Categories
Uncategorized

Guide to Shopify Donation Apps

When it comes to giving back, it’s all about making it easy for people to feel good. Having a Shopify store means that you automatically have a platform for encouraging donations and promoting your audience to do good. Of course, choosing the best way to give back can always be a bit challenging.

Fortunately, with Shopify, you have plenty of apps to choose from, including many that work with all manner of eCommerce stores and platforms. The types of donations and organizations supported are wide-ranging and plentiful, offering something that everyone can find themselves wanting to get behind. Yes, we’re at the top of the list with our Shop for Good app, but we also want to recognize some of our other favorites for those of you looking to add a donation feature to your Shopify store.

What Are Shopify Donation Apps?

Shopify donation apps are designed specifically to be integrated with Shopify eCommerce websites. These platforms connect like-minded businesses with charitable organizations and donors around the world, allowing consumers to do good at checkout anytime they make a purchase from their favorite Shopify stores. This benefits retailers by creating a purpose-driven business that connects with its customers on a much deeper level than a simple retail purchase. It also promotes doing good and giving back, which can help bolster your reputation and improve brand image and customer loyalty, as well.

The Top Shopify Donation Apps for Your List

1. Shop for Good

Shop for Good is a unique platform that allows business owners to have up to seven donation-based marketing campaigns that can provide various donations for charity. There are options like rounding up a purchase to the nearest dollar at checkout, getting a discount for a donation, and allowing customers to choose the charity that gets their donation. There are metrics and analytics to help the shopify store track their campaigns and show the increase in customer loyalty (and more) that results.

Pricing: Several plans for businesses of all sizes

Learn More about Shop for Good

2. DonateMate

DonateMate is an app that can allow customers to choose the amount they donate, which is then added to their cart total. It’s a great simple tool for small shops and new stores that are looking for a quick, easy way to contribute to charity.

Pricing: Free, paid plans start at $10 per month

Learn More about DonateMate

3. One Tree Planted

This eCommerce donation app is a great choice for eco-conscious brands and consumers. The app allows people to donate $1 to plant one tree and works during the checkout process so that everything is integrated into one total and there’s no after-checkout process. Plus, the donation goes right to the charity, so you don’t have to worry about the accounting.

Pricing: Free

Learn more about One Tree Planted

4. Crowd Funding

If you’re launching new products, this app is a great way to collect donations from investors and potential customers that believe in your mission and goals. You can find detailed analytics to monitor your campaigns and a rewards management platform for the donors.

Pricing: From $15 per month

Learn more about Crowd Funding

5. Easy Donation

This app is great for picking charities from just one or two donation options. For those who are just starting out, it’s a great way to get into supporting a good cause of their choosing and there’s even a way to use it without having to sell a product. Therefore, customers can just donate freely if they desire. It’s on the checkout page and easy to find, but you also have to make sure that you deposit the money accordingly, which can mean more work.

Pricing: Starts at $6.99 per month

Learn more about Easy Donation

6. St. Jude

St. Jude’s has been collecting donations for decades, utilizing everything from telethons and radio-thons to modern resources like digital marketing and now, eCommerce donation apps. Their St. Jude donation app makes it easy for your customers to donate to the organization from your Shopify store.

Pricing: Free

Learn more about the St. Jude app

7. Share the Love

This general-purpose donation app lets your customers choose which good cause they want to donate to and how much they’d like to contribute. You can even choose whether donations are made on a percentage or flat-rate basis.

Pricing: Starts at $6 per month

Learn more about Share the Love

8. Donation Pop

Donation Pop is another app that lets your customers choose a charity. This time, though, it’s from a selection that you’ve chosen, and it will pop up during on the cart page so that people can donate at checkout if they desire. It’s affordable, easy, and includes a free plan, too.

Pricing: Free, paid plans start at $9.99 per month

Learn more about Donation Pop

9. Sprout: Plant Trees Grow Sales

This is another great app for eco-conscious brands. It allows you to collect donations to plant trees and you can even count the trees on your website to show people how much has been donated. You can choose from specific product sales or total purchase amounts for donations, too.

Pricing: Free

Learn More about Sprout

10. Donate Source

This donation app is easy to add to your Shopify store, giving people the opportunity to choose an amount or type in a custom donation. It connects to plenty of charitable organizations and has a free plan, as well as a free trial. It’s also affordable even if you choose a paid plan.

Pricing: Starts at $2.99 per month

Learn more about Donate Source

How to Choose the Right Shopify Donation App

It will be important to review the options that you have for donations and find the apps that best suit your business and goals. If you want to donate to a specific charity, you can search for them specifically in the Shopify app store. You can also just search for “donation apps” and watch how many results come up. There are more than a dozen different apps and tools you can incorporate and that will allow you to encourage your customers to donate to hundreds of different charitable causes.

Choosing the right app includes:

Picking a cause that is relevant or important to your business and/or your customers. The more important an issue, the more people will be willing to give. Plus, if it’s related to your industry, it fits better and makes people want to consider helping.

Comparing the features and costs of each app to determine what fits your needs. There is so much to choose from, and you can even get a lot out of the available free apps, so don’t sell those short.

Evaluate your needs and budget and then compare that to the options available. This will ensure that you are getting an app that will deliver what you want without breaking the bank. It will also ensure that you don’t waste time on apps that don’t work.

Some trial and error, in many cases. You may need to check out different apps and see how they work or whether they get the attention of your customers. You can always download different ones until you find what you like.

The Bottom Line

It’s never been easier for your ecommerce store to give back than it is with the selection of donation apps available today. At Daily Karma, we’re always happy to help your store make an impact on the greater good. Choose our Shop for Good Shopify app, or any of the others on this list, and you’ll be on your way to donating and making a social impact in no time.

Categories
Uncategorized

How to Develop Effective Cause Marketing Partnerships

Marketers, eCommerce stores, and Shopify store owners looking to stand out from competitors while making a difference should consider a cause marketing campaign. Building a relationship with a nonprofit organization provides a powerful opportunity to promote a social or environmental cause while financially contributing to the effort.

But how do you develop a meaningful cause marketing partnership?

At Daily Karma, we’ve curated a suite of effective cause marketing campaigns designed to make a difference. We’re well-acquainted with the small details that make a successful cause marketing partnership, so stay tuned as we dive into practical ways to make the most of a cause marketing partnership.

Cause-Related Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing

Traditional marketing focuses on promoting a product or service to increase sales. It uses persuasive techniques to influence consumer behavior. Traditional marketing focuses on short-term goals, such as making a set number of sales, generating target revenue, and generating new customers using a sense of urgency.

In contrast, cause-related marketing focuses on promoting a social or environmental cause and raising funds for the mission. A focus on building long-term relationships leaves an everlasting impact on the corporate partner, consumers, and the cause.

Finding the Right Partner for a Cause Marketing Partnership

The relationship between the business and the nonprofit organization can make or break the partnership. So, when it comes to finding the right partner for a cause marketing partnership, several important factors must be considered.

Alignment of Values

Values serve as a guiding principle for an organization’s actions and decisions, acting as a framework for how the organization interacts with various parties. These values define the organization’s missions and goals, helping to create a sense of purpose.

Having aligned values ensures that both the business and the nonprofit have a shared understanding of the cause or issue they are working to address.

Relevance to Audience

Whichever cause you choose, it should resonate with customers and align with their brand values. Taking care in this regard will help businesses create a more effective marketing campaign and generate positive brand awareness. It helps to build stronger connections with customers and enhance the company’s reputation and brand image. In addition, choosing a cause relevant to the business (and its target audience) helps increase employee motivation and engagement. For example, a business selling surf apparel may collaborate with an ocean conservation organization, communicating a mutual love and respect for the ocean.

Reputation and Credibility

Associating with a respectable nonprofit enhances your business reputation and credibility. The target audience is more likely to trust and support your business if they recognize a good alliance.

Before associating your business name with another organization, it’s essential to conduct thorough research and ensure that your chosen nonprofit doesn’t have any black dots against its name. It’s best to avoid controversial organizations with negative media records.

Ability to Measure Impact

Measuring impact allows you to understand the effectiveness of the campaign’s efforts and make adjustments as needed. For example, when aligning with a cause that reduces childhood hunger, it’s wise to set a specific goal to provide a certain number of meals to children in need. Not only does it have the ability to measure and track progress, but it also provides quantifiable results to share with customers and stakeholders, helping to build trust and credibility.

Communication and Collaboration

Clear and consistent communication are building blocks to a successful partnership, ensuring that both parties are on the same page and working toward mutual goals. Constructive communication involves transparency, open-mindedness, and the willingness to share information. As the campaign progresses, both parties should be receptive to feedback, helping to build trust and meet objectives.

How to Create a Winning Partnership

Each partnership is unique, and the campaign’s objectives will guide the details of the partnership. However, there are a few key steps to include in the blueprint for all cause marketing campaigns.

Clearly Define The Goals and Objectives

Once you’ve vetted an organization and approached them about a partnership, you must begin with the basics. Clearly defining the goals and objectives of both parties ensures that both organizations are working toward a shared vision and that their work aligns. While establishing goals, it’s worth including measurable targets that can be tracked, ensuring adjustments can be made as needed.

Choose a Value-Aligned Cause

By partnering with a nonprofit that reflects the same values and mission as the company, the message is amplified.

It’s important that values align for several reasons. It ensures that the campaign is mutually beneficial and reduces tension by removing contradicting values. It also helps to create a deep connection between the cause and the customers, as well as the employees and stakeholders.

Communicate the Benefits of the Partnerships to All

If you want to boost engagement and commitment among the team, then you need to communicate the benefits of the partnership to all parties involved. Begin by creating a clear and compelling message highlighting the campaign’s shared values and goals and the impact it intends to make.

In addition to communicating the benefits, it’s essential to be transparent about the financial contributions or support each partner provides, helping to build trust among the team.

Develop a Comprehensive Plan

A well-structured plan outlines the responsibilities and expectations of each partner and provides a clear roadmap for achieving the partnership’s goals and objectives.

The first step to developing a comprehensive plan involves holding a planning meeting or series of meetings with representatives from both organizations to discuss and agree on the strategies and tactics that will be used to achieve the partnership’s goals. The final plan should include details on promoting the collaboration and its impacts, such as through social media, email marketing, and other communication channels. It should also have a budget and a timeline for the partnership, outlining key milestones and deadlines.

Utilize the Strengths and Resources of Both Parties

Businesses expose themselves to additional resources and capabilities by joining forces with a nonprofit. The campaign should leverage the strengths and resources of both parties to maximize the impact, boost awareness and garner more support for the cause.

For example, the nonprofit can use its volunteer network to promote the partnership and its impact through grassroots campaigns. In contrast, the business can use its established marketing channels and customer base.

Regularly Measure and Evaluate Progress

Tracking progress makes it easier to identify areas that are working well and pinpoint those that need improvement.

Depending on the campaign’s goals, there are different ways to track progress. For example, if the goal is to increase awareness of a cause, then metrics such as website traffic and social media engagement can be monitored.

Leverage All Marketing Channels

By leveraging all available marketing channels, the cause can reach a wider audience and boost its impact. Promoting the campaign through various marketing channels increases visibility, reaches new audiences, and builds support for the cause.

Consider the following marketing channels as examples; Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok create a buzz and raise awareness Email marketing is a powerful tool for targeting specific audiences Press releases and traditional advertising cast a wider net to reach a broader audience

Encourage Employee Engagement

Encouraging employee engagement and volunteer opportunities helps to build a deeper connection to the cause, as invested employees are more likely to act as ambassadors for the partnership. Employee engagement also helps to create a sense of purpose and meaning among employees, leading to increased job satisfaction and employee retention.

Examples of Successful Cause Marketing Efforts

Countless companies have invested in cause marketing partnerships and contributed to making a difference. Consider the following two examples as inspiration.

Ivory Ella

Ivory Ella, a for-profit clothing store, used Shop for Good, DailyKarma’s Shopify app, with a mission to Save the Elephants. With the app’s help, Ivory Ella could easily redirect 10% of their profits to nonprofit organizations such as Save the Elephants and others that promote wildlife education and the preservation of endangered species.

The effort is made possible through website integration and financial support provided by Shop for Good. This partnership allows Ivory Ella to focus more on raising awareness for their cause and constantly introducing new products to generate donations. As a result of these efforts, 57% of consumers chose to donate, boosting their average order value (AOV) by 18%, spurring donations calculated at $ 1.4 million in total sales.

Read more about Ivory Ella’s cause marketing campaign.

American Express

In 1983, American Express launched a successful campaign to raise funds to restore the Statue of Liberty. The campaign, which was run in partnership with the Ellis Island Foundation, aimed to raise $1.7 million to restore the iconic statue and its surrounding island to its original condition.

The campaign was widely successful, receiving donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations. By the end of the campaign, the Statue of Liberty was fully restored and reopened to the public in 1986.

Grow Your Online Store (and Positive Impact) With DailyKarma

Investing in a cause marketing campaign goes beyond corporate social responsibility and includes multiple other benefits, such as boosting brand loyalty and building meaningful relationships.

Streamline your marketing effort by teaming up with Shop for Good, which offers fair and straightforward pricing, helping you launch a compelling cause marketing campaign. Start your free trial today and download the app from the Shopify app store, or book a demo to learn more.

Categories
Uncategorized

Rallying Together: Rebuilding from Maui’s Wildfires

The recent wildfires that have swept through Maui have left a trail of destruction in their wake, impacting both the environment and the local community. In times of crisis, solidarity and support become paramount. At this crucial juncture, our brand partners have a unique opportunity to step in and make a tangible difference. Through a seamless collaboration with the DailyKarma Foundation, we have quickly identified and added verified organizations that are on the ground today. You and your customer base can now extend assistance to critical nonprofits, amplifying awareness to relief efforts and aiding in the restoration of this cherished island.

Support these nonprofits today through Shop for Good:

Nonprofit Organizations in Maui that you can support today through Shop for Good

  1. United Way Maui is a local nonprofit that focuses on improving the lives of Maui’s residents through targeted programs and initiatives. By partnering with United Way Maui, brands can contribute to wildfire relief efforts, provide aid to affected families, and support the rebuilding of community resources. https://mauiunitedway.org/

  2. The Maui Food Bank plays a critical role in ensuring that families and individuals have access to nutritious food during challenging times. Collaborating with the Maui Food Bank allows brands to address immediate needs, alleviate food insecurity, and support those who have been directly affected by the wildfires. https://mauifoodbank.org/

  3. In times of disaster, the American Red Cross Hawaii chapter steps in to provide emergency shelter, supplies, and assistance to affected communities. Partnering with this reputable organization enables brands to contribute to disaster response efforts, offering crucial support to those who have lost their homes or been displaced. https://www.redcross.org/local/hawaii.html

  4. The Lahui Foundation focuses on preserving and perpetuating Native Hawaiian culture, language, and traditions. By aligning with the Lahui Foundation, brands can contribute to the restoration of cultural heritage sites that may have been impacted by the wildfires, ensuring that the island’s rich history remains intact. https://www.lahuifoundation.org/

  5. Animal companions are an integral part of many households, and wildfires can pose a significant threat to their safety. The Maui Humane Society works tirelessly to protect and care for animals during emergencies. Brands partnering with this organization can help provide resources for animal rescue, shelter, and care. https://www.mauihumanesociety.org/

  6. The Hawaii Community Foundation serves as a vital conduit for charitable giving, connecting donors with causes that matter most. It’s Maui Strong Fund will support evolving needs, including shelter, food, financial assistance, and other services as identified by our partners doing critical work on Maui. As of August 11, 2023, $17,091,490 has been raised. https://www.hawaiicommunityfoundation.org/

As we focus on the collective mission of aiding Maui’s recovery, we acknowledge the impactful contributions of brands like Coola, Watty and OllieKinflyte, Alohi Maui, Ocean+Main, and The Clay Impress

Through Shop for Good, these brands have seamlessly integrated their campaigns, joining hands with these nonprofits to help create a brighter future for the island and its residents. Together, we empower brands to make an enduring impact on Maui’s recovery, proving that when we unite for a cause, we have the power to heal, rebuild, and thrive.

 

Photo Credit: A woman digs through rubble of a home destroyed by a wildfire on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

Get more inspiration and tips from execs and leaders using Shop for Good

Get this Definitive Playbook for Cause Marketing
Categories
Uncategorized

Retail Round Up

Most of us are used to being asked to make a dollar donation when checking out from major retail stores like Walmart or PetSmart. And we’re likely to do so, at least every now and then. 

But how often have you been asked to round up the sale to the next dollar and donate the difference? 

That’s called retail round up – a charity checkout donation method that’s become more popular over the last few years.

What is retail round up?

Retail round up is a point-of-sale charity fundraising method. A customer is asked to round up their sale total to the next dollar or another preferred sum, and then donate the difference to a charity. 

Physical retail stores ask for round up donations at checkout. Online brands can ask for donations at checkout or provide an in-cart round up option.

Online store round ups can be more flexible, sometimes giving customers their choice of charity or allowing the consumer to round up to any amount they choose.

Round up charity promotions can be evergreen, seasonal, or one-off campaigns.

How does it work?

Brands can raise money for charity by soliciting donations from customers during the checkout process. Sometimes they ask them to round up the total. Other times they ask customers to donate a specific sum. Brands can also offer to give a percentage of the sale to a cause.

In-store retailers implement this with checkout payment solutions. Brands selling online can use an app integration or API connection.

This retail fundraising method is known as a charitable sales promotion or commercial co-venture. It’s regulated in several states. A business that solicits, promotes, underwrites, sponsors, arranges, or facilitates donations on behalf of a charity becomes a commercial co-venturer.

Retailers and charities in regulated states may need to enter into a written agreement or contractual joint venture arrangement.

Round up donations are tax-deductible for consumers and should appear on their receipts. Retailers offering round up donations must transfer the donation to the charity and meet certain compliance obligations. Retailers aren’t allowed to claim a customer’s retail round up as income or their own tax-deductible donation.

This fundraising method is incredibly convenient for customers. All they have to do is say yes or no to adding a few cents to their total. Shoppers in physical stores often use it just to avoid coin shortages. Consumers shopping online can tick to support a favorite charity and customize their donation.

Things can be a little more complicated on the business end due to various legal and tax requirements. However, an inclusive solution like DailyKarma features done-for-you co-venturing and compliance.

The Retail Round Up Impact 

Round up donations are a psychologically powerful fundraising tactic. Point-of-sale donations are convenient and people are more likely to give to charity through a retail round up than through other point-of-sale solicitations.

Marketing researchers Katie Kelting, Stefanie Robinson, and Richard J. Lutz looked into this with a few experiments.

One experiment separated participants into three groups with 41 people each.

  • The first group was told they had a bill of $23.01 and asked to donate one dollar. 39.02% said yes.
  • The second group was told they had a bill of $23.01 and asked to round up to $24 and donate the difference. 63.41% said yes.
  • The third group was told they had a bill of $23.97 and asked for a round up donation. 75.61% said yes.

The researchers ran another experiment giving participants three options that would all add up to donating 50 cents.

  • Group one was asked to donate 50 cents. 31.25% agreed to donate.
  • Group two was asked to round up from $23.50 to $24. 61.76% of these participants rounded up to donate.
  • Group three was asked to round up from $23.50 to $24 and informed that this would equal 50 cents. 72.72% of these participants donated.

The researchers did a third experiment to evaluate how this would work in the real world. They partnered with a zoo already running a point-of-sale dollar donation program at its cafeteria. During the experiment, the zoo switched to asking diners if they’d like to round up their purchase.

45% agreed to round up, versus 18% who would previously agree to donate a dollar. The zoo was able to raise 21% more when using the round up strategy than it did when asking for donations.

21% more is a significant difference – especially when considering that a round up option was used in isolation. In real life, companies are free to combine retail round up with other fundraising methods and maximize donations.

Why is it so powerful?

Most people are very willing to make a point-of-sale charity donation, whether they’re asked at a store’s register or during a digital purchase. A survey of charitable giving in 2021 found that 86% of respondents had donated through an in-store or online checkout.

Researchers Kelting, Robinson, and Lutz suggest that asking customers to round up to the next dollar and donate the difference seems to reduce the perceived pain of donating. This factor works even if the donation amount is identical and remains consistent when looking at requests with low to high donations.

Another study delved into checkout charity and roundup donations. Researchers Adrienne W. Sudbury and Christian A. Vossler determined that these solicitation methods take advantage of two factors: impulse giving and the loose change effect.  

Sudbury and Vossler suggest that customers are likely to give on impulse at checkout because point-of-sale donations catch them by surprise, don’t allow them to avoid a request, and ask them to contribute a relatively small amount towards a known organization.

Charity checkouts are effective in general and round-up donations can be even more so because this request then leverages the “loose change effect” – a phenomenon that sees individuals willing to donate if doing so means they’ll have less loose change on hand. 

Sudbury and Vossler specified something else to take note of. People might end up giving more when asked for a fixed donation, but they are likelier to give when asked to round things up.

An article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review notes that impulse giving utilizes our brain’s inclination to make mental shortcuts. It specifies certain deliberate marketing techniques and donation solicitation methods that can nudge people into giving. These include appealing through fast, easy ways for people to immediately give small amounts. Charity solicitations should provide spotlight social norms, offer feedback, spotlight different attributes, and cater to donor identities.

Retail round up donations are likely tapping into this economic behavioral phenomenon while offering social rewards. This is a socially engaging fundraising method that motivates all stakeholders to participate.

Brands promoting prosocial round up donations and other forms of giving encourage their employees, customers, and community members to donate and support the charity.

The Rise of the Round Up

Companies are fairly used to leveraging point-of-sale campaigns. Charity checkout fundraising has been in use for around three decades. In that time, retailers raised around $4.9 billion through this method. $605 million was raised in 2020 alone and the numbers are still on an upwards trend. This increase shows consumer trust and an eagerness to participate in social good campaigns.

Round up giving still represents a small portion of annual charitable donations. But brands have been rapidly adopting these fundraising mechanisms. In 2016, only 16% of brands offered it and only 38% offered it in 2018.

Retail round up is now the second most popular way to request donations. 56% of brands requesting donations ask for a dollar, 47% offer a round up, 45% ask for five dollars, 23% leave it open-ended, and 22% ask for three dollars. Plus, many give customers multiple options.

Gathering the equivalent of small change adds up to quite a bit. Brands are raising anywhere from tens of thousands to millions of dollars with retail round up donations – depending on their customer base. 

Engage for Good’s 2021 Charity Checkout Whitepaper listed retail round up results from some of America’s largest companies. In 2020, Walmart raised $5.4 million for charity solely through retail round up solicitation. And Macy’s raised $7 million for Meals on Wheels America from point-of-sale donations, with $1.7 million of that coming from online.

It’s expected to see continued growth for in-store and digital use.

Running round up campaigns for charity

Round-up campaigns aren’t just for generic or big-box retailers. Smaller brands are effectively leveraging this in their physical stores and online platforms.

Harney & Sons Fine Teas uses DailyKarma’s Shop for Good to raise money for charity with an ongoing retail round up program. Its donation program lets customers round up at checkout and choose a custom donation amount. Harney & Sons further incentivizes customers by matching their donations.

So far, Harney & Sons has raised over $45,000 for non-profits, with donations coming from over 42,000 charitable customers.

That’s the power of charity checkout.

Around $1.07 per donation isn’t a lot of money for a customer to give but every dollar and cent adds up and plenty of people are willing to donate their spare change to a worthy cause.

Would you like your store to raise money for a worthy cause? DailyKarma can make that happen.

Categories
Uncategorized

Engaging Shoppers to Become Buyers: Software Solutions to Minimize Shopping Cart Abandonment

Website traffic is up, so why aren’t sales?

If your e-commerce store is seeing an uptick in website visitors but needs to increase sales, it may be time to implement cart abandonment software to turn shoppers into buyers.

What is Cart Abandonment in E-Commerce?

Simply put, when consumers shop on your website and fill their shopping carts but fail to complete the checkout process, that’s cart abandonment. Each item left in the cart is considered “abandoned,” which is more common than you may think. Baymard Institute “calculated the average cart abandonment rate of 69.99%.” (Source)

Top Reasons for Cart Abandonment

You’re probably wondering why the cart abandonment rate is so high. Well, shopping cart abandonment is the digital age version of window shopping. In fact, according to the Baymard quantitative study, 58.6% of US online shoppers indicated they were “just browsing” and abandoned their cart before even initiating the checkout process. Furthermore, this same study revealed five additional reasons cart abandonment occurs.

The 2022 Baymard Study Found:

48% of online shoppers abandon carts after being turned off by extra costs, such as high shipping rates, taxes, or additional fees

24% of online shoppers abandon carts because they were unwilling to create an account if required during the checkout flow.

22% of online shoppers abandon carts due to slow shipping and delivery options.

18% of online shoppers didn’t trust the site, which resulted in cart abandonment. 

17% of online shoppers cited a complicated or long checkout process as the reason for lost sale. /

So how can businesses move consumers from the browsing experience to the buying experience? That’s where cart abandonment software comes in.

How Cart Abandonment Software Can Help

Just because a casual shopper abandons a cart doesn’t mean the sale is lost. On the contrary, cart abandonment software can help you acquire sales by improving the on-site shopping experience, thereby detouring abandonment, and using marketing automation to manage abandoned cart recovery.

Detouring Cart Abandonment

Cart abandonment software helps companies get a better understanding of online consumer behavior. Findings can reveal e-commerce pain points that companies need to resolve. For instance, a simple and transparent return policy that is clearly articulated on your website can offer a shopper peace of mind and build trust. Another pre-abandonment strategy is to display shipping rates and delivery dates early in the shopping process, so buyers are not shocked at checkout. Even better, offer a code to access free shipping at checkout, and you’re more likely to motivate the shopper. In fact, Shopkick reports that 94% of consumers consider free shipping a crucial incentive to detour cart abandonment. These practices frequently result in captured sales that could have otherwise been lost.

Cart Abandonment Recovery

Once a shopper abandons their cart, companies must use marketing tactics to persuade them to return and complete the checkout process. There are three highly regarded abandoned cart recovery strategies: exit intent pop-ups, email marketing campaigns, and online ads.

Cart Recovery Strategy One: Exit Intent Popups

When a shopper indicates they are leaving the site, often by clicking or navigating to an exit button, a site can automate a response to show an ‘exit intent popup’ offer intended to entice the consumer to complete the purchase. The offer will show a call to action to keep the consumer on the site longer, like an exclusive sale or one-day-only coupon offer. A timely pop-up with the right offer can be enough to turn a potential abandonment into a successful sale.

Cart Recovery Strategy Two: Email Marketing Campaigns

Email campaigns are a proven strategy to achieve abandoned cart recovery. That’s why 71% of marketers trust this post-abandonment strategy to retarget customers and increase sales. Using one to three follow-up emails, retailers can:

Send an abandoned cart email that shows the items left behind to reinvigorate the buyer’s want reflex

Offer reviews to build trust and showcase other happy buyers

Include a call to action to bring the consumer back to the site.

The call to action is critical. Discount offers are often the most effective strategy used in email marketing. Creating urgency by indicating a limited quantity or “almost sold out” update can also entice a more immediate response.

The timing of the email is critical. The first message should be sent within the first 24 hours, and some studies suggest that it’s best to have the reminder go out within three hours of the shopping experience. The second and third attempts should only be days apart and occur in the first week following the shopping experience.

Make sure the email subject line is specific and engaging, and personalize the content within the email. Salesforce reports that email marketing with effective retargeted messaging results in 17.6% more sales conversions.

Cart Recovery Strategy Three: Retargeting Ads

Thanks to cookies that track visitor activities and IP addresses, companies can pay to re-engage previous website visitors using online retargeting ads. So, even though the shopper is no longer on your company’s site, you can follow them to their social media feed or online search to serve an ad reminder about the abandoned cart. These ads are personalized to the consumer’s interests and therefore are more successful in gaining attention. Like in the email campaign, the ad must have a strong call to action to create a conversion.

Top Cart Abandonment Software Solutions

When considering which cart abandonment software solution is best for you, look to the companies that effectively detour abandonment and re-engage consumers with cart recovery strategies.

Omnisend

Omnisend offers a free trial to let companies learn first-hand how their strategies turn shoppers into happy customers. Omnisend captures email addresses and cookies, so their strategy includes email marketing and retargeting ads.

Digioh

Digioh is regarded in the marketplace for its pre-abandonment solutions. When companies use Digioh, consumers are more likely to fill their carts and complete the checkout process all in one transaction, thanks to the company’s focus on enhancing the shopping experience. Using analytics, Digioh helps make real-time recommendations about products the consumer may want based on recent shopping activity. These prompts build trust and enhance the shopper’s experience.

OptinMonster with Drip

OptinMonster tracks the shopper’s cursor and uses exit intent pop-up ads to entice the potential customer to complete the checkout flow before navigating away from the site. Behavior automation helps personalize and target ads to generate conversions most effectively. OptinMonster works well in conjunction with Drip, a service that specializes in cart abandonment email marketing. Learn more about OptinMonster with Drip.

Retainful

Retainful maximizes the power of email marketing at every stage of the marketing funnel to help companies re-engage shoppers. Pre-built templates make it easy for you to develop and deliver email campaigns that result in conversions. And while email marketing is the cornerstone of the Retainful success model, the software also offers exit intent pop-up ad functions and cart tracking.

Active Campaign

Active Campaign is unique in its approach to helping companies understand why consumers abandon carts, thereby arming you with information to detour abandonment. Retargeting emails are sent to shoppers, and as an extra incentive, if a consumer doesn’t complete a purchase, there’s a form that asks consumers why. In exchange for a response, consumers get a credit towards their future purchase. Furthermore, Active Campaign’s abandoned cart calculator helps companies track lost revenue due to abandonment.

CartBounty

CartBounty is an excellent solution for smaller companies that rely on WordPress sites. As a WordPress plugin, CartBounty it’s an excellent tool for beginners to improve e-commerce business practices and reduce cart abandonment. Features of CartBounty include email marketing, exit intent pop-ups, and optimization of the checkout flow.

Enhance Your Consumer Connections

Once you have incorporated cart abandonment software into your e-commerce strategy, you will increase consumer interaction opportunities. Make sure these interactions go one step further than just a product reminder. Weave cause marketing into your strategy and emphasize your company’s purpose at every touchpoint, especially if a portion of proceeds helps a cause. After all, purpose-driven ads have been proven more effective two-thirds of the time.

If you’re new to cause marketing, you can use a resource like DailyKarma to help develop, execute, and track your cause marketing campaign efforts. Your combined efforts to incorporate cause marketing tactics and implement cart abandonment software solutions will yield maximum revenue results.

Bye, Bye Abandoned Carts. Hello Revenue Spikes.

Abandoned carts offer untapped revenue potential. With the right cart abandonment software and effective retargeting strategy, you can turn an abandoned cart into a big payday. So what are you waiting for? It’s time to optimize your website’s e-commerce flow and re-engage valued consumers.

Categories
Uncategorized

A Guide to Brand Values

Brand values are the ideals, beliefs, principles, and standards a company adheres to. These are its attitudes and approach toward the world.

Company values distinguish your business from the competition, align you with the right customers, and let customers understand who you are and what you stand for.

Core brand values can also be thought of as a business’ general ethos and code of conduct. The values are demonstrated in how vendors, employees, and customers are treated. They influence choices that will impact the environment, value chain, and public.

Brand values are critical for major enterprises and small businesses. Having clear values is essential to connecting with ethical-minded and conscious customers. It also helps when dealing with customers that have ESG or CSR-related concerns.

Brand Values versus Brand Purpose, Mission, and Goals

Brand values sometimes get confused with other ways to discuss what a company stands for and wants to contribute to the world. Values, purpose, mission, and goals are all intertwined – but these are clear differences and it’s important to distinguish these.

  • Brand purpose: the reason the business exists
  • Brand mission: the change or difference it aims to make in the world
  • Brand goals: milestones towards carrying out the purpose and achieving the mission
  • Brand values: the ideals, principles, standards, and ethos adhered to along the way

These all work together and influence each other. The purpose and mission determine the goals to reach. Values guide how those goals are met. The values are an extension of the mission and purpose. The mission can be derived from certain deep-felt values and the purpose can reflect a greater goal.

McKinsey offers a perfect example of how these can be delineated. Its purpose is “to help create positive, enduring change in the world.” Its mission is “to help our clients make distinctive, lasting, and substantial improvements in their performance and to build a great firm that attracts, develops, excites, and retains exceptional people.”

It then outlines three core brand values: “adhere to the highest professional standards,” “improve our clients’ performance significantly,” and “create an unrivaled environment for exceptional people.”

See how these are distinct, but work together in an interconnected manner?

Deciding on your business’ brand values

Dive into your vision, mission, and brand purpose. Revisit your goals, look over your market, and think about your customers. Think about what matters to you along with negative issues you’d like to change. What kind of a difference do you want to make? What will you uphold? What don’t you like about the way things are done? What are you going to change for the market and customers?

You can consider the following areas to help get started:

  • Principles that matter
  • Ideals the business seeks to live up to
  • Standards it adheres to
  • Traits, qualities, and emotional aspects it may express
  • Your customers’ values, priorities, and needs

Use these topics to start brainstorming a set of core values. You can also look over the following word list for some inspiration.

Brand Value Word Inspiration

  • Abundance
  • Acceptance
  • Accessibility
  • Accountability
  • Accuracy
  • Achievement
  • Activeness
  • Adaptability
  • Adventure
  • Affability
  • Affection
  • Alignment
  • Allowing
  • Ambition
  • Appreciation
  • Approachability
  • Attention to detail
  • Authenticity
  • Balance
  • Beauty
  • Belonging
  • Boldness
  • Bravery
  • Capability
  • Care
  • Carefulness
  • Caring
  • Challenge
  • Change
  • Change-makers
  • Charity
  • Clarity Cleanliness
  • Collaboration
  • Comfort
  • Commitment
  • Communication
  • Community
  • Compassion
  • Competency
  • Concern
  • Confidence
  • Connection
  • Consistency
  • Control
  • Cooperation
  • Courage
  • Craftiness
  • Craftsmanship
  • Creativity
  • Credibility
  • Curiosity
  • Customer satisfaction
  • Customer-centric
  • Customer-first
  • Daring
  • Dazzling
  • Dedication
  • Dependability
  • Determination
  • Devotion
  • Dignity
  • Diligence
  • Directness
  • Discipline
  • Discovery
  • Discretion
  • Diversity
  • Dreams
  • Drive
  • Duty
  • Eagerness
  • Ease
  • Ease of use
  • Economy
  • Education
  • Effectiveness
  • Efficacy
  • Efficiency
  • Elegance
  • Empathy
  • Empowering
  • Empowerment
  • Energizing
  • Energy
  • Engagement
  • Enjoyment
  • Entertainment
  • Enthusiasm
  • Entrepreneurial
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Environment
  • Equality
  • Evolution
  • Excellence
  • Excitement
  • Exhilaration
  • Experimentation
  • Expertise
  • Exploration
  • Fairness
  • Faith
  • Fame
  • Family
  • Famous
  • Fascination
  • Fearlessness
  • Firmness
  • Fitness
  • Flexibility
  • Focus
  • Fortitude
  • Freedom
  • Freshness
  • Friendliness
  • Friendship
  • Fun
  • Generosity
  • Genius
  • Genuineness
  • Goodwill
  • Graciousness
  • Gratitude
  • Growth
  • Guidance
  • Happiness
  • Hard work
  • Hardiness
  • Harmony
  • Health
  • Heart
  • Heroism
  • History
  • Honesty
  • Honor
  • Hope
  • Humility
  • Humor
  • Imagination
  • Impact
  • Individuality
  • Influence
  • Innovation
  • Insight
  • Inspiration
  • Integrity
  • Intelligence
  • Intimacy
  • Intuition
  • Joy
  • Justice
  • Kindness
  • Knowledge
  • Leadership
  • Learning
  • Liveliness
  • Logic
  • Longevity
  • Love
  • Loyalty
  • Mastery
  • Meaningful
  • Mindfulness
  • Motivation
  • Neatness
  • Nostalgia
  • Openness
  • Optimism
  • Optimization
  • Organization
  • Originality
  • Partnership
  • Passion
  • Patience
  • Peace
  • Perception
  • Performance
  • Perseverance
  • Persistence
  • Personal development
  • Playfulness
  • Poise
  • Polish
  • Popularity
  • Positivity
  • Potential
  • Power
  • Precision
  • Presence
  • Pride
  • Privacy
  • Proactiveness
  • Productivity
  • Professionalism
  • Progress
  • Purity
  • Quality
  • Recognition
  • Reflection
  • Relationships
  • Reliability
  • Reputation
  • Resilience
  • Resourcefulness
  • Respect
  • Responsibility
  • Safety
  • Satisfaction
  • Security
  • Service
  • Sharing
  • Simplicity
  • Sincerity
  • Skill
  • Social
  • Speed
  • Spirituality
  • Spontaneity
  • Stability
  • Status
  • Strength
  • Success
  • Support
  • Sustainability
  • Talent
  • Teamwork
  • Thoughtfulness
  • Tolerance
  • Transformation
  • Transparency
  • Trust
  • Truth
  • Understanding
  • Uniqueness
  • Unity
  • Value
  • Variety
  • Viral
  • Virtue
  • Vision
  • Warmth
  • Wealth
  • Welcoming
  • Wellness
  • Willpower
  • Wisdom
  • Wonder
  • Brand Value Creation

    Found a few key values or themes? A brand value can be one word, a short statement, or summed up into a motto. So, you can either stop there or continue to expand.

    You can also follow McKinsey’s example of describing a few core values and then breaking those down further.

    Here are two tools that can help to flesh things out:

    Making Brand Values Clear

    Brand values are infused throughout a company – informing, shaping, guiding, and influencing everything that happens. Messaging, operations, supply chain choices, HR practices, employee management, customer relations, stakeholder engagement, brand strategy, and other corporate activities must be guided by, conform to, and reflect these values.

    It’s communicated through the messaging’s tone, word choices, copy, and phrases. It guides decision-making on internal operations and supply chain management. It sets standards and policies on how employees, customers, and other stakeholders are treated.

    Company culture reflects core values and employees live them out every day. Consumers experience it when interacting with the brand, leading to deeper levels of connection, market affinity, and customer loyalty.

    Advertising must adhere to core brand values and campaigns can be done purely to communicate and promote them. Brand values can also be demonstrated in the community through social initiatives and other charitable endeavors.

    These are underlying principles that might be invisible to consumers, yet they always remain tangible.

    Standing out from other businesses with your values

    Your company values must set it apart from the competition and give it a unique place in the customers’ minds.

    That might seem difficult. Certain core brand values might be near-universal, especially within a particular industry or market. You and a competitor could both value an ethical supply chain, carbon-neutral operations, reliability, genuine products, or excellent customer service.

    However, these values must always be expressed differently than any competitors and communicated in a way that’s distinct.

    That’s fine. Just make sure that your brand values are expressed differently than any competitors.

    Dive back into your brand purpose, mission, and overall company story. Your unique slant may be in the why or the how. Think about what drives you and what’s different about the way you put values into action.

    Let customers experience this across all brand dimensions – that means the messaging, interactions, and way you relate to them.

    Strong Brand Values in Action

    We looked at a written example of brand values, courtesy of McKinsey. But that’s just a statement and guide to its principles. Now here’s an example of how one company puts its brand purpose into action, with endeavors reaching out to the wider community.

    Selena Gomez’s makeup brand, Rare Beauty, is centered around mental well-being. Its core brand values are supporting self-love, self-acceptance, and mental health. Its brand purpose is to help people access mental health services.

    The company carries out this mission through its “Rare Impact Fund” foundation and by supporting other philanthropic ventures. 1% of every Rare Beauty sale is donated to the Rare Impact Fund and additional funds are raised as needed or for individual campaigns.

    Some of its fundraising promotions have taken place over the holidays. Rare Beauty runs customized Shop for Good campaigns aimed at raising money and elevating community awareness. Their campaigns use two donation mechanisms to do so: Donate for Discount and Round-Up with Custom Donations.

    Donate for Discount offered shoppers 10% off if they donated $5. Round-Up with Custom Donations let Rare Beauty customers round up their purchase total to a certain amount and give the difference to Rare Impact.

    These charity pushes are highly successful. Rare Beauty’s Shop for Good promotions fire up its loyal customers and engage people outside its base. The Rare Beauty and its Impact Fund boost awareness, spark conversations, and support mental health access.

    The company also benefits and sees an increase in average order value (AOV).

    One of its Donate for Discount campaigns ran between Thanksgiving and GivingTuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving) of 2020. 35.5% of shoppers gave a donation and Rare’s average order value was raised by 34%. After the campaign ended, 17% of Rare customers continued to offer a donation without being further incentivized. Its AOV surge continued, with a 14.63% lift through the Spring of 2021.

    Results like this are consistent for Rare Beauty and have become a key part of integrating values and brand strategy.

    The Rare Impact Fund is a three-times awardnominated corporate social impact initiative. Its ongoing Shop for Good donations provides the organization with steady, reliable funding, while the seasonal campaigns are effective ways to stir up consumer contributions and awareness at critical moments.

    Categories
    Uncategorized

    Guide to Ecommerce Marketing

    Ecommerce marketing is about getting customers to your online store and convincing them to purchase. Ecommerce marketing involves attracting attention and visitors, building awareness, and guiding prospects to purchase, repurchase, and become brand advocates.

    Ecommerce marketing takes place wherever a customer is likely to be. It can be done on podcasts, social media, google ads, and through word-of-mouth.

    Ecommerce Marketing Strategy

    Ecommerce marketing strategy is a fairly broad field to delve into. It can be carried out on any number of channels and use a variety of tactics. Here’s an overview of common ecommerce marketing methods.

    Social media marketing occurs on social media channels where a brand’s customer is present and will be receptive to marketing. Social media is an incredibly versatile ecommerce marketing medium. It’s perfect for PR, product education, customer engagement, and more. It can be used to trendjack and newsjack, that is, to gain attention by posting around trending hashtags, events, or news items. It can be used for direct commerce marketing that enables customers to shop on-site.

    Influencer marketing leverages other people’s social capital —brands partner with influencers with an engaged and trusting audience.

    Content marketing is primarily used to attract, nurture, and convert search engine browsers. It can be used to engage and inform interested prospects in order to turn them into customers. It should also be used to gain their email address and permission to market to them.

    Email marketing is used to communicate one-on-one with customers. It should be highly personalized and used to build a relationship with them.

    Video marketing uses long or short-form videos to promote. These videos can be created by the company, employees, customers, influencers, or other parties (like news footage). This strategy is good for drawing attention on social media, demonstrating products, and nurturing an active community.

    Cause marketing refers to promoting charitable initiatives along with or in place of your brand’s specific offer.

    Paid advertising means paying to be listed or promoted on various channels based on criteria like demographics, interests, and previous interactions. It includes paid search engine listings, display ads, sponsored YouTube videos, etc.

    Seasonal digital marketing is run around holidays, seasons, events, and other time-based or cultural themes.

    10 Ecommerce marketing examples to try

    Cater to micro-influencers

    Influencer marketing has gotten expensive. And it can be seen as inauthentic.

    Micro-influencers have anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 followers. These influencers should still display characteristics of a great marketing partner, such as high engagement on their social media, consistent posting, a responsive audience, etc.

    Find a qualified micro-influencer whose audience intersects with your customer base and whose posts fit your branding. The typical small following influencer marketing strategy focuses on more authentic, creative posts showing how they use and benefit from your product rather than sponsored ads.

    This is a great way to show love to smaller communities and customer demographics, tap into ignored market segments, and win brand loyalty.

    Seasonal and themed product bundles

    Bundling is an ecommerce marketing strategy that boosts sales and average order value.

    Seasonal or themed commerce marketing builds a campaign around holidays and other events. It leverages time sensitivity and capitalizes on the excitement and good feelings of the moment.

    Combine these strategies with holiday-themed or seasonal bundles.

    Have products that can be used during spring break, July 4th, or a weekend cabin getaway? Design different bundles showing customers how to pair these items and use them to enjoy their time more.

    Offer educational items great for cramming during finals, parents trying to tutor, or keeping kids occupied during vacation? Bundle up packages that fit buyer personas and market away during key dates.

    Run promotions via email marketing, social media, and influencer marketing. Have the brand or influencers create social media posts showing the bundles in use.

    Post-purchase email marketing

    The moments right after a sale happens on your ecommerce store are critical. Your new customer has just experienced a dopamine flood, but these feel-good emotions can either turn to disappointment and regret or develop into long-lasting satisfaction and enjoyment.

    Don’t leave them alone during this timeframe. Reach out to customers with post-sale email marketing. Express appreciation for their purchase, find ways to reduce dissatisfaction, and consider upselling. You can boost satisfaction by showing them how to use the product and proactively guiding them through any potential issues. A little while after the purchase, check in with them to gauge their satisfaction rate. Then offer any upselling recommendations.

    Flash sales

    An unexpected flash sale is a great marketing tactic to rev up your customer base at a moment’s notice. Running unpredictable sales events for no particular reason is exciting and trains customers to pay attention to your ongoing marketing.

    Promote flash sales via all your digital marketing channels. Send out emails and make social media posts to alert your past customers and target audience.

    Make product videos

    Showcase your product with videos posted on different social media channels. Show its physical characteristics such as what it looks like and its dimensions. Show it in use in various scenarios.

    YouTube is the best place for this. It’s an Alphabet Inc. platform that’s optimized to rank on the Google search engine and get in front of your target audience.

    Other social media sites, like Facebook and Instagram, are good for connecting with your existing audience.

    TikTok has been excellent for tapping into younger audiences and gaining popularity. However, it doesn’t have the advantage of being connected to Google, and the political environment is tilting against it.

    Donation campaigns

    Purpose-driven and socially responsible brands can engage in business for good by running charitable donation campaigns.

    Donation-based ecommerce marketing allows customers to give money to charity while shopping online. Most are integrated with the checkout process and can offer multiple ways to donate to an array of charitable causes.

    It’s easy to raise a significant sum of money when asking for small donations, such as asking customers to round up their final sale price to the next dollar and donate the difference. Brands can also prompt customers to give by matching their contributions or incentivizing them with a discount on a future order.

    Personalization

    Ecommerce is an ideal vehicle for personalized marketing. Personalization occurs when marketing is customized based on a user’s browsing history, online interactions, personal data, demographic profile, buying history, customer service interactions, and other online history.

    Marketing messages, themes, content, recommendations, and offers can all be customized to suit individual shoppers.

    Ecommerce personalization drives growth, performance, customer satisfaction, and other customer outcomes. 71% of consumers expect personalization, and 76% become frustrated if they don’t get it. Fast-growing companies drive 40% more of their revenue from personalization than slow-growing counterparts.

    Leverage your marketing automation and other ecommerce technologies to send customers targeted promotions, personally address them, tailor marketing campaigns directly to them, deliver accurate recommendations, use behavior-triggered marketing, and align the shopping experience to them.

    Localization

    Do you have a sizable group of customers located within a particular region? Localize your ecommerce marketing strategy with regionally tailored messaging, seasonal campaigns, sales events, and promotions. Try these ideas:

    • A contest or giveaway themed around a local event
    • Localized social media engagement
    • Personalized regional landing pages

    Localization should be considered absolutely necessary if you’re expanding into international ecommerce.

    Website chats

    Use a chat feature to let customers easily interact with your brand while on its website. Chats can offer trigger-prompted personalized marketing, help resources, connect shoppers with customer service, and simply allow browsers to reach out.

    Your chat can be run by a real person or an AI-powered chatbot. If you decide to go with a chatbot, make sure to let customers know it’s a bot and consider anthropomorphizing it. Don’t advertise it as a live chat with a real person, only to have customers interact with a clunky bot.

    Cart abandonment emails

    The Baymard Institute estimates an average ecommerce cart abandonment rate of 69.99%. Your ecommerce site might be a little better, but this is a persistent issue most brands have to deal with.

    There are a few reasons this happens. Unexpected or excessive additional costs from shipping and taxes are prime culprits. Forced account creation is another one. Customers being unable to calculate their final upfront costs is another. Untrustworthy websites, lackluster delivery options, undesirable payment methods, or poor return policies can turn customers off. Performance issues can also lead customers to click away.

    Address these issues and work to get customers back with cart abandonment email marketing. Plug a series of emails into your marketing automation.

    Try Marketing for Good

    Are you getting tired of running the same old kinds of ecommerce marketing campaigns? Switch things up with a marketing-for-good strategy. Your brand can raise money for worthy causes, initiatives, and charities by offering donation options during checkout.

    It’s simple when using DailyKarma’s Shop for Good app. The app for your ecommerce store offers a suite of different charitable campaigns that engage customers, effect positive change, and keep your marketing fresh.

    DailyKarma offers an effortless way to market your brand and build customer loyalty while engaging in business for good.

    Get started with DailyKarma now. Book a personal demo or get a free trial.

    Categories
    Uncategorized

    Sustainable Marketing Campaigns That Make An Impact

    Consumers are prioritizing sustainable and conscious offerings. This means finding products that are environmentally and socially friendly. Consumers want options that are gentle on the earth and all its earthlings.

    They expect modern businesses to be earth friendly, good for consumers, and kind to employees.

    Forrester Research found that 34% of US adults shopping online are strongly influenced by companies that limit waste, 26% are strongly influenced by companies actively supporting environmental and climate change policies, and 38% consider it important to buy from companies that embrace sustainable products and practices.

    Businesses can cater to these consumer interests, values, and preferences by showcasing sustainable corporate initiatives and using green marketing campaigns that promote their values.

    Making an impact with sustainable marketing

    Align with a movement or campaign

    There’s zero shame in hopping onto a bandwagon for a sustainable marketing initiative. In fact, aligning with an existing movement is the perfect way for a small business to connect with customers, share its values, and promote a favorite cause. Movements have developed around virtually everything. A few to consider include Veganuary, International Polar Bear Day, Random Acts of Kindness Day, World Consumer Rights Day, International Day of Forests, Earth Day, World Oceans Day, Zero Emissions Day, Energy Efficiency Day, and Movember. Refer to these pages for more ideas: Days of the Year UN List of International Days and Weeks Environmental Holidays 2023 Environmental Days Charity Campaigns

    Spotlight a lesser-known issue

    Popular mainstream campaigns show customers that you’re aware of and in tune with current values. But don’t limit your efforts to those. Lead the way by spotlighting lesser-known causes or ones that don’t get enough attention. Find something worthy and obscure that your market should know about. This will position the business as one to look up to and keep up with.

    Raise money for causes

    Awareness is one thing, but charities and causes need money to get things done. Businesses can help out in both areas by using checkout fundraising. This type of green marketing lets customers pick a charity to donate to while checking out. It can be run as seasonal, periodic, ad hoc, or continuous campaigns.

    Eco-friendly packaging

    Packaging makes up a sizable portion of global waste and pollution. Manufacturing is often water- and energy-intensive while using natural resources and producing toxic byproducts. Overpackaging leads to wasted resources and a heavier shipping burden. Single-use and other plastics are typically the worst culprits. However, all packaging production and waste contribute to the issue. As significant as the problem is, this also represents an opportunity to create a positive environmental impact and engage in sustainable marketing via packaging design, material choice, and branding. Sustainable packaging design uses the minimal amount of material needed to protect the product. Manufacturing is water, energy, and material-conscious, seeks to reduce toxic byproducts, and uses renewable resources. The end product should be biodegradable, reusable, or recyclable. That might sound like a tall order, but creative solutions are emerging that make it easy to use sustainable packaging while promoting your brand. Sustainable packaging standards include FSC Certification, PEFC Certification, TÜV’s Green Marks, and the Soy Ink Seal. These organizations certify resource management, product chain of custody, clean materials, and more. Consumers are becoming more aware of standards like the Forest Stewardship Council. A seal from the FSC, PEFC, or other reputable body is trusted and influential. Eco-certified packaging with gorgeous custom branding creates a memorable unboxing experience, sends a clear value statement, and alleviates consumer guilt.

    Share sustainability progress tracking

    Is your company working towards a sustainability goal? Or is it helping the environment or another cause in measurable ways? Share your progress with a live tracker, progress chart, or counter. Common goals include money for a charity, keeping packages out of landfills, saving water, or cutting plastic use. Whatever the initiative is, sharing progress shows customers your level of commitment and assures them their money is well-spent.

    Recycling programs

    Our recycling levels are abysmally poor. 15% of global plastic waste is collected for recycling, but only 9% of the waste actually of total waste is recycled while 22% is mismanaged. In the United States, only 28% of packaging and food-service plastics is recovered. The problem usually comes down to poor political structures and recycling infrastructure in regional and local communities. Even when consumers dispose of products in their local recycling center, there’s no guarantee that the packaging will be appropriately recovered or reused. Businesses can take responsibility for the waste their products generate by offering in-house recycling programs. That’s done by working with commercial recycling service companies. Brand-sponsored recycling is ideal for building green marketing programs around. You can stoke engagement, draw in repeat business, and promote sustainable values while encouraging consumers to return empty packaging.

    Reduce or offset the environmental shipping impact

    Shipping goods around accounts for 3% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. 3% might not sound like a big deal, especially when considering what an individual business might contribute to that. However, making shipping a carbon-neutral process is essential to meeting global sustainability goals. The shipping industry is taking this on with low- and zero-carbon technological innovation. Companies can take the initiative to reduce their impact by using carbon-neutral carriers or shipping emissions-offsetting services. Once that’s done, run a sustainable marketing promotion letting customers know they can shop guilt-free.

    Successful sustainable marketing campaigns

    The Body Shop: Bring Back Our Bottles

    The Body Shop launched a brand recycling program all the way back in 1993, by allowing customers to recycle and refill empty products in the store. It recently relaunched its Return, Recycle, and Reuse initiative and now lets customers bring in clean, empty packaging to recycle through its program partner TerraCycle. Recycling containers are set up in Body Shop stores. TerraCycle collects them once full, then recycles or repurposes the waste into playgrounds, park benches, and other items. The Body Shop is running a pilot program to let customers refill containers for certain products. It’s currently experimenting with refillable body wash and plans to expand into shampoo, conditioner, and hand wash. These measures are helping the brand further reduce its plastic consumption and waste, alongside measures like sourcing plant-based and post-consumer plastic.

    Lacoste: Save Our Species

    French lifestyle brand, Lacoste, partnered with the Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to raise awareness about endangered animals and improve the preservation of biodiversity. For this green marketing push, Lacoste issued limited edition clothing where its iconic crocodile logo was replaced with images of ten endangered species.

    Patagonia: Don’t Buy This Jacket

    Outdoor clothing & gear retailer Patagonia took on consumerism with its now iconic “Don’t Buy This Jacket” advertisement urging customers not to purchase the brand’s clothing. Patagonia is an environmentally conscious brand that already aims to lower its water and resource use. However, it wanted its customers to become aware that even sustainably made products have an environmental footprint and must be purchased responsibly. This brand wants its customers to only purchase the items they truly need.

    Levi’s: Buy Better, Wear Longer

    Levi’s also took on overconsumption with its “Buy Better, Wear Longer” sustainability marketing campaign, rolled out in April 2021. The campaign framed Levi’s denim as quality clothing that can and should last for generations. It encouraged Levi shoppers to wear, re-wear, and repurpose their denim. Levi’s denim is made to last. The brand wants its customers to take this to heart.

    Zoya: Earth Day Exchange

    Zoya is a clean beauty brand offering non-toxic, long-lasting nail polishes and other manicure products. The company runs an annual Earth Day promotion offering customers a $5 credit to exchange a bottle of their conventional toxic polish for a new bottle of Zoya’s non-toxic nail polish. Zoya’s customers can send old bottles of toxic nail polish in for Zoya to dispose of in an environmentally friendly way or pledge to do so themselves. There are zero purchasing maximums and Zoya uses the honor system for customers who don’t send old products in. This annual green marketing campaign helps get toxic polishes safely off the market, raise awareness about harmful cosmetics, and promote the brand.

    Kia: Super Bowl 2017

    Kia’s 2017 Super Bowl advertisement took actress Melissa McCarthy on a mishap-filled mission to save the planet. McCarthy’s attempts to save whales, trees, ice caps, and rhinos don’t turn out so well, but she does enjoy traveling to her destinations in a Kia Niro. The commercial promoted Kia’s new Niro hybrid crossover as an achievable, easy, and enjoyable way to save the planet.

    Apple

    Apple is known for its sustainability marketing. Some of its standouts include its climate change promise video, can an Apple grow a forest video, recycling program, advertisements making sustainability recommendations for other companies (targeting Samsung), and there’s sustainability in an iPhone promotion. Sustainability isn’t just something to talk about every now and then for Apple. It’s a core brand value that’s integrated into its operations, ESG initiatives, and green marketing.

    Sustainable Marketing Made Easy

    Feeling inspired by those seven ways to make an impact and seven companies making a difference? Together with DailyKarma, you can make a concrete difference in the environment by offsetting shipping-related plastic waste. We partnered with the World Sustainability Organization to help brands and their customers offset plastic consumption from shipping. To find out more, please email DailyKarma at patricia.dao@dailykarma.com.
    Categories
    Uncategorized

    Eco-Friendly Marketing: The Way to Better Our Planet & Your Business

    An eco-friendly marketing campaign promotes sustainable products, services, initiatives, organizations, and drives.

    Green marketing is holistic work incorporating branding, marketing, advertising, and other promotional methods like environmentally friendly packaging, running off renewable energy, and supporting climate change charities.

    Sustainability in Action

    Eco-friendly business practices encompass green marketing and sustainable corporate actions. The business should draw in like-minded customers by practicing and living out its values.

    That might seem daunting since there are so many operational areas, global issues, and standards to be concerned with. However, everything makes a difference and even small steps matter.

    Here are some strategies and steps companies can take to promote corporate sustainability and green marketing.

    Promote green marketing messages

    The easiest thing to do is a marketing campaign promoting sustainable ideas or positioning the business as an eco-friendly option.

    But be careful! Businesses that sell based on sustainability while failing to adhere to these principles can get in trouble with the market and end up with a damaged image.

    Sustainable packaging

    Cut down on resource overconsumption, landfill waste, and pollution by switching to sustainable packaging.

    Sustainable packaging is made from responsibly sourced renewable materials, is recyclable, is designed to be safe and effective, and uses minimal resources.

    Companies can extend their responsibilities to the community by encouraging customers to reuse or recycle packaging. Improperly disposed packaging is killing wildlife, poisoning waterways, and creating pollution. Packaging can be designed for reuse, or companies can offer recycling services.

    An ethical value chain

    Make your supply, production, and value chain clean, eco-friendly, and people-friendly. This sustainable practice encompasses ethical sourcing, renewable energy use, toxin-free manufacturing, green shipping, and more. There is a vast array of ethical and green practices to look into.

    For example, a business can purchase renewable energy credits or certificates in order to balance out its current use of nonrenewable sources. Or focus on using fair wage labor from marginalized or at-risk people.

    Sustainable packaging, utilization of repurposed recycled material, and an ethical value chain are great ways to lower your carbon footprint.

    Give back to the community

    Celebrate a milestone in your business or community by giving back with a green marketing project. You can sponsor or create a community initiative, such as planting trees, cleaning up trash, holding an educational seminar, or meeting some other eco goal.

    Another option is to donate to a worthy charity already making an impact. Make a one-time donation in honor of a local hero, business event, or holiday. Or commit to a long-term charity sponsorship.

    Partner with an eco-friendly organization

    It’s not always easy being green. If sustainability is a little too much for your small business to take on, look for an organization to collaborate with.

    Some organizations focus on building ethical supply chains, getting to carbon neutrality, caring for wildlife, or offsetting carbon emissions.

    Look for specialist solutions in the area your business cares about the most or needs the most work on.

    7 Successful Eco-Friendly Marketing Campaigns

    LEGO

    LEGO launched a holistic sustainability initiative intended to help build a better future through responsible business practices, sustainable materials, environmental protection, and children’s education, skill-building, development, and inspiration. It has several sustainable practices and green marketing strategies underway.

    It aims to make all its packaging sustainable by 2025, make all core LEGO products from sustainable materials by 2030, reduce its CO2 impact, and eliminate factory-produced landfill waste by 2025. It partnered with the World Wildlife Fund to reduce its emissions and waste, maintain a cleaner supply chain, invest in renewable energy, and encourage employees to adopt cleaner practices.

    With LEGO Replay, consumers can turn in LEGO bricks to be passed on to new users. This circular economy initiative has repurposed almost 750,000 lbs of LEGO bricks, donated to almost 225,000 children.

    Most of LEGO’s marketing is focused on children – its intended customer base. These initiatives include RE:CODE, Build the Change, Play Days, crisis response disaster support, and local community engagement.

    During Play Day for Children, LEGO invites deprived children to its factories for a free day of play. Other Play Days are run just for employees.

    LEGO’s RE:CODE programs are learning events themed around recycling, air pollution, water pollution, and wildlife conservation. Children learn about real-world sustainability issues while building vital 21st-century skills, engaging in STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, art, and math), and inventing, creating, and coding robotic models. These programs take place in partnership with municipalities, private organizations, and local groups or can be offered through downloadable sessions.

    Build the Change invites children to create LEGO models of ways to solve various environmental problems. One challenge asks them to invent a sanctuary that can keep koalas safe from wildfires. Another invites them to build a safe haven to protect seahorses from ocean pollution. The children learn about biodiversity and environmental problems and can send their ideas to a LEGO gallery.

    The LEGO Foundation and Emergency Relief Response project support families in regions with armed conflict and natural disasters. The company also runs local community engagement programs where employees volunteer to bring transformational play to children.

    LEGO is an example of a company embracing sustainability in everything it does.

    The Dole Sunshine Company embraces #ZeroWaste with Ananas Anam

    The Dole Sunshine Company is working towards a healthy and sustainable future for all. It’s working towards this goal with value chain innovations, strategic collaboration, and responsible business practices.

    Dole is turning trash from its largest pineapple plantation into eco-friendly, plant-based materials. Its partner for this sustainability initiative is Ananas Anam – a developer and producer of pineapple trash-based textiles and leather alternatives. It’s partnering with Musa Fabric and the Kasilak Foundation to turn banana waste into sustainable fabric woven by marginalized communities.

    Other green marketing campaigns include sponsoring an ocean race, creating NFT art, malnutrition facts advertising, and writing a letter to Pope Francis.

    The Body Shop

    The Body Shop is B Corp Certified and committed to a sustainable triple bottom line. This company has always been a pioneer in sustainable, ecological, and responsible business. In the beginning, its green business practices were limited to ethical sourcing and using natural ingredients.

    Today, it’s sourcing plastic from marginalized Indian waste pickers, reducing its virgin plastic consumption, helping customers recycle their packaging, offering vegan and vegetarian products, and campaigning for cruelty-free and environmental legislation.

    Social media plays an important role in raising community awareness around various social and environmental issues. The Twitter profile sparks conversation around topics like democracy, young people in politics, healthy oceans, the climate, and more. A serene and photogenic Instagram feed offers visibility into its value chain, educates customers on sustainable sourcing and natural ingredients, and encourages responsible consumption. Its Facebook page features green marketing promotions with convenient shopping options.

    Chobani’s Giving Tree

    Chobani celebrated its 10th anniversary in business by placing a Giving Tree in Grand Central Station. This marketing campaign invited commuters to activate the tree and give free yogurt to children in need. The Giving Tree featured large chimes and a digital overhead canopy that would light up and grow when visitors planted seeds.

    The green marketing campaign donated more than 250,000 cups of yogurt to children in need and became a memorable example of experiential advertising at its finest.

    Aerie and ONE TREE PLANTED

    For the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, Aerie and ONE TREE PLANTED collaborated to donate 5,000 trees. Aerie launched this green marketing venture to celebrate an Earth Day milestone.

    Aerie and its parent company, American Eagle, are engaged in a larger plan to become carbon neutral by 2030. The company is working with farmers and manufacturers to lower its carbon footprint, reduce water consumption, source from sustainable farming, and incorporate recycled plastics into its clothing. It’s also working to help customers recycle used denim through AEO stores.

    However, companies don’t have to revolutionize their industry, start value chain initiatives, or make long-term commitments to make a difference. This campaign was a one-time event, but it still made an impact and showcased Aerie’s values.

    Heineken’s Packaging the Future

    Heineken aims to become Carbon Neutral by 2030 through its far-reaching Brew a Better World undertaking that touches on zero waste, carbon neutrality, water impact, inclusion and diversity, safe workplaces, community impact, responsible alcohol use, and other sustainability goals.

    One initiative is its Packaging the Future program launched to drive its packaging suppliers towards carbon neutrality. Heineken held an online summit with suppliers across its value chain and competitors like PepsiCo and Carrefour. It’s sponsoring suppliers to go through a Climate School that will help build sustainable competencies.

    Packaging the Future’s green marketing also included social media posts on Twitter and LinkedIn, targeting both consumers and the business sector.

    O’Neill Real-Time Recycling Experience

    O’Neill is a surfwear brand dedicated to protecting and caring for the ocean. It uses sustainable materials, adheres to standards set out in the ILO and the UN Declaration on Human Rights within its supply chain, and takes on projects to preserve the ocean and combat pollution.

    One of its green marketing programs was a green marketing event getting passers-by to reconsider their plastic use and how single-use products are treated.

    An O’Neill ambassador approached glasses-wearing individuals who had tossed plastic into a bin and asked to take a selfie with their lenses on. After that, the ambassador chucked the glasses into the bin. The ambassador showed them how single-use plastics could be shredded and repurposed into other objects, leaving them with a miniature 3D-printed surfboard as a keepsake.

    This sparked a conversation about why some plastics are seen as durable and valuable whereas others are simply discarded. Demonstrating shredding and 3D printing gave a real-time demonstration of the tangible benefits of recycling.

    Green Marketing Made Easy

    DailyKarma makes it easy to be green with done-for-you sustainable marketing campaign solutions.

    We’ve recently gone beyond that and partnered with the World Sustainability Organization to help brands and their customers offset shipping-related plastic consumption.

    Interested in learning more? Book a demo or email DailyKarma at patricia.dao@dailykarma.com.

    Categories
    Uncategorized

    The Benefits of Cause Marketing: How Brands Can Do Good

    Unlocking the Benefits of Cause Marketing: How Brands Can Do Good and Do Well

    As every year passes, it seems that our world becomes more consumer focused. People buy more things and spend more money. They also show their loyalty to a particular cause or brand by merchandise they sport, especially on social media (i.e., posting a picture of them in a pink “breast cancer awareness” hat or with a locally sourced reusable tote bag instead of plastic grocery bags). Thus, businesses are embracing cause marketing as a way to flex their consumer influence to support the greater good. They are also seeing the positive effects of aligning with certain causes, such as helping them connect with their shoppers on a deeper level above and beyond transactions and maintaining a positive brand image. This has been shown to help increase customer loyalty and make businesses stand out from their competition. 

    have Since price competition is so easily researched, people can find multiple products of the same quality and about the same price point. When they know that one company over the other holds the same values or supports particular causes, they’re likely to choose the brand that is authentically supporting a cause or non-profit.

    Businesses and companies are run by people, and people care about issues that affect the world. So it makes sense that companies would want to engage in cause-related marketing. However, no matter the intention, it’s critical to understand cause-related marketing so that it can be done right to preserve a positive image as well as to maintain successful business practices. 

    A cause marketing campaign is beneficial on multiple levels. People care about social responsibility, and brands know that their customers expect them to put good out into the world. Consumers have choices (a plethora of them) of where to put their money, and many people will let the almighty dollar do the talking when it comes to showing their values. These are just some of the benefits of cause marketing—as your business engages in its own cause marketing campaign, you might find even more positive effects. 

    Benefits of Cause Marketing

    Your company or business might find that some or all of these benefits of cause marketing apply to your situation. 

    Positive Brand Image

    Of course, every good marketing campaign has a foundation in putting out a positive brand image for the company or product. If you have a product that competes with many others for market share space, then you can set yourself apart by associating yourself with a cause. Consumers see your business as one that cares about doing good and that doesn’t put profits over positivity. 

    Community Engagement

    Cause marketing is one of the best ways to show yourself as a pillar of your community. Not only do you show that your focus isn’t just on you at the top, but you allow the people in your community to get involved when you support smaller events, invite people to participate in fundraisers, programs, and engagements that support your cause, and more. 

    Loyal Customer Base and Revenue Growth

    When factoring for equality in other elements such as price, quality, and availability, research shows that people will choose a brand that is connected to a cause they agree with. Thus, a company can reach more people and get its name out there while ensuring that customers continue to come back to them time after time. When people feel good about what they’re purchasing, they’re likely to purchase it repeatedly and show off their goods, as well as tell others about the company—in essence, doing your marketing for you. Both a loyal customer base and increased revenue from these loyal customers keep companies profitable. 

    Employee Morale

    Research shows that employees are happier when they are a part of something more than just their day-to-day drudgery work. When their employer supports a cause, they can feel good about giving their time and energy to that place. They want to be connected to an organization that is doing good because then they feel that they are doing good as well. 

    Uniqueness in a Generalized World

    Fast fashion, fast food, fast shipping… everyone wants something “yesterday” and they have plenty of places to find it at the right price. However, there are plenty of critical consumers out there who care about giving their money to businesses that stand apart from the crowd. Choosing cause marketing makes you unique. Sure, many companies do it—but there are far more who don’t. Which side do you want to be on? 

    Potential Risks of Cause Marketing

    Although there are so many benefits of cause marketing, it’s not always perfect. It can be tricky to get right and there are sometimes downfalls. Knowing these potential problems upfront is the best way to avoid struggles later on.

    If your audience only thinks that you’re engaging in cause marketing so that you can increase profits, they’ll begin to turn away from you because they see right through your shallow efforts. 

    Another cause for concern is if your partnering organization does something unethical, controversial, or harmful. So, be careful who you choose and make sure they’re well-vetted. 

    Cause marketing is almost always an investment, too. Make a financial plan for how much time and money will be invested into your marketing campaigns so that you aren’t losing money at every turn. 

    Tips and Tricks to Get Cause Marketing Right

    As your company plans its cause marketing campaign, make sure that you’re implementing some of these tips so that it has the most impact on your customers, community, competitive edge, and profit margins. 

    Choose a Related Cause

    You might think that any cause marketing is good cause marketing. However, choosing something that isn’t related to your market field could give off the impression that you’re simply grasping at straws to make a good impression—which, ironically, makes a negative one. 

    Check for Aligned Values

    Every company and cause has values that they stand for. Maybe you’re a sporting goods company that has chosen to align itself with an organization that puts sports into low-income neighborhoods. But if this organization focuses on one gender over the other, and your business is about gender equality, then that probably won’t come off the way you want it to. 

    Get Employees on Board

    We already discussed how cause marketing helps to increase employee morale. Your employees will have even more incentive to engage in your related marketing campaigns when they believe in the cause themselves, too! If you haven’t yet chosen a marketing partner, poll your employees first. What are the things that they would like to give a voice to?

    Think Outside the Checkbook

    Of course, the easiest way to donate to a cause is by giving money. However, you can show that you have even more of a focus on your related marketing partnership by donating products, time, and talents toward your chosen organization, too. If you’re a clothing company, maybe you could host a fashion show for under-resourced kids and then give out bags of your tops, shoes, or outfits. If you’re a bakery, hold a cooking class and teach nutrition in the kitchen.

    Ask Your Cause Partner What They Need

    Perhaps you have a couple of ideas about how you’d like to move forward with your marketing campaign and how you’d like your business to come across. It’s critical that you get the same information from the nonprofit, too, because they have related marketing needs and you each want to benefit the other. 

    Solid Examples of Successful Cause Marketing

    Businesses of all types have shown success through cause marketing. Their marketing campaigns all looked a bit different, but they gained new customers, encouraged consumer loyalty, increased brand awareness and positivity, and gave back to their communities at the same time. 

    • Soles4Soles – This company collects extra shoes from warehouses and customer closets and donates them to over 127 countries worldwide. They’ve partnered with high-profile companies such as BOBS and Nine West for positive marketing. 
    • Macy’s – Macy’s chose to turn donations into profits by marketing $5 “coupon donations” through multiple organizations. Each coupon was worth a 25% discount on purchases. The nonprofits kept each $5 donation and Macy’s saw millions of dollars in increased sales. 
    • PetSmart – PetSmart started its own charity to raise money for homeless pets. Their marketing effort is easy—each customer gets asked if they want to donate at checkout.

    Tools of the Trade

    Don’t recreate the wheel on your marketing campaigns! There are plenty of ways that technology and social media can help you create effective marketing without hundreds of hours of effort on the part of your team. 

    Daily Karma

    Daily Karma is an app-based program that lets you identify your cause and search through a database of over 1.6 million charities. You can choose the type of marketing campaign you’re going for, such as a portion of sales, donation tiers, or donation matching. The best part about Daily Karma is that 100% of the donations given by your customers are sent directly to your chosen nonprofit. It’s authentic, connecting customers with your mission the entire way. Plus, you can even track your success during the entire cause-related mission. 

    Alter Your Posts to Your Platforms

    Use social media to your advantage! Think about the platforms that your audience uses the most. Are they millennials who are moving over to TikTok and away from Instagram? Or are they older customers who still strictly use Facebook? Whatever it is, get to know your platform and the way that it engages with users. Your marketing efforts will be the most beneficial when you apply each social media platform’s particular algorithms to your marketing campaign. 

    Assess and Track Your Efforts

    Any marketing effort should be a dynamic program. You don’t want to implement something and just let it run without assessing how it’s working. Establish your goals from the beginning, and then watch closely to see how your marketing efforts are paying off. Is the cause helping bring in customers? How do they see your brand? Are you garnering more of a presence on social media? Are your sales and profits increasing? Use a tracking system (like the one included with Daily Karma or one used by your marketing team) to ensure that everything stays on track. Don’t be afraid to adjust things in the middle of a campaign, either! Every cause-related marketing choice you make should be intentional and geared toward forward movement. 

    Final Thoughts

    Choosing a marketing campaign that partners you with a nonprofit is one of the best ways to show that you care about your community. It brings in customers, keeps them loyal, and gives your brand a positive leg up compared to the competition. Just make sure that your marketing values are aligned with your chosen organization and that you’re taking steps to make your cause marketing as effective as it can be. 

    Resources: https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/features/industry-insights/cause-related-marketing-building-good-will-and-business-growth https://info.zimmermarketing.com/blog/the-many-brand-benefits-of-cause-marketing  https://www.sitepoint.com/cause-marketing/