5 Ways Companies Benefit From Cause Marketing
You may have noticed a lot of the biggest, most successful companies devote substantial energy to highlighting their cause efforts. For example, companies like Walmart, Ford Motor, and Hewlett-Packard all have links off their homepages dedicated to global citizenship and community values.
Scores of other big-name companies now publish annual reports with titles like “Corporate Citizenship” and “Community Development.”
Why do they do it? Besides the fact that it demonstrates their core company values, communications that share cause initiatives with customers provide a substantial ROI.
Here are five ways cause marketing can benefit your company:
1. Cause Marketing Brings About Financial Benefits
Cause marketing campaigns elevate buyer enthusiasm and boost total sales. This means your company can bring about positive change while increasing profits.
Through cause marketing, socially responsible actions by a company actually lay the groundwork for increased growth, simply by improving the culture of a company. In other words, employees are more dedicated, deadlines are met more often, and processes tend to run more smoothly. This translates to increased sales.
2. Cause Marketing Boosts Employee Recruitment and Retention
Did you know 77% of Americans look at the corporate citizenship of a company before deciding whether they want to work there? And 72% of those who already hold jobs want their employers to show commitment to social causes. Plus, a whopping 85% of job holders say they’d leave their jobs if their company had negative social responsibility practices. (Cone Cause Evolution and Environmental Study)
Think about it. Most people want to work for a company that openly demonstrates commitment to their well-being and to the well-being of society. Cause marketing campaigns are the ideal way to demonstrate this commitment.
Once you launch an effective cause campaign, your company is more likely to attract and retain top talent. In turn, you’ll build a stronger company with higher profit potential.
3. Cause Marketing Creates a Stronger Bond With Consumers
A successful cause campaign can dramatically improve a company’s reputation. When consumers are impressed with the values behind a company, they’re more likely to buy from that company. When companies publicize the fact that a portion of their profits go toward a good cause, consumer spending almost always increases. More importantly, those consumers remain dedicated and loyal to that company over time.
4. Cause Marketing Campaigns Improve Stakeholder Trust
When people decide where to invest their money, as many as 66% consider a company’s dedication to social causes before investing their money. In fact, over the last decade, socially responsible investments in the United States actually grew 4% faster than any other sector of U.S. stocks. (Cone Cause Evolution & Environmental Study)
This makes it obvious that most investors want to put their money in corporations who have made a public demonstration of positive commitment to society.
5. Cause Marketing Means an Image Boost
If there were a quick and admirable way to improve the reputation of your company, would you do it? That’s exactly what happens when you start a cause marketing campaign. Publicly aligning with a positive cause brings media attention and general admiration (assuming you’ve put together a solid campaign). With increased positive publicity, your company gets the benefit of a natural image boost.
