few weeks of 2024! ‘Tis officially the season of giving, so today we’ll focus on how to boost your presence while making a positive impact. In the world of cause marketing, doing good isn’t just good for the soul, but for business too. Today’s customers (millennials especially) care more about impact than previous generations, with some surveys revealing that 46% of customers pay attention to a brand’s social responsibility efforts. We’ll look at some examples of effective cause marketing that convey authenticity and reinforce customer loyalty.

Let’s dive in! 🏃‍♂️🚀

News

Tools + Productivity

Strategy

Do I GAF?

Broadly defined, cause marketing focuses on raising attention around social issues to shed light on the brand. So what exactly counts as a social issue? Well, pretty much anything that reduces people’s quality of life, whether it’s a group or society as a whole.

The possibilities are endless, from climate change and environmental protection to mental health awareness to human rights to education access.

Of course, the cause you choose has to align with your audience— what issues impact them the most? What ethical considerations might customers in your ICP make before purchasing a product?

There are a few ways to find out. More directly, you can conduct targeted customer surveys to gather insights directly from your customers, asking questions about social issues they feel strongly about, causes they actively support, values that influence purchasing decisions, and expectations for corporate social responsibility.

More indirectly (and perhaps more accurately), you can monitor customers’ social media activity to identify hashtags and topics they frequently engage with, causes and organizations they follow or support, and comments or discussions related to social issues.

Actions speak louder than words, so these insights may be more valuable as people are typically inclined not to be fully honest in direct surveys. You may even believe you value one thing but actively support and engage with another.

No B.S.

Authenticity is tough to pull off considering half of Americans agree that marketing products as “ethical” is a manipulation technique.

The only way to convince customers that your brand or campaign is genuine and impactful is to show the impact or tell a convincing story that tugs on heartstrings.

Dawn dish soap targets the emotions of animal-sensitive people through its “Cleans more than dishes” campaign, which shows the brand being used to clean cute baby animals impacted by deadly oil spills.

The key to avoiding making audiences feel manipulated is ending cause marketing campaigns on a positive note. In our dawn example, the ad starts by presenting the problem but doesn’t leave viewers without a resolution.

Well-developed storytelling that strikes emotional chords also makes campaigns feel more genuine. Indian soap brand Lifebuoy collaborated with UNICEF to promote handwashing and emphasize the link between hygiene and health, especially in rural areas.

Measuring and reporting impact is similarly crucial to make socially responsible campaigns genuine— Patagonia does this through “The Footprint Chronicles,” an initiative to increase transparency about the environmental impact of its products.

Providing detailed information about the production process across Patagonia’s supply chain builds trust among its’ environmentally conscious customer base.

Some consumers are more passionate than others about environmental impact, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a lead who decides against a product they love because it’s environmentally friendly. This isn’t the case for every cause, however.

Other causes may be more controversial, making it all the more important for brands to thoroughly understand their customers and their values to decide whether or not getting behind the cause is worth it.

Nike, for example, made the risky decision to support Colin Kaepernick, a controversial figure during the BLM movement. You may remember the backlash this choice caused, with many customers filming themselves burning their Nike products.

On the other hand, Nike gained strong brand loyalty among customers who sided with Kaepernick or sympathized with the cause.

Unless you confidently understand your customers’ values and stances on more controversial issues, centering campaigns around these issues is highly risky— but it can pay off in the long term through strengthened brand loyalty.

Depending on what proportion of customers align with the values you show support for, it may be worth it— increasing a customer’s loyalty by 7% can increase lifetime profits per customer up to 85%.

An easier way to demonstrate social impact is through a simple “Buy one, Give one” campaign. Quality, affordable brands that sit below designers and above mass-market labels leverage this often because it also helps justify their somewhat higher price points.

In fact, 71% of millennials will pay more for something if they know some profits will go to charity.

Warby Parker, a premium (but not designer) eyewear brand has a “Buy a Pair, Give a Pair” program that reinforces its mission to make affordable eyewear accessible:

Another effective strategy to demonstrate impact is to take an issue your industry may be commonly criticized for, and pose a solution.

Energy consumption is known to be a major contributor to climate change and environmental degradation. That’s why GE’s “ecomagination” initiative focuses on sustainability:

This frames GE as the environmentally friendly option, as the company is innovating to make more energy-efficient products.

We all use energy anyway, but this marketing strategy helps environmentally conscious consumers feel like they’re at least minimizing their negative impact.

Shaping a new brand image around a cause doesn’t happen overnight— it can take years to develop an authentic brand identity aligned with particular causes or values.

Reinforcing this identity means embedding it across touchpoints. Remind customers how they’re helping through newsletter and social media updates about the cause.

Even better, encourage user-generated content by rewarding customers for sharing their involvement in your cause.

Looking Ahead

Cause marketing may seem like an extra, optional step to boost your brand’s reputation and reach, but depending on your customer base, it may be essential to ensure you’re not losing precious customers— in fact, 56% of Americans stop buying from brands they believe are unethical. This means most people are willing to stop buying from a company they love if they make a significant offense, but are less likely to abandon a purpose-driven company.

The toughest part is coming off as genuine when incorporating cause marketing— which requires effective storytelling and demonstrated proof of your brand’s impact.

If you’re interested in automating your marketing processes to grow faster, click here to learn more about how Loopgenius can help you.

Stay tuned for next week, when we’ll revisit SEO optimization for the season!

Seasonal Strategy

Week 1: Product Positioning
Week 2: Seasonal Engagement
Week 3: Cause Marketing (this week!)
Week 4: Tis the SEOson
Week 5: Marketing Resolutions

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