Cause Marketing Isn’t Selfless – and That’s Okay

It seems that recently the promotional product industry and many others have recently been buzzing over cause marketing. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, it’s the effort of a for-profit business to both increase profits and better society in accordance with corporate social responsibility. The strategy itself is not a new one but has taken off in the last couple years. 

Cause marketing is not just trending because it helps make the world a better place; when executed properly, it benefits more than the non-profit. It can have a positive impact on your entire organization – whether it be sales growth, exposure or engagement. If the only thing holding you back from engaging in cause marketing is that you don’t anticipate dividends other than “it feels good”, think again. 

So often when cause marketing and philanthropy are discussed, it’s implied that the business is solely acting out of the goodness of their heart and nothing more. Sometimes it feels taboo to consider and talk about how we benefit too. 

One of my favorite episodes of Friends (technically “The One Where Phoebe Hates PBS”) is when Joey tries to convince Phoebe that there’s no such thing as a truly good deed. She sweeps her neighbor’s front stoop, lets a bee sting her (so that it can look cool in front of its bee friends) and finally ends the endeavor after donating to a PBS telethon because she feels good when it results in Joey’s tv feature. It really drives home the idea that doing good almost always benefits you too – whether it makes your heart happy or your wallet happy is irrelevant. 

There’s a great quote by author, Paulo Coelho, that says, “Happiness is something that multiplies when it is divided.” As more companies begin to see and understood the impact of this, this trend will thankfully continue to grow. 

While the benefits to non-profit are obvious, these are just a few ways in which we can prosper as well: 

Employee engagement – One of the secrets behind successful cause marketing is having strong employee or participant buy-in and support. Make sure that your team understands why these efforts are being made, how their direct involvement makes a real impact and celebrate wins together when you reach your goals. 

Community exposure – Not only can you take the opportunity to connect with community members and potential customers during a philanthropic event or campaign, but you can also get great social media content and press coverage as well. So long as it’s done tactfully and with humility, there’s nothing wrong with sharing this information. Shedding light on your efforts might inspire others to get more involved. Also, remember that a picture is worth a thousand words – don’t feel bad collecting appropriate content. (Tip: focus on photos of your team and always get permission before sharing content that features other volunteers or benefactors.)

Increased sales – Promotional products are great way to raise awareness and boost sales. Introduce apparel, drinkware and more to boost exposure, profits and funds raised. Additionally, suppliers have established products and product lines dedicated to specific non-profit organizations, so no matter who your customer is or what organization they are involved with, aligning the perfect promo solution has never been more accessible. Suppliers like Handstands, Hirsch Gift, Hit, Sweda, The Magnet Group, Charles River, BamBams, Storm Creek and more have already partnered with organizations that you can jump right in. Consider the products you’re already selling and how you could easily make the switch to a baked-in giveback effort. 

What to avoid: 

• Don’t be the “hero” or self-congratulate – focus on partnership, collaboration and goals met. 

• Don’t neglect a PR plan – help your customers and employees understand the intention, action and goals behind your efforts. Take it a step further by helping your customer develop a PR plan of their own.

• Don’t get involved just because you feel like you “have to” or that’s what your competitor is doing – The organization should support the initiatives you support. Are your values focused on community, sustainability, fair trade? It strengthens your brand story when you can weave this into the narrative.

• Don’t neglect emotion – curating genuine excitement, passion and fun is going to make it a memorable and impactful experience for everyone involved. 

We live in a world where both good people and capitalism exist; when we can get them to coincide in a mutually beneficial way, we all win. It’s tempting to fall into a more pessimistic outlook at times, but it’s okay that everyone is motivated by something different. Whether it’s money, goodwill, reputation, whatever – if the net result is that the world is a better place and everyone involved benefited, it doesn’t matter how or why we got there. When we understand it, we can harness that power for something good.