Purpose-Driven Marketing: Making an Impact with a Purpose-Driven Campaign

These days, everyone wants to feel as though they're part of something bigger. They're driven to connect, to grow, to make a difference. Customers are passionate about their causes and they love the idea that your brand has one, too. That's the foundation of purpose-driven marketing. 

When the heart of your brand narrative becomes a cause that your customers also support and get behind, it creates a new tone to your marketing that's sure to capture potential customers and turn them into passionate brand ambassadors. Purpose-driven marketing takes your brand's cause and makes it available to your customers, helping them to connect more fully with the brand as a whole.

Find the Cause that Matters to Your Audience

The best way to use purpose-driven marketing to reach your audience is to target a cause that has meaning to them. At the same time, make it a cause that connects to your brand in some way. Consider, for example, Uber's connection to MADD or Nestle Crunch's "Let's Get Her to Camp" campaign. Each of these brands has chosen a purpose that has meaning to their brand, but which also speaks to their specific consumers. Uber is often used by people who are avoiding driving drunk, while Nestle's largest audience is parents who want to be able to give their children the best. These charity campaigns deepen the connection their customers have to their brand, from increasing their favorable thoughts about the brand to encouraging them to choose that brand over another because of their commitment to and belief in something.

Be Consistent

Jumping around from one charity to another displays a lack of consistency and can lead to confusion among customers. The point is that you're not entirely profit-driven in your campaign—you're also supporting a cause that has meaning for your business and your brand. Your consistency is your message to consumers that this cause really matters to you. That doesn't mean that you can't do seasonally appropriate campaigns or shift your charity occasionally based on new information. It simply means that you should be as consistent as possible with your choice in order to better develop the purpose your brand needs to set it apart from the crowd. 

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Driving Social Change

The world is shrinking rapidly. Technology has made it possible to see what's happening all over the world and faster transportation options allow people to travel across the world almost as easily as stepping into their own backyards. The prediction, therefore, is that the brands that will make the biggest impact in the coming years are the ones who are best able to drive social change. In many cases, that change will define your brand even as your brand develops, allowing it to stand out in the minds of potential consumers.

Is this type of commitment to driving social change worth it? Recent research has proven that it is.

• 72% of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand that supports a good cause.
• 73% of consumers are willing to swap brands in order to support one that stands behind a cause they believe in.
• 88% of consumers want to know that the brands they're supporting have a real impact. 

Alignment is Critical

Purpose-driven marketing doesn't just impact your customers. It also redefines your business as a whole. When you find a cause to stand behind and are willing to make it part of your brand narrative, you'll discover that it changes the people who are interested in working for your company and the people who invest in it, as well. The cause creates a common mission that gives your business something critical—a defining factor that will bring everyone together.

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If you truly want your brand to be successful, choosing a cause to stand behind is one of the best ways to reach consumers and make a difference at the same time. Purpose-driven marketing helps set your brand apart because it lets consumers know that you aren't just in it to make money. You're also out to make a difference—and that makes a difference for you, too.