What if every single order placed on your online store meant helping a non-profit succeed?
If this sounds like a pretty sweet idea, then you’ve come to the right place. Cause marketing has always been a big deal, but now it is easier than ever before to implement it into your overall digital strategy.
Best of all, partnering with the organization of your choice is a great way to stand out from the competition and really get your eCommerce business noticed. It’s truly a win-win for all!
Ready to dive into cause marketing and how your brand can make a difference? Let’s get started.
What is Cause Marketing?
Cause marketing simply means when a for-profit brand teams up with a non-profit organization to gain exposure. The end result is a campaign that brings in more sales and drives donations for the chosen cause.
As a brand, there are numerous ways you can select the right organization for your cause marketing campaign. For example, if you own a dog bakery, you might consider a partnership with a local animal shelter. And a makeup brand might team up with a charity that helps women with breast cancer increase their self-esteem.
The overall goal of cause marketing is to get the word out to make the world a better place.
How Does Cause Marketing Work?
There are many different ways you can implement marketing into your eCommerce business. However, the most common goes something like this.
Step One - Choose a Cause That Matters to Your Ideal Customer
This can be nearly anything, but take time to brainstorm what your shoppers might feel personally connected to or have a concern for.
Step Two - Decide How Your Brand Will Give Back
Some eCommerce retailers choose to give a 1% to 5% of all revenue in a given month or timeframe to the charity. Others use sales proceeds from a certain product line or create an individual product specifically for the campaign.
Step Three - Advertise the Cause Campaign
You definitely want to let everyone know that you’re working for a good cause. Spread the word through digital ads, email marketing, referral programs, or whatever makes the most sense for your brand.
Step Four - Handle the Post-Campaign Details
After the campaign is over, be sure that the non-profit cause you’ve chosen actually gets what they’ve earned in donations. After that, you’re free to share the results of your success with your shoppers and supporters so everyone can celebrate.
If this seems like a lot of work, don’t worry. There are specific Shopify apps like the Change Commerce App that make it easy to select the right non-profit and start collecting donations right away. In fact, they have over a million different causes registered for immediate support.
Why is Cause Marketing Important to Shoppers?
Shoppers these days want to know they’re doing good in the world. And there is a ton of marketing data to back this up.
According to a 2020 survey, consumers are 4.1 times more likely to trust a brand if they feel it has a strong purpose. In addition, 72% of Americans feel it is more important than ever for brands to reflect their values.
This means that your eCommerce company needs to have some sort of cause marketing strategy! By showing your customers that you care about more than just making a profit, you’re much more likely to gain their trust and loyalty. Furthermore, you’ll stand out from all of your competitors who aren’t engaging in these types of activities.
Example of Cause Marketing: Dune Jewelry
A wonderful example of an online brand working to improve the world we live in is Dune Jewelry. Over the last 10 years, the retailer has donated a whopping $125,000 to various charitable organizations worldwide.
While their chosen efforts tend to focus on environmental conservation, they list out all of the different charities they’ve worked with over the years on a special portion of their website. In addition, they make it easy for shoppers to see that they’re part of a cause marketing campaign by displaying it proudly on a banner at the top of the page.
Starting a Cause Marketing Campaign with CAKE
As you can tell, cause marketing is an excellent way to both improve brand exposure and make a difference in the world. Not only do consumers trust brands that work for the greater good, they’re more likely to return to make additional purchases in the future.
If you aren’t sure how to go about doing this with your online brand, we can help. Not only are we skilled at helping Shopify stores integrate the Change Commerce App, but we can advise you on ways to get more attention for your efforts.
For more information on cause marketing or other digital advertising techniques, please contact our CAKE team of eCommerce experts today!
