Effective Cause Marketing

Posted on | August 13, 2009 |

By Holly Buchanan

When is cause marketing most effective? When it is tangible. When you get to see the results of your contribution.

I was reminded of this when reading Patti Minglin’s article at Engage: Moms, Just Cause: Finding the Perfect Cause-Marketing Fit where she cites the American Express example:

During the early 1980s, American Express created a marketing campaign to help restore the Statue of Liberty. A penny for each use of the American Express card and a dollar for each new card issued were given to the Statue of Liberty Restoration program. In just four months, $2 million was raised and transaction activity increased by 28% — proving that doing good could also be good for business.

One of the reasons why the campaign was so successful was because the cause was specific and attainable.

This is a huge part of the success of donorschoose.org which connects donors with requests/projects from schools and teachers.

Make it specific/tangible

At Donors Choose you contribute to specific projects with specific monetary goals. Donorschoose.org follows up to let you know when the project has been fully funded. You also get photos and thank you notes that let you see how you’ve “changed lives.”

When your company or brand is involved in a cause marketing effort, have specific goals and let your customers know when you’ve reached those goals. Give them that tangible sense of satisfaction and accomplishment and thank them for helping to make it happen.

Stay involved and follow up

And don’t make it a one time event. Stay involved! Follow up. Who was affected? How are they doing now? What further progress has been made? And be sure to continue to say “Thank You” and let them know how they can stay involved and continue to help.

With cause marketing, you’re asking her to make an emotional investment. Make sure you’re making an investment of time/energy/emotion as well.

For more great tips on cause marketing, read Just Cause: Finding the Perfect Cause-Marketing Fit.